Controversial Suicide Panel Does Not Appear In ‘Harley Quinn’ #0

A controversial panel depicting a nude Harley Quinn in a bathtub surrounded by plugged-in electronics is not in the final version of Harley Quinn #0.

Fans found out about the panel when DC Comics announced a contest seeking an artist to draw one page of the issue. DC Co-Publishers Dan DiDio and Jim Lee said they would personally select the artist based on submissions of a single page, and included a description of the page's four panels.

The page has been revised to replace the bathtub panel with one in which Harley is riding a missile through space.

Out of context, the panel in question was pretty jarring -- my first impression, in fact, was that the page wouldn't be in the issue at all -- but within the issue itself, it makes more sense. The issue plays out as a conversation between Quinn and writers Jimmy Palmiotti and Amanda Conner as they sort out a new artist for the title, sort of like "Duck Amuck" but with more clown makeup and less fencing.

The page in question brings up Quinn's membership in the Suicide Squad. Conner and Palmiotti say they don't know what that name means, and imagine a few possibilities while Quinn says they've got it all wrong. A panel of Quinn covered in raw chicken while surrounded by alligators remains.

One side note: The contest winner was artist Jeremy Roberts, who is introduced in the issue as a newcomer, even though he has been doing work for major comics publishers for several years. He's been a cover artist and a colorist at Marvel and Devil's Due. It looks like it may be his first work as an interior penciler at DC, though.