Falling In Love With Someone You Shouldn’t: Harley Loves Joker #1

For me, the greatest Batman tale ever told is Batman Adventures: Mad Love. Not Dark Knight Returns, not Killing Joke, not Batman: Year One. You might argue, but you’d be wrong. The simply perfect Mad Love introduced Harley Quinn to DC proper, after creators Paul Dini and Bruce Timm had made her a highlight of the Batman Adventures cartoon series. Oh, and for my money, Batman Adventures is the definitive Batman on screen. Again, you can take your Dark Knight movies and stick ’em. Nothing beats Batman Adventures.

Over the years, Harley’s moved away from her roots shown in Mad Love, we’ve analyzed the abusive relationship, the disastrous love affair, the mental issues. But, Mad Love, despite those issues, can still be seen as a spectacular high point in Batman storytelling history. Without disregarding the more complex issues, we can still love Mad Love and acknowledge that the thing that really makes Harley Quinn perhaps the best original character to come out of DC in the last quarter Century or more is that she’s absolutely, hopelessly in love with Mr J. And she knows, somewhere beneath her mental issues, that there’s no way she’s ever going to get the life she truly desires. That’s what makes her so beautifully layered, and the genius of Dini and Timm’s Mad Love was getting all that over whilst still delivering not just a perfectly done comic but a damn funny one at that.
Hmmm, got a little carried away there with a Mad Love love in. Needless to say, go buy it. Now, about the comic I’m meant to be talking about…

Given my love for Mad Love, seeing a new Harley Loves Joker title, written by Paul Dini, with art by the super talented, yet far too underrated Bret Blevins, meant I was always going to be seeking this one out. I wasn’t expecting something to match Mad Love. Seriously, how could there be? But I was hoping for some of the magic to be there.
Oh, and before I begin, there’s no need to worry that this 2-issue series is just the conclusion of the tale that began as a backup strip in the pages of the main Harley Quinn comic. I had absolutely no idea until after I’d read it, and it honestly made no difference.
Because, Harley Loves Joker is a wonderfully fun piece of comics. With Dini on words and story, it’s no surprise to see it’s Mad Love’s Harley back, complete with pet hyaenas and the classic red and black costume. And although there’s no Bruce Timm this time round, having Blevins back doing comics is something to make my heart soar. I loved his art on various 90s titles, including The Bozz Chronicles, New Mutants, and Cloak & Dagger. He rather left comics for the world of animation, fittingly working extensively on storyboards for various DC animated series, including Batman/Superman Adventures. Seeing his delightfully light and simple genius once more is so good.

So, with Dini and Blevins on board, and a recognizable Mad Love-style Harley, Harley Loves Joker simply had to be something I adored, right?
Hmmmm… sort of. It’s full of everything that should make it adorable.
Starting with the plot. It’s as simple as it needs be; Harley needs cash fast to keep hold of the latest love nest she’s bought for herself and Mr J and her adorable hyaena fur-babies. Chuck in another over the top villainess, The Grison (think South American weasel), connect Harley and Grison’s origins a little, and off we go on a crime caper.
That’s the entire issue plot pretty much. Nope, there’s not much to it. But there doesn’t need to be. In fact, there shouldn’t be. After all, Mad Love can be boiled down to ‘Shrink falls for The Joker, goes mad, turns to crime to win his heart, realizes Batman’s the big impediment to blissful togetherness, attempts to take down the Bat.’ That’s the best batman comic ever in less than 30 words. The Harley/Joker dynamic is what makes Mad Love a piece of brilliance, the plot is merely the means to bring the dynamic to the fore.

And sadly, that Harley/Joker dynamic is the thing that’s really missing here. There’s elements of it for sure, but it’s never the sole focus of the comic, and that’s such a shame. Likewise, there’s panels and pages where the comedy is delivered beautifully, but all in all, despite there actually not being that much plot, everything here seems to be in service to the plot. I’d have much preferred seeing the plot being in service to the relationship dynamic, after all, ain’t that what love is really all about?
Perhaps I shouldn’t have gone into this expecting Mad Love 2, perhaps I should simply pull back on the criticism and tell you that I did really enjoy Harley Loves Joker, that Dini delivers a lovely callback to the classic Harley, that Blevins illustrates it with all the style of Bruce Timm, yet adds his own delicious touches as well. Perhaps I ought to focus on the comedy moments that sparkle, rather than bemoan the lack of the love story I was perhaps looking for too hard?
Anyway, I’ll be around for the second and final part. It’s a great little Harley and Joker tale, full of near perfect little moments, packed with almost perfect comedy touches. But that’s the problem right there. When you’ve experienced perfect, near perfect is a hard step down to take.
I shall leave you with yet more of Blevins’ delightful artwork, and a great moment of comedy timing from Dini and Blevins…

Harley Quinn Loves Joker Issue 1 is out right now from DC Comics. It’s written by Paul Dini, art by Brett Blevins, colors by Alex Sinclair, letters by Dave Sharpe. The cover is by Amanda Conner and Alex Sinclair and the variant cover (below) is by Frank Cho and Sabine Rich.