So, y’all been chomping at the bit to read my review of THE BATMAN’s “Two of a Kind” episode? The one that introduces Harley Quinn into THE BATMAN universe and written by Paul Dini?

*crickets chirping*

Oh well then, here goes anyway….

Quick Bat-History lesson. Harley Quinn was created by Paul Dini for BATMAN: THE ANIMATED series and first appeared in 1992. The character is sort of special as it’s rare for a character of this genre to first appear in an animated series and then be added to comic book continuity. But this is exactly what happened with Harley.

The original animated version of HQ and her comic book counterpart basically share the same origin. Dr. Harleen Quinzel was an psychiatric intern at Arkham Asylum who falls for The Joker and eventually becomes his partner, “Harley Quinn.”

In THE BATMAN her origin is altered somewhat in that the whole Arkham angle is thrown out and Dr. Quinzel (voiced by Hynden Walch and sounding exactly like Arleen Sorkin) is instead a TV pop psychologist. It just so happens that The Joker has become her biggest fan by watching her show, “Heart 2 Heart With Harley.”

Due to circumstances such as the cancellation of her show and the fact that Punch and Judy (The Joker’s henchmen) are arrested, Harley joins up with “Mr. J” and transforms into a version of Harley that is pretty consistent with her other incarnations.

Got that? OK, now own to the review…

I was anxious to see episode, not because I’m this huge HQ fan or anything, but due to the fact that Paul Dini wrote it and I wanted to see how he would adapt his Harley for THE BATMAN -- and overall, he does a nice job. If you are a fan of the Harley, you won’t be disappointed. In fact, having her be a TV psychologist was a rather clever and refreshing take on the character.

The Joker on the other hand, continues to suck and run around without shoes. Nothing has changed about the character so your opinion shouldn’t be altered one way or the other. There is nothing sinister or really threatening about this version of The Joker. Frankly, they should simply remove the “er” at the end of his name.

We see both Bruce Wayne and The Batman in this episode, and it’s clear that the people behind the show want to depict an older and more mature BW/Batman -- and they are succeeding. Again, the thing that kiddies-up the show is Robin and Batgirl. And even they wouldn’t be that bad if the writers would refrain from the inane dialogue they provide these two. Trust me, if you’ve found yourself rolling your eyes when Batgirl and Robin talk, don’t expect “Two of a Kind’ to provide a reprieve.

Overall, not bad -- if you can stomach the irritating minutia provided by, well, “those two.” The Batman is still “The Batman” and The Joker continues to be crap. But the writing was good, except for -- well, never mind -- and it’s certainly worth checking out.