Batman Adventures: Mad Love [ILLUSTRATED] (Comic)

by Paul Dini (Author), Bruce Timm (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
The trend in superheroes of the late 1980s was dark, grim, gritty, and not very kid friendly. Then along came the animated Batman series. The visual style was totally unique: clean, sharp, and bold. Batman Adventures: Mad Love is an original comics story drawn in the style of the popular animated series. It's even put together by Paul Dini, a major force behind the animated show. This particular story involves Batman's old foe, the Joker, and Joker's cute but deadly sidekick, Harley Quinn. Actor Mark Hamill of Star Wars fame, who plays the voice of the Joker in the animated series, claims that this is one of his all-time favorite comics, calling it "bold, lusty, gleefully demented."

Product Description
Created by the producers of TVs animated Batman series, this is the story of how the Joker manipulated his psychiatrist into becoming Harley Quinn, his cunningly twisted sidekick. Created by the Emmy-Award winning producers of Batman: The Animated Series.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9-12
  
• Comic: 63 pages
• Publisher: DC Comics (December 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1563892448
• ISBN-13: 978-1563892448
• Product Dimensions: 10.1 x 6.6 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.1 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #653,600 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Scarier Than The Joker Himself, June 23, 2000

By	Michael Weber "fairportfan" (Atlanta) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

When the various "Adventures" (DC's codeword for comics inspired by the animated versions of its heroes) books first came out, i didn't pay much attention.

But then i picked up a copy of "Batman Adventures" and was immediately hooked. The "Adventures" books may well be the freshest and most original takes on the Batman and his friends and foes that i have read in many a year.

But why? i asked myself, and i answered, Because they can use whatever they want from the Batman's 50-year history, but they aren't stuck with a strait-jacket continuity that that 50 years imposes on the "real" Batman titles.

And so we come to Harley Quinn -- though they're trying to put her in the "real" Batman continuity lately, which i think is a BAD mistake, Harley is very much a creature of the animated show -- the Joker's prankish and ditzey henchgrrl, a wise-cracking foil for both the Joker and the Bat, cute and funny and deadly and frightening if you really look.

In fact, Harley Quinn may be more frightening than the Joker himself, and *that* is a good trick.

And why? Because she *loves* Joker and just wants to please him. And to please a murderous, psychopathic clown, you have to be even crazier than he is.

This book, then, is Harley's story. It tells us who she was, what she wanted to be, and how she became what she *is*.

It is a curiously gentle and sad story, as well, considering the violence of many of its events and the madness giggling from its pages in every panel. Harley is rather a sad clown at base; the thing she wanted that caused her to kick over the traces and turn to crime -- Joker's love and approval -- is the one thing she will never have, no matter how desparately she tries to please him, because there's room for only one love object in Joker's life... the Batman, no matter how twisted that love's expression may be.

Watching Harley cold-bloodedly attempting to commit an elaborate and nasty murder, just so Joker will notice her, is chilling. Watching Batman manipulate both Harley and Joker, even with his hands tied, is an example of what makes the Batman the icon that he is.

And reading Harley's final words, which echo the sickest of the old Goffin & King Brill Building songs, is sad and horrifying and ominous all at once.

If you are a Batman fan but have not yet discovered the "Adventures" books or even the animated series, this graphic novel is a good palce to start.

And i envy you.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Joker's "main squeeze" gets to tell her story!, November 26, 2003

By	Reginald D. Garrard "the G-man" (Camilla, GA USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Based on one of the best of the animated Batman episodes, "Mad Love" tells how Harley Quinn, chief henchwoman and paramour of the Joker, got her warped start. Once, a respected psychiatrist at infamous Arkham Asylum, Dr. Quinn becomes infatuated with her "patient", The Joker", turns her life topsy-turvy, and allies herself with "the clown prince of crime".

After falling from The Joker's favor, Quinn plots to capture Batman, the one that she blames for her "rift" with The Joker. Her "solution" to a backfired Joker prank is priceless.

For fans of both the series and the legend of Batman, this is a visit that one must make.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Best Batman Comic, November 5, 1999

By	Marie Freed (Oregon) - See all my reviews

Don't be fooled by it's cartoonish appearance. "Mad Love" is the best Batman comic I've ever read. Unlike many graphic novels that include great amounts of narration and description, "Mad Love" focuses more on character developement - and does it absolutely perfectly. Each character is protrayed exactly as they were meant to be. Wonderfully written, funny, emotional, and deranged, this book shows us the mysterious past of the Joker's henchgirl, lover, and victim, Harley Quinn. It will take your breath away.