Title: Batman: Harley & Ivy (2 of 3)
Story: Jungle Fever
Writer: Paul Dini
Co-Plot: Bruce Timm
Art: Bruce Timm
Inker: Shane Glines
Letterer: Tom Orzechowski
Colorist: Lee Loughridge
Editor: Joan Hilty
Publisher: DC Comics
Look, a book drawn in that Dini/Timm style shouldn’t be like this. These two guys are supposed to be helping mold kids minds with mindless cartoon violence. They are supposed to give us high action and adventure and film noir quality shadowing and superheroes that stand firmly in the firmament of what we love and bad guys who do insanely bad things and look badass while doing it and.. and..
..this book bothered me. Bothered me in all the creepy uncle toucher kind of ways.
I loved it.
Maybe I haven’t read enough of their comic work to realize that beneath the skin of this seemingly harmless FoxKids off-shoot, there is a crazy amount of sexual overtone. If this is the case, how come nobody told me?!
STORY!
We are at part two of ‘Harvey & Ivy’ where the girls are off on some harebrained scheme to try and turn everyone into zombies. (Zombies are the new pirate) So they have already escaped from Arkham and have headed out to the middle of Costa Verde to find the infamous ‘zombie root’.
The story follows them finding the plant they need and in the process, stopping some deforestation. There is your moral message. Don’t burn down forests, or Poison Ivy will turn you into a mindless slave to her passions.
We’re not talking an Alan Moore story here. It’s cartoony, it’s simple, and it’s fun. The simplistic characterization and high paced action are exactly what you would want out of a book that looks like a cartoon. This is exactly what you get.
(Dirty Note: You are also given a mud fight, panty-clad versions of our characters, and a scene that questionably lets us know what plants do to Poison Ivy in her spare time.)
ART!
It’s the style you know and love. It’s simple. It’s cute. This book allowed them to have our villains run around a rainforest so instead of the big imposing caves, buildings, and statues that tower throughout Gotham, we are given tall imposing trees, vines, and shades of red and orange.
Good work by Shane Glines and not coloring outside the lines.
OVERALL!
I am enjoying this book on two levels. The first one is strictly as a comic. It’s light and fun. If you are looking for a quick escape from the deep and gritty DCU, then pick it up. Everything synchronizes the way you want it to. The art, the pace, and the writing all fit in that animated series way. Except that it’s a bit closer to PG-13.
On the second level, this book is like seeing what happens when your cartoons aren’t restricted by the laws of Kids TV. It’s a bit risqué and over the top. I dig it a lot.
Oh, and I was just kidding about Dini and Timm getting a MAX book.. it would be like Kim Possible porn, and that is not OK.
