Harley Quinn Reading Order

Harley Quinn has become one of the most popular characters in the DC Universe, rivaling the likes of fellow 90’s creation Deadpool in terms of rapid rise in profile.

Harleen Quinzel, aka Harley Quinn, is one of the most fascinating Batman Universe characters, the rare Batman villain that actually originated from outside of comic books (on the excellent Batman: The Animated Series).

Her creators, Paul Dini and Bruce Timm, brought her from TV to the DC Comics Universe, and Harley has been a mainstay ever since. From her tumultuous, troubling relationship with the Joker through her more recent ties to Suicide Squad, Harley Quinn is a top tier DC villain / antihero through and through.

Below you’ll find a complete chronology and timeline to Harley Quinn’s comic book appearances and trade collections.

Related Reading Orders:

Batman

Robin

Suicide Squad

Harley Quinn Comics Reading Order 

Batman: Mad Love and Other Stories

Collects: Batman Adventures Annual #1-2, Batman Adventures Holiday Special, Adventures In The Dc Universe #3 And Batman Black And White #1

The comic book adaptation of Harley Quinn’s most famous Batman: The Animated Series story, detailing the origins of Harleen Quinzel and the Joker. Paul Dini and Bruce Timm detail how someone like Dr. Quinzel could fall for a man like the Joker, and what that means for the future of Harley Quinn. Includes prominent cameos from Poison Ivy as well.

Harley and Ivy: The Deluxe Edition

Collects: Batman: Harley And Ivy #1-3, Batman Adventures Annual #1, Batman Adventures Holiday Annual #1, Batman And Robin Adventures #8, Batgirl Adventures #1, Batman: Gotham Knights #14 And Batman: Black And White #3

All of the team-ups between Harley and Ivy by Batman: The Animated Series creative geniuses Paul Dini and Bruce Timm. Only features a very minor amount of overlap with the next collection on the list, with Gotham Knights #14 and Batman: Black and White #3 showing up in both collections.

Batman: Harley Quinn

Collects: (Late 90’s To Early 2000’s) Batman: Harley Quinn #1, Batman: Gotham Knights #14, #30, (2007, From The Paul Dini Run On Detective) Detective Comics #831, #837, (2010 One-Shot As Part Of Joker’s Asylum Miniseries) Joker’S Asylum Ii: Harley Quinn #1, (After New 52) Batman: Black And White #1, #3, Legends Of The Dark Knight 100-Page Super Spectacular #1 And Detective Comics #23.2

This Harley Quinn is a bit of a mash-up of some of Harley’s greatest hits (not to be confused with the trade paperback, Harley’s Greatest Hits). The reading order can vary a bit here, from as early as Harley in the 90’s all the way through her appearances in the New 52. For the placement in the list of Harley comics here, I’d note that the Batman: Harley Quinn one-shot occurs in the wake of Batman: No Man’s Land, and precedes Harley’s early 2000’s solo series. The early 2000’s Batman: Gotham Knights issues include back-up black-and-white Harley stories from creator Paul Dini, and can be read prior to her ongoing solo series.

Harley Quinn’s First, Early 2000’s Solo Ongoing & Sirens

Harley Quinn: Preludes and Knock Knock Jokes SC

Collects: Harley Quinn #1-7

Harley Quinn’s first solo ongoing series, written by Karl Kesel and drawn and inked by Terry and Rachel Dodson. Harley’s first ongoing ran from 2000 to 2004.

Harley Quinn: Night and Day

Collects: Harley Quinn #8-13 And Harley Quinn: Our Worlds At War #1

Quite unexpectedly crosses over with the DC Universe linewide event, Our Worlds at War. You really don’t need to read the entire event to enjoy the Harley crossover, and in fact, if you’re willing to roll with “Harley deals with Aliens,” you’re probably in the best shape possible to read.

Harley Quinn: Welcome to Metropolis

Collects: Harley Quinn #14-25

Harley Quinn: Vengeance Unlimited

Collects: Harley Quinn #26-38

Gotham City Sirens Book One

Collects: Gotham City Sirens #1-13

Paul Dini and Guillem March’s brilliant team-up book starring Harley Quinn, Catwoman, and Poison Ivy.

Gotham City Sirens Book Two

Collects: Gotham City Sirens #14 To #26

Harley Quinn with Suicide Squad in the New 52

If you want to see how Harley and Suicide Squad fit in with the DC Universe as a whole, you can check out Comic Book Herald’s complete DC New 52 reading order.

