World's Finest
I was drawn in by talk of a JxHQ week, so thought I’d contribute by putting together a little post of all the best Joker & Harley bits from the comic adaptation of The Batman & Superman Adventures: World’s Finest. I see this as much like picking the particularly cute and funny chocolate chunks from a cookie.
This is my first go at one of these so apologies for any errors. The comic is 64 pages long so hopefully I’m within the permitted number of pages to post!
Cold open on a lonely Gotham antiques shop just as the owner prepares to shut-up for the night. This could so easily have turned into an episode of CSI…
Unfortunately this is the DCAU so Joker Toxin leaves you with a nasty case of laugher cramps rather than a nasty case of being dead. I find Harley’s little heart speech bubble adorable.
Meanwhile Superman saves the President and Batman prepares for a holiday to Metropolis, but we’re not concerned about that. Back to the real stars of this comic: Harley has introduced Mercy Graves to her spring-armed boxing glove and borrowed Lexy’s car...
Honestly I think hitchhiking!Joker is worth the price of the comic by itself! Joker and Harley then decide to find some temporary accommodation courtesy of more Joker Toxin and a pogo stick.
There’s then some more plotty stuff involving robots, Lois Lane drooling over Bruce Wayne, some personal jealousy issues and Batman spying on a half-naked Superman with binoculars.
In a now somewhat deja-vu-y scene involving the Joker turning up to a rooftop party with some heavies and referring to a Lois as Superman’s squeeze, Bruce is ejected over the edge of the building and Lois kidnapped. (Why is that scenario somehow familiar?)
Harley gets cuteness points for blowing a raspberry at Lois, but the whole plan is foiled by a tag-team hero effort when Superman and Batman turn up. Both Joker and Lex and understandably Not Pleased, but Harley tries to cheer her Puddin' up with toast impressions.
I feel if Joker had been paying slightly more attention the catfight might have cheered him up more than the toast did.
Batman pays a midnight visit to Lex, some stuff blows up, Lois is seen slathering cream over a half-naked Bruce after she find out his true identity, then Superman and Bruce have a chat while he’s still half naked. Joker and Lex then arrange to have another little chat about the Killing Superman Thing.
Cue quite a few more explosions and killer robots, plus more tag-team heroics.
The Joker chooses to try for parachutes as an escape option, but seemingly comes to a sticky end courtesy of his own marble grenades. Lex, Harley and a wise-cracking Batman are all given a lift home by Superman.
Metropolis News is obviously lacking in cute animal fluff stories if their “lighter note” is a disturbed criminal being carted off back to an insane asylum, but there you go.
Thus endeth our tale. Okay if you're being thorough about this there's actually also a few heartfelt words between Bruce and Lois and a bit of Bat-Supes banter, but for my purposes we're done! ;D