Harley Quinn may be about to get her next milestone as a hero: Having an ally within official law enforcement.
WARNING: The following article contains spoilers from Harley Quinn #13, on sale now.
Harley Quinn has been working hard these last few months to prove that she is a hero in her own right. For the most part, she has succeeded, turning over a new leaf to be a better person. In Harley Quinn #13 (by Stephanie Phillips, Riley Rossmo, Jay Leisten Ivan Plascencia, AndWorld Design), her next major achievement as a hero may have arrived. A new officer has joined the GCPD, Jaylin Shaw.
While she’s only had a brief interaction with Harley, the fact that the story focused on her a little strongly suggests that Jaylin will have a significant role to play in the future. Perhaps she could even become what Commissioner Gordon was for Batman: a friend and ally within official channels that not only would support Harley but help legitimize her status as a hero within Gotham City.
Shaw’s first scene had her investigate a mass murder committed by Harley’s mysterious new enemy Verdict. The villainess had masqueraded as Harley to get the police to accuse her, but right off the bat, Shaw displayed a very insightful nature, gleaning that killing mobsters seemed fairly random for the culprit and that there might have been other reasons for her wanting them dead. Unlike her fellow officers, Shaw did not immediately assume Harley was the true culprit but nevertheless followed her orders to arrest the former clown princess of crime.
The greatest evidence of an inevitable bond with Harley was how the arrest was handled. Whereas Shaw’s more established officers burst into Harley’s apartment to arrest her, Shaw calmly demanded that Harley surrender herself, preferring to talk first before shooting, once again distinguishing herself from her more overzealous colleagues. Harley responded to this, letting Shaw take her in peacefully despite running from the initial attack, hinting that Harley sensed Shaw was a person she could trust.
So right away, Shaw set herself apart from the other members of the GCPD, something even Harley could tell right away. Perhaps it’s because Shaw comes from a more normal city, having just transferred to Gotham, but everything she’s done paints the picture of an honest and intelligent police officer who operates with integrity and common sense. In many regards, she is a foil to Harley, being no-nonsense, yet logical. If she is meant to become an ally to Harley, then Shaw could actually be the key to establishing Harley as a true hero to the city. When Batman first started out, it took Commissioner Gordon extending his hand to get the city to trust the dark knight more than they feared him. It will likely be the same case with Shaw. Like Harley, she is starting at the bottom of the chain to make herself known, but she has something Harley does not: recognition.
Shaw is a legal enforcer of justice and one that seems well on track to rise through the ranks quickly. If she picks up that something is wrong with the case, then it won’t be too long before she tries to help Harley solve it before anyone else dies. From there, the two could continue a partnership to achieve more together than they ever could alone.
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