Crazy Crusading Comrades' Creepy Clones

Cloning technology has been a much conjectured as a future reality since the atomic age began. On parallel planets, themselves known for producing near identical doppelgängers on each world, this has become a reality. Case in point, the business-suit busybody boys Jimmy Olsen and Johnny Thunder, friends of Superman!

On Earth-One, photo-journalist Jimmy Olsen of the Daily Planet had hundreds of stories he pursued which led him into a myriad of zany adventures over the years. Moreso than his Earth-Two counterpart on Earth-Two who was employed with the Daily Star, this Jimmy frequently employed the aid of his best friend Superman, whom he summoned whenever in need with his emergency signal watch which broadcast a high-pitch frequency only his friend could hear and from time-to-time adopted the stretchy alter ego of Elastic Lad.

On Earth-Two, amateur adventurer Johnny Thunder had hundreds of wacky tales he was involved with throughout the decades. While his Earth-One counterpart was busy leading his Lawless League gang, this Johnny was the first new recruit of the Justice Society of America, whom he shared several adventures with. During most of his fanatical forays, Johnny employed the aid of his stretchy Thunderbolt, whose powers protected Thunder from various threats and whom he could summon by saying the phrase Cei-U (or "Say You").

On occasion, both young men encountered multiple copies of themselves. Jimmy met his clones created in Project Cadmus, who were tasked as guards of the government facility. Johnny spawned his own clones whom he unleashed upon the Black Dragon Society of Imperial Japan who were attacking America.

Of course, there were several other clones developed by various intellectuals for a variety of purposes, some for the betterment of man and some for ill-gotten gains. Some of these were:

• Supergirl's miniature clones merged to become Linda Danvers II, Power Girl's cloned cells extended her life and youth

• Clones of Manhunter agents Paul "Manhunter" Kirk and Molly "Harlequin" Mayne spawned to dominate their Earths.

• T.O. Morrow and Per Degaton's temporal clones whom they used as agents against the Justice League and Justice Society.

• Sinestro's clones whom he used as pawns of both Earths versus the Green Lanterns arch-foe Hal  Jordan and new foe Alan Scott.

• Solomon Grundy and his various clones on Earths One and Two.
  

• Bizarro and Funny Face clones of heroes and villains who bedevils the Supermen of twin Earths Kal-El and Kal-L.

• Clones of Justice League & Justice Society members who had short-lived costumed careers of their own.

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.

The Many Faces of the Harlequin

While Robin the Boy Wonder had his fair share of colorful crooked adversaries, such as Crazy Quilt, his most persistent opponent was never an actual villain. She only played them, or rather, their fictional children. This is the strange story of Duela Dent… and her mirror image on a parallel planet… Molly Maynne. Or, as they are more famously (infamously?) known, the Harlequin!

Duela Dent of Earth-One began her legacy as Joker Daughter, mimicking the gas and gag gadgets of the Crown Prince of Crime. Following this, she next adopted the alias of Catgirl, this time proclaiming herself the child of Catwoman while using her own cat-of-nine-tails and catarangs. After this, she next appeared as the second generation Scarecrow known as Scarecrone, utilizing a version of fear gas. Still later as Riddler’s Daughter and finally Penguin’s Daughter, she wielded a riddle-gun and a helicopter umbrella, respectively. Once her “crime  spree” was over and she proved her resourcefulness to Robin by both outwitting him and guessing his secret identity as Dick Grayson, her end goal was realized. What was that?

Molly Maynne of Earth-Two stuck with her Harlequin alias throughout her criminal capers, although thanks to her illusion-generating spectacles she was able to alter the perceptions of her arch-foe and secret crush, the Green Lantern as well as other onlookers. These glasses coupled with her mandolin weapon and stylized Harlequin-car led to her being recruited into the Injustice Society, although she used her membership with them to betray them to the Lantern and his Justice Society allies. What became of her?

Robin sponsored Duela's membership into the Teen Titans as the Harlequin. She would serve with this team on several cases before they disbanded, then aid Robin as the red-haired Card Queen in defeating the criminal organization known as M.A.Z.E. before finally retiring. She's reunite with Robin and the Titans later during Donna "Wonder Girl" Troy's wedding.

Molly later joined the F.B.I. as the Harlequin, secretly working alongside her one-time foe on select cases such as assisting "Mr. and Mrs. Superman", Lois Lane and her husband Clark Kent's alter ego. Decades later, she reunited with and soon after married Green Lantern's alter ego Alan Scott.

