Batman and Harley Quinn

Ty Templeton and Rick Burchett were who you wanted to be in charge of writing and art duties when the newest issue of Batman Adventures dropped. Both talents return to the Batman: The Animated Series universe in this pair of stories starring the Dark Knight and Harley Quinn!

The Joker has belittled his girlfriend for the last time! Feeling completely ignored, Harley Quinn betrays the Clown Prince of Crime to Batman, only to find that The Joker is too pre-occupied with defeating the Caped Crusader! Thus, once 'rehabilitated' by the staff at Arkham Asylum once again, Harley plans on going on her way and she winds up with her supposed BFF Poison Ivy. Sadly, this time around, Harley's role is to become the villainess' lackey! 

Enough is enough for Harley Quinn and she decides to go straight and alone. But with Poison Ivy and The Joker seeking revenge for previous double-crossing, it will take the combine efforts of Batman and Nightwing to keep the Maid of Mischief on the path of righteousness. 

The two stories reprinted in this volume are both a prequel and sequel to 2017's direct-to-DVD animated feature Batman and Harley Quinn. If you've not seen the film, you're okay as the first half of this book is a prequel. But as quite a bit of the movie is referenced in the sequel half of this book, if you haven't seen the film, YOU WILL GET LOST!

Both tales were originally published as web comics on DCComics.com. The first act is 7 chapters long and the artwork is really good up until chapter 5. At that point, the cleanliness of the art drops and everything looks like the very rough computer generated stuff of 2000's Gotham Girls. I really wonder why Burchett's work suffered. Was it due to having to rush to meet deadlines?

A team of artists and writers tackle the production of the second story. Jeff Parker and Amanda Deibert pen an awesome tale that explains some of Harley Quinn's earliest meetings with Task Force X. The art is split among some great Batman talent including Sandy Jarrell and Dario Brizuela. 

Overall, this was an enjoyable read for fans of Harley Quinn and Batman: TAS. But it really helps to have watched the Batman and Harley Quinn movie in order to get the full effect.

Worth Consuming but not without it's flaws!

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.