OFFICIAL SYNOPSIS: As Gotham City swirls in a maelstrom of evil and villainy, three of the most unlikely candidates – Catwoman, Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn – step forward to bring some light to the situation. But will their efforts enough to stem the tide of madness and mayhem?
Issue #11 of
GOTHAM CITY SIRENS is yet another effortlessly fun entry in this ever-enjoyable title's soon-to-be one-year history. Few writers can take a moment where Harley Quinn -- in a frilly red nightshirt, little pink panties and purple socks, and hot little blonde pigtails -- can still seriously refer to herself as a psychiatrist and make it read like anything but cheesecake. And all while she fawns over her pet hyenas, of course. Paul Dini simply knows how to make this stuff work.
Selina reluctantly joins Harley on a mission to find all of the puppies who've suddenly gone missing in the neighborhood. It sounds like a silly plot, but Dini really ends it on a whopper. I felt like I was reading a deranged version of a Betty and Veronica comic, and Selina would undoubtedly agree to feeling as though she's living in one with her new roommates.
Ivy, meanwhile, begins her new biology job at S.T.A.R. Labs by taking a page about adapting to corporate culture from the book of Lex Luthor. (Dini capitalizes on the moment to deliver a killer line about the Legion of Doom.) But will her commanding presence inspire loyalty or dangerous mutiny?
On nearly every page, Dini found new ways to put a smile on my face. Regular artist Guillem March takes a breather this month; I like most of guest penciller Andres Guinaldo's work (especially the previously mentioned Harley ensemble), but sometimes the faces seem a bit too busy and he draws Ivy far too cruel and hard (with a brick wall of hair that recalls Marvel's Medusa) rather than sensual and seductive as she should be. Minor quibbles.
It's impossible to give this issue anything less than an A. I'm so glad this book remains so fresh and consistent. I wondered if this and STREETS OF GOTHAM would end at issue #12 upon Bruce Wayne's impending return, but they're both solicited to at least 14 with no end in sight. That works for me just fine. - John Bierly
