Harley Quinn
Who is Harley Quinn?
Dr. Harleen Frances Quinzel’s life took a strange turn when she ended up having the Joker as a patient. The Joker convinced the psychiatrist to not only free him from Arkham Asylum but also to join him in bringing his unique brand of insanity to Gotham. In doing this she took on the identity of Harley Quinn
Quick History
Originally intended as a one time character, Harley Quinn first appeared as an accomplice to the Joker in a 1992 episode of Batman: The Animated Series. Her character’s design was inspired by a scene from Days of our Lives with actress Arleen Sorkin, who would then be the first person to voice Harley as well. She proved to be a big hit with fans and made numerous appearances throughout the series, even staring in an episode based almost entirely on her.
Shortly after her appearances on television, she made her debut in the world of comics. She started out with a few appearances in the Batman comics and in the one shot comic The Batman Adventures: Mad Love, now collected in Batman: Mad Love and Other Stories. Then she moved on to get her own solo series in 2000. After this she made sporadic appearances in comics before becoming a regular in the new series Gotham City Sirens. As the New 52 came about, Sirens was canceled and Harley joined the new Suicide Squad series. A little while later, Harley also received her own series once again. Currently she still headlines her own series, is a regular in the Suicide Squad series, and almost always has some sort of mini-series going.
Powers & Abilities
Harley Quinn has only has a slight degree of enhanced agility and strength, given to her by her friend/lover Poison Ivy. From this she is also immune to many poisons, with an added immunity to Joker Toxin as well. Harley is also an impressive acrobat which she uses in her fighting style. She is easily able to use acrobatics to avoid being hit, to move in for an attack, or flee the scene.
Surprisingly, Harley also has a genius level IQ and, at times, can be seen as being incredibly smart. However these abilities are often hampered or halted entirely by her insanity.
Greatest Hits
Batman: Mad Love and Other Stories
This is the original Harley Quinn comic and the most true to the television show from which she was created. The comic is in continuity with Batman: The Animated Series and mostly sets out to further the backstory established there. Many view this as the definitive Harley story as it shows her at her best and worst.
Read this if you want to experience one of the best Harley stories out there written by the man who created her.
Collected in Batman: Mad Love and Other Stories.
Harley Quinn Vol. 1- Hot in the City
This is Harley’s entrance into both the New 52 and to modern comics in general. No longer wearing her jester outfit, this series sees Harley as she mysteriously receives a building. From there, we follow her misadventures as a landlady, her brief return to psychiatry, and her attempts to avoid assassination.
Read this if you have a dark sense of humor and want to see a more modern day version of Harley Quinn.
Collected in Harley Quinn Vol. 1- Hot in the City (Review)
Character Timeline
[accordion][accordion-item title=”Post-Crisis” state=closed]
| Harley Quinn | |||
| Dec-00 | 1 | Harley Quinn: Preludes and Knock Knock Jokes | |
| Jan-01 | 2 | ||
| Feb-01 | 3 | ||
| Mar-01 | 4 | ||
| Apr-01 | 5 | ||
| May-01 | 6 | ||
| Jun-01 | 7 | ||
| Jul-01 | 8 | Harley Quinn: Night and Day | |
| Aug-01 | 9 | ||
| Sep-01 | 10 | ||
| Oct-01 | 11 | ||
| Nov-01 | 12 | ||
| Dec-01 | 13 | ||
| Jan-02 | 14 | Harley Quinn: Welcome to Metropolis | |
