tara_la_reine

No, the character is most certainly not worthless. The Joker's run-ins with Hush and Jason are not related to Harley. What happens to him- and indeed all comic characters- is at the descretion of the writer. Because of who the Joker is, a great many writers choose to have their new characters have a run-in with him in attempts to "prove" how tough said characters are. Look back; the Joker as ostensibly had his butt kicked by lesser characters a lot. I like Morrison's Joker, but he's not the only writer to ably express the Joker's menace. The problem with Harley is that few writers have a clue as to how to write her. They tend to write her as purely comedic instead of exploring her wickedness. Truth is, they've been writing her as a heroine or anti-heroine for about as long as she's been in the mainstream comics. She could be both awesome and a fitting companion to the Joker if writers would let her be what she is- a villainess.

Harley is very smart- her series mentions that she has a genius-level IQ, and she's pulled off plenty of neat stunts. You have to understand, though- the appeal of madness for Harley is the lack of responsibility. This is a trick men have been pulling w/ regards to housework for eons: just play dumb until they give up. No one who believes that Harley is a silly, crazy girl is going to expect much from her- and that's exactly what she wants. There are many, many instances of her using her ditzy image to her advantage. Beyond that, she is also quite simply insane and has regressed somewhat, resulting in her naughty little girl persona. I also suspect her self estreem is considerably healthier than she lets on. She is usually submissive to the Joker and to Ivy, but she also lashes out at both of them when they really push her. 
 
As for the 'sleeping with her professor' thing, there is considerable room for interpretation. A psychiatrist has to have two things- a medical degree and a psychology degree.     'Mad Love' shows that *Batman* believes she slept with her professor to have her thesis grade changed from a 'D' to an 'A+', though we don't learn why he thinks this is so. That would obviously concern her psychology degree, but it says nothing about her undergraduate work or her work as a grad student up until that point. A couple of other issues- notably 'Batman' #663- posit that the thesis she originally made a 'D' on was in fact brilliant beyond her professor's ken and eventually became the founding document in a whole new line of thought w/ regards to the Joker's psychosis. However, her introductory issue into mainstream canon has her telling Batman that she "slept [her] way through med school", which frankly seems virtually impossible given the hands-on nature of med school. She could easily be lying to play on her ditzy image. Besides that, such a circumstance does not address her psychology degree. Her series indicates that she might not have slept with her professor at all but rather blackmailed him after a chain of events that ended with her college boyfriend committing murder and then suicide.So, yeah- it's not so straight forward. All of these scenarios show that Harley possessed cunning, determination, and disregard for the rules- all traits she still exhibits, if you read between the lines.

I just love the notion that a comic w/ just female characters in the spotlight is automatically under suspicion of being a gimmick, one giant cliche, and lacking substance. A comic w/ just male characters in the spotlight might be considered those things if there was a gimmicky, cliched, shallow element involved, but no one would ever assume that simply because the comic focused on male characters. Furthermore, no one would be wondering which of the male characters "wore the skirt" in their group or what other male characters could be put in the series.  :/

Ivy, Harley, and Catwoman are three terrific, well-rounded characters who can easily carry a monthly series, and this comic has the good fortune to have a writer that understands them. I picked up the first issue and enjoyed it. There was exposition everywhere, of course, but the story still has kinetic energy. It's going someplace. Catwoman is feeling weak and uncertain after her ordeal, so it's a good bet that part of the story will involve her trying to get her mojo back. Harley (who seriously needs some different duds) has been in Metropolis for quite a while but is back in Gotham w/ her bestie, Ivy, who is gorgeous and misanthropic as ever. The artwork is really, really cheesecake-y and there are some nice individual frames, but I'm not blown away. I'm planning to follow the series, anyhow.