Has Harley Quinn surpassed Catwoman?

[El_Gato]

Obviously Wonder Woman is the top female character of the DCU and that likely won't change anytime soon, but I always considered Catwoman as the number 2 female. Catwoman has held her own successful title on many occasions, she's appeared in all of the Batman cartoons and shows and has been portrayed by multiple iconic actresses. When the DC/MK crossover video game was made she was the only other female chosen apart from Diana. It was pretty difficult not to see her as the second most important/popular/iconic female in the DCU.

Fast forward a few years and now Harley Quinn is the one with the solo title, spin-off books and appearing pretty much everywhere. Harley is the character that just appeared in live-action in the DCEU (before Catwoman mind you) portrayed by one of Hollywood's youngest brightest stars. She's the character almost everyone is obsessed with! Heck she got announced for Injustice 2 before Selina, leading some to even speculate Catwoman will sit this game out. Harley and Wonder Woman are almost always depicted together in fan art whereas a few years ago it was Diana/Selina.

Have things changed? Has Harley Quinn surpassed Catwoman in popularity and icon status? Is it safe to assume Harley is now the number two female while Selina is number three or four (Supergirl is pretty popular these days)? Thoughts?

[dietrich]

I would argue that at the moment she surpasses even Wonder Woman Sales figures don't lie. Typing that left a bad taste in my mouth.

[Carabas]

She has, for now at least.

[Atlanta96]

She has, but it's more to do with how her character is portrayed/handled at the moment than anything else. Catwoman hasn't had an interesting portrayal in comics since the reboot started, and the impact of her badass Arkham City and TDKR appearances has worn off. Harley is more dynamic and interesting at the moment. And her excellent portrayal in SS, one of the few universally praised aspects of the film, was the final step for Harley.

So yeah, until DC gets their sh*t together with Selina she will fall behind Harley. Which sucks, because the Gotham Sirens should be on even ground.

[16 Bit]

Depends on what you mean as an icon. Harley has surpassed her in the world of current pop culture but if you just mean awareness and in the public conscious Harley is decades away from matching Catwoman. I mean my parents know who Catwoman is. I'm pretty confident Wonder Woman, Catwoman and Lois Lane are far ahead of Harley in that regard.

[Frontier]

Catwoman, Lois Lane, and Wonder Woman are probably the closest thing DC has to female Trinity, at least in terms of the long history they have and their impact on popular culture. That will never change, even if DC either willfully downplays them, carries on a series of lackluster portrayals of them in the comics, or just in general doesn't treat them that well.

But that hasn't been enough to net them the kind of push Harley's gotten as of late. You don't see Catwoman or Lois Lane being billed as the 4th pill of the DCU, next to the Trinity, or getting the amount of spinoffs and media attention Harley gets. The best they have now is that they're back to being the female leads of the main family titles they're a part of (with Selina as the co-lead in Batman and Lois as a Supermom in Action Comics and Superman) and still appear fairly often in DC Media.

I guess Harley has definitely surpassed Selina in terms of becoming her own, almost independent, brand of the DCU. The kind of success that nets you a relatively out-of-continuity book that continually sells well and appearances in multiple books, even if she's still ultimately a Batman character at the end of the day.

[Godlike13]

Harley Quinn is hot right now but who's to say how long that lasts. Not that i have anything against Harley, but you never know with these things. Look at Green Lantern.

[Frontier]

Harley Quinn is hot right now but who's to say how long that lasts. Not that i have anything against Harley, but you never know with these things. Look at Green Lantern.

Well, the movie's failure was a big dent in Green Lantern reaching any kind of A-list status, but I think Harley has a lot more going for her (non-divisive fanbase, general audience recognition, popular in merchandising, Margot Robbie) by comparison.

With any luck, that Gotham City Sirens movie will improve the profile of all three villainesses, both in comics and outside of it .

[MajorHoy]

Where does Supergirl fit in this?
(Heck, she's the one with a TV show.)

[Frontier]

Where does Supergirl fit in this?
(Heck, she's the one with a TV show.)

Supergirl's always been popular, but I imagine her TV show has given her a major boost, especially since it seems to be a hit with young girls (and, as of late, LGBT viewers).

There's also DC Super Hero Girls, where she's one of the main characters and features fairly prominently in the doll line, webisodes, and animated movies. Same as Harley, Batgirl, and Wonder Woman.

