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Long before Harley Quinn hit the scene in DC Comics, the Joker had another second in command who discovered Batman’s identity long before he did.
While Harley Quinn discovered Batman’s secret identity long after the Joker involuntarily learned the truth, DC’s first Harley Quinn found out Batman was actually Bruce Wayne decades before either of them–and did so after her first time meeting the Caped Crusader.
Harleen Quinzel became the infamous Harley Quinn after she was seduced by the Joker in Arkham Asylum while acting as his psychiatrist and joined him on his crusade of senseless villainy and unparalleled violence. After going off on her own and cutting all ties with the Joker, Harley Quinn became something of an antihero and is currently on the road to full-blown heroism as she has time and again assisted Batman on his missions. While Harley is one of the most interesting original characters created by DC in recent memory, there was a character that came before her who also acted as the Joker’s second in command after she, too, was named by the Clown Prince of Crime in a way that played off of his ‘Joker’ moniker. She was a villain named the Black Queen who could loosely be considered DC’s first ‘Harley Quinn.’
In Batman #5 by Bill Finger and Bob Kane, the Joker is discovered floating nearly lifeless at sea by a gang of criminals plotting their next big score. After finding the Joker, the team’s leader–a woman named Queenie–decides to relinquish her leadership role and hand it over to the Joker as he has proven himself to be a master at coming up with diabolically successful schemes. So, with Queenie as his second in command and two other goons ready and willing to do his bidding, the Joker does a little bit of rebranding and gives each of them villainous codenames and turning Queenie into the Black Queen. For their first scheme, the Joker, Black Queen and their crew sneak aboard a gambling ship so that they can rob it in international waters, free from U.S. persecution. Little do they know, Bruce Wayne is on that same ship which means they unwittingly found themselves under the watchful eye of the Batman–though as Bruce soon finds out, the Joker and his team aren’t the only ones under surveillance.
Upon boarding the ship, the Joker tasks the Black Queen with eyeballing some of the best targets, which, of course, included known billionaire Bruce Wayne. When the Black Queen gets close to Bruce in an effort to seduce and eventually rob him, she notices a tiny cut on his chin, though she doesn’t think anything of it. However, when Batman shows up later to stop the villains, the Black Queen notices the same cut on his chin and figures out then and there that Batman is actually Bruce Wayne. The Black Queen discovered Batman’s secret identity completely by accident. But, at this point in DC continuity, and in terms of publication date, Harley Quinn wouldn’t be introduced for roughly another 50 years—so Black Queen discovered who Batman was long before Joker and Harley Quinn did. In fact, both the Joker and Harley Quinn had no interest in finding out who Batman really was during their villainous careers.
Harley Quinn knows who Batman is in Batman: White Knight as the two end up working closely together. The Joker, on the other hand, has never made it clear when he first found out, but makes a show of not wanting to know in the series Death of the Family where Batman tries to tell him his name and the Joker just won’t hear it as he doesn’t want to be reminded that Batman is just a man under his cowl. Despite when and how Joker and Harley found out, the fact remains that they didn’t know until long after DC’s first ‘Harley Quinn’ discovered Batman’s secret identity.
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