Harley Quinn first appeared in the episode, "Joker's Favor," on "Batman: The Animated Series." She was originally intended to be a one-off character, but the fans reacted to her so positively, the writers decided to bring her back. Eventually, she became so popular that she was actually written into the comics. After her comic debut, her popularity would only continue to grow. Recently, she became the highest-selling female character in comics, with her books selling even better than Wonder Woman's.

I personally have a lot of complicated feelings about Harley Quinn. I consider myself a fan of hers as I do like her as a character. Yet at the same time, I find that she has always been and continues to be written in very problematic ways.

A lot of female characters have issues in which their characterization is based on their relationship to male characters. Harley falls especially into this trope. She has always been defined by her relationship to the Joker. So much so that she is often referred to as, "the Joker's girlfriend."

There are plenty of Joker stories that have nothing to do with Harley. However, there are not a lot of Harley stories that do not involve the Joker.

Most of the stories in which Harley was developed beyond the Joker were stories that involved her relationship with Poison Ivy. Their relationship started in "Batman: The Animated Series," in "Harley and Ivy." Harley and Ivy would continue to team up throughout the course of the show and their comic counterparts would eventually do the same.

There were also some queer undertones in their relationship, with implications that Harley and Ivy might have had a sexual relationship. DC Comics recently confirmed this, stating that Harley and Ivy are "girlfriends without monogamy."

While Harley's relationship with Ivy gave her some independence from the Joker, she would always end up back with him. Her time with Ivy was a mere side story as most of her stories still involved her being with the Joker.

DC's New 52 reboot back in 2011, actually has helped fix this problem a bit, developing Harley's character so that she became more than just her relationship with the Joker. She recently got her own solo series that largely does not involve the Joker. In a recent issue, she actually broke up with the Joker, declaring that she wouldn't be his "toy" anymore.

However, the New 52 reboot brought in problems of its own. Harley has been often drawn to appeal to the male gaze but it got especially bad during the New 52. Here is an example of her utterly ridiculous design.

This completely absurd design was drawn for one reason, so she could look attractive to heterosexual men. And just a few years later, the oversexualization of her character would lead to some very disturbing places.

In 2013, DC announced an "Open Talent Search" in which potential artists could try and prove their talent in order to break into the comics industry. Contestants had to draw a page based on four prompts, all of which involved Harley committing suicide. The most disturbing prompt read,

"Harley sitting naked in a bathtub with toasters, blow dryers, blenders, appliances all dangling above the bathtub and she has a cord that will release them all. We are watching the moment before the inevitable death. Her expression is one of 'oh well, guess that’s it for me' and she has resigned herself to the moment that is going to happen."

I don't think I even need to begin to explain how horrible this is. Not only did DC want to oversexualize Harley, they wanted to do it as she was about to kill herself. It managed to both be insensitive to suicide victims and incredibly misogynistic at the same time. Luckily, DC did eventually apologize and cancel the contest, but only because there was significant backlash.

The oversexualization of Harley Quinn's character continues to this day. In the marketing of the new "Suicide Squad" movie, she is being used as a prop to sell the film to heterosexual men. For instance, in the most recent trailer, there is a scene in which Harley strips in front of a group of soldiers. The scene is completely unnecessary and gratuitous. It is there merely to appease straight male fans.

Again, none of this means that I don't like Harley Quinn as a character. I actually do enjoy her character quite a bit. But recognizing the problematic history and problematic present of the character is important. Doing so is essential to ensure that DC Comics does a better job with Harley in future.