The relationship of Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy has evolved over the years since their first encounter in a 1993 episode of Batman: The Animated Series. Before recently blossoming into a romance, the unlikely bonds of friendship were forged in stark opposite approaches to villainy: Ivy with her careful, methodical approach to large-scale social reform and Harley with her… cHaOs. Despite some bumps in the road, two of DC’s finest crime queens always seemed to find their way back to each other. 

While brainstorming new Iconix sets, the team dreamed up a Valentine’s Day scene in which Harley Quinn gives Poison Ivy a less-than-thoughtful gift of cut roses. That is where my creative journey with DC HeroClix Iconix: Harley Quinn Roses for Red begins. 

During my time as a WizKids team member, I was given the exciting opportunity to take the reins on creative direction for this project! The HeroClix Iconix line is particularly fun in that it allows for so much creativity and experimentation. Foundationally the goal is to capture iconic moments from comic history and beyond. Of course, so many characters transcend the boundaries of a single moment, so with HeroClix Iconix: Harley Quinn Roses for Red, the hope was to pay tribute to the essence of Harley Quinn, Poison Ivy, and their uniquely charming chemistry.

While delving into multiple decades worth of comic lore, I came across the story “Bosom Buddies”, collected in the Harley and Ivy Batman Adventures miniseries. To summarize, the story centers around a heist meant to secure a zombie plant that Poison Ivy hopes to use to further her villainous agenda. Plans go awry at the hands of Harley Quinn, the plant is destroyed, and the ladies find themselves locked up. It’s a very humorous tale of one of many misadventures that I highly recommend picking up if you haven’t already.

I was in luck, too, because the cover of the book showcases a piece of artwork by Bruce Timm that already featured about 80% of the attitude that we hoped to capture in the HeroClix sculpts. Additionally, the style from the Batman Adventures comic series seemed a perfect homage to both how much their relationship has grown and the roots of where it all began. I earmarked this as the main source material and continued looking into more work by Paul Dini and Bruce Timm.

Then I discovered the Mad Love storyline. The swooning pose of Harley Quinn on the cover was the perfect antithesis to the slouched, grumpy Poison Ivy from the cover of Harley and Ivy. And so it all started to come together. The final figures are more or less an amalgamation of cover art from Mad Love and Harley and Ivy #1, reimagined slightly to fit our own story.

With HeroClix Iconix, we also get to push the boundaries of box and card design, turning the whole package into a collectible work of art! Branching off of the Valentine’s Day theme, we decided to model the box after a box of chocolates, and some of the chocolates can even be seen as the backdrop for the figures inside. If you go through the mental checklist of obligatory February 14th fare, we covered roses, chocolate, and just needed a cheesy card. The character cards are inspired by the classic grade school Valentine’s complete with corny phrases and poetry. With that, I felt our mission was complete.

This project was a joy to work on and a wonderful learning experience. I hope that all of you HeroClix Masterminds enjoy playing out the story of these figures and get a kick out of the little details that make them special. 

DC HeroClix Iconix: Harley Quinn Roses for Red is now available at shop.wizkids.com and at your friendly local game store!

Thanks for reading!

—  Emily