It's not often that an animated spin-off of a comic creates a character so popular that the creators transfer that character back into the original comic, but that's exactly what happened with Harley Quinn. In Batman: The Animated Series, Harley was the girlfriend of the Joker, yet she became so popular that DC made her a piece of the comic book canon. Since then, Harley has become one of DC's most popular characters, even when she's not holding hands with a certain murderous psychopath.
Eventually, Harley was placed in a team known as "The Suicide Squad," and when DC rebooted its universe with The New 52, Harley was given her very own monthly series. Now, with the Harley Quinn Annual #1 set for release in just a few weeks, DC decided to take a unique approach with the book: the issue will be scratch-and-sniff. No joke.
The book will feature a number of different scents, including leather, suntan lotion, pizza and a distressing "mysterious compound." Something of note: the "mysterious compound" will not make it into the International version of the book due to apparent security issues, and the compound will be replaced by the smell of fresh cut grass.
In an interview with IGN, Harley Quinn writers Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti stated that certain parts of the issue will be "Rub-and-Smell," starting with Harley's leather bombshell outfit. The two also commented on how difficult it was to place not only the smells themselves, but where readers were supposed to rub on the page (for obvious reasons).
Scratch-and-sniff stickers originally became popular in the 1970s and '80s, and the microfragrance coating has been used on everything from compact discs to vinyl covers. Scratch-and-sniff scents were even used as early treatments for anosmia (loss of smell), though the practice has declined in recent years. Strangely enough, scratch-and-sniff has never made it to comics, most likely due to printing issues, and it seems that Harley Quinn Annual #1 is going to leave a unique mark on history.
Readers can expect to get their hands on Harley Quinn Annual #1 in all of its smelly glory when it hits store shelves on Oct. 29.
