Gotham City Sirens: Book Two by Tony Bedard

Gotham City Sirens: Book Two Reviews

• 
  Jayson

  (B) 75% | More than Satisfactory
  Notes: Scraps its earlier roommates-in-the-city gimmick and goes all-in with boyfriend-based obstacle-course-centric action.
• 
  Craig

  This is a very good collection of stories featuring Catwoman, Poison Ivy, and Harley Quinn, the titular Sirens. It includes issues 14-26 of the comics, which had been previously released as the third and fourth graphic novels of the series. The first story, Strange Fruit, was written by Tony Bedard and the rest were by Peter Calloway. The illustrations are rendered by a half-dozen different artists, but the styles are similar enough that it's not jarring. Selina's goggles are a bit annoying from time to time, Ivy occasionally bears a little too much resemblance to Jennifer Walters, and Harley seems unsure as to whether or not to wear the white-face make-up, but what the hey. The stories are refreshingly more character-driven than action-oriented, and their struggles to get by and along are far more interesting than any impending apocalypse. Selina seems to ultimately triumph, and Harley disappointingly succumbs, and Ivy stays angry at the world. There are a lot of other Bat-adjacent characters popping in and out of the action, my favorite was Zatanna, but the focus rightfully stays on the core trio. It's an enjoyable read; for a soundtrack I highly recommend Concrete Blonde's Bloodletting.
• 
  Clarissa

  It was great watching Ivy and Harley work together to save Selina from having her mind wiped but, I must admit, my personal favorite moment was seeing Harley on her mission to break into Arkham and kill the Joker. Of course, like always, she fails to actually do so, but it was still amazing to see her use her greatest weapon: her psychiatrist mind. She knew exactly how to play everyone in order to get in. Sadly, she just ends up running back into the Joker's arms when she finally reaches him.
  
  After this, the series goes down hill. The mini-arc about Selina's weird baby sister insisting that the cat is a demon possessing her felt really out of place and dragged the rest of the series. What exactly was the point of this?
  
  This started off so well. The girls were a team! Not that I minded seeing them go head to head from time to time. They shine either way! This is a fun read.
• 
  Amanja

  Even better than book one!
  
  How harley Quinn was characterized in book one was my only complaint about the first half of this series but book two more than makes up for it. Her arc is phenomenal here. We see what her strengths are and how she is so much more than a dumb lovestruck blonde.
  
  All three of these women get to deal with real challenges through this book. We see how all three deal with their personal weaknesses regarding love and obsession as well as dealing with action packed scenarios in typical gotham fashion.
• 
  Ashley Marie

  2.5 stars
  
  With Dini no longer writing, the storyline takes a turn that I do not like. Our leading ladies turn on each other. Strike two: the artistic shift. It was fine once I got used to it, but it felt very ordinary compared to the vivid stuff in the first book.
  
  The opening Ivy/alien boy storyline was okay, but it started them on the path to splintering. I'm no fan of Zatanna and not big on Talia either. Alice Sinner was interesting, and I liked the comparison of Batman/Joker from the ladies' eyes. There was a brief continuation of the Maggie storyline, but no actual conclusion that I can recall, so... yay for MORE unfinished business?
  
  Bottom line, I love Selina/Harley/Ivy as friends (or even frenemies) rather than outright at-each-other's-throats. They had a good thing going and it seems like that got quashed once Dini stepped away.
  
  #CharlieAndAshleyReadComics
• 
  Molly™☺

  What worked best in volume one is painfully absent here. The trio spend the majority of the time pitted against one another in favour of several love interests that strip them of any partnership they had previously been working on. There are snippets of them working together, but it ultimately feels like a let down to go from fun sitcom like antics with supervillains / anti-heroes to disjointed romcom (with barely any comedy). The girls themselves all have their moments, and when they are working together, the magic is definitely still there. However, it doesn't quite match the heights of the previous entry due to the shift in genre, art direction and writing.
• 
  Mike

  Almost as good as the first book. A good solid group of stories, can't wait for book three.
• 
  Drucilla

  Actual rating: 3.5 stars. So...I didn't like this volume nearly as much as the previous one. I thought it was a touch too serious and too focused on multi-issue arcs instead of one-issue stories. It was nice that the writers actually got to give it an ending and it was a good ending.
• 
  Matt

