Harley Quinn is an ongoing American comic book series featuring the DC Comics character Harley Quinn as its protagonist.
Publication history Volume 1 While pursuing new assignments at DC Comics' offices in New York City, Karl Kesel was approached by former DC editor Matt Idelson to create a pitch for Harley Quinn's first ongoing series, which Kesel accepted, being a fan of the character after having read Paul Dini's Mad Love. Kesel chose Terry Dodson as the artist for the series, whose art Kesel thought complemented the character's cartoonish roots and worldview. Kesel called Dodson and asked him if he was interested on working on the comic, to which Dodson agreed, and the two worked for a month on their proposal for the series, which was to make a comic about "love gone horribly, terribly wrong". The proposal was accepted by DC Comics, and the pair began work on the series, with Kesel and Dodson both being involved in the storytelling, and Dodson bringing in his wife, Rachel Dodson, to ink. Kesel's run on the series began being published in December 2000, and was about Harley Quinn leaving the Joker and becoming a solo criminal, alongside a supporting cast of henchmen named the Quinntets. Because of underwhelming sales, his 25-issue run ended in December 2002, and DC decided to change the creative team; the series was given to writer A.J. Lieberman and artists Mike Huddleston and Troy Nixey by Idelson, and took on a grittier and darker direction, contrasting Kesel's run. The decision renewed interest in the character, but the sales remained lackluster and the series was cancelled in 2003.
Volume 2 A second ongoing series as part of The New 52 was launced, written by husband and wife Jimmy Palmiotti and Amanda Conner, with the interior art illustrated by Chad Hardin and John Timms, explored Harley Quinn leaving Gotham City and starting her own life in her hometown of Brooklyn, depicting her as a landlord in Coney Island, where she shares an apartment building with a supporting cast of "sideshow freaks". Considered to be the most defining writers to work on the character since Dini and Bruce Timm, Palmiotti and Conner reinvented Harley Quinn as an antihero who has left her controlling relationship with the Joker behind.
In contrast to Harley Quinn's depiction in Adam Glass' run on Suicide Squad, Palmiotti and Conner wrote Harley Quinn with a lighthearted, cartoonish, and humorous tone. Harley was given a roller derby-inspired costume designed by Conner, which incorporates Conner's favorite aspects of Harley Quinn's early costume and her costume in Glass' run of Suicide Squad. The series also brought back Harley Quinn's red and black motif.
The New 52 Harley Quinn series received positive reception, and was also one of DC Comics' top-selling series, inspiring multiple spin-offs. The series was ended for the DC Rebirth relaunch of DC's titles.
Volume 3 Harley Quinn's relaunched ongoing series is a direct continuation of the former, with Conner and Palmiotti still writing for the character, and Hardin and Timms illustrating the interior art. After having written 64 issues of Harley Quinn's ongoing series, Conner and Palmiotti's five-year run ended with the 34th issue of the series in December 2017, with writer Frank Tieri and artist Inaki Miranda taking over the title. Tieri's run on the series ended with the series' 42nd issue, followed by a two-issue storyline written by Christopher Sebela and illustrated by Mirka Andolfo. By issue #45 in July 2018, Sam Humphries was the new writer for the series, with John Timms returning to provide art. The series ended in August 2020.
Volume 4 In DC's 2021 relaunch of its monthly comics titles, Infinite Frontier, Harley Quinn moves back to Gotham City as a superheroine, where she frequently interacts with and aids the Batman family, and she is given a new design by Riley Rossmo. Harley Quinn's fourth ongoing series, written by Stephanie Phillips and illustrated by Rossmo, depicts her "actively looking to make up for her past sins", alongside a former Joker henchman named Kevin. Harley Quinn also has a prominent role in the "Fear State" crossover event.
In January 2022, Phillips confirmed Harley would be resuming her previous career as a psychologist.
