Revisiting Batman Adventures: Mad Love

A brief look at mass-murdering clowns and the women who love them

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Laying the groundwork.

Batman and the Joker go together like spaghetti and meatballs.

Bonnie & Clyde.

Buckingham & Nicks.

I was actually going to scratch that last duo, but it might actually be the more accurate comparison. The point is, the pair are so intertwined you may find yourself hard-pressed to believe that Joker could ever be synonymous with anyone other than Batman. But I’m here to say you’d be mistaken. Over the last thirty plus years the Clown Prince of Crime has grown semi-attached at the hip to just one other figure…

… Miss Harley Quinn.

Now, before we jump headfirst into this skillfully told origin tale, which takes Harley all the way from Arkham Asylum psychologist to the Joker’s main moll, allow me to set the stage by turning back the clocks.

June of ‘92.

Strangely enough, a form of Batman fatigue had settled on moviegoers not long after the premiere of Batman Returns, Tim Burton’s sequel to the wildly successful first film released three years earlier. By July ticket sales were plummeting, and while audiences praised Burton’s visuals and Michelle Pfeiffer’s purrrfect (couldn’t help myself) portrayal of Catwoman, the negatives were starting to outweigh the positives.

Ankle biters who bought into the movie’s McDonald’s Happy Meal campaign were frightened by the black sludge dripping from Penguin’s mouth. Teenagers supposedly weren’t ponying up for repeat viewings as they’d done with the 1989 movie, and parents were aghast at the fetishy tone and murderous machinations.

And the critics? They weren’t necessarily taking it easier on the film either.

"Batman Returns is odd and sad, but not exhilarating,” Roger Ebert expressed.

“It’s too dark and it’s not a lot of fun,” an anonymous Warner Bros. executive was quoted as saying.

“A flashy disappointment,” lamented Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle.

Yikes.

For me the backlash was always baffling if not solely for the fact that the sequel followed in the footsteps of its gruesome predecessor with the same PG-13 rating. Nevertheless, Batman Returns was a box office hit.

The fallout softened as the years passed, and the movie cemented its place as a fan-favourite. This was due largely in part to Pfeiffer’s robbed-of-an Oscar-nom performance as Catwoman, and perhaps not least of all for Michael Keaton’s inspiring second outing as the grown-up orphan guardian of Gotham. Other accolades heaped upon Returns in the decades since have dubbed it the first “anti-blockbuster.” In some circles it’s even considered to be a Christmas classic.

But, I digress…

Up until that point in time, the females in Batman’s rogues gallery (fantastic though they be) might’ve left something to be desired when compared to their male counterparts. If you think I’m way off base, take a second or two and try to name one Batman villainess other than Catwoman or Poison Ivy. Go ahead, I’ll wait.

The only two that readily sprung to this writer’s mind were Bruno and Andrea Beaumont, so don’t be so hard on yourself if you couldn’t think of any. And that’s exactly the heart of the matter, dear reader… the girl’s list is a relatively narrow one when juxtaposed against the men.

September 1992.

Enter Paul Dini and Bruce Timm to save the day. These now-celebrated creators developed a fresh take on the Dark Knight in the award-winning Batman: The Animated Series. Shortly after its premiere on Fox Kids [airing in the U.S. during after school hours] the show quickly found its way into a Sunday night primetime slot. This proved that audiences young and old still couldn’t get enough of Batman… or his femme fatales.

First appearing in the episode “Joker’s Favor,” Harley Quinn is voiced to perfection by the late, great Arleen Sorkin. It’s there within that show that Harley’s almost fully realized—certainly from a design standpoint—with her trademark Brooklyn accent and pet names (Aw, Mista J!) for the Joker.

With the comic books things get a bit more complicated.

Chronologically speaking, Batman Adventures #12 the first time we see Harley in print. Wailing on Batgirl with a Louisville Slugger and wearing a red domino mask instead of her signature black one, Harley is given zero introduction. Nowhere in the book does anyone stop to question who she is, and that’s because she already existed there via the animated series.

Others, myself included, consider the 64-page Mad Love special as her first comic appearance. However, that issue hit the newsstands several months after the aforementioned Adventures #12. In either case, both of these issues are separate from DC canon, or rather they exist “outside” of continuity. (Although with the recent onslaught of multiverses, I could be wrong about the latter.)

According to Wizard Magazine #193, the comedienne’s first in-continuity appearance is technically the Harley Quinn one-shot (pictured above on the far right) by Paul Dini and Alex Ross. That issue was published in 1999, roughly six years after the previous books.

Clear as mud?

What all this really means is that Harley is kind of unique. She’s one of the few creations to make the leap from the TV screen to the printed comic page, joining a pantheon of Batman baddies in such a way that it seemed as if she’d always been there. As much as we love the likes of Two-Face and Mr. Freeze, more often than not these villains aren’t easily relatable in the comics, and so Harley’s non-tragic backstory is just one way she differs from most of the others.

A new vixen of violence.

Mad Love shows Harley as a talented gymnast who received a full scholarship to university, but academically-speaking she proves not quite as proficient. She enlists her feminine wiles to sway at least one professor toward her cause of graduating from the school’s prestigious psychology department, and from there she lands a job at Gotham’s Arkham Asylum. This is where things begin to take an ill-fated turn.

