Status Updates From The Batman Adventures: Mad ...

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Racier original "Rev up your Harley" panel

Notes:
(1) Dini wrote the foreword and Timm wrote the afterword. They contradict each other on how the comic came to be.
- Dini says they were invited to do a special issue of the comic series and came up with a story for it.
- Timm says the origin story came first and he decided it should be a comic instead of a TV episode.

Notes:
(1) This highlights a point expressed most notably in "The Killing Joke," that the Joker is at heart a failure and a loser.
- Killing Batman's not the point, but that he gets plaudits for doing the impossible.
(2) It also shows that Harley can be deadly when she has motivation to be.
- She plays dumb blonde for the Joker's sake, knowing he can't stand being upstaged.

Notes:
(1) What really strikes you is how mature themes are here, despite its cartoony art style.
- It's a story that features domestic abuse, child abuse, sexual favors, seduction, psychological manipulation, toxic dependency, etc.
- Much of this is from Harley's perspective, so it's fitting how the cartoony art masks its harsher elements in a bubblegum/slapstick exterior.

Notes:
(1) This is one of those classic stories that I always mean to read (eventually), but that's never front of mind.
- The fact that it's set in the "Batman: The Animated Series" universe doesn't help, since being noncanonical means it's never on my agenda.
- Also, I hardly ever read "classics" since there's built-in expectations of greatness, which few books ever meet.