Reviewer: Iain Burnside
Story Title: “Hooray for Harleywood!â€
Written by: Paul Dini & Bruce Timm
Penciled by: Paul Dini & Bruce Timm
Inked by: Paul Dini & Bruce Timm
Colored by: Lee Loughridge
Lettered by: Tom Orzechowski
Editor: Joan Hilty
Publisher: DC
So, over a decade later, it comes down to this. Paul Dini and Bruce Timm, as you should all be well aware, did the impossible back in the early ‘90s when they united all of the Batman fanbase, which loudly and proudly declared its love for Batman: The Animated Series. This phenomenal achievement managed to neatly marry all the various aspects of the character’s mythos. The gothic style of Tim Burton, the larger-than-life theatrics of Joel Schumacher, the madcap humour of the ‘60s Adam West show, the noir crime fighting of Bob Kane’s original stories… Every single piece of the Batman puzzle slotted neatly into place in a series that spat on the word “cartoonâ€, becoming a gorgeous work of art in its own right. This in turn set up the potential for spin-offs a plenty, providing DC and Warner with a cash-cow to milk. This they did, giving us Batman: Gotham Knights, Batman Beyond, Superman: The Animated Series, Justice League, numerous stand-alone feature-length episodes, including the much-lauded Batman: Mask of the Phantasm, an entire new line of all-ages superhero comic books such as Batman: Adventures, and the inevitable slew of tie-in merchandise. Hell, the series even won an Emmy. Yet now, after many years of gleeful entertainment, Dini & Timm are going to stand down and pave the way for a new animated interpretation of the franchise called simply The Batman, which debuts in September. As a coda, they have crafted this madcap three-issue mini-series, Batman: Harley & Ivy, in typically off-beat fashion.
Despite being a mini-series and having a vague connection involving Dini & Timm’s two favourite gals being on the look-out for ways to make money from the Zombie Root, the great thing about these three issues is that each one stands alone as an exercise in hilarity. The third and final installment (sniff!) sees both the creators and the “crazy chicks with a mission†setting their sights on the creative vacuum otherwise known as Hollywood. Whilst hiding out in a motel plopped directly in the middle of nowhere, they learn that a major studio is planning to make a movie about their villainous exploits. Outraged, the femme fatales set off to disrupt a production meeting and kill the movie, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back style. However, just like everyone’s two favourite slacker stoners, everyone’s two favourite Gotham Girls become tempted by the money. Ivy decides to steal the executive producer role and skim millions of dollars from the budget to keep for herself, whilst placating Harley with the chance to direct endless scenes that involve Batman being blown up again and again and again… and again… and again…
Unbeknownst to them, however, the real Batman has managed to track them down at long last. To put it in his oh-so-ironic words, â€Being caricatured in a badly conceived film doesn’t faze me, Alfredâ€, yet he knows that it will certainly not sit well with the real villainesses, wherever they may be, and so he heads out to Hollywood for an inevitable confrontation, posing as one of the many, many stuntmen that have given their lives for Harley’s artistic vision. Of course, he eventually stops the girls in their tracks and sends them back to Arkham, while the movie studio reluctantly releases the movie to hopefully recoup some of their losses, only for it to turn into a critically acclaimed, Academy Award wining smash hit.
As with the majority of the animated series, however, it is not the ending that is in question but merely how enjoyable the route taken to get there is. Thankfully, with Dini & Timm helming the project, this is just as mad and as enjoyable as anything you are likely to read all year. It’s packed with charming little details that even Comic Book Guy himself couldn’t help but warm to. There’s Harley’s disgust at seeing an actor dressed as the Joker (â€The nerve of this mook, imitatin’ my puddin’!â€), Harley’s catatonic sugar-rush state as she watches cartoons and munches Sugar Shocks cereal in her underwear, the angry movie producer’s rant (â€Crappy little toys are our bread and butter, people!!â€), the movie Batman turning up and pleading â€Stop, you poor deluded creatures†before being squished by a brick wall whilst bouncing around on a Bat-Pogo Stick… MADNESS! Complete and utter madness that knows no bounds and proceeds to slap the face of everything it touches!
If you haven’t been reading this series then be sure to keep an eye out for the back issues at your local comic store. It’s hardly expensive ($2.50 US, $3.85 Canadian) and will remind you once again of just how marvelous Dini & Timm were and how vital and pivotal a role they played in the development of the DCU franchise over the past decade. Apparently all good things have to come to an end somewhere at some point… But does this one really have to? Can’t we just lock them up in some tiny Korean animation studio for the rest of their natural days and get some large men in leather masks and whips to force them to keep on drawing and writing some of the greatest stories DC has ever been graced with? And if not, why not??