Collected editions Vol. # Title Material collected Pages Publication date ISBN Harley Quinn (2007–2014) 1 Preludes and Knock Knock Jokes Harley Quinn #1–7 192 2 Night and Day Harley Quinn #8–13 and Harley Quinn: Our Worlds at War 190 3 Welcome to Metropolis Harley Quinn #14–25 288 4 Vengeance Unlimited Harley Quinn #26–38 314 5 Harley Quinn by Karl Kesel and Terry Dodson: The Deluxe Edition Book One Harley Quinn #1–8 224 6 Harley Quinn by Karl Kesel and Terry Dodson: The Deluxe Edition Book Two Harley Quinn #9–19 288 Harley Quinn (vol. 2) (2014–2016) 1 Hot in the City Harley Quinn (vol. 2) #0–8 224 2 Power Outage Harley Quinn (vol. 2) #9–13; Harley Quinn Futures End #1; Harley Quinn Invades Comic-Con International San Diego; material from Secret Origin #4 208 3 Kiss Kiss Bang Stab Harley Quinn (vol. 2) #14–16, Annual #1; Harley Quinn Holiday Special #1; Harley Quinn Valentine's Special #1 168 4 A Call to Arms Harley Quinn (vol. 2) #17–21 and Harley Quinn Road Trip Special #1 176 5 The Joker's Last Laugh Harley Quinn (vol. 2) #22–25 and Harley Quinn: Be Careful What You Wish For 144 6 Black, White and Red All Over Harley Quinn (vol. 2) #26–30 144 7 Harley Quinn Omnibus by Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti Vol. One Harley Quinn (vol. 2) #0–16, Annual #1; Harley Quinn: Futures End #1; Harley Quinn Invades Comic-Con International San Diego; Harley Quinn Holiday Special #1; Harley Quinn Valentine's Special #1; Harley Quinn and Power Girl #1–6; material from Secret Origin #4 768 8 Harley Quinn Omnibus by Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti Vol. Two Harley Quinn (vol. 2) #17–30, Harley Quinn Road Trip Special #1, Harley Quinn: Be Careful What You Wish For – Special Edition, Harley Quinn and Her Gang of Harleys #1–6 and Harley's Little Black Book #1–6 864 Harley Quinn (vol. 3) (2016–2018) 1 Die Laughing Harley Quinn (vol. 3) #1–7 168 2 Joker Loves Harley Harley Quinn (vol. 3) #8–13 144 3 Red Meat Harley Quinn (vol. 3) #14–21 168 4 Harley Quinn: The Rebirth Deluxe Edition Book 1 Harley Quinn (vol. 3) #1–13 304 5 Surprise, Surprise Harley Quinn (vol. 3) #22–27 and Harley Quinn 25th Anniversary Special 168 6 Vote Harley Harley Quinn (vol. 3) #28–34 168 7 Harley Quinn: The Rebirth Deluxe Edition Book 2 Harley Quinn (vol. 3) #14–27 and Harley Quinn 25th Anniversary Special 384 8 Angry Bird Harley Quinn (vol. 3) #35–42 192 9 Harley vs. Apokolips Harley Quinn (vol. 3) #43–49 168 10 Harley Quinn: The Rebirth Deluxe Edition Book 3 Harley Quinn (vol. 3) #28–42 392 11 Harley Destroys the Universe Harley Quinn (vol. 3) #50–54 and 56 160 12 The Trials of Harley Quinn Harley Quinn (vol. 3) #55 and 57–63 208 13 Harley Quinn Omnibus by Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti Three Harley Quinn (vol. 3) #1–34, Harley Quinn 25th Anniversary Special #1 and material from Batman Day Special #1 800 14 The Final Trial Harley Quinn (vol. 3) #64–69 and Harley Quinn: Villain of the Year #1 208 15 Hollywood or Die Harley Quinn (vol. 3) #70–75 176 Harley Quinn (vol. 4) (2021–present) 1 No Good Deed Batman: Urban Legends #1 and Harley Quinn (vol. 4) #1–6 168 2 Keepsake Harley Quinn (vol. 4) #7–12, Annual 2021 168 3 Verdict Harley Quinn (vol. 4) #13-17 and Harley Quinn 30th Anniversary Special 144 4 Task Force XX Harley Quinn (vol. 4) #18-21, 2022 Annual #1 and material from Shadow War Zone #1 168 5 Who Killed Harley Quinn? Harley Quinn (vol. 4) #22-27 168 1 Girl In A Crisis Harley Quinn (vol. 4) #28-31 and Knight Terrors: Harley Quinn #1-2 196 2 Eye Don't Like Me? Harley Quinn (vol. 4) #32-37 176 3 Clown About Town Harley Quinn (vol. 4) #38-43 176 1 Destructive Comics Harley Quinn (vol. 4) #44-49 152 2 Friends with Detriments Harley Quinn (vol. 4) #50-57 216
