The Queen and the Quinn: Card Queen and Harlequin

While the word queen is synonymous with a female ruler, the word quinn is derived from an Irish term for a chief. Both denote wisdom, although this is only evident if they act is a wise manner when faced with life or death matters. Such was the case from the women known as the Harlequin.

Although the more notable portions of their costumed careers were as antagonists and then allies of a pair of Gotham City caped crusaders, Duela Dent and Molly Maynne also infiltrated illegal gangs in order to bring them down from the inside. While Maynne did this initially as a reluctant member of the Injustice Society, in order to save the life of her arch-foe and true love, she years later did this in an official capacity. As for Dent, she ended up joining the Teen Titans in order to defeat various supervillains whom they faced.

Following the dissolution of Earth-One's Titans, Duela abandoned her alter ego as Harlequin (and alternatively, as Joker's Daughter) when she was recruited into the criminal organization known as M.A.Z.E. Conceiving the identity of the Card Queen, Dent used a variety of card-themed gadgets which she initially used against her former teammate Robin, then later used against M.A.Z.E. agents themselves when she and Robin defeated them.

Following the dissolution of Earth-Two's Injustice Society, Molly's alias came to the attention of the F.B.I., who recruited her as the Harlequin to become their secret agent H-9. Using her illusion-generating spectacles and trick mandolin, the Harlequin was able to defeat her old teammate Sportsmaster and his gang while secretly aiding Lois Lane and her husband, Superman!

Interestingly, while Duela’s half dozen adventures alongside Robin (and on occasion Batgirl) mirrored a similar number of Molly’s capers alongside Green Lantern, additional tales of the Earth-Two Harlequin were echoed in the battles between the Earth-One Green Lantern and his girlfriend Carol Ferris’ alter ego of the Star Sapphire. Decades later, when Maynne reappeared as the Harlequin to aid the young Infinity, Inc. in a few of their cases, this mirrored Dent's tales alongside the Teen Titans as a member.