Review by Frank Plowright

Have Harley Quinn’s two pet hyenas been named Bud and Lou in the mainstream DC universe? Well, if not, it’s Ben Hed responsible for christening them. We’re in talking animal territory here with Bud and Lou on the loose as Harley’s been captured and jailed for a year, and in the meantime they’re getting by the best they can. Except Ace the Bat-Hound thinks they’ve stolen Wonder Woman’s lasso of truth.

That’s far from the only silly idea Hed introduces. There’s the armoured kanga, native to Themiscyra and not at all a kangaroo; the criminal penguins who go around as a group each speaking a single word of a sentence, and it’s revealed there’s another Gotham resident who has unusual pets. Plus it turns out Lou’s very attached to the scarf Harley gave them when just a little cub.

Given his Pixie and Brutus webcomic, Hed’s used to drawing cartoon animals covering the spectrum from cute to sinister and menacing, and copes well with the range of emotions experienced by Bud and Lou as they’re unwillingly dragged from one venue to the next. For a long time the lasso of truth just seems like the method of pulling Bud and Lou from place to place, but Hed actually puts it to good use with precision comedy timing.

This is very silly, funny and seemingly the first in a line of graphic novels for youngsters featuring the pets of the DC universe, including the Joker’s dog in Barkham Asylum. Woof, woof.