Since her first appearance in 1992, Harley Quinn--eccentric sidekick to the Joker--has captured the attention of readers like few new characters have in eight decades of Batman comics. Her bubbly yet malicious persona has earned her a loyal and growing fan base as she has crossed over into television, theater, video games, and film.
In this collection of new essays, contributors explore her various iterations, focusing on her origin and contexts, the implications of her abusive relationship with the Joker, her relationships with other characters, her representations across media, and the philosophic basis of her character.
Edited by:
Shelley E. Barba,
Joy M. Perrin
Imprint: McFarland and Company
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions:
Height: 229mm,
Width: 152mm,
Spine: 12mm
Weight: 313g
ISBN: 9781476665238
ISBN 10: 1476665230
Pages: 200
Publication Date: 10 February 2017
Recommended Age: From 18 years
Audience:
Professional and scholarly
,
Undergraduate
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
Table of Contents Acknowledgments Introduction Part 1. The Setup “It is to laugh”: The History of Harley Quinn (Emilee Owens) Harlequin Romance: The Power of Parody and Subversion (Cia Jackson) She Laughs by Night: Mad Love, the New 52 and Noir (Gregory Bray) The Clock Is Ticking (Brandon Benge) Part 2. Relationship with the Joker “That just proves he wants me back”: Pure Victimhood, Agency and Intimate Partner Violence in Comic Book Narratives (K. Scarlett Harrington and Jennifer A. Guthrie) Bride of the Monster: Harley Quinn as a Case of Hybristophilia (Michał Siromski) A New Kind of Leading Lady: The Complexity of Surviving Abuse and Becoming a Hero (Willmaria C. Miranda) Part 3. Relationships with Others Duality and Double Entendres: Bi-Coding the Queen Clown of Crime from Subtext to Canon (Alex Liddell) Victim, Villain or Antihero: Relationships and Personal Identity (Amanda Hoyer) “Stronger than their madhouse walls”: Disrupting Gotham’s Freak Discourse in “Mad Love” and “Harley Quinn” (Aidan Diamond) Part 4. Representations Arkham Origins: Looking at Grown-Up Themes Through the Lens of a Kid’s TV Show (Derek Moreland) Harlequin, Nurse, Street Tough: From Non-Traditional Harlequin to Sexualized Villain to Subversive Antihero (Justin Wigard) Problematic Fave: Gendered Stereotypes in the Arkham Video Game Series (Ian Barba) The Motley Queen: A “Spicy Package” of Misrule (Erica McCrystal) Part 5. Philosophy There Shall Be Order from Chaos: Hope and Agency Through the Harlequine’s Subalternity (Michelle Vyoleta Romero Gallardo and Nelson) Arteaga Botello The “Mistress of Mayhem” as a Proxy for the Reader: A Metafictional Link Between Fiction and Reality (Megan Sinclair) Super-Villain or Sociopath: Evilness at the Turn of the Century (Fernando Gabriel Pagnoni Berns and Leonardo Acosta Lando) Appendix: A Mediography of Harley Quinn (Joy M. Perrin) About the Contributors Index
Shelley E. Barba is an associate librarian at Texas Tech University. She has published in such journals as College & Research Libraries, The Reference Librarian, and Texas Library Journal. She lives in Lubbock, Texas. Joy M. Perrin is an associate librarian at Texas Tech University. She has written many articles on the topic of digital collections. She lives in Lubbock, Texas.
Reviews for Ascendance of Harley Quinn: Essays on DCs Enigmatic Villain
One of the most popular characters in the DC comicsverse, Harley Quinn is adored by many despite--perhaps because of--her status as an antihero. Capable of great acts of evil as well as kindness, Harley Quinn first appeared on the scene in 1992 and her storyline has changed in a number of significant ways since that first appearance. This collection of essays, edited by Shelly Barba and Joy Perrin, examines the rich history of the character over the past 25 years. For example, essays in the collection examine her relationship with the Joker within the discourse of Interpersonal Violence and with Poison Ivy, first as friends and later as lovers. Other essays examine the ways in which she has been depicted over the course of her narrative--as a victim and as a villain--along with how she is viewed by her fans. The editors also provide an extensive list of mediography for further study by interested readers. This collection of essays is a welcome addition to the scholarship about female characters that are often overlooked in study of genre fiction. --Sherry Ginn, Marvel's Black Widow from Spy to Superhero.
