Gotham City Sirens #1

I'm happy my store uses black bags.

Ooh, I say. This all looks a bit saucy!

I'm excited for this book.  The cover...not so much

I'm not sure I care a whole lot about the characters, but since Dini's writing it and the bat books have been so good lately I'll definitely be giving the first issue a try.

I want to pick this up, but its a damn heavy week for me.  I have to wait until reviews hit to know for sure.

@drakedangerz

It's Dini. I mean come on... 

@Miyamoto-Honestly...that is all you had to say.  I'll pick it up

You know all the posts about me being negative about cheesecake?

Well every head is going to turn with me picking this up. Sure my excuse will be that 'It's Paul Dini writing it'. But with the focus on the 3 sexiest Batman rouges and Gulliem March on art...we know the real reason why we're picking this up.

I love the covers. ANd Dini!! Im difently picking this up!

It's hard to lose when Dini wrties Harley and Ivy.

I haven't had my Harley fix in a long time, so this should be fun.  The preview was quite nice as well.

mind if i ass you a question? what should i do with my two cars now that i rectum!

I like the other cover much better, then this one.

Not a big fan of the cover. Since when is Harley related to Kim Kardashian?

Gonna give it a try cuz of Dini.

This is the Bat-book I'm least looking forward to, truth told. It could be great... I'd love an excuse to read Catwoman, though. (I missed out on the Brubaker run...) As well, I see it only took 8 posts to get the cheesecake word bandied about. ;-) Though finally within in proper context.

The Female Supervillains of the DC Universe who terrorizes the City Of Gotham once again got their very own comic book series cool.

@evil09 He's Back! 

If I brought that cover home my wife would just look at me, make a knowing "Mmhm" sound, and slap me.

Not really a big fan of this concept, but this is where the feud with Catsy and Hush is going...

I would criticize this book, because it's cheesecake and it's more of the same from Dini...but, really, I'm buying X-Men Forever this week, so who am I to judge. We all like our different brands of nostalgia (Harley, Ivy and Catwoman written by Dini is nostalgia as far as I'm concerned). This will probably be a decent series, but it's like the Alice in Wonderland movie that Tim Burton is directing, with Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter: I've seen so much of that sort of stuff involving those players that I feel like I already know exactly how the movie would go.

Seeing the covers for the future issues.....yeah my LCS guy is gonna give me a look everytime.

@TheNextChampion- Can I see some I.D. son?

@Ruo21: Uh well....uh....Gotta Go!!!

*runs away with comics*

I would like March's art if he didn't draw all his women like porn stars. Its like his art almost seems to crossover into porn territory. But, goddamn am I excited for Dini writing Harley, Ivy and Catwoman on a monthly basis!!!  

Dini writing & what some call "cheesecake" or "porn" but I call eye-candy. Sounds like a winner to me!

@flapjaxx-How are these characters nostalgic?

I really don't understand the bitching about this cover.  Harley always had a big ass.

@drake: It's not so much this cover, it's the next set of covers....That's cheesecake at the highest quality.

I'm with Wade on this one...bring on the cheese!

Ding Ding Ding...we have a winner!

@TNC-Eh, the cover of issue #4 is questionable.  But the rest seem fine to me.

@drake: Covers aside; it's March doing the art so that is enough cheesecake art.

But I'm picking this series up, so I'm not complaining.

I so can't wait to GET IT IN with this tomorrow!

I actually think the cover is kind of neat. Sure, it's cheesecakey, but whatever. The colors are cool and the art, regardless of the content, is gorgeous.

Anyway, it's Dini writing a batbook, how could I pass it up?

Seriously, did we learn nothing from the video show about Witchblade? Sexy women in sexy poises on the cover does not mean that a) sex is even involved in the plot and b) should be a deterant for buying something.  It's Catwoman and Poison Ivy and Harley for cryin' out loud! These women have always been sexual beings, using their bodies and sensuality to entice, confuse and befuddle men and women. Okay so maybe not Harley (she spent more time following the Joker around who is immune to her adorable wiles), but still! It's like their thing.

