Joker and Harley Quinn Get Samurai Upgrades in Genius Cosplay
A great new DC Comics cosplay brings the Joker and Harley Quinn back to feudal Japan by giving the evil couple samurai armor.
The Joker and Harley Quinn have had different looks over the years, but thanks to recent cosplay, now they can add "Samurai" to the list. A pair of cosplayers known as TheRealSamuraiJoker made good on their promise, as the classic Batman villain was brought back to feudal Japan.
Since the founding of Batman by Gaslight: Gotham City and the "Elseworlds" series in 1989, DC Comics has often depicted the character in different settings and time periods: Batman in action in 19th-century Gotham City, pursuing Jack's Trace the Ripper. The Justice League took root in the Old West as Justice Riders. Superman was reinterpreted as the Frankenstein monster in the takeoff of Mary Shelley's immortal classic. Before the series was phased out and replaced by DC's modern "Black Label" series of books, Elseworlds gave comic book creators a way to tell storylines with new takes on classic characters without interfering with established continuity .
Now, cosplay artist TheRealSamuraiJoker pays homage to the Elseworlds series, giving the Joker and Harley Quinn their own armor and weapons entirely from feudal Japan. It's a clever conceit, brilliantly executed by the duo, Incorporate the Joker couple's signature colors into each outfit. The Joker armor makes good use of purple and green, and creatively adds a Joker playing card as an insignia for his helmet. Harley's armor also implements her alternating red and black color scheme nicely, and also wields an ōtsuchi, a wooden warhammer used by feudal Japanese samurai, a clever alternative to Harley's famous weapon. Check out TheRealSamuraiJoker's work below:
Joker and Harley Quinn Get A Samurai Makeover
DC characters have been reinterpreted through the lens of feudal Japan several times in the past. 2002's Elseworlds one-off JLA: The Iron General saw Superman's rocket ship land in 14th-century Japan instead of Smallville. Baby Kal-El grows up to become warrior Hoshi, who joins a group of other Justice League fighters to lead a rebellion against the Shogun. Chuck Dixon and Enrique Villagrand's 1994 Robin of the Year story "The Narrow Road" reimagines Batman and Robin as a ninja and his pupils. Most recently, the animated film Batman: Ninja transplanted the heroes and villains of Gotham City to feudal Japan. Afro Samurai creator Takashi Okazaki provided character designs for the film, It involves a time-displaced Batman and his allies fighting to stop the Joker from changing history by taking over feudal Japan.
TheRealSamuraiJoker's stellar cosplay reminds fans that iconic characters like the Joker and Harley Quinn can be reinterpreted in dozens of creative ways.
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