  My boyfriend was clearing out his comics collection and told me I should hang onto this story to read, and I'm really glad I did. Although he had each comic, so the benefit was that I got to see all the fantastic cover art on each individual issue. I can't overstate how much fun it was to hang out with the best villainesses from Batman's world, with guest spots for Zatana and Talia Al Ghul. Gorgeous art, and a great story (most of the time....the side stories with Azrael and Catwoman's crazy Catholic baby sister [Sister Zero? really?] dragged the pace too much for my taste) make this a must-read for fans of the Bat-universe.
• 
  Jenny Clark

  This was a pretty fun series and I like how it ends, with plenty to say they could come back together. I also rather liked seeing Harley's inner monologue when she breaks back into Arkham, and Ivy's reaction to her final choice... This had some very psychological aspects that were done well.
• 
  Shawna Hunter

  Second verse same as the first...in the best way.
  
  So I loved Book 1 and my only concern going into book 2 was that it'd be more of the same. Maybe a little more sitcom stuff in the home. A big bad for them to take down? Boy was I wrong. This story breaks up the Gotham Sirens but in a way that is natural to their story arc. They came together out of personal necessity (with a little help...spoiler alert) and managed to do some good but these are villains. Dyed-in-the-wool badgirls. They aren't just going to up and join the Justice League. The story moves almost flawlessly from book 1 with a minor hiccup related to crusaders and Selina's sister? Something about trials, I dunno it felt like a connection to another comic somewhere. Anyway other than that confusing little excuse for Selina and Ivy to start their falling out (which was coming anyway) the story progresses in a way that leaves the characters each stronger, more defined and ready for solo adventures. The Sirens may reform down the road but if and when they do it will be of their own accord and only when they've completed their personal evolutions.
  
  Also, side note, Harley is a total bitch and Ivy should give her a good torture sess.
• 
  Anniken Haga

  It took me a while to get around to reading this, and it took me a long time from start to finish. it's a big book with a lot of undertones and things going on, which I liked, but could only take so much of at a time.
  
  I wasn't a big fan of Ivy's story in the beginning, but I was glad to see the way it turned and ended. It was the same with Harley's story, to be honest, and I see how it lead to the Harley Quinn-series.
  
  I don't know what more there is to say. The book was what I would expect from DC, and the art was the same. I'm glad I've read the series, and I may reread it again in a few years, but it will be a while. only wish we got more of this Ivy.
• 
  Vinicius

  Antes de fazer a análise das histórias desse segundo volume, é importante destacar que tanto os roteiristas quanto os desenhistas são diferentes do primeiro volume. A principal mente por trás da qualidade do volume 1, Paul Dini, deixou de escrever as histórias, e por isso há uma queda na qualidade do roteiro. Os desenhos também em alguns momentos, são bem ruins.
  
  No que tange as histórias aqui presentes, acho que o momento por qual a revista do Batman é alguns eventos da DC ocorriam paralelamente, a história das sereis de Gotham teve de se encaixar, e nesse momento, as histórias que estavam indo bem, começam a degringolar.
  
  O encadernado não é ruim, tem algumas histórias bacanas das 3 personagens, mas há uma ruptura na temática de "amigas de quarto apronta do em Gotham". O tom mais leve do primeiro volume, e ate cômico e heroico em certas ocasiões, aqui é deixado de lado. Todas as personagens começam a ter desenvolvimento voltado para sentimentos de raiva, relacionados a suas amizades e paixões.
• 
  Lector Perruno

  No leía cómics casi desde niño y quería retomarlos. Esta serie, la empecé hace unos años, la dejé y tampoco sé por qué. A lo largo de 26 números, te va mostrando la nueva alianza de las tres villanas favoritas de Gotham. La serie va de menos a más. Al principio, son pequeños arcos argumentales de un tomo o dos, luego las tramas adquieren complejidad. Conoces más sus pasados, el por qué son así... Además, si no has leído muchos cómics de batman o solo has visto las pelis, no creo que importe demasiado, puede ser muy introductoria. La serie incluye bastantes explicaciones de sus vidas, y toca casi todos los palos del universo de Gotham. La única pega es el cambio de dibujante hacia la mitad de la colección, que canta bastante.
• 
  Brandon

  Book One of this series had a trio of female vigilantes in Gotham teaming up and trying to live their lives despite all the craziness that comes with living in Gotham City. This volume is about their "boys". Can Catwoman be trusted with Batman's secret identity? Will Harley get back with the Joker? What is Poison Ivy even doing with her life? It has a lot more focus than the first volume but it's also not as fun. Less slice of life, more action drama, with bigger arcs and more infighting among the team. Aside from Guillem March's fantastic covers there isn't any fantastic art to carry it through and it loses a lot of its charm.
• 
  Gemma

  Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy are two of my all time favorite characters and I love them here. I also appreciate the questions this one brings up; can you ever truly break free of your past? When do you let go of trying to save someone you love who won't save themselves? When do the good deeds outweigh the bad and vice versa?
  
