{"id":31077,"date":"2024-12-12T09:00:33","date_gmt":"2024-12-12T09:00:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/?p=31077"},"modified":"2024-12-11T18:14:05","modified_gmt":"2024-12-11T18:14:05","slug":"batman-harley-and-ivy-the-deluxe-edition-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/2024\/12\/12\/batman-harley-and-ivy-the-deluxe-edition-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Batman: Harley and Ivy The Deluxe Edition"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\nBy Paul Dini<\/strong>, Bruce Timm<\/strong>, Ty Templeton<\/strong>, Shane Glines<\/strong>, Dan DeCarlo<\/strong>, Ronnie Del Carmen<\/strong>, Rick Burchett<\/strong>, St\u00e9phane Roux<\/strong> & various (DC Comics)
\nISBN: 978-1-4012-6080-4 (HB\/Digital edition)<\/p>\n

Win\u2019s Christmas Gift Recommendation: Psychosis and Spice and Everything Nice… 9\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n

This book includes Discriminatory Content<\/strong> included for comedic effect. <\/em><\/p>\n

Created by Paul Dini & Bruce Timm, Batman: The Animated Series<\/strong> aired in the US from September 5th<\/sup> 1992 to September 15th<\/sup> 1995. Ostensibly for kids, the breakthrough TV animation series revolutionised everybody\u2019s image of the Dark Knight and immediately began feeding back into the print iteration, leading to some of the absolute best comicbook tales in the hero\u2019s many decades of existence.<\/p>\n

Employing a timeless visual style dubbed \u201cDark Deco\u201d, the show mixed elements from all iterations of the character and, without diluting the power, tone or mood of the premise, reshaped the grim avenger and his extended team into a wholly accessible, thematically memorable form that the youngest of readers could enjoy, whilst adding shades of exuberance and panache that only most devout and obsessive Batmaniac could possibly object to. In fact, so many didn\u2019t object over the years that in August 2024 we got a fresh bite of the cherry. If you love Batman, are steeped in the vast mythology of Gotham City and adore stylish animated wonderment, you owe it to yourself to watch the Reinvented-But-Just-As-Good show Batman: Caped Crusader<\/strong>…<\/p>\n

Thirty-plus years ago (!) the original TV series offered a superbly innovative retro makeover for many classic supervillains and even added one unexpected candidate to the Rogues Gallery. Harley Quinn<\/strong> wasn\u2019t supposed to be a star – or even an actual comic book character. As soon become apparent, however, the manic minx had her own off-kilter ideas on the matter…<\/p>\n

Harley was first seen as the Clown Prince of Crime\u2019s slavishly adoring, abuse-enduring assistant in Joker\u2019s Favor<\/em> (airing September 11th<\/sup>,1992) where she instantly captured the hearts and minds of millions of viewers. From there on she began popping up in the licensed comic book and – always stealing the show – infiltrated mainstream DC comicbook continuity and into her own title. Along the way a flash of inspired brilliance led to her forming a unique relationship with toxic floral siren and plant-manipulating eco-terrorist Poison Ivy<\/em> – a working partnership that delivered a bounty of fabulously funny-sexy yarns, and has brought the pair film and TV fame as a romantic power couple…<\/p>\n

Collecting the eponymous 3-issue miniseries from 2004 plus cool stuff from Batman Adventures Annual<\/strong> #1 (1994), Batman Adventures Holiday Special<\/strong> #1 (1995), Batman and Robin Adventures<\/strong> #8 (July 1996), Batgirl Adventures<\/strong> #1 (1998) and material from Batman: Gotham Knights<\/strong> #14 (April 2001) and Batman Black and White<\/strong> #3 (2014), this spiffy deluxe hardback\/eBook is an amazing cornucopia of comic treasures to delight young and old alike, and a perfect reminder why Batman & Co. remain so popular even after 85 years (and counting…).
\n\"\"
\nIt begins with a global-spanning romp written by Dini, illustrated by Timm & Shane Glines from Batman: Harley & Ivy<\/strong> #1-3 as the \u2018Bosom Buddies\u2019<\/em> have a spat that wrecks half of Gotham before escaping to the Amazon together to take over a small country responsible for much of the region\u2019s deforestation and spreading a heady dose of \u2018Jungle Fever!\u2019<\/em>. Once Batman gets involved the story suddenly shifts to Hollywood and the very last word in creative commentary on Superheroes in the movie business. \u2018Hooray for Harleywood!\u2019<\/em> delivers showbiz a devastating body blow Tinseltown will never recover from…<\/p>\n

