Gotham City Sirens #1 – Leah Williams, Writer; Matteo Lolli, Artist; Triona Farrell, Colorist
Ray – 8.5/10
Ray: While the three antiheroes have had successful solo series for a long time now, the Gotham City Sirens – the odd alliance of Catwoman, Harley Quinn, and Poison Ivy – has always been a favorite dynamic for the fans. Now, they’re reuniting for a one-month weekly event that replaces the solo runs – so what could get them all together? How about a bizarre mystery that pulls each of them into it whether they want to be involved or not? You have Catwoman, chasing down her frenemy Jaina – aka the White Rabbit’s alter ego, who seems to be hunted by a strange group of cowboys. Then you have Harley trying to take her hyenas out for a walk, only for her time out to be rudely interrupted by an army of robot bison and those same cowboys trying to track them down. As for Ivy, she’s busy trying to investigate the source of a strange new energy drink that people seem to be obsessed with.
This all comes together into a strange series of events in Gotham that feel all too familiar to the various crazes we saw the internet gin up. Szechuan Sauce riots, anyone? It all comes back to the drink, and a strange virtual reality game that the drinkers are playing. White Rabbit was offered a chance to join and decline, while the cowboys seem to be piloted by gamers outside of the “Avatar” and leave behind bodies when they log off. None of these elements particularly seem like they’re in the main characters’ wheelhouse, which is a clever way to handle it – throw them off their game. The connection to the three, though, becomes a little clearer when the mastermind behind the game is revealed. This is a character with deeply bad blood with two of the three sirens, and if this first issue is any indication, this might be the best plot the character has had in a while. Fun, weird, intriguing start.
To find reviews of all the DC issues, visit DC This Week.
GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
