Too Much Harley? Never. Here’s What to Read Next

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If you think Beyond The Panels is done with Harley Quinn... think again, puddin’. Turns out Harley has enough material to keep this author dangerously intoxicated on dumb puns and unhinged exes for the foreseeable future (like, weeks, maybe months). By the time I wrap this up, DC will have printed approximately one million more pages of Harley content. And by my highly scientific calculations, that’s still about 1,000% less than Batman. So yeah, keep 'em coming.

When characters like Harley kick their way out of the bubble like she did, we should be offering a Harley story to every senior or up-and-coming author. Naturally, she has a lot of out-of-continuity material, with a wide variety of styles and tones. So we selected a few of them for you.

Two weeks ago, I wasn’t a huge fan of Harley, but now I feel like I could read her adventures every day and live a very fulfilling life. Just please, for the love of all things Gotham, can we move on from the Joker already? (Honestly, isn’t that advice every DC character should be taking at this point?)

Harleen by Stjepan Šejić

This is a retelling of Harley’s story through a more modern – and definitely more serious – lens. Translation: we trade the zingy, chaotic sparkle of Paul Dini’s Harley for something closer to a character study, full of bulky (and I do mean bulky) dialogue and introspective monologues that dig deep into the psyche of these classic personas. It dropped the same year as the Joker movie, and yeah, both feel born from the same cultural impulse – the mainstream need to justify comic book characters to an ever-expanding adult audience.

I mean, comics were massively in the public eye at the time. Of course people were going to try reinterpreting them under a "serious" façade. And characters born out of the "craziness" spectrum – Joker, Harley – are naturally ripe for that kind of makeover. They practically beg for it. But for the record: I don’t think there’s anything wrong with Dini’s brand of chaotic cartoon energy. Nor do I think we need a serious, realist version of Harley. (The same way I don’t think we need to see Bugs Bunny in therapy.)

To be fair, I don’t think Stjepan Šejić necessarily disagrees with me.

His graphic novel Harleen doesn’t try to distance itself from comic books (unlike, say, the Todd Phillips movie, which is still up for debate on that front). This is comic book material through and through – just with the time and space to let characters sit in their thoughts and actually say things. Big things. Maybe too many things. I think Šejić would roll his eyes at me for saying this could easily slot into canon, but honestly, that’s the best quality of the book. It feels like a version of Harley that already exists in core continuity – just given room to breathe.

Even that sweet Dini/Timm-style melodrama I love is still here. At its best, Harleen feels like you're reading a thoughtful, sometimes uncomfortable dialogue between two iconic figures trying to understand each other. And at its worst, it kind of reads like airport novel sap – overwrought, circling ideas without landing them – but weirdly, that also fits Harley and Joker lore, living eternally in the post-ironic sea. There’s something charming about it. Even when it’s trying way too hard, it’s at least doing it in a fully committed voice.

In the end, this is a Harley book. They can call her Harleen if they want.

Joker / Harley: Criminal Sanity by Kami Garcia and Mico Suayan

This book totally gets what I was trying to say in the last bit: the airport-novel sapness isn’t a bug in Harley’s story – it’s a feature. And Kami Garcia fully leans in. This is basically Vampire Diaries meets Harley Quinn and Joker, and I say that with all the reverence that deserves.

Here, Harley is reimagined as a police officer (!) avenging her murdered roommate (!!), while the Joker is (!!!) a genius teen boy with a tragic backstory (!!!!). And he is hot, my fellow ladies and boys. Like, disturbingly hot in the same way true crime girlies get obsessed with Ted Bundy documentaries. It’s unsettling and intentional – kind of what Jared Leto thought he was giving in Suicide Squad, except, you know, without the desperate cringe energy that man seems to hoard like Pokémons. (Seriously. How is this guy still allowed out?)

But here’s the twist: this is not Twilight. Harley hates Joker. Loathes him. And that’s what makes it all come together. The cleverness is that her "giving in" – that fundamental piece of Harley’s character, the dangerous surrender to someone toxic – doesn’t come from cartoonish love. It comes from the sheer force of Joker overrunning her life. He doesn’t seduce her with roses, he overwhelms her like a virus.

And what Kami Garcia nails is that this isn’t romanticized. It’s obsessive but cold, sharp, and brutal in a way that never forgets how destructive it is. Garcia walks a tightrope with real skill: she’s unapologetically writing this like a YA supernatural drama, but it never slips into being regressive or demeaning. It doesn’t undermine Harley’s intellect or agency. It lets her fight back.

Now, my puddin’ people, let’s take a moment. No judgment, just truth: if you used to fall asleep in 2012 to a YA romance novel and then made that book your entire personality for a month? Yeah. This one’s for you.

I was going to make a super clever comparison to Beautiful Creatures, a book I loved ferociously and will forever be mad didn’t get the Twilight/Hunger Games level treatment it deserved. And then, of course, I realized my dumbass didn’t even notice that this is written by the same person. So there goes that clever moment.

Anyway, I couldn’t put this book down. Just like 2012 me, who would rather risk failing math (and fail I did) than stop reading at chapter 27. Some things never change.

• Joker/Harley: Criminal Sanity Trade Paperback  
• Joker/Harley: Criminal Sanity Hardcover

The Strange Case of Harleen and Harley by Melissa Marr and Jenn St. Onge

Let’s take a sweet detour with this actual YA novel – as in, one that’s really meant for teens, not almost-30-year-olds reliving their 2012 Tumblr eras (hi, me). It’s a cute and clever reframing of Jekyll and Hyde (you know, the classic story where two wildly different personas share the same body and take turns living their life), but with Harleen Quinzel as a sweet, painfully normal high schooler. That is, until she starts taking "experimental medication" with her girlfriend and, surprise surprise, unlocks a very sassy, very criminal alter ego: Harley Quinn.

