batman Harley

Batman: Harley Quinn #1
1999

The only comic collection currently in print here in the UK, the rather slim Batman Harley Quinn, is a bit of let down after the cartoon series. It has to fit in with the continuity of the series which at the time had Gotham in a semi-ruin post an earthquake. The character has been revved up by Poison Ivy's potions to make her a more of a super-villain with super-speed and dexterity and we don't get the bonkers weapons she used in the cartoon like the giant mallet and her gun (modelled off the marotte or mock-sceptre court jesters would employ). It does not capture the playful fun of the original character being to big and bouncy to fit in with the brooding nature of the current incarnation of Batman