Joker's Asylum 2: Harley Quinn

              This issue stared Harley Quinn. Harley was created only 18 years ago, and she gas had more success than many characters have had in their entire existence. For instance, if you go to an amateur comic collector and ask them which villain they like more, Harley Quinn or Dr. Sivanna they will without doubt pick Harley Quinn, probably because they have never heard of Sivanna. This is not some stroke of luck, that the character had, but because the character is very, very good. She is funny and (much like the Joker) kills people in the most joyful way possible, which just makes her fun to read about.
            In this issue Harley escapes from Arkham on Valentine's Day to go see the Joker, but when she gets to his hideout she finds several dead henchmen, and no Mr. J. She finds out that some people came and took him, from a wounded henchman named Spider. She then sends him out to get chocolate for the Joker's Valentine's Day present. She then finds that he was now in an auction, and people who had been effected by the Joker were trying to buy him. Harley kills all of them, and finds out where Mr. J is and goes there. When she gets to the location she finds ____. (I'm not going to spoil it)
            I was very happy to see Harley Quinn in this comic for reasons that I mentioned above. Although I was a little worried because of the disappointment caused by Joker's Asylum: Mad Hatter. This comic met my expectations. Okay, not great. The problem that I had was that I thought the Joker should have been in it more, besides his little narration's, he was only at the very end of the story. I would have preferred that when Quinn got to the hideout she would have found Joker and the two of them would have gone of a romantic crime spree. But this was good too, just not as. I really liked the art, I thought it fit the boisterous, and happy personality of Harley. Although it did not work with the Joker, I don't know why, he just wasn't drawn that well, he looked a little too human. Lastly I really liked Joker's introduction and conclusion. He was the funny/twisted Joker that he always is. So overall a pretty good comic.


Grade: 8/10
Buy at: www.mycomicshop.com

Joker's Asylum 2: The Riddler

                My favorite hero is Batman. I do like the character, but what really gets me are his villains. I love them, absolutely. My favorite of course is the Joker. So naturally a series about his villains narrated by my favorite one appealed to me. I read Joker's Asylum one, and it was okay. This one was very good.
In this issue the Riddler is in the middle of stealing a painting (this is before he became a private eye) when a girl says "What do you think you're doing?" Riddler begins to fall in love with this girl. But then of course, there couldn't be a story with a Batman villain, without the Batman. So Batman brakes in and stops the crime. Riddler finds out who this girl is via the internet. Her name is Jessica Duchamp. Riddler sends her all sorts of gifts, but she is a respectable girl and sends them all back. So Riddler tries to reform, this still doesn't work. Villains come to his door asking for help in various plots, he turns them all down. He sits and drinks his passion for this girl away. Some undefined guest shows up at his door. We do know he or she is a villain of Batman's, we do not know his/her identity (I have a guess: Black Mask). So he/she goes to her and makes her pretend to fall in love with Riddler. He thought he had cracked the riddle of her heart. Turns out he was in love with the riddle of why she didn't love him, not the girl him self.
            In order to keep the guest's identity secret, Calloway made many villain visit the Riddlers door, he mastered the voice of all of them. It was perfect. Harley sounded like Harley, Bane sounded like Bane. The only voice he didn't get quite right was the voice of the narrator, the Joker. There were some on and off moments, sometimes the voice was good, sometimes it wasn't. I also didn't care for the plot, but the ending made it all worth it. Lastly the cover art made the riddler look like a different crazy then he is. He is an intellectual who is obsessed with riddles, not a... a... just look at the cover and you will know what I'm saying. So I was happy with this comic over all. I'm very exited for the next Joker's Asylum 2 books coming out this month. Killer Croc, Harley Quin, Mad Hatter, and Clay face.

Grade: 8.5/10
buy at: www.mycomicshop.com