Harley Quinn (Dr. Harleen Frances Quinzel, Ph.D.) is a character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Harley Quinn was created by Paul Dini and Bruce Timm as a comic relief henchwoman for the supervillain Joker in Batman: The Animated Series, and debuted in its 22nd episode, "Joker's Favor", on September 11, 1992. While originally intended to appear in one episode, she became a recurring character within the DC Animated Universe as the Joker's sidekick and love interest, and was adapted into DC Comics' Batman comic book canon, beginning with the one-shot Batman: Harley Quinn #1 (October 1999). The character's alias is a play on the stock character Harlequin from the 16th-century theater commedia dell'arte. Following her introduction to the DC Universe in 1999, Harley Quinn was depicted as a frequent accomplice and lover of the Joker as well as a close friend of fellow supervillain Poison Ivy; the former being one of her patients when she worked as an intern psychiatrist at Gotham City's Arkham Asylum. Later stories depicted Quinn as a supervillain who has left her abusive relationship with the Joker. After years of scarce appearances in comics, Quinn returned in a leading role in 2009 with the Gotham City Sirens series, as part of an unstable alliance with Poison Ivy and Catwoman. Since 2013, Quinn has often been depicted as an antihero independent of the Joker and a recurring core member of the Suicide Squad, with Poison Ivy becoming her primary romantic interest