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Harley Quinn cosplayers are taking over Comic-Con

Vjeran Pavic

Harley Quinn seems to be everywhere at this year's Comic-Con. If you walk the show floor for even a few minutes, you're pretty much guaranteed to pass a Quinn cosplayer — probably dressed in Margot Robbie's tattered Suicide Squad-style getup.

Quinn may be having a resurgence thanks to Suicide Squad, but one group here at Comic-Con has been celebrating the character for years. It's an informal gathering of cosplayers who meet at each convention for an event called Harleypalooza, which involves getting as many Quinns together as possible and taking a bunch of menacing and goofy group photos.

For attendees, Harleypalooza is basically an excuse to get together and talk about a character they all love. "I think it's her freedom and her love of fun," says DesiRée Preston, who's dressed as Quinn from the DC Animated Universe and organized this year's meetup. "I think that speaks to a lot of girls and guys. Something about her is pure and innocent, even though she's a psychopathic clown."

It's easy to imagine Quinn's popularity peaking around Suicide Squad, but Preston says there are plenty of reasons the character's popularity has been growing, including her New 52 series from a few years back and the Arkham games.

"People ask, 'Do you hate seeing other Harleys?'" Preston says. "No, it's amazing. No matter what version, we all have something in common."

Photography and captions by Vjeran Pavic.

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Harley Quinn cosplayers

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Even though there are a lot of Suicide Squad iterations of Harley Quinn this year, DesiRée Preston (stage name Enasni Volz) is a big fan of Arleen Sorkin’s Quinn and has been cosplaying as her for eight years now. Preston is also the organizer of the cosplay meet-up.