Two issues ago, I was concerned (and a little disappointed) by writer Paul Dini's depiction of The Joker, who seemed to be back to business-as-usual after his ascension to King of the Wicker People (or whatever the hell Grant Morrison intended him to be) in
BATMAN R.I.P.
What I didn't know at the time -- and found out in last month's fantastic of GOTHAM CITY SIRENS -- was that Dini had been taking a big narrative gamble. Like the best magic tricks, it paid off.
Big time.
And now, in issue #6, Dini ups the stakes even more to deliver this title's new best-issue-ever.
As we found out last issue, "The Joker" who tried to kill Harley Quinn was in fact Gagworth A. Gagsworthy, one of The Joker's former flunkies who'd used prosthetics to disguise himself as the Clown Prince of Crime. And with Gaggy's machinations dangerously sidelining Catwoman and Poison Ivy in terrible traps, Harley had nothing to protect her from Gaggy's oncoming blade.
Watching the girls escape with their lives in this issue is a lot of fun, and artist Guillem March draws it all as sexy as possible. But there's something better and more (effortlessly) complicated about his pencils in this issue. And while his style has always been perfect for the title's frequently cheesecake antics, this issue proves there's a much more talented artist lurking inside him.
One of Dini's greatest strengths as a writer is his ability to put as much character-driven motivation as possible into every given moment, and the origin he gives to Gaggy is engaging, a little bit heartbreaking, and entirely creepy. Dini even weaves in Gaggy's tale with some of the Bat-verse's most defining moments (such as the assassination of the Flying Graysons), giving it history and context and weight.
And that's where March comes in, with more detail and danger in his pencils than ever before. The flashbacks of Gaggy's origin tale are particularly impressive, and The Joker's hideout comes alive as a perverse and bizarre mirror of Batman's famous cave. Colorist Tomeu Morey also trades the book's previously bright palette for something far darker, moodier, and creepier. The art really elevates the issue to something darker and more urgent than anything this book has ever been before, and of course Dini's words drive the whole thing home.
Even in this title's most cheesecake moments, Dini has always made sure that character comes first. He effectively turns Gaggy into a full-fledged character and threat in this issue, and the art is on an entirely new level from anything we've ever seen before in these pages. March and Morey adjust the style and color for different periods in Gaggy's past, and the newspaper layout on one page looks like something J.H. Williams III would have done in DETECTIVE.
GOTHAM CITY SIRENS has always been fun, but issue 6 taps into a deeper kind of greatness that I expect we've not seen the last of. - John Bierly