Suicide Squad Vol. 1: Kicked in the Teeth

Collects: Suicide Squad #1 To #6

Harley’s New 52 reincarnation features her as lead in DC’s Suicide Squad.

Suicide Squad Vol. 2: Basilisk Rising

Collects: Suicide Squad #7 To #13

Suicide Squad Vol. 3: Death is for Suckers

Collects: Suicide Squad #14 To #19

Issues #14 and #15 are included as “Death of the Family” tie-ins, part of the Batman by Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo run in the New 52.

Suicide Squad Vol. 4: Discipline and Punish

Collects: Suicide Squad #20 To #23, Deadshot #1, Harley Quinn #1

Suicide Squad Vol. 5: Walled In

Collects: Suicide Squad #24 To #30

Note that all issues of “Walled In” include the Forever Evil DC event banner on the cover. Note that they are also written by Matt Kindt, the brain behind my 6th favorite comic of all time, Mind MGMT. All of this collection can be read after Forever Evil #2, with the exception of Suicide Squad #30, which falls after Forever Evil #7.

Harley Quinn Vol. 1: Hot in the City

Collects: Harley Quinn #0 To #8

Harley’s first New 52 solo ongoing begins from Amanda Connor and Jimmy Palmiotti.

New Suicide Squad Vol. 1: Pure Insanity

Collects: New Suicide Squad #1 To #8

Harley Quinn Vol. 2: Power Outage

Collects: Harley Quinn #9 To #13

Harley Quinn and Power Girl

Collects: Harley Quinn And Power Girl #1-6

Even for someone as obsessed with reading orders and chronology, I rarely get this specific, but the Harley Quinn and Power Girl miniseries is kind enough to tell us that it takes place in between the gutters of panels 3 and 4 of page 20 of Harley Quinn #12.

Harley Quinn Vol. 3: Kiss Kiss Bang Stab

Collects: Harley Quinn #14 To #16, Annual #1, Holiday Special #1, Valentine’S Day Special #1

New Suicide Squad Vol. 2

Collects: New Suicide Squad #9 To #12

New Suicide Squad Vol. 3: Freedom

Collects: New Suicide Squad #13-16 And Suicide Squad Most Wanted: Deadshot And Katana

Harley Quinn Vol. 4: A Call to Arms

Collects: Harley Quinn #17-21 And Harley Quinn Road Trip Special #1

Harley’s Little Black Book (2015)

Collects: Harley’S Little Black Book #1 To #5

Convergence: Harley Quinn (2015)

Collects: Convergence: Harley Quinn #1 To #2

DC’s 2015 Convergence event makes it easy to read individual tie-in series without reading the core event, but if you want the full event context, there’s Comic Book Herald’s complete Convergence reading order.

Harley Quinn’s Gang of Harleys

Collects: Harley Quinn And Her Gang Of Harleys #1 To #6

Harley Quinn Vol. 5: The Joker’s Last Laugh

Collects: Harley Quinn #22-25, Harley Quinn: Be Careful What You Wish For

New Suicide Squad Vol. 4: Kill Anything

Collects: Suicide Squad #17-22

Harley Quinn Vol. 6: Black, White and Red All Over

Collects: Harley Quinn #26-30

Poison Ivy: Cycle of Life and Death

Collects: Poison Ivy: Cycle Of Life And Death #1-6

Harley Quinn cameos throughout.

Harley Quinn Comics in DC Rebirth

Suicide Squad Vol. 1: The Black Vault

Collects: Suicide Squad #1 To #4, Suicide Squad: Rebirth #1

Harley Quinn Vol. 1: Die Laughing

Collects: Harley Quinn: Rebirth #1, Harley Quinn #1 To #6

Justice League vs. Suicide Squad

Collects: Justice League Vs. Suicide Squad #1-6, Suicide Squad #8-10, Justice League #12-13

For a full reading order for the first DC Rebirth crossover event, check out Comic Book Herald’s Justice League vs. Suicide Squad reading order.

Harley Quinn Vol. 2: Joker Loves Harley

Collects: Harley Quinn #7-12

DC Comics: Bombshells Vol. 1: Enlisted

Collects:  Dc Comics: Bombshells #1-6

Bombshells is an excellent, out of continuity series set during the World War II era, starring all of DC’s female heroes and characters in new and exciting roles.