The inventive resourcefulness coupled with the athletic prowess of Duela Dent and Molly Maynne was unmatched by most of their peers, and led to their recruitment into teams of superhuman individuals. This led to their brief yet impactful costumed careers as the Harlequin*.

* While Maynne never adopted other aliases as had Dent, other women on Molly's Earth filled similar roles to those of Duela's other alter egos. For example, Dianne Greyton as the Spider Widow was similar in appearance and modus operandi to Joker's Daughter and the Scarecrone.

Abnormal Aliens Affect Amoral Adolescents

Violet Harper was what was termed a "bad girl", fomenting trouble both as a young girl and into her latter adolescence. This led to Harper and her boyfriend in o selling stolen goods in the European country of Markovia, until they were tracked down and murdered. An alien Aurakle, observing this event, merged its globe form with Violet’s human body. This created the new entity that became known as Gabrielle Doe, and her superheroine alter ego of Halo.

Marcie Cooper was a stereotypical “good girl”, and in her late teenage years first met a pair of mutants whom she and her sister Sharon double-dated. She initially dating Norda “Northwind” Cantrell, whom she later attended a music concert with that had been interrupted by the alien Chrona. Marcie later switched boyfriends and attached herself to Todd “Obsidian” Rice when Norda left America. Cooper was secretly an agent of the android Manhunters sent to infiltrate Infinity, Inc., encouraged by her grandfather Dan Richards who was  recruited by the androids when he adopted their name for his superhero identity.

Although Violet never had a sibling, her counterpart Marcie’s aforementioned sister had a counterpart. This doppelgänger was the insidious contract killer known only as Syonide, who had initially slain Violet and was sent by her boss gang-lord Tobias Whale to finish the job with Gabrielle’s reappearance. In the end, it was Syonide who lost her life. Sharon was simply cut off from Marcie’s life when the latter became a Manhunter agent, as unlike her sister she sought an ordinary life away from the costumed careers of heroes and villains.

While Violet and the Aurakle/Gabrielle only shared Harper’s body, Halo redeemed the woman she formerly had been. The same could not be said for Marcie and Chroma, who never actually interacted during the one occasion where they were both present. However, Cooper’s amoral demeanor as the second Harlequin supervillainess lined up with Chroma’s, seeking to satisfy only her own desires at the cost of others.

Manhunter...Meet the Manhunter...And the Other Manhunter...Oh, and the Manhunters!

Paul Kirk began life as Rick Nelson, big game hunter turned crime fighter to avenge the death of his friend Inspector Donovan of Empire City of Earth-Two. Unaware that Donovan had himself been recruited into the fraternity of the Manhunters, secretly an armada of android troops originally created on the planet Oa in a parallel universe, Rick quickly assumed to new alter egos. Borrowing the identity of a former manhunter in civilian clothes named Paul Kirk, the adventurous Nelson also assumed the costumed career of those who recruited him. 

Given a special uniform modeled after the androids by the Grand Master who had originated in that other universe, Kirk as the Manhunter had a short lived yet prominent career, even joining the All-Star Squadron during the war time years in the 1940s. And then, Kirk hung up the red and blue and returned to his first love hunting in Africa, after he along with other heroes were recruited to Earth-One* when recruited by fellow former All-Star Robotman, these men becoming reacquainted with their long lost All-Star teammate Hank "Steel" Heywood".

However, while stalking one prey, Kirk let down his guard and was stampede. Fortunately, Heywood had set up an organization known as the Council to enforce order on this world as his Squadron had on Earth-Two, although without the moral factor in the equation. Kept in a coma for decades while his body was repaired, the Council scientists cloned Kirk's body to make duplicates of the hero to be their personal army. 

Back on his homeworld of Earth-Two, another Manhunter agent named Molly Mayne assumed the alter ego of the Harlequin. She was specifically assigned to test and torment her world's Green Lantern, Alan Scott, whom the android Manhunters felt was as much as threat as their former Guardian masters and their Green Lantern Corp in Earth-One's universe. In addition to the illusion-generating eyewear and special mandolin weaponry gifted her by her android benefactors, the Manhunters also gave her Harlequin clones who mindlessly followed her will during one adventure versus the Lantern. What became of these faux-femme fatales after the Harlequin was defeated is unknown.

When revived, Kirk was trained further in combat skills with the intent of leading these clones for the Council, and Heywood's, personal agenda. Instead, Kirk rebelled and joined Interpol agent Christine St. Clair and a man named Nitobe in defeating the Council, and destroy all the clones. All, that is, save one who would infiltrate and lead the Secret Society of Super-Villains in a battle to stem the tide of Darkseid's invasion of Earth-One. He perished trying to end the threat bend the Society in Darkseid.

