Can love bloom, even on reality TV? That’s not what Harley Quinn is here to find out. In the new DC GO! series Harley Quinn in Paradise, one of three original launch titles for DC’s new line of vertical scrolling comics, Harleen Quinzel is not on the reality show Love in Paradise to make friends. She’s here to raise her profile and become a star. After all, if you’re famous, you can get away with anything. (The fact that she’s recently just been dumped by the Joker has nothing to do with it. Honest.)

The author of this eclectic comic is a name you might recognize from other parts—CRC Payne, who previously brought us the record-breaking smash hit Batman: Wayne Family Adventures. We spoke with Payne about writing vertical comics, finding Harley between her two great loves and which DC Super Heroes would clean up on a dating reality show.

DC GO! feels very much like a continuation of what you helped birth with Batman: Wayne Family Adventures. First, you gave us a strip that draws on the family sitcom. But how did you get to reality dating shows next?

Yeah, so it was a really interesting opportunity. I was talking with [editor] Katie Kubert as they were lining up the slate for DC GO!, and she started talking to me about this Harley comic. And she’s like, “Okay, we don’t have it all fleshed out yet, but…Harley Quinn on a reality dating show.”

I was like, “Okay, okay, okay. I love this idea.” I loved having Harley being thrust into this new world of drama and these big, sweeping revelations, because she’s such a fun character and she has that high energy that felt like it would perfectly play into a reality show, where you want someone who’s going to be stirring up drama as they go. But she also has this ability to have these really interesting self-reflective moments, and I thought that could be a really wonderful way to bring in some character growth to where we’re finding Harley in this moment. I was really excited to be able to have Harley outside of Gotham, having to interact with regular people, for the most part, and then we bring in these big surprise moments of disaster onto the show.

Harley, more than most characters in the DC Universe, is really defined by her romantic connections. If a story’s not about her relationship with the Joker, it’s about her relationship with Poison Ivy. It’s really interesting to be exploring this area between these two major relationships in her life. What is Harley like in this moment where she’s broken up with the Joker, but hasn’t quite settled down with Ivy yet?

Yeah, I was very excited about her in this specific moment, because you’re so right. She is often defined by who she is with. So, it was such an interesting challenge starting this comic to have Harley post-breakup. She is just fresh out of this relationship, and she finally has the space and the distance to start looking at this relationship that has really defined her whole world for years. Now she can take a step back and realize, “Some of these things that I was throwing all of my time and my energy and my faith into…some of these things weren’t good for me.”

How does she process that? How does she then decide, “What am I looking for? Is there space for me to have my own wants and needs, as I am trying out these new relationships?”

I do think one of the fun parts of having a dating show surrounding this is that she has the space to play and figure out what she actually wants for herself. It’s hit or miss for her. She’s not always going to get it right on the first try. I also think that Harley is often a very larger than life character, even among superheroes. I think it’s really fun to give her a little bit more of that grounded feel. We all have moments like that, where we’re trying to figure ourselves out, or rebuild ourselves, or relearn skills that we have lost for ourselves. And that’s where she is right now, where she’s just trying to figure out, “What do I want, and what do I deserve?”

I think the best parodies and satire come from a place of love and appreciation for what they’re making fun of, and I see that in Harley Quinn in Paradise. There’s very clearly some direct Bachelor in Paradise influence there. I want to know about your dating show background, and how that informed your approach to this series.

I will actually admit: I am more of a recent fan of reality dating shows. When I started watching them, the thing that hooked me into it was how there’s always something happening. There’s always drama going on, and everybody’s in everybody else’s business, and it always makes it fascinating to see all of these relationships criss-crossing with each other. You know, there’s one couple over here, but there’s a third person who’s also involved with helping them build or destroy that relationship. Everybody’s in, everyone’s committed, everyone has an agenda. It was so fun to bring that to life in this comic. We have a lot of original characters that we created just for the reality show.  Our artists, Siobhan Chiffon and Cathy Le, have done an incredible job. Everybody in the comic is just beautiful. Their design of everything has been stunning.