| Feb-02 | 15 | ||
| Mar-02 | 16 | ||
| Apr-02 | 17 | ||
| May-02 | 18 | ||
| Jun-02 | 19 | ||
| Jul-02 | 20 | ||
| Aug-02 | 21 | ||
| Sep-02 | 22 | ||
| Oct-02 | 23 | ||
| Nov-02 | 24 | ||
| Dec-02 | 25 | ||
| Jan-03 | 26 | Harley Quinn: Vengeance Unlimited | |
| Feb-03 | 27 | ||
| Mar-03 | 28 | ||
| Apr-03 | 29 | ||
| May-03 | 30 | ||
| Jun-03 | 31 | ||
| Jul-03 | 32 | ||
| Aug-03 | 33 | ||
| Sep-03 | 34 | ||
| Oct-03 | 35 | ||
| Nov-03 | 36 | ||
| Dec-03 | 37 | ||
| Jan-04 | 38 | ||
| Jul-09 | Gotham City Sirens | ||
| Aug-09 | 1 | Gotham City Sirens Book One | |
| Sep-09 | 2 | ||
| Oct-09 | 3 | ||
| Nov-09 | 4 | ||
| Dec-09 | 5 | ||
| Jan-10 | 6 | ||
| Feb-10 | 7 | ||
| Mar-10 | 8 | ||
| Apr-10 | 9 | ||
| May-10 | 10 | ||
| Jun-10 | 11 | ||
| Jul-10 | 12 | ||
| Aug-10 | 13 | ||
| Sep-10 | 14 | Gotham City Sirens Book Two | |
| Oct-10 | 15 | ||
| Nov-10 | 16 | ||
| Dec-10 | |||
| Jan-11 | 17 | ||
| Feb-11 | 18 | ||
| Mar-11 | 19 | ||
| Apr-11 | 20 | ||
| May-11 | 21 | ||
| Jun-11 | 22 | ||
| Jul-11 | 23 | ||
| Aug-11 | 24 | ||
| Sep-11 | 25 | ||
| Oct-11 | 26 | ||
[/accordion-item][accordion-item title=”New 52″ state=closed]
| Suicide Squad | ||||||||
| Nov-11 | 1 | Suicide Squad Vol. 1: Kicked in the Teeth | ||||||
| Dec-11 | 2 | |||||||
| Jan-12 | 3 | |||||||
| Feb-12 | 4 | |||||||
| Mar-12 | 5 | |||||||
| Apr-12 | 6 | |||||||
| May-12 | 7 | |||||||
| Jun-12 | 8 | Suicide Squad Vol. 2: Basilisk Rising | ||||||
| Jul-12 | 9 | |||||||
| Aug-12 | 10 | |||||||
| Sep-12 | 11 | |||||||
| Oct-12 | 12 | |||||||
| Nov-12 | 0 | |||||||
| Dec-12 | 13 | |||||||
| Jan-13 | 14 | Suicide Squad Vol. 3: Death is for Suckers | ||||||
| Feb-13 | 15 | |||||||
| Mar-13 | 16 | |||||||
| Apr-13 | 17 | |||||||
| May-13 | 18 | |||||||
| Jun-13 | 19 | |||||||
| Jul-13 | 20 | Suicide Squad Vol. 4: Discipline and Punish | ||||||
| Aug-13 | 21 | |||||||
| Sep-13 | 22 | |||||||
| Oct-13 | 23 | |||||||
| Nov-13 | ||||||||
| Dec-13 | 24 | Suicide Squad Vol. 5: Walled In | Harley Quinn | |||||
| Jan-14 | 25 | 1 | Harley Quinn Vol. 1: Hot in the City (review) | |||||
| Feb-14 | 26 | 2 | ||||||
| Mar-14 | 27 | 3 | ||||||
| Apr-14 | 28 | 4 | ||||||
| May-14 | 29 | 5 | ||||||
| Jun-14 | 6 | |||||||
| Jul-14 | 30 | 7 | ||||||
| Aug-14 | New Suicide Squad | 8 | ||||||
| Sep-14 | 1 | New Suicide Squad Vol. 1: Pure Insanity | 9 | Harley Quinn Vol. 2: Power Outage | ||||
| Oct-14 | 2 | 10 | ||||||
| Nov-14 | ||||||||
| Dec-14 | 3 | 11 | ||||||
| 2014 | A1 | Vol. 3 | ||||||
| Jan-15 | 4 | 12 | Vol. 2 | |||||
| Feb-15 | 5 | 13 | ||||||
| Mar-15 | 6 | 14 | Harley Quinn Vol. 3: Kiss Kiss Bang Stab | |||||
| Apr-15 | 7 | |||||||
| May-15 | 8 | 15 | ||||||
| Jun-15 | 16 | |||||||
| Jul-15 | ||||||||
| Aug-15 | 9 | New Suicide Squad Vol. 2: Monsters | 17 | Harley Quinn Vol. 4- A Call to Arms | ||||
| Sep-15 | 10 | 18 | ||||||
| Oct-15 | 11 | 19 | ||||||
| Nov-15 | 12 | 20 | ||||||
| Dec-15 | 13 | Vol. 3 | 21 | |||||
| 2015 | A1 | Vol. 2 | ||||||
| Jan-16 | 14 | New Suicide Squad Vol. 3: Freedom | 22 | Harley Quinn Vol. 5- The Joker’s Last Laugh | ||||
| Feb-16 | 15 | 23 | ||||||
| Mar-16 | 16 | 24 | ||||||
| Apr-16 | 17 | New Suicide Squad Vol. 4: Kill Anything | 25 | Harley’s Gang of Harleys | ||||
| May-16 | 18 | 26 | Harley Quinn Vol. 6: Black, White and Red All Over | |||||
| Jun-16 | 19 | 27 | 1 | Harley Quinn’s Gang of Harleys | ||||
| Jul-16 | 20 | 28 | 2 | |||||
| Aug-16 | 21 | 29 | 3 | |||||
| Sep-16 | 22 | 30 | ||||||
| Oct-16 | 4&5 | |||||||
| Nov-16 | 6 | |||||||
[/accordion-item][accordion-item title=”Rebirth” state=closed]Coming Soon[/accordion-item][/accordion]