  Points to the female friendships and the bit with Harley ruminating on her own mental health and how people view her. It gave me a lot to think about.
• 
  Amanda Lee

  This was darker than the first. I love these three and the dynamics between them. It's definitely a fun read with a lot of action.
• 
  Jessie Drew

  Def recommend.
• 
  mel

  was really fun and had pretty complex plots, but it felt a little long at times
• 
  Luis Reséndiz

  futa. no. pocas veces he sentido tanto el cambio de un guionista como en esta ocasión. paul dini construyó en el primer libro una historia inusual, en gran parte porque escribió un cómic totalmente girl-centric. catwoman se recuperaba de un ataque; poison ivy buscaba rehacer su vida; harley quinn sanaba sus heridas producto de la relación abusiva que sostenía con el joker. y las tres construían una relación que era un poco sitcom y otro poco buddy movie pero sobre todo estaba centrada en ellas. y eso era inusual, era divertido; dini, que conoce a harley quinn como la palma de su mano (no en vano él la creó, duh) sabía escribirlas a las tres y hacer que hubiera acción y tensión y, principalmente, que batman se mantuviera como un elemento muy, muy periférico. acá pasa todo lo contrario: calloway, movido seguramente en parte por el impulso del regreso de batman pero, también, por una incapacidad asombrosa para escribir a estas chicas en solitario (hay que leer las discusiones de poison ivy y catwoman: de no creerse lo plano de la prosa), convirtió el cómic en un satélite de batman. batman, aunque aún sin aparecer mucho --aunque ciertamente más que en el primer libro-- se volvió el centro del asunto. peor aun, los hombres, las relaciones románticas con hombres, pasan a ser centrales. le inventan un novio (¡extraterrestre! ¡de un planeta donde la vida es toda vegetal! ¡abusivo!) a poison ivy; convierten a selina en un vehículo para la identidad de bruce (algo que dini, magistralmente, resolvió en dos patadas en el primer volumen); hacen que harley tome conciencia del abuso al que la sometió al joker tan solo para terminar cayendo, nuevamente, enamorada de él. un desastre casi total, salvado, acaso, por algunas páginas bien logradas --aquellas donde una barra de metal o un clavo oxidado contienen todos los paneles--, pero nada más. una pena.
• 
  Candace

  The first volume was better. This one wasn't "bad" and it even had some really great "oh wow" moments for plot and art. But it felt a little inconsistent and suffered some in comparison to Gotham City Sirens One, which had stronger cohesive storytelling. I felt there were loose ends and plot holes in several places, but I know that's at least partly because I've not read some related comic volumes that would fill in some of the blanks, so: forgivable. I do love these characters and overall it was a fun and entertaining read. Bottom line is, if there were more to the series, I'd keep reading.
• 
  Sarah Toth

  Volume 2 of Gotham City Sirens was good, but not quite what I was expecting. Also, the beginning of the book was also in a smaller volume of Gotham City Sirens. I did like how Catwoman worked with Batman for the better of Gotham, but I was confused by the random confrontation with Azrael. It really had nothing to do with the storyline. Also, Harley Quinn's consistent promises to change her ways and kill the Joker grew tiring since she fell for his tricks once again.
• 
  Erin

  Any fans of Catwoman, Poison Ivy, & Harley Quinn will enjoy this series. Despite the cheesecake art throughout, this is a fun look at if 3 of Gotham's bad girls lived together. While Dini was in the first half of the series, I think Peter & co did a nice job finishing it out. I was disappointed by the ending but not enough to stop me from enjoying the series overall. Highly recommend!
• 
  Alexandra Nedstam

  It's not very often Poison Ivy (a personal favorite) gets to play such a big part. Something that goes for many of the female villains, but here there's enough room for Catwoman and Harley Quinn.
  A must read for those who enjoy them cool female DC characters.
• 
  Kathaline Kabelacs

  love these comics !!
• 
  N F P

  You can tell no women were involved in writing this
• 
  Pamela

  Unfortunately this didn’t hit the spot for me as much as Volume 1 and Songs of the Sirens.
  