Warning: Turn back now if you don’t want any spoilers!

It appears early on that Harley’s prey to some form of celebrity-worship, and thus ensnared by Joker’s undeniable charisma. But from the outset their relationship is based on the Joker’s wants and needs. He wants free of Arkham, and she’s just the one [Joker can use] to do it. As the story progresses, Joker displays what might resemble genuine feelings toward her, but ultimately it ends up being a front for some ulterior motive.

This is why the psychology in comics can be so fascinating. Seeing how the bond between them manages to function the way it does is like watching a train-wreck… you just can’t help yourself.

Here’s a prime example of what I’m talking about in the image below. After inexplicably sneaking flowers into her office, Joker plays off the inexperienced doctor’s name, Harleen Frances Quinzel, gleefully offering up for her a new moniker based on the harlequin. He also offers to confide in her his own “secrets.”

These are odious tricks on the Joker’s part, of course. As the “abuser,” he subconsciously dangles a carrot in front of his “victim.” Soon both doctor and patient are laughing and crying together, and in these moments the Joker begins to wrap Harley securely around his finger. They even take turns reversing roles on the psychiatrist’s couch. Harley laps it up as Joker pines over the “normal” life he never got to have because he’s forever “taking shots from people who don’t get the joke.” (He’s referring to Batman, naturally, but also his supposedly abusive father.)

Now Joker isn’t known for being the most dependable narrator, and even less so when it comes to his own backstory, but Harley’s readied herself for this. She steels herself by saying she won’t be caught off guard by the clown’s gimmicks. Unfortunately the jester is one smooth move ahead by this point having gained Harley’s sympathy, and within no time she becomes infatuated with him.

Eventually the Joker escapes, and that’s when all his guilt-tripping starts to pay off. Harley frets in his absence. She chain smokes and chugs coffee in her office, all the while glued to the newspaper hoping for any mention of her star patient. After a week on the lam Joker is brought back to Arkham, bruised and bloodied by Batman. Harley’s the first one there, cradling the clown as though he were a little boy who’d skinned his knee.

That’s when the good doctor snaps. Batman is just another cruel oppressor in her eyes, and also the sole dominating force standing between Joker and happiness. Harleen runs out into the night to steal all the necessary accoutrement to become Harley Quinn.

A dead romance.

Busted out of the clink, Harley tries to initiate intimacy with Joker both emotionally and physically. Whenever he offers up any kind of mushy talk, it’s always laced with an insincere tone that Harley either doesn’t seem to pick up on or wilfully ignores. More often than not Joker puts up with her antics just long enough for the reader to catch a whiff of his growing resentment of her. This pattern repeats itself until eventually Harley annoys the living shit out of him, and Joker pops like a jack-in-the-box.

She repeatedly vies for any attention from Joker throughout, but he’s a master manipulator and a total narcissist who lacks empathy. So what happens when you mix Harley’s fantasies into Joker’s little poisonous cocktail? Well, it starts to make sense why their attraction to one another is so intense.

In Harley’s mind, the Caped Crusader is the only thing that stands in the way of her life with the Joker. But it’s a catch-22, because Joker can never live a normal life. He can’t be rehabilitated. He’s like a fallen angel… his morality is fixed. Bruce Wayne on the other hand is the opposite side of Joker’s coin, and they’re forever doomed to duking it out. Although Harley’s endearing charm is strong, there’s little more in her arsenal that works to her advantage in this scenario.

I detest seeing women mistreated, but particularly when it exists in any form of media because the crime seems almost amplified. I think it’s because stories featuring abuse can be reread in the same way that shows and films lend themselves to repeat viewings. This tale is certainly no exception, as it’s more or less defined by the volatile relationships that exist within it.

Yes, the Joker’s psychosis and extreme tendencies are laid bare, but it’s also balanced with humour and some ridiculously amusing moments. Nevertheless, watching Joker’s conduct around Harley is unnerving and uncomfortable at times. But Harley’s no angel either. She’s masochistic and willingly subjects herself to the humiliation and pain Joker inflicts upon her.

As the story moves toward the denouement, Harley concocts a scheme to capture and finally put an end to Batman. In fact, she essentially pulls it off. She’s so firm in her delusion that if Batman is somehow removed from the equation this will finally allow her and Joker to shift their lives toward the joys of domestic bliss.

For those of you who haven’t read the book, I don’t want to completely spoil how this plays out. Suffice it to say that up until the very last page, the cycle of obsession and maltreatment Harley’s lost herself in appears to be one which won’t come to an end… at least not without a couple of years of therapy.

Final thoughts.

In the aftermath of Mad Love’s publication it went on to win an Eisner Award for best single story in 1994. Much lauded Batman alum Frank Miller was quoted as saying it was the best Batman story of the decade. On that one, Miller may arguably be right.

What’s abundantly clear is that the book understands quite well the twisted love affair that exists between these characters. In the foreword of the hardcover edition, writer Paul Dini says: “There are those who, even in the face of constant disappointment, continue to believe that the intensity of their desire will be rewarded by an eventual jackpot of affection.”

Sadly, for Harley, it might be this particular attribute that makes her so gosh-darned irresistible.

Final verdict: 4.5 bats out of 5 🦇

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