Gotham City Sirens #1-4

Gotham City Sirens #1-4

Originally released in 2009

Written by Paul Dini, Scott Lobell (#3)

Art by Guillem March

I wanted to read something involving Harley Quinn, and seeing that Gotham City Sirens involved Paul Dini (one of her original creators, and one of the people behind Batman: The Animated Series) was enough to sell me on it.  This series teams up three of the main villainesses in Gotham City - Poison Ivy, Harley Quinn, and Catwoman, with the last of those having been weakened from having her heart torn out by a villain (and Bruce Wayne impersonator) known as Hush.  As defending herself is much harder as a result of the psychological trauma, she turns to Harley and Ivy for help.

The writing is a lot of fun, with the sort of madcap adventures that remind me of some of the Harley-centric episodes of Batman: The Animated Series such as "Harley's Holiday" and "Harlequinade". (Dini's involvement likely plays a part in that)  The third issue shifts focus to the Riddler, who has reformed at this point and is working as a detective.  It's a nice twist on the character, with him getting to use his intelligence to try and outwit Batman in a way that won't end with him getting pummeled and sent to Arkham, and while I get that his return to the status quo of being a riddle-themed supervillain is inevitable, it's a nice direction for the character that helps to justify why Batman refuses to kill his villains - it's possible for most of them to turn their lives around.

Speaking of Batman, Bruce Wayne is dead or believed to be dead at this point (I believe it's after Final Crisis), so Hush is impersonating Bruce Wayne at this point, while Dick Grayson is in the role of Batman. (Bruce would presumably be okay with Dick being Batman, even if it might not be the life that he wants for Dick, though he definitely wouldn't be okay with Hush being Bruce Wayne)  It's interesting to see Dick using Alfred and the Batcomputer to try and keep up with the Riddler; it helps to show that, while Bruce might not be the most skilled at anything among the Bat-Family, he can do a lot of different things extremely well.

Harley going on a simple shopping trip is enough to set up a kidnapping and attempted murder by Hush, who wants revenge on Catwoman and is planning to use Harley to get to her.  The news takes this as Bruce Wayne having romantic interest in Harley, which gets the Joker involved, culminating in a Joker-themed blimp pulling up to the club that Hush has taken Harley to.

It's interesting how Hush's identity theft constrains him more than anything - when Catwoman and Ivy show up to save Harley, Hush contemplates shooting them, but if he wants to stay as Bruce Wayne, he's limited to acting in self defense (not knowing that the real Bruce wouldn't shoot anyone), so instead, he shoots at the Joker's blimp to keep up the act.

I like how, so far, this series seems to embrace the utter ridiculousness that life in Gotham would bring - Catwoman can throw out the claim that Batman is a shared identity created by a cabal of wealthy people who want to put an end to crime, and it's seen as making perfect sense.  It feels more like a slice of life for supervillains, and I like that so far.

It also highlights how much Harley's evolved as a character over the years.  Nowadays, she's more of an independent anti-hero, but here, even though she's split up from the Joker, she's still wrapped around his finger, eager to accept the idea that he really loves her and he'd gladly take her back and he didn't mean to throw her out of a third story window, honest! (no reason is given for their break-up, but given the Joker's abusive nature and the on-and-off-again status of their relationship, it could have been something like that)  I can almost hear Arleen Sorkin's voice from Batman: The Animated Series when Harley speaks, which is understandable given who's working on this book.

One of my problems with Batman: The Animated Series is that they didn't really seem to know what to do with Catwoman (especially by the time of the art style change in the last season), but that doesn't show here.  Catwoman feels like Catwoman, for the lack of a better description, though admittedly, the bulk of my familiarity with the character comes from games like Batman: Arkham City.  She cares deeply about Bruce, but she's snarky and grounded, playing the straight woman (pun not intended) to Harley's zany antics and Ivy's plant obsession.  She's an entertaining protagonist, and her dynamic with the other two Sirens is a fun one.

This series is off to a great start, and I'm eager to see where things go from here.  I'm hoping this series goes deeper into the personal lives of some of Batman's villains - episodes of Batman: The Animated Series like "Almost Got 'im", where Batman's foes get together for a poker game and swap stories about how they almost killed Batman, or "The Trial", where the inmates of Arkham kidnap Batman to put him on trial for supposedly making them into who they are, are among the highlights of the series, and I'm hoping that Dini can recapture some of that dynamic between the villains here. (arguably, he already has, but I want more!)