Expectations

Gotham City Sirens #21
Written by Peter Calloway
Art by Andres Guinaldo

 

This was another great issue of Sirens. Two in a row after a so-so opening arc for Calloway on this book! Harley succumbs to her love for the Joker after all. I loved it and I wasn’t expecting that but I should have! The story of the Guards’ kid was very sad and showed just how twisted the Joker really is. I didn’t expect Catwoman and Ivy to part ways in this either. Love the art as well!

Breaking In To Arkham

Gotham City Sirens #20
Written by Peter Calloway
Art by Andres Guinaldo and Ramon Bachs

 

After a so-so opening arc on this book, Calloway blew me away with this issue! Perhaps the best issue of this series so far – it details how Harley Quinn breaks into Arkham Asylum by using psychological manipulation on the guards and staff and inmates. She of course was once a therapist there and knows all their secrets. It really shows a cold and calculating side of Harley we rarely get to see and Calloway nails it. Hats off to Guinaldo and Bachs as well whose art really helps to tell the story beautifully. I really enjoyed this.

Next Arc

Gotham City Sirens #19
Written by Peter Calloway
Art by Andres Guinaldo

 

Calloway manages to conclude the current arc and start the next arc in one issue as Talia’s plan is thwarted (Not without blowing up the Sirens headquarters) and Harley decides to go after the Joker all in this issue. It wasn’t a bad issue but I hope that the next arc (Calloway’s second on this book) is more intriguing then his first. I have high hopes.

Settling In

Gotham City Sirens #18
Written by Peter Calloway
Art by Jeremy Haun

 

This issue was much better as it is revealed Talia is behind all of this wanting to erase Catwoman of her memories of Batman and I liked the dialogue between Harley and Ivy. I think Calloway is finally getting settled writing this book. I still don’t buy Zatanna even thinking about mindwiping Selina again but oh well.

Dini?

Gotham City Sirens #17
Written by Peter Calloway
Art by Andres Guinaldo

 

This seemed really decompressed. I mean not much happens here except the girls look for Catwoman, they find Catwoman, and they leave. Where is Dini and why has he been gone from this book for so long? I also highly doubt they are going to actually mind wipe Bruce from Selina’s mind. So while it wasn’t a bad issue, I wasn’t into it that much.

Selina, It’s Me

Batman: Streets of Gotham #17
Written by Paul Dini
Art by Dustin Nguyen
Co-Feature by Fabian Nicieza
Art by Szymon Kudranski

 

The main story continues the House of Hush story arc….which I assumed would feature the fall of Hush before Bruce’s return but I guess not as Bruce reveals himself to Selina as Batman in a great scene at the beginning of this issue. The “Selina, it’s me” moment was just awesome for fans of their relationship and Dini writes their relationship very well. The Bed Bug is another great Gotham villain creation by Dini. How does he keep doing this?! The revelations about The Wayne, Kane, and Elliot families also continue to be interesting. The Ragman backup starts off really well as the art really suits the mood and darkness of Gotham City – especially the underbelly a character like Ragman should explore. I love the theme of Gentrification. Gotham really reminds me of Chicago sometimes. It must be why they set the movies here.

Sirens 15 and 16

Gotham City Sirens #15
Written by Tony Bedard
Art by Andres Guinaldo

 

In the end, Harley and Catwoman are unable to convince Poison Ivy to not sound with the alien – she has to realize it on her own. I liked that and it was great to see the recap of how Harley and Ivy became friends. Not a bad issue.

Gotham City Sirens #16
Written by Peter Calloway
Art by Andres Guinaldo

 

So when is Dini returning to the title? No one writes Harley Quinn as good as Dini I really miss him. This wasn’t a bad issue though as Talia and Zatanna get involved when they discover that someone with magical powers and who apparently hates trees kidnaps Catwoman hoping to invade her mind and find out who Batman is. Not sure where this is going but it is an interesting start.

Invasion Of The Plant People

Gotham City Sirens #14
Written by Tony Bedard
Art by Andres Guinaldo

 

Poison Ivy discovers Star Labs has been hiding a plant-based alien who has come to earth to start an invasion. She sides with the alien! Makes sense considering what Poison Ivy is but I hope that she is being mind controlled somehow since she is very willing to kill Harley Quinn here and I like to think she wouldn’t actually do that if she wasn’t under some kind of control. This was a good issue – but whatever happened to Dini and March as the creative team??

Who Is This Angel?

Gotham City Sirens #13
Written by Tony Bedard
Art by Peter Nguyen and Andres Guinaldo

 

Hmmm so is Maggie Kyle really being lead by an angel? It seems so or is it something else? Something sinister. I don’t know as it is clearly not just a hallucination as Harley saw it too. This was a quick read but it was still good and it was a great recap of Catwoman history. I loved seeing the nineties costume again too. I wonder when this will be followed up as Dini is sure to return as regular writer next month.

Sirens 11 and 12

Gotham City Sirens #11
Written by Paul Dini
Art by Andres Guinaldo

 

This was a fun story about Harley Quinn’s heyenas escaping their hideout and killing the neighborhood dogs. Harley ends up donating them to the Zoo by Catwoman’s orders and Poison Ivy gets a new job! This book continues to be great! How could someone not be reading a book starring these three characters?!

