''Harley Quinn'' is an ongoing

American comic book An American comic book is a thin periodical originating in the United States, on average 32 pages, containing comics. While the form originated in 1933, American comic books first gained popularity after the 1938 publication of ''Action Comics'' ...

series featuring the

DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...

character

Harley Quinn Harley Quinn is a character (arts), character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Quinn was created by Paul Dini and Bruce Timm as a comic relief henchwoman for the supervillain Joker (character), Joker in ''Batman: The An ...

as its

protagonist A protagonist () is the main character of a story. The protagonist makes key decisions that affect the plot, primarily influencing the story and propelling it forward, and is often the character who faces the most significant obstacles. If a st ...

Publication history

Volume 1

While pursuing new assignments at DC Comics' offices in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

Karl Kesel Karl Kesel (born January 7, 1959, Victor, New York) is an American comics writer and inker whose works have primarily been under contract for DC Comics. He is a member of Periscope Studio and is best known for his collaborations with fellow artis ...

was approached by former DC editor Matt Idelson to create a pitch for Harley Quinn's first

ongoing series In comics, an ongoing series is a series that runs indefinitely. This is in contrast to limited series (a series intended to end after a certain number of issues thus limited), a one shot (a comic book which is not a part of an ongoing series), ...

, which Karl accepted, being a fan of the character after having read Dini's ''Mad Love''. Kesel chose

Terry Dodson Terry Dodson is an American comic book artist and penciller. He is best known for his work on titles such as ''Harley Quinn'', ''Trouble (comics), Trouble, Spider-Man/Black Cat: The Evil that Men Do'', ''Marvel Knights Spiderman, Marvel Knights: S ...

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 Rachel Dodson is an American comic book inker, who often works with her husband, Terry Dodson. Her work includes '' Marvel Knights: Spider-Man'', '' Spider-Man/Black Cat: The Evil that Men Do'' and '' Avenging Spider-Man'' for Marvel Comics and '' ...

, 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 Mike Huddleston is an American comic book artist. Biography Huddleston started working in comics in the mid-1990s at the age of 21, doing creator-owned projects for Spoon Ink and Caliber, as well as some work for DC Comics, including a short run ...

and

Troy Nixey Troy Nixey (born 12 April, 1972) is a Canadian comic book artist and film director. Comic books Nixey has written and illustrated for comic books such as '' Neil Gaiman's Only the End of the World Again'', ''Harley Quinn'', and ''The Matrix Com ...

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

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 Sam Humphries (born March 16, 1977) is an American comic book writer located in Los Angeles. Between 2018 and 2020, he co-hosted ''DC Daily'' on the DC Universe streaming platform. Early life Humphries was born in Annapolis, Maryland and grew ...

was the new writer for the series, with John Timms returning to provide art. The series ended in August 2020.

Volume 4

Collected editions

Volume 1

Volume 2

Volume 3

Volume 4

References

2000 comics debuts 2004 comics endings 2014 comics debuts 2016 comics endings 2016 comics debuts 2020 comics endings 2021 comics debuts Harley Quinn LGBT-related comics Supervillain comics Superhero comics DC Comics titles Comics about women {{DC-Comics-stub

Publication history

Volume 1

Volume 2

Volume 3

Volume 4

Collected editions

Volume 1

Volume 2

Volume 3

Volume 4

See also

References