 |
The Bride of Joker / The Flower Girl
|
Main Story
Written by Ty Templeton
Pencils by Rick Burchett
Inks by Terry Beatty
Colors by Heroic Age
Lettering by Nick J. Napolitano
Cover by Kelsey Shannon
Asst. Editor Harvey Richards
Editor Joan Hilty
|
Back-Up
Written by Ty Templeton
Pencils by Rick Burchett
Inks by Terry Beatty
Colors by Heroic Age
Lettering by Nick J. Napolitano
Cover by Kelsey Shannon
Asst. Editor Harvey Richards
Editor Joan Hilty. |
Issue #16 - The Bride of Joker / The Flower Girl
Cover Date - September 2004. Released on July 21st.
The Joker and Harley Quinn are getting hitched! It’ll be the wedding of the century…if Poison Ivy doesn’t gum up the works first! |
Review
Comic book marriages are a
notoriously tricky prospect. Few seem to endure or
acquire any level of stability: most are dissolved,
destroyed, or otherwise gruesomely ripped apart before
long. The marriage between longtime Avengers the Vision
and the Scarlet Witch fell apart when one was
brainwashed and metaphorically neutered; Matt Murdock’s
wife Milla Donovan annulled their marriage; Jean Loring
divorced her husband the Atom; and Hank Pym and Janet
Van Dyne (better known as the Wasp) split up when the
former went crazy multiple times. Though the marriages
between Lois Lane and Clark Kent, as well as Peter
Parker and Mary Jane Watson, remain stable, they are
widely derided by many fans and creators.
And they’re the lucky ones.
The marriages between Ralph and Sue Dibny, John Stewart
and Katma Tui, Hawkeye, and Mockingbird, Scott Summers
and Jean Grey, Wolverine and Mariko Yashida, and
countless other ended when one partner died, typically
the female. As one can see, introducing a new marriage
into the funny pages is a pretty big risk indeed. It’s
not to be undertaken lightly, and should only be done if
the pairing truly works. Ty Templeton, to his credit,
knows that for Harley Quinn and the Joker, it doesn’t…
but he still has quite a bit of fun playing with the
idea.
On the surface, this issue’s central theme of an
impending wedding between Harley Quinn and the Joker
makes perfect sense. Harley is clearly enamored with Mr.
J, and the Joker obviously can’t live very long without
her, so who’s to say they shouldn’t hook up in the legal
sense? Besides, it’s one of those ideas that are
devilishly clever in just how obvious they are, so why
not go for it?
The answer, of course, is that their relationship is
just so much more interesting the way it is. One of the
trademarks of the Harley/Joker pairing is its
unpredictability, that “anything could happen” feeling.
While the marriage is perhaps the ultimate extension of
that appeal, it’s the sort of thing that could easily
hamper the characters in future appearances. The
creative team realizes this, so naturally the entire
wedding is actually an amusing double-triple-quadruple
cross. The marriage is built on an amusingly complex web
of deceptions, which simultaneously makes for fun
reading while illustrating just how built on lies the
Harley/Joker relationship really is. Ty Templeton
explores the concept just long enough to milk everything
necessary out of it. All of the ramifications of a
marriage are ruminated on just long enough so that fan
curiosity is satisfied, without having to actually go
through with the ceremony itself. The result is the
deepest examination of the Harley/Joker dynamic this
side of “Mad Love”. The story’s ending leaves the two
lovebirds in a logical place that feels comfortable.
Particularly revealing is Poison Ivy’s reaction to the
looming threat of Harley and Joker’s wedding. The
relationship between Harley and Ivy is hugely important
to the DCU (not to mention one popular with fanboys, for
obvious reasons), and the wedding brings their
interactions into surprising and uncharted territory.
Ivy reacts violently, revealing, in full force, the
affection for Harley that she normally conceals. There’s
an interesting level of sadness in Ivy’s character arc
this issue. Ultimately, the relationship between Harley
and Ivy is brought into a new, and surprisingly sad,
area.
Character analysis isn’t the only good thing about this
issue. It’s also a finely crafted mystery, and extremely
funny in many parts. The overall tone is surprisingly
dark… indeed, if you don’t like your comedy black, then
perhaps you should stay away. But if you can approach it
in the right frame of mind, you will most certainly get
your money’s worth.
The backup, meanwhile, is brilliant in multiple ways. It
packs a humdinger of a twist, which I won’t reveal on
the oft chance that anyone reading this review is
unfamiliar with the issue. It’s an incredible and
totally unforeseen idea, though, which hugely impacts
Ivy’s previous appearances in the DCAU in a totally
fresh manner. It can be read a number of ways, depending
on your own preferences, but manages to explain much of
Ivy’s motivations. It also provides Pamela Isley’s life
with an appropriate, bittersweet conclusion. Taken
together, this combination of strong main story and
stunning backup makes for a great penultimate issue.
There’s something rare at work in these pages: closure.
We can see aspects of Batman’s corner of the DCAU
concluding after being at play for so long, and that
brings an enjoyable sense of validation for long-time
fans. With only one story left, there are many loose
threads left hanging, but the questions that #17 chooses
to address may surprise you… |
|
|