As we all know, Harley is (certifiably) insanely besotted with killer clown The Joker<\/strong> and next up Dini, Dan DeCarlo & Timm wordlessly expose her profound weakness for that so very bad boy when she\u2019s released from Arkham Asylum only to be seduced back into committing crazy crimes and stuck back in the pokey again, all in just \u201824 Hours\u2019<\/em>…<\/p>\n

\u2018The Harley and the Ivy\u2019<\/em> comes from Batman Adventures Holiday Special<\/strong> #1 wherein Dini & Ronnie Del Carmen depict the larcenous ladies on an illicit shopping spree thanks to a dose of Ivy\u2019s mind-warping kisses and up-close-and-personal close encounter with Bruce Wayne<\/em>…
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\n\u2018Harley and Ivy and… Robin\u2019<\/em> (Batman and Robin Adventures<\/strong> #8, by Dini, Ty Templeton & illustrator Rick Burchett) features more of the same, except here the bamboozled sidekick becomes an ideal BoyToy Wonder: planning their crimes, giving soothing foot-rubs and bashing Batman until a little moment of green-eyed jealously spoils the perfect set-up…<\/p>\n

Batgirl Adventures<\/strong> #1 was the original seasonal setting of \u2018Oy to the World\u2019<\/em> (Dini & Burchett) as plucky teen Babs Gordon<\/em> chases thieving, thrill-seeking Harley through Gotham\u2019s festive streets and alleys only to eventually team up with the jaunty jester to save Ivy from murderous Yakuza super-assassins. Next up, Batman: Gotham Knights<\/strong> #14 gifts us brilliantly dark yet saucily amusing tale \u2018The Bet\u2019<\/em> (Dini & Del Carmen). Incarcerated once more in Arkham, the Joker\u2019s frustrated paramour and irresistible, intoxicatingly lethal Ivy indulge in a small wager to pass the time: namely, who can kiss the most men whilst in custody. This razor-sharp little tale manages to combine \u201cinnocent sexiness\u201d with genuine sentiment, and packs a killer punch-line after the Harlequin of Hate unexpectedly pops in…
\n\"\"
\nThe madcap glamour-fest finishes with a late arriving moment of monochrome suspense (from Batman Black and White<\/strong> #3, by Dini & St\u00e9phane Roux) as \u2018Role Models\u2019<\/em> sees a little girl escape her manic kidnapper and find sanctuary of a sort with the pilfering odd couple…<\/p>\n

For years DC sat on a goldmine of quality product before finally unleashing a blizzard of all-ages collections and graphic novels such as this one: child-friendly iterations (and others not-so-much) of key characters stemming from the Paul Dini\/Bruce Timm Batman series. These adventures are consistently some of the best comics produced of the last four decades and should be eternally permanently in print, if only as a way of attracting new readers to the medium.<\/p>\n

Now a bone fide Christmas tradition – just like arguing about Die Hard<\/strong> or pondering what to do with brussels sprouts (eat them if you like them, pass if you don\u2019t?), Batman: Harley and Ivy<\/strong> is a frantic, laugh-packed hoot that manages to be daring and demure by turns. An absolute delight and an irresistible seasonal treasure to be enjoyed over and over again.
\n\u00a9 1994, 1995, 1996, 1998, 2001, 2004, 2014, 2016 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Paul Dini, Bruce Timm, Ty Templeton, Shane Glines, Dan DeCarlo, Ronnie Del Carmen, Rick Burchett, St\u00e9phane Roux & various (DC Comics) ISBN: 978-1-4012-6080-4 (HB\/Digital edition) Win\u2019s Christmas Gift Recommendation: Psychosis and Spice and Everything Nice… 9\/10 This book includes Discriminatory Content included for comedic effect. Created by Paul Dini & Bruce Timm, Batman: The … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Batman: Harley and Ivy The Deluxe Edition”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[92,10,75,76,255,125,215,172,148,325,123],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31077","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-batgirl","category-batman","category-crime-comics","category-dc-superhero","category-environmentalism","category-humour","category-lgbtqia","category-robin","category-romance","category-the-joker","category-tv-adaptations"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4AFj-85f","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31077","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31077"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31077\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31082,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31077\/revisions\/31082"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31077"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31077"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31077"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}