DC Comics: Bombshells Vol. 2: Allies

Collects: Dc Comics: Bombshells #7-12

DC Comics: Bombshells Vol. 3

Collects: Dc Comics: Bombshells #13-18

DC Comics: Bombshells Vol. 4

Collects: Dc Comics Bombshells #14-19

Suicide Squad Vol. 2: Going Sane

Collects: Suicide Squad #5-8, Harley Quinn And The Suicide Squad April Fool’s Special #1

Suicide Squad Vol. 3: Burning Down The House

Collects: Suicide Squad #11-15 And The Suicide Squad Special: War Crimes #1

Harley Quinn Vol. 3: Red Meat

Collects: Harley Quinn #14-21

DC Comics: Bombshells Vol. 5: The Death of Illusion

Collects: Dc Comics Bombshells #26-29 And Annual #1

Suicide Squad Vol. 4: Earthlings on Fire

Collects: Suicide Squad #16-20

Harley Quinn Vol. 4: Surprise, Surprise

Collects: Harley Quinn #22-27 Plus The Harley Quinn 25th Anniversary Special #1

DC Comics: Bombshells Vol. 6: War Stories

Collects: Dc Comics: Bombshells #25 And #30-33

Suicide Squad Vol. 5: Kill Your Darlings

Collects: Suicide Squad #21-25

Harley Quinn Vol. 5: Vote Harley

Collects: Harley Quinn #28-34

Harley in DC Metal Through Heroes in Crisis

Dark Nights: Metal: The Resistance

Collects: “Gotham Resistance” (Teen Titans #12, Nightwing #29, Suicide Squad #26, Green Arrow #32) And “Bats Out Of Hell” (The Flash #33, Justice League #32-33, Hal Jordan And The Green Lantern Corps #32), Plus Batman Lost #1 And Hawkman Found #1.

Harley and Killer Croc play a small but notable role in the “Gotham Resistance” half of this collection, helping members of the extended Bat Family work through a warped Gotham City.

For the full guide, check out Comic Book Herald’s Metal reading order.

Bombshells: United Vol. 1: American Soil

Collects: Bombshells United #1-6

Suicide Squad Vol. 6: The Secret History of Task Force X

Collects: Suicide Squad #27-32

Harley Quinn Vol. 6: Angry Bird

Collects: Harley Quinn #35-42

Harley & Ivy Meet Betty & Veronica

Collects: Harley & Ivy Meet Betty & Veronica #1-6

Gotham City’s most notorious twosome cross paths with some of Riverdale’s most famous names in this out of continuinity tale.

Suicide Squad Vol. 7: Drain the Swamp

Collects: Suicide Squad #33-40

Bombshells United Vol. 2: War Bonds

Collects: Bombshells: United #7-12

Harley Quinn Vol. 1: Harley Vs. Apokolips

Collects: Harley Quinn #43-49

Harley Quinn gets a new Vol. 1 as writer Sam Humphries comes onboard to take over penning her adventures!

Harley Loves Joker

Collects: Backups From #17-25 Of The Harley Quinn Series And Harley Loves Joker #1-2

Writers Paul Dini and Jimmy Palmiotti return to tell an early story from Harley’s tenure as the Joker’s long-suffering belle.

Bombshells: United Vol. 3: Taps

Collects: Bombshells: United #13-19

Harley Quinn Vol. 2: Harley Destroys the Universe

Collects: Harley Quinn #50-54 And #56

Suicide Squad Vol. 8: Constriction

Collects: Suicide Squad #41-44, #47-50, And Annual #1

Harley Quinn Vol. 3: The Trials of Harley Quinn

Collects: Harley Quinn #55 And #57-63

Harley Quinn Vol. 4: The Final Trial

Collects: Harley Quinn #64 to #67, Harley Quinn: Villain of the Year

Harley’s crossovers with DC’s Year of the Villain are honestly some of the most enjoyable tie-ins for the whole linewide “event.” You can find a full guide via Comic Book Herald’s Year of the Villain reading order.

Collection available on 3/31/2020.

Heroes in Crisis

Collects: Heroes in Crisis #1 to #9

For the full guide, check out Comic Book Herald’s Heroes in Crisis reading order.

Harley Quinn & Poison Ivy

Collects: Harley Quinn & Poison Ivy #1-6

Spinning out of the events of Heroes in Crisis, Harley and Ivy team up once again to explore the new status quo. Collection available on 5/19/2020.