Hooray for Harleywood!

Batman: Harley & Ivy #3

June 2004

Just about the only problem with the end of Batman: Harley & Ivy is how loosely it connects with the previous issues of the mini-series. I tend to think that this project was planned as a series or as a longer mini-series, and the Zombie Root thread would have given the series some continuity. That said, there's no denying the fun that can be had from the finale.Bruce Timm and Paul Dini knit Harley and Ivy into a scathing of the Joel Schumacher films and narrow-minded studio executives out to make a buck at all costs. Now, you're probably thinking to yourself is yet another rip against Joel Schumacher whose ugly Batmobile, ugly cinematography and ugly designs are given a royal slicing via the madness of Harleen Quinzel relevant? Perhaps not as relevant as when this series was first planned, but Batman Forever is the worst film of all time, and nobody should be allowed to forget that.It is through the parody of Schumacher's sickness that Dini and Timm fully reveal themselves to be Harvey Kurtzman followers. As each stunt-Batman is blown up you can easily see The Mad artists style in their illustration and storyline. However, Timm's and Dini's tongues are not totally planted in their cheeks.While the parody of Schumacheritis is gut busting, the actual plan by Ivy and Harley is well reasoned: a rational bilking that would net them a fortune if not for the interference of a certain caped and cowled individual. Their relationship is subtly brought to a satisfying union that's represented in the method of their criminal antics. The Zombie Root is distributed in a gaseous state. Harley is the femme fatale more associated with such an attack. Ivy provides the plant source. Batman's appearance while predictable because it's exactly how the reader would have written the piece exhibits the multidimensional characterization and effectiveness expected from the animated incarnation. Credit must also be given to Ivy who realizes that only one man could do what she witnesses.A superb diversion that never outstays its welcome, Batman: Harley & Ivy is a fitting coda for the animated adventures imagined by Timm and Dini. In fact, rather than cancel the Adventureverse books, can't we cancel the DCU instead?