Gotham City Sirens #12
Written by Tony Bedard
Art by Peter Nguyen

This story is a sequel to the Catwoman Black Lantern story from a few months back – and it is great to see it get followed up. I love the idea of Selina’s sister as an evil psycho nun trying to kill Catwoman because she believes she is posessed by a demon. Bedard writes some bloody stuff here including Maggie murdering a Cat and another nun. Will Dini be returning to this book? It seems strange that Bedard is continuing the Poison Ivy plotline that Dini started but I am glad it is not being ignored. Goof stuff.

Needs More Sirens

Gotham City Sirens #10
Written by Paul Dini
Art by Andres Guinaldo

 

Guinaldo fills in for March here and I think he was a good choice as I hardly noticed. Doctor Aesop is driven out of the Sirens’s “headquarters” but I can’t say this was the most exciting issue of this series – probably a little too much about the Riddler and not enough about our three main characters. I enjoyed it but it needed more. Aesop is a great addition to the rogue’s gallery though.

The Return of Doctor Aesop

Gotham City Sirens #9
Written by Paul Dini
Art by Guillem March

 

You know what just sucks? I love this book, I mean every time I read it I smile on every page and get really into the story. Yet people are not reading it. Read it people! How could you not read a book featuring Catwoman, Poison Ivy, and Harley Quinn?! It has gorgeous art and laugh-out-loud moments come on! Not to mention this issue feature Doctor Aesop – apparently not dead! Who you say? Well, he was a character from one issue of  Dini’s Detective Comics run that I was very upset  was killed off because he seemed like such a great addition to the Batman Rogue’s Gallery. Dini apparently agreed and brought him back here. Dini knows how to create great villains and shows this once again in this issue.

Poison Ivy Does Not Believe In Love

Gotham City Sirens #8
Written by Guillem March and Marc Andreyko
Art by March

 

First off, I will comment that Dini is not writing this book, just like Streets of Gotham, and this is a completely different comic then was solicited. I hope Dini comes back but still…this was a good comics. March and Andreyko did a good job filling in. I love that there are murders of eco-terrorists in Robinson Park and Poison Ivy is being blamed, and she is pissed not that she is being falsely accused, but because she wished she had been the one to kill them. Hahaha. Poison Ivy is a great character and this was an excellent showcase for her. I liked the establishment of Harley meeting Poison Ivy when she was a doctor at Arkham. I could be wrong but I think that is something that has never been revealed before. The ending is perfect, I won’t spoil it but Poison Ivy does exactly what I would expect her to do to stop the killer.

Gotham’s Most Dangerous Nun?

Catwoman (Volume 3) #83
Written by Tony Bedard
Art by Marco Marz

What has happened to Will Phieffer? Why is he not writing this? This book was his baby before it got cancelled and it was great! That being said, this was an okay issue of this resurrected titled. There were obviously last minute creative changes but the art was fantastic and Bedard wrote everyone in character. The ending was surprising. Is Maggie Kyle as a Nun-villain going to be explored in Gotham City Sirens? I sure hope so.  The Black Lantern stuff was just like every other surprise I’m alive Black Lantern stuff. I am honestly getting sick of it but whatever.

Christmas With The Quinzels

Gotham City Sirens #7
Written by Paul Dini
Art by David Lopez

Dini knows how to write Gotham Christmas stories, I have always said that and this issue was no different. Not as dark as his previous Christmas work, this issue focused on the Christmas’s of the three Sirens. Catwoman spent some time with Dick, Poison Ivy went to the rainforest, and Harley Quinn went to go see her family. I am not sure if this is the fist time we get to meet the Quinzel’s. It’s possibly they appeared before, probably in Harley’s series but I have no idea. They are a messed up family but surprisingly not as messed up as I thought they would be. Harley’s Dad is in jail and a con artist while her mom just deals with the her reject children. Harley is definitely the craziest of the bunch.

Can’t Wait For More Gaggy!

Gotham City Sirens #6
Written by Paul Dini
Art by Guillem March

This was an AWESOME issue of this book. The story of Gaggy – one-time Joker sidekick is recounted to Harley Quinn and the sirens finally take on this little dwarf man. Every moment of this book shined, the art was fabulous and fit the tone of the story, Dini shows that he writes Harley and the Bat villains like no other once again in this issue. I love Harley’s final lines about Gaggy – and that Gaggy is shown to still be around after all. I can’t wait for more Gaggy!

Sirens 4 and 5

Gotham City Sirens #4
Written by Paul Dini
Art by Guillem March

The Joker comes after the Sirens – apparently deciding he just wants to kill Harley once and for all. I didn’t expect to see Joker this soon post-Battle for the Cowl as I thought they were saving him for Morrison to deal with it. I guess I was wrong. This was a fun issue. Joker had a joker-blimp!

Gotham City Sirens #5
Written by Paul Dini
Art by Guillem March

And I guess I wasn’t wrong after all – The Joker turns out to be Gaggy in disguise – a former lackey of the Joker who is jealous of Harley Quinn because she became Joker’s sidekick. I wonder if this a new character or an actual old Joker sidekick. I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s new, Dini always did create new bat-villains that seem like they have been around forever. This was a lot of fun and the art is superb. It definitely has improved since the first issue and I have to say this series is going strong. And hey Harley is in costume this issue!