DC Icons Books in Order

Rachael Allen's contribution to DC Icons is a full Harley Quinn origin trilogy, told across Harley Quinn: Reckoning, Harley Quinn: Ravenous, and Harley Quinn: Redemption. The books follow Harleen Quinzel before, during, and after the version of herself the world starts calling Harley Quinn comes into focus. If you know the character from comics, animation, or film, this series gives you a younger take on her. If you are new to Harley, it still works as a dark, fast-moving YA story about intelligence, rage, loyalty, and the messy line between justice and revenge.

The first book, Harley Quinn: Reckoning, starts with Harleen as a brilliant teenager who wants out. She lands an internship in a psych lab at Gotham University and hopes science can be her escape route from an abusive father and a future that feels too small. Instead, she runs straight into sexism and harassment. That anger pulls her toward a vigilante girl gang called the Reckoning, where pranks and protest start to feel a lot more serious. What makes the book work is that Harleen is not written as polished or noble. She is funny, impulsive, proud, and very ready to hit back.

Gotham does a lot of the heavy lifting.

This version of the city is not just comic-book wallpaper. The university labs, Arkham Asylum, and the city's broken institutions all matter because Allen keeps asking what happens when smart young women see the system fail them up close. In Harley Quinn: Ravenous, Harleen wakes in a hospital with missing memories and tries to piece her life back together while starting classes at Gotham University and an internship at Arkham. Her connection to Talia al Ghūl pushes the series further into moral gray space. Harleen wants control, answers, and purpose, but every step toward them also brings her closer to the parts of herself she may not be able to contain.

By the time Harley Quinn: Redemption begins, Harley is more fully herself, and her bond with Poison Ivy has become one of the emotional centers of the trilogy. Their summer plans get derailed when girls start disappearing across Gotham and clues from the Dollmaker begin turning up at Harley's door. That setup gives the last book a strong mystery engine, but it also keeps the bigger series questions in play. Who deserves saving? What counts as justice in a city like this? And how far will Harley go when the people being hurt are girls the world barely notices?

The tone across the trilogy is high-energy, darkly funny, and openly feminist. There is action, but there is also a lot of attention to identity, queerness, class, trauma, friendship, and the strange thrill of becoming the version of yourself that other people are afraid of. Allen also weaves science into Harley's character in a way that feels natural rather than decorative.

This is not a neat hero story.

It is also not a simple fall-from-grace story. It is a YA antihero arc, with romance, mystery, and Gotham chaos all tangled together. If that mix sounds good to you, start with Harley Quinn: Reckoning and read straight through in order.