It's Dini, and hot Lady Rogues and it's a new comic. Give it a try or don't, but (and this sounds so trite but you asked for it!) don't judge of comic book by it's cover.

I enjoyed this issue. I hope Edward will be a supporting character.

This was porn.

Correction: Soft core porn. Almost 99% of the panels had either an ass hanging out or massive cleavage showning. So yes this will be a cheesecake title for DC.

However....Dini writes these three pretty damn well and if you can unfocus yourself from the cheesecake; the art is pretty good. I'm sold for at least the first arc. But I have no idea how a series like this can last with very little plot going right now.

this was fun.

Softcore porn is softcore porn. This is a comic book featuring no nudity. On the spectrum of cheesecake, this is on the low end.

@conor: Your joking right? Low end on the cheesecake spectrum? (I like to see this spectrum btw)

There were ass shots and massive amounts of cleavage shown. Sounds like someone doesnt know what cheesecake is.

Yes, it's on the low end. There's nothing to go crazy about in this comic or on the cover.

@conor: How is it on the low end? I wanna know how the most use of 'ass and cleavage shots' for a DC comic isnt on the high end of the cheesecake scale.

I think its funny how readers are getting overly distracted by women in tights.  I personally thought the story has potential and honestly, I liked it a bit more then Detective Comics 854.  I hate to say it, but guys, man up, and enjoy the story and dont be afraid of the art.  I agree with Connor, this is low end cheese at best.

Hey I really liked the interactions with the girls in this. Paul Dini writes these characters pretty damn good and even if there doesnt seem to be an overall plot in the works....I'll buy at least the next 2-3 issues.

I'm just confused on now 2 peoplle saying this is the 'low end of the cheesecake sale'. It's like no one looked at this comic to see what the true selling point of this comic was and didnt notice how many times Ivy's ass was shown up close.

Edit: Wow bad spelling on my part. Ment to say *people and *cheesecake scale...whatever the hell the latter means.

@TNC Today is just not a day for agreement. Is this cheesecakey? Yeah. But softcore porn? Hardly. I mean, there were no randomly gratuitous scenes in this book. Such as characters showing more/wearing less than they normally do. This has been how Ivy, Catwoman and Harely have appeared for the better part of 5 years now (probably more). Are they positioned a little more provocatively? Yeah. But there was no random showing of thongs, no unnecessarily suggestive poses. Essentially, you want this book to be cheesecake and will take it as such. Which is fine. But flip to the last page and look at the Catwoman POV shot of Ivy's face and hair. That March, cheesecake artist or not, can sure as hell draw. 

Cheesecake aside, I loved this book. It was fun and different. It's nice to have a narrative about women for a change. And it's nice to have a counter-Birds of Prey title.  4/5 for me. I don't know how long I'll be on the title but I'm enjoying it right now. And I want Riddler to be a supporting character. However, I want the reformed Riddler. He's far more entertaining.

@TNC By contrast, Harely's behind is virtually obscured the entire issue. The only "Behind shot" of Harley takes place in silhouette. 

Okay let me clear some things up cause I think we are confused on my overall thoughts on this book.

A) Again this was a well written book; even with barely an overall plot going. (Other then these three teaming up of course)

B) Guillem March is a great artist even if his reputation is known for more as an 'adult' artist. It doesnt help he did porno comics before going into mainstream; but there is a good amount of beautiful artwork to behold. Plus I do love the coloring in this by Jose Villarrubia because it really makes the panels stand out more.

