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Terrifying Allure: The Beauty of Harley Quinn in U.S. and Mexican Cosplay


 Analyzing the evolution of DC Comics character Harley Quinn, this article addresses how fans approach Quinn’s appearance, identifying with and aspiring to be like the character. Focusing on the changes in Quinn’s costume and visual presentation, this article describes how cosplayers (practitioners of public costume play) link outer appearance to inner self and appropriate elements of Quinn’s costume for their own practice. Anchored in a humanities perspective that includes philosophy, beauty theory and fan studies, this article provides a close reading of the canonical figure’s visual representation and how that representation is used by cosplayers in the United States and Mexico to express fan identity.