I want to shift gears a bit and talk about the format of the comics you’ve been working in. How do you feel writing comics in this vertical form is different from writing comics for traditional layouts? What are the benefits, and what are the challenges?

I really love it. Both my comics have been in the vertical scroll, so I’m very used to it at this point. I think one of the strengths of this format, especially as someone who often writes comedic moments, is you really get to control what people see and when they see it. So, when you’re looking at a traditional comic book, my punchline might be on the next page, but you can still see that page as you’re opening the book. With the vertical scroll, I know you’re not going to get to the punchline until I want you to see the punchline. It really allows for these big moments of surprise, or humor, or drama, because you really only get to see one panel at a time.

It’s also challenging, because the way that the story flows, you really have to be thinking in a linear fashion, but also how everything connects to each other. You want it to feel seamless as you scroll. So, you have to think about the space of the comic, and where you want people’s eyes as you go. Do you want literally everything to flow from one to the other? Where do you put breaks? How do those get integrated into the comic? Where are you placing the words? Again, big shoutout to Siobhan and Cathy, who are the ones literally doing the work on that and figuring out where everything goes. But it’s definitely a challenge for writing too, because you have to be very precise about how you want things to look as you go.

To wrap up, I’m going to name a bunch of DC characters, and you’re going to tell me how well you think they would do as contestants on Love in Paradise.

Okay!

We’ll start with Helena Bertinelli.

Ooh. I think she has the kind of ruthlessness that you would need to really get to the top quickly. I think she would do very well. She is very driven. She is very focused. So, she wouldn’t get distracted by anybody and if somebody tried to take her out, she would get ‘em first.

Selina Kyle.

Well, Selina’s a heartbreaker. We know this. She’s stunning. She’s perfect. Who isn’t going to want Selina? I think Selina would be really excellent in terms of being very charming and very beguiling. But I also think she’s someone who’s not super emotionally available. So, if it came to a commitment, that’s where Selina struggles. She doesn’t like to be tied down. If the goal is an engagement in the end, I don’t know how well she would do with that part.

I know there’s this classic move in Bachelor-type shows where you’ll interrupt somebody’s date and go, “Can I steal you away?” That feels like Selina’s signature move.

Oh yeah! She would be so good at that. You’d just be like, “Man…all right.”

King Shark!

I think he would do very well if he’s like…with a very specific kind of partner. If he had someone who’s all in on King Shark, he’d be fine. But I don’t know how well he’d do with the small talk portion of trying to get to know people. He’s not super approachable.

Kate Kane.

I love Kate Kane. I do think she can come across as a little bit distant. Like, she’s got sort of a facade up, and that can be hard to breach. I think if someone could get past that, and get to the heart of Kate, I think she’d be okay. But I think she’d put walls up, and that would hinder her ability in the show.

Peacemaker.

[Laughs] I mean…as long as you are as committed to his vision as he is, you’re going to do fine. But you have to meet him where he is. He’s not going to tone himself down for you.

Jason Todd.

Hm. I think if Jason could allow himself to be vulnerable, he would do very well. Jason is a teddy bear inside. But, you know, he’s also very tough. He might struggle because of the cameras there. I don’t know if he could present himself as approachable.

That self-allowance for vulnerability is a journey we’ve seen Jason on in Wayne Family Adventures, actually, and that’s been one of the most interesting arcs in the series so far.

We actually have seen that, yes!

Let’s wrap it up with…Booster Gold.

Booster Gold would win! He wins. He’s got the personality. He knows exactly how to work the camera. Booster Gold, I think, would do very, very well.

As the producers tell Harley, it’s not a show with winners…

But Booster would win the crown.
 

Harley Quinn in Paradise by CRC Payne, Siobhan Chiffon and Cathy Le can be read exclusively on DC UNIVERSE INFINITE.