* Paul Kirk and his eleven All-Star Squadron compatriots who migrated to Earth-One on or after 1945 had their places taken over in Earth-Two’s universe by the Justice Society of post-Crisis Earth-0, who protected that realm from the incursion of forces in an adjacent faux-Asgard dimension. In time, the Society were themselves replaced by the dozen Daemen of their home reality, so that Society could return to Earth-0.

Green Lantern Corps! 

The Harlequins of Two Earths: Duela Dent and Molly Maynne

Duela Dent began her costumed career impersonating the daughters of various supervillains from Gotham City. Earth-One's Robin and later Batgirl repeatedly faced Duela in her aliases as Joker's Daughter, Catgirl, Scarecrone, as well as the daughter of the Riddler and Penguin. Each of these forays into criminality were staged ahead of time, allowing Dent to engage in and impress the ex-Boy Wonder. Her ultimate goal was to become a member of the Teen Titans, which she soon became during their initial incarnation. 

Molly Maynne began her costumed career adopting the alias of the Harlequin. A secretary for radio announcer Alan Scott at Gotham City radio station WXYZ, she developed a romantic crush for Scott's alter ego the Green Lantern, who was focused on his career as a crime fighter. Seeing this as the only way to attract his attention, Molly employed her illusion generating eyewear, trick mandolin and stylized car as a supervillian. However, rather than having evil intent, Harlequin ended up often working alongside Green Lantern in defeating her criminal henchmen.

Duela eventually joined the Teen Titans, adopting her most notable alter ego as the Harlequin, where she served alongside that team for a number of adventures. When the Titans eventually dissolved, Dent infilitrated the evil  organization known as M.A.Z.E. as the pseudo-crook known as the Card Queen. After helping Robin in defeating this gang, Duela finally retired from her superheroine escapades, and later reunited with Robin and the Titans during their teammate Wonder Girl's wedding. Duela's true origins remained a mystery. 

Molly eventually was recruited in the Injustice Society, and when she betrayed them to aid Green Lantern and his Justice Society allies, she distanced herself from other supervillains. She later on became a secret government agent in the late 1940s and early 1950s, and decades later reunited with Green Lantern when she helped him defeat his former wife, Rose "Thorn" Canton. Following her death, Molly and Alan finally wed as husband and wife.

Leading Ladies of Living Legends: Girlfriends of Good Guys

1. You have your Hawkmen and Hawkgirls, Supermen and Lois Lanes, Batmen and Catwomen. Virtual mirror images of one another, marital matches of magnificent marvels. Then there are these heroes comrades of the Justice League and Society of America... how had their love life mirrors their cosmic twins a universe away?  

• Remarkably similar, actually, as both Barry "Flash" Allen and Jay "Flash" Garrick immediately found their true loves even before their superhero careers began. However, only Jay trusted his girl enough to divulge his dual identity... something Barry would hesitate doing even up to a year after they were married. 

• Then there was Ray "Atom" Palmer and his years-long fiancee Jean Loring, the two have a tumultuous relationship such as when Ray's lab assistant Enrichetta Negrini's presence instilled jealously in her heart, and when Jean becomes a supervillain gaining vast mental powers before they finally wed... though sadly they later divorce. Then there is Ray's twin Al "Atom" Pratt who parted from his childhood love Mary James for a few years, dated Marion Thayer... before eventually returning to then marrying Mary afterwards.

• Finally, there was the eternal angst between the competitive Hal "Green Lantern" Jordan and his boss Carol Ferris, similar to the professionally driven Alan "Green Lantern" Scott and his secretary Molly Mayne... keeping these two couples apart longer than necessary. Even when Carol and Molly became supervillainesses, there was still romantic tension with the objects of their desire. Sure, other women entered into the mix for the guys' affection, such as Olivia Reynolds and Irene Miller. In the end, however, both former femme fatales got their men.

• Then there were the romances that never were... on Earth-One Black Canary ended up with Green Arrow while on Earth-Two Canary’s mom settled for detective Larry Lance instead leaving that Earth’s Arrow a bachelor. Or Aquaman meeting his maiden Mera on Earth-One while on Earth-Two his doppleganger continued to swim the seven seas solo. Considering that these two lady-less legends debuted in More Fun Comics, one wonders was it more fun for them as single guys?