[The True Detective]

Yes and tbh I'd say Harley has surpassed even Wonder Woman now, she sells more comics than her and I see far more Harley merchandise than WW merch. I know in-universe Wonder Woman is the unquestioned top female star but I feel like irl Harley is. Harley is imo easily the most popular female comic book character atm and more popular than most male one's too. WW, Catwoman and Lois might be more famous and iconic than her but she has more fans from what I've seen, she had the most popular Halloween costume 2 years straight and was the biggest catalyst for a horribly reviewed Suicide Squad movie making over $700m.

[Confuzzled]

Yes and tbh I'd say Harley has surpassed even Wonder Woman now, she sells more comics than her

I don't think that's been true post Rebirth.

and I see far more Harley merchandise than WW merch. I know in-universe Wonder Woman is the unquestioned top female star but I feel like irl Harley is. Harley is imo easily the most popular female comic book character atm and more popular than most male one's too. WW, Catwoman and Lois might be more famous and iconic than her but she has more fans from what I've seen, she had the most popular Halloween costume 2 years straight and was the biggest catalyst for a horribly reviewed Suicide Squad movie making over $700m.

All of this is true, I guess. Like Selina though, Diana just needs to be pushed in pop culture in a bigger way again. Let's see how things play out after her solo movie and Justice League come out. She could reclaim the top spot from Harley in terms of overall popularity by the end of next year.

[Nite-Wing]

She has but its mostly because of how DC handled her character
Some of its stink from the Hally Berry movie too mind you
with harley they were cottoning on to the progressively higher build in interest for her character since the arkham games
with catwoman DC has basically marginalized her character more and more to the point that she is basically a c list character now even though she was in the same video game series

Ironically GCS was mostly Selina with Ivy and Harley in the background pre flashpoint now if DC relaunched the title it would definitely focus more on Harley and Ivy

[Confuzzled]

Saying Catwoman is basically a C-List character now is too much of a stretch. New 52 gave her a solo and she was featured in The Dark Knight Rises played by an Oscar winning actress. Recently, she's been one of the most acclaimed parts of both Gotham and the Telltale Games. When the Gotham City Sirens movie comes out, I think she may be the DC villain who has had the most cinematic screen time. And even if she doesn't have her solo book in Rebirth, she is featured prominently in the flagship of the Bat-books.

[Osiris-Rex]

She has, but it's more to do with how her character is portrayed/handled at the moment than anything else. Catwoman hasn't had an interesting portrayal in comics since the reboot started, and the impact of her badass Arkham City and TDKR appearances has worn off. Harley is more dynamic and interesting at the moment. And her excellent portrayal in SS, one of the few universally praised aspects of the film, was the final step for Harley.

So yeah, until DC gets their sh*t together with Selina she will fall behind Harley. Which sucks, because the Gotham Sirens should be on even ground.

Harley is basically how Catwoman used to be portrayed. Fun loving, wise cracking, likes to be bad. When DC got away from depicting Catwoman that way someone had to fill in the void for the reading public.
It wasn't so much DC made Harley popular as they made Catwoman unpopular and Harley was the next best thing. Be interesting if Catwoman goes anywhere now that she has a big role in the Batman comic
books, starting with Batman issue #9. Hopefully this was why they held off giving Catwoman a title in the initial Rebirths and this does spin Catwoman off into a Catwoman Rebirth series.

Where does Supergirl fit in this?
(Heck, she's the one with a TV show.)

There is Gotham, where Selina Kyle is one of the more popular characters, and probably one of the best live action portrayals of Selina Kyle.

Supergirl's always been popular, but I imagine her TV show has given her a major boost, especially since it seems to be a hit with young girls (and, as of late, LGBT viewers).

There's also DC Super Hero Girls, where she's one of the main characters and features fairly prominently in the doll line, webisodes, and animated movies. Same as Harley, Batgirl, and Wonder Woman.

Supergirl always seemed to be a character in search of a story. People like the character, but she always tends to be an ersatz Superman. Even on TV.

Sort of disappointed that Catwoman has been relegated to a very minor character in DC Super Hero Girls. Even Poison Ivy has a big role. But again, Harley stole Selina's shtick, with the few times Catwoman
being shown there was as serious and boring.