With a best-selling Batman graphic novel on the shelves this year and a character he co-created — Harley Quinn — just announced for her second major motion picture, Paul Dini would be having a good year even if he were just resting on his Batman: The Animated Series laurels.
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Of course, he isn’t. Dini is currently working on a number of projects, some announced and some not, in both comics and animation.In the last year, he’s worked on original properties as well as Looney Tunes, Marvel and DC properties, and more. He’s got an episode of Justice League Action coming up in 2017 when that series debuts.
And, for those who might have missed the announcement, Dini and IDW Publishing have put together an omnibus of his work with Jingle Belle, Santa Claus’s mischievous daughter.
A character Dini created in the late ’90s, Jingle Belle has been published by Oni Press, Dark Horse, and Image Comics over the course of her long history…and while all of that material has been gathered up and put into one snazzy volume from IDW, he’s not done with her yet.
Dini told ComicBook.com that he’d love to do more with Jingle Belle if the opportunity arises — and so of course we asked if he might be open to crossing her over with Harley, since any time you put Paul Dini on a Harley Quinn project, it’s likely to turn heads.
“Absolutely. If DC was open for it, I think that would be a lot of fun,” said Dini, who also heaped praise on the job Jimmy Palmiotti and Amanda Conner are doing with the character in her current ongoing series at DC. “It’s sort of like the popular sister helping out her little wallflower sister, but I could see that. I think that would be a lot of fun….’Harley Quinn and Jingle Belle Wreck Christmas.’ Something like that.”
Noting that the DC Universe has dealt with Santa in the past a few times, Dini acknowledged it was the kind of thing they might do if they had a good enough idea. The publisher has recently crossed over with IDW for Star Trek‘s encounters with the Legion of Super-Heroes and Green Lantern Corps.
(And this conversation happened before the publisher revealed they were teaming the Suicide Squad up with the Banana Splits!)
“I would have to look at where the characters are similar and where they’re different and see if I could craft a story about that, but I think it might be fun to pair the two of them up if there’s a story that worked,” Dini added.
Check back for much more from our conversation with Dini throughout the week, and make sure to ask Santa for Jingle Belle: The Whole Package! from IDW Publishing this year. Surely, he’ll be too annoyed with you to say no.
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