Absolute Batman Reveals A Shocking Harley Quinn Twist

1 week ago 17

Published Jul 14, 2026, 2:00 PM EDT

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The following article contains spoilers for Absolute Batman #22.

One of the most shocking character transformations introduced in Absolute Batman so far is that of Harley Quinn. Instead of Joker's partner in crime and romance, she works with Batman to take down this universe's version of the Clown Prince of Crime.

However, it is actually a miracle that Absolute Harley Quinn ended up playing for the right team after the trauma she endured as a child. The most recent issue of Absolute Batman offers an unsettling look into her origins, complemented by a pair of earth-shattering reveals.

Absolute Harley Quinn's Mother Is Dr. Arkham

Most of Absolute Batman #22 is told from the perspective of Absolute Harley Quinn, who recounts a pivotal event from her childhood to Bruce Wayne while engaged in a cat-and-mouse game with the Absolute Robins. The story covers the Red Hood Gang leader's upbringing as the daughter of a single neurologist hiding a dark secret.

Harley admits to Batman that her mother is Dr. Arkham, a name that readers of Absolute Batman should recognize, and not just for its synonymity with a certain mental hospital from DC Comics' main timeline. She is the head researcher of the sinister experimental facility known as Ark M, where Bruce endured months of torture.

Absolute Harley Quinn and Dr. Arkham in Absolute Batman #22

Young Harley makes this discovery after finding an elevator hidden in her bedroom closet that leads directly to Ark M. After taking a tour of its cells and meeting the twisted Absolute versions of Tweedlee, Tweedleum, and Calendar Man, she comes across her mother, dressed in surgical garb soaked in blood in such a way that it resembles Harley's original design from Batman: The Animated Series.

Sadly, the sinister secret behind her mother's profession is not the only grim truth that Harley learns in this flashback, and it is the one detail from her story that she understandably chooses not to reveal to Batman.

Absolute Harley Quinn Is Absolute Joker's Daughter

Just seconds after making her way up the elevator from Ark M into her home, Young Harley Quinn bumps into the last person she expected to see, Jack Grimm V, otherwise known as Absolute Joker. Through this interaction, she makes a mindblowing, heart-rending discovery about this wicked, wealthy weirdo.

Her biological father is not the man she thought he was, but is, indeed, Grimm, a reveal that immediately motivates Young Harley to run away from home and never look back. To this day, she refuses to fully accept the truth about her paternal ancestry, an issue that Bruce Wayne can also relate to at the conclusion of Absolute Batman #22.

This issue is destined to go down in history for the amount of insane bombshells it drops on the reader, the last of which being that Bruce's father, Thomas Wayne, is still alive. The vigilante discovers Thomas' grave is empty when he receives a video call from Scarecrow, who then points the camera at a naked, emaciated, and chained-up elderly man begging the villain to let his son continue to believe he was murdered all those years ago.

Then again, many fans have theorized that "Thomas" is really Absolute Clayface, who appears more frightening in early peeks at the character than previous iterations, using his shapeshifting ability as part of a cruel trick on Bruce. Even so, it serves as a chilling moment for this stage in the hit comic, which has seen Absolute Joker and his allies really put the Dark Knight through the wringer with psychological torment.

As usual, Absolute Batman #22 is written by Absolute Universe overseer Scott Snyder. However, filling in for main artist Nick Dragotta, is Werther Dell'Edera, whose scary signature style of illustration, made famous by the Something is Killing the Children franchise, serves this especially dark chapter in the mega-popular DC title splendidly.

Absolute Batman #22 is now available where comic books are sold.