Mad Love (comic)

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The cover to Mad Love. Book by Paul Dini and Bruce Timm.
The cover to Mad Love. Book by Paul Dini and Bruce Timm.

Mad Love was a single-issue graphic novel written by Paul Dini, writer and director of Batman: The Animated Series and Batman Beyond, and Bruce Timm, executive producer on The New Batman/Superman Adventures and the co-creator of Batman: The Animated Series. It was set in the continuity of The Batman Animated Series. It won an Eisner Award for "Best Single Story" in 1994. It was later adapted (with minor alterations for pacing) as an animated episode of The New Batman Adventures

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

The story revolves around the Joker's sidekick Harley Quinn. She was once psychiatrist Dr. Harleen Quinzel, but fell head over heels in love with the maniacal Joker after spending just 15 minutes inside Arkham Asylum. She develops an obsession with him, and turns to crime to win his love.

Quinn decides that the only way to make the Joker love her is to kill the Batman, which she attempts to do by feeding him to a school of pirahnas. She nearly succeeds — getting closer, in fact, than Joker ever did — but Batman distracts her by exposing the lies that her "puddin'" told her about his unhappy childhood, even laughing at her which creeped her out, and escapes. The Joker, meanwhile, goes into a jealous rage and nearly kills her, but Batman saves her and sends Joker plunging to his (apparent) death. Once again in Arkham, Quinn realizes that the Joker has merely been using her, and renounces him forever — until she receives a "get well" bouquet of flowers from him, and promptly falls in love again.

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