Few gave Harley Quinn good odds when it was announced she would be a contender in the DC K.O. death battle. While Harleen Quinzel is a popular character, she isn’t in the same weight class as Superman or Wonder Woman. However, the Clown Queen of Chaos still managed to surprise everyone, including her opponent, with how she died.
The battle unfolded in DC K.O.: Harley Quinn vs. Zatanna by Leah Williams and Mirka Andolfo. Best two out of three rounds wins, and contestants can change form to any version of themselves across their personal timeline.
Zatanna‘s magic is strong enough to rewrite reality with a word, so Harley Quinn stood no chance in a direct confrontation. However, she was clever enough to exploit Zatanna’s biggest weakness. Zatanna can’t cast spells if she can’t speak. This enabled Harley to win the first round and secure a chance in the remaining rounds based purely on combat skill. Despite this limit, Harley still ultimately lost the fight.
How does Harley Quinn die?
In the second and third rounds, Harley Quinn taunted Zatanna, provoking her to become more and more violent. The final straw was calling Zatanna “daddy’s girl” and saying she’d never left her father’s shadow. Ultimately, Zatanna lost her temper and impaled Harley on a magical construct. However, this was all according to Harley’s plan.
Harley believed she could kill Zatanna, but she’d never be able to beat the other heavy-hitters from the Justice League in the tournament. With her powers, however, Zatanna might win the whole contest if she can learn not to hold back. To that end, Harley provoked Zatanna to prove the point. It was a shockingly noble sacrifice for the anti-hero and a surprising show of strategic logic from the normally chaotic Harley Quinn.
DC K.O.: Harley Quinn vs. Zatanna #1 is now available at comic shops everywhere.
