Monday, April 12, 2010

Gotham City Sirens: Union


I'm a Batman fan. I'll freely admit to reading more comics featuring The Dark Knight than any other character. And few heroes have a rogues gallery like that of Batman. So the idea of taking three of those characters (two of which we're successfully teamed-up on Batman: The Animated Series) sounded like an okay idea. The early results, however, have been mixed.

This hardcover collects the first seven issues of Gotham City Sirens which unites Catwoman, Harley Quinn, and Poison Ivy for the purpose of...well, that's where things start to go wrong.

The issues collected here (penned by Paul Dini) aren't bad stories (well, that whole Ivy and Harley poisoning Catwoman isn't exactly a winner), but there's really nothing all that special about them either. Included here are the Joker's former assistant taking his long overdue revenge on Harley, appearances by Hush and the Riddler, and a holiday issue.

The interplay between characters works well, but the overall construction of the stories needs some work. Also, the question of who this threesome is also needs to be answered. Are they heroes, villains, mercaneries (like the Secret Six), or something else completely?

I like these characters, and I like Dini's take on them (for the most part). I just wish I liked the stories he was using them to tell a little better. There's a big whole in Gotham with Bruce Wayne's absence and there's more than enough room for these ladies to carve out a little spot for themselves. Now if they could only decide who they wanted to be when they grow up.

[DC $19.99]

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