Future State: Harley Quinn #1 is an issue of the series Future State: Harley Quinn (Volume 1) with a cover date of March, 2021. It was published on January 5, 2021.
Synopsis for "Future State: Harley Quinn, Part 1"
Inside a prison ruled by the Magistrate. Gotham City.
Harley Quinn has been captured by the Magistrate, and is now in prison. Doctor Jonathan Crane, once the infamous villain known as the Scarecrow, chose a path of redemption and now works for this new force, the Magistrate, who blessed Gotham with this war against masks, getting rid of both heroes and villains, and especially of the Bat. Now, Crane wants to offer a similar chance to Harley: she is considered a resource, able to help the Magistrate capture some nasty masks who are resisting authority.
If Harley collaborates, she will be awarded a better treatment inside this walls, and maybe freedom. Harley wants her handcuffs and restraints removed, and accepts to tell the Magistrate how to capture Professor Pyg: Valentin is a obsessed with perfection, with a perfect art he will never reach, all due to self-loathing. If they create a fake Dollotron, monstrous and deranged beyond what Pyg considers art, and tell the media it's a piece of work made by Lazlo, he will snap, go crazy, and serve himself on a silver plate, coming to them of his own free will.
Harley's plan is a success: the Magistrate captured Valentin, and now they can proceed with another target: Firefly. If Harley can manage to create a plan to capture him as well, she will have some fresh air and, by her own request, she will be allowed to dress like she wants. Analyzing Garfield Lynns' own past, Harley comes up with a plan involving the reopening of an orphanage, a target Firefly will have to set on fire, as the impulse will be too strong to resist. Once there, the Magistrate's agents, equipped for the task, will have an easy job capturing him, as his best trait is unpredictability, something they will take away once they give him an irresistible target.
Harley once again was right, and so Crane gives her what she requested, while preparing her for the main course: Black Mask. Crane was tasked with capturing him, but failed many times, getting pretty anxious about the job. But now, seeing how Harley was able to plan the capture of two difficult targets, Crane thinks he will finally have a true chance at locking up Sionis. Meanwhile, Roman punishes a member of his gang who "disrespected" the mask, killing him with a bullet through the head. Will Harley find out how to trap Black Mask and his Black Mask Gang?
Appearing in "Future State: Harley Quinn, Part 1"
Featured Characters:
- Harley Quinn (First appearance)
Antagonists:
- Black Mask (First appearance)
- Black Mask Gang (First appearance) (Cameo)
- Firefly (Garfield Lynns) (Single appearance)
- Magistrate
- Jonathan Crane (First appearance) (Flashback and main story)
- Peacekeepeers
- Professor Pyg (First appearance)
- Dollotrons (First appearance)
Other Characters:
- Batman (Bruce Wayne) (Mentioned only)
- Firebug (Joseph Rigger) (Mentioned only)
- Heat Wave (Mentioned only)
- The Joker (Mentioned only)
- The Riddler (Mentioned only)
Locations:
- Future State
- Gotham City
- St. Evangelina Orphanage
- Arkham Asylum (Mentioned only)
- Gotham City
Items:
- Harley's Mallet (Mentioned only)
Notes
- The events of this story take place in 2025 after the Magistrate's takeover but before the events of the Batgirls stories from Future State: The Next Batman (Volume 1).
- Though Future State is a possible future of Prime Earth, the Firefly that appeared in this issue was identified as Garfield Lynns, who was killed and replaced by Ted Carson years early in Nightwing Annual (Volume 3) #1.
- However, Garfield Lynns is shown to be alive and also active as Firefly, along with Ted Carson, on Prime Earth in DC Love Is a Battlefield #1 which may be due to the undoing of Doctor Manhattan's "experiment" or, more likely, to the rebirth of the Multiverse.
Trivia
- One of Harley's nicknames, "Daddy's Little Monster," is a reference to Harley Quinn from the Suicide Squad movie.
See Also
- Cover gallery for the Future State: Harley Quinn series
- Images from Future State: Harley Quinn Vol 1 1