Batman: The Adventures Continue #16 just brought some of Harley Quinn’s animated allies into the world of Batman: The Animated Series.
WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Batman: The Adventures Continue #16, by Alan Burnett, Paul Dini, Ty Templeton, Monica Kubina, and Josh Reed, available now.
While Batman: The Animated Series and the DC Animated Universe it created have been off the air for years, Batman: The Adventures Continue is filling in the gaps for the Bat-Family, by filling in what happened to Jason Todd and how Batman met Deathstroke in this world. It’s also offered new insights on the past of Harley Quinn, proving that she and Poison Ivy were in love even decades ago.
And in Batman: The Adventures Continue #16, Harley and Poison Ivy spread some holiday cheer by throwing a party for DC’s slightly less lethal villains, hoping their fellow fiends could find warmth and that festive spirit the same way they have. But as they throw a party for a few select peers, some of Harley’s most important allies from her cartoon series and the Suicide Squad have finally entered DCAU canon.
Harley just wants people to feel loved this yuletide season, so she convinces Ivy to throw a bash at Penguin’s Iceberg Lounge. As they walk through the scant crowd, they enjoy the company of a relatively friendly group of villains that does not include troublemakers like Bane, Two-Face or Joker.
In place of those villains, Harley sees friends like King Shark, who’s in a green sweater with a drink in hand, seemingly inspired by the Nanaue in the current Harley Quinn carton. He’s standing next to Captain Boomerang and Deadshot here, which suggests that this Harley could have spent some time with the Suicide Squad, too.
Kite-Man is also present in this scene at the bar. He played a huge role in helping Harley out in her cartoon series, but things got complicated when he and Ivy fell into a love triangle with Harley. While Ivy ended up leaving Kite-Man at the altar and setting him up to stir up trouble, Kite-Man seems to have a more positive, less personal relationship with everyone there.
The assembled crowd of villains also includes characters like Ratcatcher. This version, Otis Flannegan, can control vermin and appeared in the Harley cartoon, where she was apprehended by Batgirl, but it’s worth noting a female version will be in the next Suicide Squad movie alongside Margot Robbie’s character.