Warning: Spoilers For Old Lady Harley #5

DC continues to reveal more of Harley Quinn’s (alternate) future in this week’s final issue of Old Lady Harley, as a bombshell is dropped: the newest villain in town isn’t the Joker, it’s the grown-up son of the Joker and Harley Quinn.

The series, an homage to Marvel’s Old Man Logan, takes place in a post-apocalyptic future, where Harley is an older woman (still rocking her skimpy black and red outfits), recently returned from years in self-imposed exile after a new villain calling themselves the Joker has appeared.

So far, the series has combined the ‘present day’, as Harley navigates the destroyed DC Universe as she tries to discover who this new Joker could be, and flashbacks of what happened to drive her away. She believed that the Joker was dead, and was terrified that he was somehow back, but this week, Harley learns the truth: it’s not ‘her’ Joker that is terrorizing people. It’s her son.

SCREENRANT VIDEO OF THE DAY

Related: 20 Things Everyone Gets Wrong About Harley Quinn

In Old Lady Harley #5, Harley (and a whole slew of famous DC characters) finally come face to face with the new Joker, who reveals the truth. When Harley and the Joker hooked up again all those years ago, it was just long enough for her to become pregnant. However, she gave up the baby and left town – and after being passed around from orphanage to orphanage, that son became twisted and furious, vowing revenge on the mother who never loved him, trying to make himself as much like his famously villainous father as possible.

See also  Batman Triumphant: How Harley Quinn’s Origin Story Would’ve Changed

However, the issue comes with a twist. Harley, who has always had a soft heart, begs him for forgiveness… and her son accepts. It’s a sweet, if deeply disturbing moment where the new Joker finally gets the love he has always craved, and calls off his minions in order to finally bond with his mom. Awwwww.

Cute as this is, it leaves some pretty big questions – especially whether or not Harley’s kid is actually going to give up his life of crime for a family life in Harley’s paradise home (created by non other than Poison Ivy), or whether this is all some play as part of a bigger plan. The series was originally conceived as a five-issue miniseries, which would make this big reveal the finale… but the final pages show the brain of the real Joker in a robot body in space (because no one ever dies in comics), with the promise of a sequel to come…

Does this really mean that Old Lady Harley has a bright future with the son she abandoned? Will the original recipe Joker be returning for a sequel, and will his son manage to survive both his parents? And of course – will this ever happen in the mainstream DC Universe? It’s unlikely, because Harley and the Joker have been apart for quite some time now, but Old Lady Harley showed her becoming pregnant from a moment of weakness… and she has certainly had her weak moments in her own title. The Joker may become a mainstream legacy title after all.

Next: 20 Things About Harley Quinn That Make No Sense

Old Lady Harley #5 is available now from DC Comics.

The Avengers’ Best Healing Factor Makes Wolverine Look Underpowered

About The Author


Rose Graceling-Moore
(1516 Articles Published)

See also  Breath Of The Wild Theory: Eighth Heroine Statue Explained

Rose Graceling-Moore has been writing about film, TV and comics since 2013, when she began writing for a local print magazine in Vancouver, BC. Since then, Rose has written for Horror Honeys, Moviepilot and Quirkbooks as well as Screenrant, increasingly focusing on comic books and live-action comic adaptations, as well as diversity and representation on screen. Rose also co-hosted the DC Movies Podcast, and has guested on other nerd and entertainment podcasts over the past five years.

Rose’s love of comics began all the way back in the early ‘90s, when she discovered the X-Men while living in Africa (where there wasn’t a whole lot to do but read!), and since then has had an on-again, off-again love affair with not just Marvel, but DC and indie comics as well. You can follow her on Twitter: RoseMooreWrites for tweets about comics, movies, and more.

More From Rose Graceling-Moore