Batman: Arkham Knight - Batgirl and Harley Quinn #2

"Caged Animals" 2/2 2015

Writer: Tim Seeley

Pencils: Matthew Clark

Inker: Sean Parsons

Colours: Rob Schwager

Letters: Travis Lanham

Where we last left off, Harley Quinn had just let loose a tiger so in this issue Barbara runs away screaming about an angry wild animal loose in Gotham.

Well, yes, it's a wild animal but angry? It's probably friggin' scared because someone set it's cage on fire and now it's surrounded by new smells, people, noises.. and oh yeah, more fire.
Maybe I'm a bit defensive of my stripey kin but it seems wrong to just assume the tiger will try to eat someone because it's a tiger.

Barbara blames the kid for not giving it his... elephant ear? Is that what hip young Americans with Bat fixations call fairy floss these days? Anyway, she gives the kid to a random carny to look after (pretty trusting of her. Nothing against carnies but the next thing she says is that she has to stop a killer clown.. how does she know Harley's not associated with the circus?)

I enjoyed seeing how she decided to get hyenas as sidekicks. I don't know if I've ever read a sort of origin story for Bud and Lou apart from 'they're here, they're awesome, get used to it'.

Barbara has quickly changed into her Batsuit and takes Harley down with a flying kick, saying she doesn't know who this Jokerette is. Harley tries to introduce herself but Batgirl's having none of that, thank you. She then engages the tiger again, and monologues to herself as she deliberately spills fuel from the engine of the circus train (which conveniently has visible wheels now but the road is all blacked out so I can't see any tracks) to incapacitate the tiger.



Have I mentioned that the tiger is an endangered species? The WWF and other animal conservation funds spend time and money trying to protect tigers and keep other animals free of oil slicks and here's Batgirl - single-handedly trying to undo all of their good work.

It's not even clear what she's done to the tiger - so I hope it's just unconscious. Still, she couldn't have just roped it or thrown a net over it or lured it somewhere to trap it?




Yes I suppose it's more visually effective but I'm not enjoying it.

Harley Quinn comes back on the scene with her terrible mallet aim, and Batgirl has to tell yet another villain that Batman is not her boyfriend. Although she does do a very good impression of him.

It's pretty interesting that Batgirl basically shuts down Harley Quinn's whole argument in a matter of panels. Of course, we did waste more than a few pages tiger-wrangling but still, it's very succinct. 

 Comedically, Harley Quinn gets roared at and slobbered on by a hippopotamus. Now.. isn't a hippopotamus just as big of a threat as a tiger? Yes, yes it is. It kills more people than sharks in a year. Hippopotamusses kill approximately 500 people a year in Africa, while the tiger kills or injures about 85 people a year. Again, that figure includes injuries. Most tigers only become man-eaters if they have no other option due to illness or similar, and most attacks are normally mistaken identity or lack of territory due to humans expanding their base of operations. If they're spotted, the tiger does not normally press the attack. 

Hippos meanwhile, are deceptively aggressive and may consider your casual boat ride a full on attack to about the scale of WWII. They also steal crops if given the chance, so if you're out there harvesting you could be in danger of association. Hippos do not need to be provoked as they're extremely territorial at the best of times and don't care if you're human or crocodile. If you 'mess' with them or even think about looking at their calves, they will kill you. Fantasia and Madagascar lied to us!

I'm just pointing out that Batgirl prioritised taking out the tiger but seemed happy to ignore the hippo.  Even Harley didn't give it two thoughts until it roared. I don't know, the tiger may be psychotic after being towed around by a circus in a small cage, almost blown up and taunted by kids with fairy floss but my point remains the same. 

Despite Harley somehow escaping during a flash bombing and being able to somehow grab two hyenas to take with her without dying horribly (attacks on humans by hyenas are under-reported, but it does happen!) Batman is impressed that no-one died. Batgirl tells him she's not burning her costume because she's not doing what she does for him - she's doing it for Gotham. 

Meanwhile in the Asylum, Harley is less than impressed with Joker's reaction to her escapades.

This Harley has basically accomplished what her mainstream counterpart has done over several years - but condensed it to one comic.

She is Joker's psychiatrist, becomes Harley Quinn for him, has an epiphany about his treatment of her and is lured back into his embrace by his manipulative methods.



Geez, even Joker is making light of the hippopotamus threat.

Even though this Harley seems quicker to anger than usual (not counting loose cannon Hardly Quinn from her solo) she doesn't want to believe that Joker is using her, so she falls back under his spell. Which is fair enough, no one wants to believe they're the chump and that the one they love doesn't care for them back.

Some flaws here though. Was the removal of Joker from Harleen's care immediate? Does no one mind that she's always in there for chats anyway? Is this the next day or that evening? Does anyone else in the ward care - like, guards or other prisoners? Are there no security cameras?

Hmm. I feel like I'm trying to ruin my comic experience.

The Short End of the Jester Schtick

Well this issue was better than the first I think. Even though the monkey didn't appear again, I didn't find out what Barbara's shirt says or what the writing on Joker's cell says or if Harleen really took drugs during her spree. 

I thought it was interesting that her accent slipped back into 'Harley Quinn' mode towards the end of the comic even though she appeared as Harleen. 

The comic did a good job of comparing Harley Quinn to Batgirl - in that they were both inspired or moved to imitate a certain man in their lives. Harley Quinn did it for love, and is blind to the fact that Joker doesn't actually care for her. Batgirl - who everyone keeps assuming is Batman's mistress - was motivated to become his protege because he inspired hope in Gotham and she wanted to do the same. 

I suppose I should have made the comparison myself but even though a lot of female super heroes and villains are basically minions of a larger hero/villain - like Superman - Supergirl, Marvel's Banshee and Siryn etc; I always consider them to be their own person. 

The art is a lot better in this issue - particularly the tiger and the fight between Harley and Batgirl and I really liked the analogy Batgirl used to describe Joker's feelings towards Batman.
There were a lot of mixed bag Harley-isms... quotes from the animated series, her current huge mallet etc. but it doesn't seem forced which is good.