Spoilers forBatman: Gotham by Gaslight - The Kryptonian Age #4!There are more iterations of DC Comics’Suicide Squadthan fans can sometimes count, withHarley Quinnbeing an iconic villain-turned-antihero who has off and on been part of the team for years now. Following that tenured tradition,Harley Quinn and two other staple members of the Suicide Squad have just been reinvented for the19th-century world ofGotham by Gaslight, giving them unique codenames and redesigns that would make their main continuity counterparts proud.
Harley Quinn Makes DC History with Major Feat That Justifies Her Bat-Family Membership
Absolute Power has scattered the Bat-Family and with Gotham in complete chaos, Harley Quinn rises to the occasion to be the savior the city needs.
Rarely getting a uniformed look as a team, Harley Quinn and the rest of the Squad usually wear whatever spandex they arrived in, with the 2007’sSuicide Squad: Raise the Flag, by John Ostrander and Javier Pina, seeing them briefly don matching black and grey tactical suits designed for stealth, a one-and-done fashion statement that hasn’t been seen since.
InGotham by Gaslight - The Kryptonian Age #4, a tale set inDC’s Elseworlds continuity,an alternate Suicide Squad is introduced, showing the preliminary redesigns for Harley Quinn, Killer Croc, and Deadshot, as they lived in the Victorian Era.
Harley Quinn Is the Vaudeville Villainess in DC Comics’Gotham by GaslightContinuity
Batman: Gotham by Gaslight - The Kryptonian Age #4- 2024 (Andy Diggle and Leandro Fernandez)
Formed not by Amanda Waller but byGotham by Gaslight’s Lex Luthor, this latest Suicide Squad team is made known by Lois Lane while investigating Luthor’s shady business practices, as Lois believes that Luthor has recently recruited lackeys “directly from death row” as his own personal “squad of convicts.” Showing her editor, Perry White,mugshots of the Vaudeville Villainous, the Cajun Crocodile, and the Dead Shot— Harley Quinn, Killer Croc, and Deadshot, respectively — Lois explains that Luthor utilizing these criminals to “rough up the competition” is something that needs to be taken seriously, even if she can’t prove it yet.
Looking more in line with a traditional harlequin/circus clown than the slightly moretheatrical jester costume Harley has been known to wear, the Vaudeville Villainess’ white skin, dripping mascara, wide smile, and stylish hat sells this alternate Harley look well, with Killer Croc’s more human-like crocodile mug giving this cajun-inspired villain a face that terrifies. Not to be outdone, the Dead Shot notably has the most different redesign of these characters, as Floyd Lawton doesn’t wear his usual tactical outfit, and instead, has a top hat and a similar mustached face as his predecessor.
Thoughthis issue only acts as a brief introduction to some ofGotham by Gaslight’s new Suicide Squad,their full costume redesigns and roster will likely be revealed in the next chapter of this epic Elseworlds sequel, out in October. Until then, fans can only speculate as to what new visual upgradesHarley Quinnand theSuicide Squadwill be working with to say nothing about the unique Victorian Era weapons and attitudes that the Vaudeville Villainess, the Cajun Crocodile, the Dead Shot, and any other members who are eventually introduced will have when theyinevitably cross paths with Batman.
Batman: Gotham by Gaslight - The Kryptonian Age #4is available from DC Comics.
