Molly Mayne

Molly Mayne, formerly known as the Harlequin, is a fictional comic book superhero/villainess featured in titles published by DC Comics. She was originally introduced in the pages of All-American Comics #89 in September, 1947 as a foil for Green Lantern. These stories, set within the Golden Age era of DC Comics publishing have been retroactively attributed to Earth-Two continuity. Later stories revealed that Molly Mayne was not truly a villain, but rather was an undercover agent working for the FBI.

Biography
Molly Mayne was a costumed criminal from the 1940s who called herself the Harlequin. She became the enemy and later wife of Green Lantern (Alan Scott).

Having developed a crush on Scott, Mayne donned a colorful costume, which included harlequin glasses, a birthday hat, and a mandolin, and started a life of crime to attract his attention. Her crimes tended to be harmless and mostly for show, although the two clashed on several occasions in the late 1940s.

She briefly joined the Injustice Society until she turned on them by aiding the Justice Society of America. She had a deep running altruistic streak which occasionally led her to join forces with her enemy/would-be love interest. Despite being attracted to Harlequin, Alan Scott never entered into a relationship with her and she eventually gave up in despair. She made a deal with the government in which she went on intelligence missions in return for amnesty for her past crimes and then quietly retired. On one occasion, she assisted Green Lantern, Superman and Lois Lane in capturing another foe of her love, the Sportsmaster.

Years later, after the death of his first wife Rose/Thorn, Alan Scott realized that he had loved Molly all this time and they were married. As the years passed, a problem developed for the two; the Starheart (which gave Scott his powers) had reversed his aging processes, so he was physically a young man while Molly had since aged into an old woman. In despair over the rift this had caused between them, Molly sold her soul to the demon Neron in return for youth. Her body became that of a young woman (who had the power to create nightmares), but her soul remained in the underworld. Scott fought his way through Hell to obtain it, and with the help of the young Green Lantern (Kyle Rayner) returned it to the Harlequin's body, re-aging her but making her whole once again. Some time thereafter, Scott himself was returned to his true physical age, as well.

During the "Brightest Day" event, Alan's daughter Jennie Lynn-Hayden arrived at the Scott home in search of her father's old lantern. Molly informed her stepdaughter that Alan had been depressed in recent weeks, as Jenny had not been to visit her family since her resurrection at the close of the Blackest Night. Later, a doppelganger of the younger, villainous Molly was created by Alan's ring after he went insane and battled the Justice League. The doppelganger was briefly seen torturing Starman.

Molly Mayne and Alan Scott have remained happily married to this day.

Notes & Trivia



 * Molly Catherine Mayne, Molly Catherine Mayne-Scott and Molly Mayne-Scott all redirect to this page.


 * Molly Mayne received a character profile under the code-name Harlequin in Who's Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe, Volume X.


 * Although this character was originally introduced during DC's Earth-Two era of publication, her existence following the events of the 1985-86 limited series Crisis on Infinite Earths remains intact. However, some elements of the character's Pre-Crisis history may have been altered or removed for Post-Crisis New Earth continuity, and should be considered apocryphal.


 * In the original Pre-Crisis continuity, Molly was a genuine criminal with no ties to the FBI. After several encounters with Green Lantern, she decided to reform and give up her life of crime.


 * Other DC Comics characters named Harlequin include Duela Dent, who also went by the code-name, the Joker's Daughter; Marcie Cooper, who was a member of Injustice Unlimited and foe of Infinity, Inc. as well; an unidentified woman who called herself Harlequin, who once fought up against Alan Scott in the early 1990s as well as Harley Quinn, who is a foe of Batman.

Appearances

 * appearances
 * cameo appearances
 * reprint appearances
 * flashback appearances