Twenty-five. That’s how many years have passed since Paul Dini and Bruce Timm’s charmingly psychotic Harley Quinn first appeared on Batman: The Animated Series. She’s come a long way since then, breaking the Joker’s abusive hold and rising to become what is now arguably DC’s second hottest property. You can’t throw a mallet at Comic Con without hitting at least a dozen ladies—and lads—cosplaying the Clown Princess, and her comics are consistently some of DC’s most popular.
In honor of Harley’s quarter-century, Diamond Select has released a brand-new resin bust inspired by her first appearance in the episode “Joker’s Favor,” from B:TAS. As with all of Diamond’s busts, the sculpt is excellent and the paint nearly matches it (it falls a bit short where the tie meets the shirt, but is otherwise superb). This Harley’s a dead-ringer for her television counterpart (I can practically see the gas-filled Trojan Cake in front of her).
This bust deviates from the rest of the line, too. In addition to the episode-accurate “Officer Harley” head, Diamond threw in an alternate head featuring Harley’s classic mask. It’s tough to choose, but I think I prefer displaying the bust with the alternate—the outfit evokes “Joker’s Favor,” while the mask is more recognizably Harley.
The base of the bust matches the rest of Diamond’s Animated Series line, so this one will fit right in with the rest of your collection. But if you’d rather put Harley in a place of prominence and call out the milestone, there’s also a commemorative base included in the box. The bust just plops right in there, no muss, no fuss. It’s not a snug fit, so you may need to fiddle with it to get it aligned to your satisfaction, but it’s a neat-looking extra, and I’m glad they included it.
All-in-all, this is an excellent addition to the lineup. And at around $50, you’re paying about the same as you would for a number of the other busts, but you get the interchangeable heads and the base. That’s what we call a good deal. You can find yours on Amazon or at your local comic shop.
