The Comics Alliance Halloween Costume Countdown: Harley Quinn

October is finally upon is, and here at ComicsAlliance, and one of the best parts of the month is gearing up for Halloween with costumes! It’s the one time of year when even people like me who could never cut it in our Best Cosplay Ever feature can drop by the local department store and walk out with the ability to dress up as our favorite characters.

But is that really a good thing? I have my doubts, which is why I’m spending every day taking on the store-bought costumes inspired by our favorite things. Today, we're following up on yesterday's look at the joker with a selection of Harley Quinn costumes, which unfortunately have yet to catch up with that whole "naked in a bathtub" thing.

Option 1: Gotham Girls Harley Quinn

Variations on Harley Quinn are probably the single most common cosplay theme at the conventions I go to, to the point where seeing the actual standard model is a little bit of a novelty. I still maintain that this is the best design the character has ever had, but for some reason, this particular version -- and this is not a dig on the model, I promise, because I'm sure she's lovely -- reminds me less of the Joker's henchwench and more of of that scene in A Christmas Story where Ralphie hallucinates his mom dressed as a harlequin taunting him about how he'll shoot his eye out. I think it might be the awkward hands.

Option 2: Sexy Super Villain Harley Quinn

Aside from the weird bondage collar -- which, I suppose, is as appropriate for the character as anything else you're going to see in the costume aisle -- I actually really like this costume. Of course, that might be because it's about one cigarette holder away from being Audrey Hepburn On Bath Salts.

Option 3: Arkham Asylum Harley Quinn

Even though it's pretty unlikely given that this is from a game that I think literally everyone in the entire world played, I always like imagining what people who aren't familiar with the character would think you were dressed as. For this one, I'm guessing they'd go with "spooky sexy nurse," which is actually about two more layers of characterization than Harley actually had in that game.

Option 4: Arkham City Harley Quinn

Man, remember when that Gathering of the Juggalos infomercial came out a couple years ago and everyone was obsessed with it for a few months? Those were good times, and as much as costumes that are so "in the moment" don't tend to last long -- just ask how many popup stores have a gross of polyester Gangnam Style jackets sitting in the back room -- I'm glad that Sugar Slam was immortalized for the holiday. She really --

What?

Oh, this is actually a Harley Quinn design?

Huh.

Option 5: Sexy Generic Harlequin

You know, I honestly don't know who I feel worse for: The woman who thought she was being thrifty by purchasing a generic version of Harley Quinn that's actually $30 more than the genuine article, or the commedia dell'arte fan who doesn't know why people have been doing bad impressions of Mark Hammil at her all night.