The concept is simple, sure. But it works because it’s simple. It lets the emotional stuff breathe.

What I love most about this book is how Harley and Ivy are already a couple when the story begins, and their queerness isn’t the conflict. Their love isn’t treated like a reveal, a shock, or even a plot device. It’s just there, as natural and grounded as anything else in the book. How wonderful is it to give queer kids that kind of love story? One that just lets them be.

That said, this book doesn’t shy away from serious themes either. It handles them with real care, and more importantly, with honesty. Ivy’s dad hits her mom. And Ivy tells Harley that. No cryptic metaphors, no ominous monologues. Just a quiet, open conversation between two teenagers who trust each other. Abuse is often treated in comics as something cloaked in darkness and metaphor, but this book recognizes that sometimes, it’s just something you should say out loud. And that doesn’t make you wrong or broken.

Ivy and Harley’s love is often written as this chaotic yin-yang – opposites attract, darkness meets glitter, poison meets confetti. But here, it feels honest. No drama spectacle, just two girls figuring things out. And in that, Harley’s intensity finds a beautiful slot in love and protection.

Strange Case Of Harleen And Harley Trade Paperback

Harley Quinn: Breaking Glass by Mariko Tamaki and Steve Pugh

I’ve gone on and on about how much I love the way Mariko Tamaki captures teenage anxiousness to an annoying degree and I mean that as the highest compliment. Harley is the perfect launching pad for the DC Young Adult line, the same one that gave us those Teen Titans books by Gabriel Picolo that we’re all (rightfully) obsessed with. Tamaki is surgical when it comes to giving teenagers a voice, full of contradictions and insecurities.

Transplanting Gotham lore into a student hall shouldn’t work, but it does. The whole thing is done in a very clever, balls-to-the-wall way, with just the right amount of explanation to ground you but never slow you down. The social commentary hits, and you never once feel like the YA relocation is a stretch. Ivy’s activism, Harley’s alienation, gentrification villains – it’s all there. And high school feels like a logical place for this thing to be born anyway.

Tamaki is such a find for Big Two comics. She’s writing these ultra-commercial DC books that can sell like crazy, and yet you can still feel the indie roots in every page. Go from Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up With Me to Breaking Glass and the transition is seamless. This is indie, and it’s DC – with the qualities and defects of both.

And by god, can we talk about Steve Pugh’s art for a second? It’s stunning. The character work is expressive, and the colors are absolutely perfect. Cartoonish in the best way, without ever not feeling real. It’s the kind of book where Harley’s iconography is reinterpreted rather than replicated, and it makes everything feel alive. 

Harley Quinn and the Birds of Prey: The Hunt for Harley by Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmioti

I already went on and on in the first Harley article about how definitive Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti are for the character, but honestly, it bears repeating. It feels like Harley is their own character. Like they took the best of what Paul Dini and Bruce Timm wanted to achieve with her, then cranked it up with no limits. And the best thing about a strong creative vision, when it sells like hot cakes – which it did – is that we get a lot of it. And we did.

If you want to dip your toes into their Harley, go for this graphic novel. Their humor is very much intact – in fact, it arguably thrives even more in an R-rated setting. Honestly, I wish Conner had been allowed to write "fuck" on every page of their regular run. It just fucking works, right? Slapstick, irreverent, horny, and messy – Harley does what she does best: bounce off other characters!!!

Now, technically speaking, Harley was never part of the Birds of Prey franchise in the comics, despite what the movie might suggest. And I totally get why hardcore fans of those characters get annoyed when DC tries to mash them together. But if there’s anyone who can make a solid case for Harley working with the Birds, it’s Conner and Palmiotti. Their Harley shares a certain chaotic, ultra-competent, smart-and-stupid-at-the-same-time energy with Gail Simone’s Birds of Prey. I swear I see it. I was firmly on Team No-Harley-On-Prey for a long time, but this book made me chill out (a bit). Sometimes, when it’s funny, who cares?

• Harley Quinn & The Birds Of Prey: The Hunt For Harley Trade Paperback  
• Harley Quinn & The Birds Of Prey: The Hunt For Harley Hardcover

And while we’re on the Birds: it completely slipped my mind (I know, insane) in the full-runs article, but Kelly Thompson’s current Birds of Prey run is insanely good. The way Kelly writes Harley is precise and not overwhelming (and let’s be honest, Harley can be a lot sometimes). Her bouncing off fan faves like Big Barda and Cassandra Cain is banter gold – something Kelly is incredible at. So check that out too.

And It's Never Over With Harley Quinn, So Here's Two More Recommendations!

Harley Quinn: The Animated Series

If you’re here because you watched Harley Quinn: The Animated Series and thought "where do I get more of that?" first of all – good on you. That show is so good. It’s like Looney Tunes mixed with Rick and Morty and the best of adult animation. And two of my favorite things: making fun of incel assholes and bisexuality. If you want to read more of that, there is material that expands on the show (and I think is canon to it).

• Harley Quinn The Animated Series The Eat. Bang! Kill. Tour TP Vol 1
• Harley Quinn The Animated Series Legion Of Bats HC

Old Lady Harley

Old Lady Harley is exactly what it sounds like – a parody of Old Man Logan where Harley is old and cranky, living in a world even dumber than the one we have now. It’s nonsense, and for the most part, fun nonsense, aside from the a-bit-too-on-the-nose Mad Max parody. If you're into meta gags, dystopian jokes, and Harley being the Deadpool-esque character she’s often compared to, this is the one to go for.