Before Harley Quinn teams up with Batman and Nightwing to take down Poison Ivy in the original animated feature Batman and Harley Quinn, a new prequel comic titled Harley Quinn and Batman will tell the story of how Harley got locked away in jail before Batman recruits her.

Harley Quinn and Batman is a digital-first comic from writer Ty Templeton and artist Rick Burchett that will run biweekly starting Monday, July 31, for its first five chapters. The series will switch to an accelerated "extra-crazy" publishing schedule when the animated film is released on August 15, with the comic switching names to Batman and Harley Quinn to match the feature film. A new seven-part sequel will see chapters releasing weekly with a collection of stories from Jeff Parker, Craig Rousseau, Luciano Vecchio, Amanda Deibert, David Hahn, Dario Brizuela, Matthew Dow Smith, Sandy Jarrell, Ty Templeton and more.

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“Batman and Harley, Joker and Ivy, Nightwing and Catwoman. Is there a better cast of characters anywhere in fiction?” Templeton said in a statement to Screen Rant. “I spent some of the best years of my career working with these icons and could not be happier to be returning to Gotham City and their adventures. And to top it off, I get to work with the incomparable Rick Burchett again! Pinch me, I’m dreaming. We’re getting the band back together!”

“I spent quite a few years working with these characters in this art style,” Burchett said. “It’s like visiting old friends. For me, though, the best part is having the opportunity to work with Ty Templeton again. It’s been way too long.”

It’s the team-up we’ve been dreaming of as the cute psychopath Harley Quinn joins the brooding Dark Knight for a brand-new Digital First comic series, HARLEY QUINN AND BATMAN. The series, from Batman writer Ty Templeton and artist Rick Burchett, is an exciting new five-chapter prequel adventure to the Batman And Harley Quinn animated film coming out this August from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment.

Harley Quinn is a legend in her own mind, so when she realizes the Joker thinks of her as a sidekick, she takes her revenge. Harley’s now faced with a hard decision to break out as her own super-villain, and she’s willing to go for it!

Directed by Sam Liu (Batman: The Killing Joke), Batman and Harley Quinn stars Kevin Conroy and Loren Lester, reprising their Batman: The Animated Series roles as Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson, joined by Melissa Rauch (The Big Bang Theory) as Harley Quinn, Paget Brewster (Criminal Minds) as Poison Ivy and Kevin Michael Richardson (The Cleveland Show) as the Floronic Man.

All 12 chapters of Harley Quinn and Batman will be collected in a trade paperback just in time for Summer 2018.