  After a really big cliffhanger with Selena’s sister in the Vol 1/Book 2, their meet up in this one is overshadowed by so many other factors and people… and there was still no real satisfying conclusion.
  
  The issue with graphic novels/trade paperbacks is that they pull together/put together stories from a variety of comics into one (hopefully) cohesive story, but it can make it confusing too - like that Selina story ending on a note about Dick. It took away from her own story with her sister to tie it into an overarching story about the Bat Family and Ra’s Al Ghul.
  
  I was also just disappointed that after a first volume of seeing the three women living and working together (and even an earlier portion of this one with Zatanna and Talia joining in too… though that then ended up being a double cross by Talia), having it devolve into everyone hating each other so quickly was upsetting.
  
  I like the stories where women support each other and about strong female friendships - even among villains! and wanted more of that - that’s what drew me into Volume 1. I liked the comedy and fun of them being roommates and that was absent here (I’m think that’s also because Paul Dini wasn’t a writer on this one…)
  
  I was also really pretty upset to see Harley just quickly snap and go back to Joker ASAP, the whole time I was hoping she was playing him and that she’d grown out of him and his ways by this point… but apparently that was not this comic (might be the one right after because suddenly she tells Ivy she thinks she’s ready to be on her own for some reason… when legitimately five minutes earlier she was scrawling drawings of him and hearts all over her cell…)
  
  They could’ve done more to show Harley’s growth if that’s where she was headed instead of having her take one step forward and six million steps back… and then expect us to believe she actually feels capable of being independent…
  
  Overall, it had some good points, but more letdowns.
• 
  Michael

  Thanks to the DC Bombshells comics, Margot Robbie in the movies and especially Kaley Cuoco's portrayal in the absolutely bonkers & hilarious Harley Quinn animated series on DC Universe - Harley is my favorite comic book character going right now. (Kaley's Harley & Lake Bell's Poison Ivy from the series is also the best odd couple pairing since Felix & Oscar.)
  
  So now I'm working my way haphazardly back through Harley's earlier escapades and Book Two of GCS finished off the story with a flourish as the trio - including Catwoman - that had been (more or less) working together for 20+ issues as anti-heroines went their separate ways. Also, because of this thing now I need to read the Batman: Hush storyline. (Even though I did enjoy Batman back then, I preferred the edgier Marvel as I read comic books as a kid/young adult.)
  
  Plot-wise, the break-up works... but personally I hated it with what I know now about the characters. Harley & Ivy have to be BFF's. Period. Case closed. (And while Harleen wouldn't be Harley without her interactions with "Mistah J" it's tough reading through all her stories of physical & psychological abuse at the hands of that maniac.)
• 
  Andria Kennedy

  Okay, I give Mr. Bedard and his crew a little credit for the writing within the volume. They fleshed out the Sirens' personalities and identities in a way that made sense and delivered a gut-punch to the emotions. Even as you sit there screaming against Harley's actions, you understand every move she makes. That's a level of writing and understanding it's difficult to achieve. You feel everything with her, and it makes you ache in ways you don't expect from a comic.
  But then they throw in weird wrenches that don't make sense - within the context provided, at least. What was the point of the "test?" There was no frame of reference, and it didn't contribute anything to the plot. Selena didn't seem to gain anything from it, and - near as I could read - no big plot revelations came out of it. It was an insert into the comic that held no place. If it was intended to answer a larger question from the world, in general, there was no tag to point you towards an additional volume. It felt out of place and dug a thorn into the volume. Drama for the sake of drama? Not needed - there was already enough of that laid in place. Find a better way to fill your pages.
• 
  Malola

  The graphics are great. I think I can tell the different drawing artists. The first part was slightly better, particularly how the group formed... so, seeing her how the group broke apart, well.
  Not sure if Catwoman really thought the girls would believe her that she was acting as the glue to avoid Batman being on their backs (he seemed oblivious to that fact). I think the point is that the characters can't quite trust each other since they're antagonists, but it still rub me the wrong way their betrayals (Catwoman's and Harley getting back with Joker... -which is pathetic and sad, but whatever) because they were mostly working fine (albeit their crazy bursts) and they have good chemistry.
  IDK... I feel the writers didn't know how to finish it without them becoming heroines (not antiheroines, just plain heroines... which would defeat the "nature" of the characters) or too soft.
  
  Nice to see the beginnings of Harlivy. I liked that it was subtle and a one-way street, and the fact that it's possible that Ivy hasn't picked on that yet... but Harley -who is clearly a great psychiatrist- did.