DC Finest
Title Material collected Pages Publication date ISBN DC FInest: Harley Quinn: Birth of the Mirth Harley Quinn (vol. 1) #1-8 Action Comics #765 Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #126 The Batman Adventures #12 Azrael: Agent of the Bat #60 Batman #570, 573–574 Batman: Shadow of the Bat #93 Detective Comics #737, 740–741 Catwoman #82–84, 89 The Batman Adventures: Mad Love #1 Batman: Harley Quinn #1 Batman: Gotham Knights #14 624 The Ballad of Harley Quinn Harley Quinn (vol. 1) #9-25 Harley Quinn: Our Worlds at War #1 Harley and Ivy: Love on the Lam #1 Gotham Girls #1-5616
Other books Title Material collected Writer and artist Pages Publication date ISBN Batman: Harley and Ivy Batman: Harley and Ivy #1–3; Harley and Ivy: Love on the Lam; a story from Batman: Black and White Vol. 2 Paul Dini, Judd Winick (story)Bruce Timm, Joe Chiodo (art) 136 July 2007 Batman: Mad Love and Other Stories The Batman Adventures: Mad Love, Batman Adventures Annual #1–2, Batman Adventures Holiday Special, Adventures in the DC Universe #3 and Batman Black and White #1 Paul Dini, Bruce Timm, Glen Murakami (story) Bruce Timm, Mike Parobeck, Matt Wagner, Dan DeCarlo, Klaus Janson, and Glen Murakami (art) 208 Batman Adventures: Mad Love Deluxe Edition The Batman Adventures: Mad Love Paul Dini (story)Bruce Timm (art) 144 Harley and Ivy: The Deluxe Edition Batman: Harley and Ivy #1–3, Batman Adventures Annual #1, Batman Adventures Holiday Annual #1, Batman: Gotham Knights #14 and Batman: Black and White #3 Various 176 Harley Quinn and Power Girl Harley Quinn and Power Girl #1–6 Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti (story)Stéphane Roux (art) 144 Harley Quinn's Gang of Harleys Harley Quinn and Her Gang of Harleys #1–6 Frank Tieri and Jimmy PalmiottiMauricet (art) 152 Harley's Little Black Book Harley's Little Black Book #1–8 Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti (story)Amanda Conner, John Timms, Mauricet, Joseph Michael Linsner, Billy Tucci, Flaviano, Neal Adams, and Simon Bisley (art) 256 Harley Loves Joker Harley Loves Joker #1–2 and backstories from Harley Quinn (vol. 3) #17–25 Paul Dini and Jimmy Palmiotti (story)Bret Blevins and J. Bone 128 Old Lady Harley Old Lady Harley #1–5 and Harley Quinn (vol. 3) #42 Frank Tieri (story)Inaki Miranda, Tom Derenick, and Mauricet (art) 152 Harley & Ivy Meet Betty & Veronica Harley & Ivy Meet Betty & Veronica #1–6 Marc Andreyko and Paul Dini (story)Laura Braga (art) 160 Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy #1–6 Jody Houser (story)Adriana Melo, Wade Von Grawbadger, and Mark Morales (art) 152 Harley Quinn Black + White + Red Harley Quinn Black + White + Red #1–17 and two new original stories published here for the first time ever Various 224 Harley Quinn: The Animated Series Vol. 1: The Eat. Bang! Kill. Tour Harley Quinn: The Animated Series Vol. 1: The Eat. Bang! Kill. Tour #1–6 Tee Franklin (story)Max Sarin and Erich Owen (art) 144
DC Black Label Harley Quinn stars in various series under DC Comics' adult-oriented Black Label imprint.