C) Okay calling this 'softcore porn' was a bit much; and truthfully it was more of a joke then anything else. But (as PraxJarvin pointed out) there is a lot of provocative poses and almost risque layouts when it comes to March's pencils. Even if there is no nudity or a flash of panties/thongs in the book....There is a constant amount of ass shots and more 'playboy'-esque (hey I can make up words too) poses going on in this title. Most of the ass shots and poses belong to Ivy (mainly cause it's her character I suppose) but Harley gets a good amount of 'schoolgirl' fetish by March. Again nothing is really shown, but looking back the poses by Harley in that skirt almost shows everything. Plus how can you ignore the Zatanna/Ivy scene? So much side boob, so little time.

Does it make me a prude to point all of this stuff out? I guess I have to say yes on that front. But again I did really like this book for more then just the cheesecake stuff and Dini/March can definitely entertain readers without all of this sexy action going on. All I'm saying that if you think this was a 'mild' attempt at cheesecake or this didnt look too over the top with the art. I just think your wrong.

@TNC You make fair points and I agree with you. It doesn't make you prudish, no. You just have different tastes. I mean, some of Ivy's positioning borders on Bettie Paige (Cheesecake Queen of them All) but it doesn't feel out of place in the context of the art, y'know? Nor with the character's seductress overtones. As well, Harely is the ditzy, slutty school-girl stereotype and that makes sense. I suppose I allowed the context to circumvent any feelings of cheesecake I had. As for Zatanna... technically she was showing less of her body than normal! ;-)

@Prax: You know reading your post definitely makes sense. Ivy is a seductress and thus she should act like one on the panel. Harley is a pretty dizzy girl and I guess that's why she is wearing the outfit that is has on. Selina, ironically, has basically nothing going for her in terms of cheesecake. She looks beautiful but March seems to let her be herself and try not to put her in poses to over-emphasize her beauty.

So while that does make sense to me now....I still say March went a bit over board with the pencils. But again (starts finding a horse) I liked the comic for what it's trying to be then just the obvious.

Again, I ask, so what if our heroines are in poses that emphasize their beauty?  I don't see any pose in this issue different from a typical Superman pose "over-emphasizing" his build.

comic books characters outsides are reflections of their insides.

 in the case of sexy vilenesses: the seduction of evil

Studly heros : the goodness of there hearts and their strong will.(sexy heroines are portrayed both strong and beautiful for pretty much the same reason. And what is sexy but strength and booty...I MEAN BEAUTY!)

disfigured villains (Joker types): there bent and twisted souls.

a studly male villain is kind of a deal breaker, but maybe in Catman's case there is some good in him.  Not only that but a strong male villain is usually disturbingly strong (like, Bane, Ultraman or Venom.

and thats all i have to say about that...

except for this:why is everyone complaining about looking at sexy ladies? is it for all the unspoken women who may take offense to such material? My WIFE is more excited about this book than I AM...

... now I have this suspicion that I am a "beard"...  

yeah, i know, my theory has quite a few holes, but so does a lot of good things...cheese, for example...

@alfred - agreed

i gotta do this post thing more often... it is quite fun

Loosen your starched collars, kids. Getting a puritanical vibe. 

It isn't porn anyway.   

@Paul: Should I add.....'Wait a second, hang on to your monocles!!' :)

@ TheNextChampion - that actually wouldn't work for me because I have a monocle I use EXCLUSIVELY to view pornography...

@alfred Little known fact: Monocle viewing of porn makes it instantly classy. Same with using a proofing lens. (Ask Hef)

As for my stances on it, I fall somewhere in-between the two spectra. While I'm certainly not a prude and appreciate the female form, there's a certain degree of discomfort I have in seeing depictions of woman that are overtly objectifying. As I said, something about this art and its context didn't set me off as much as some incongruous cheesecake does. All in all, I just enjoy having lively, level headed debate and discussion about it. It's one thing to call the art "teh suck" and, and another to have a critical evaluation and discussion about it. Then again, I'm an unapologetic academic. ;-)

Although I do think the art in this is good overall.

There are some weird spots in this comic. Bonecrusher getting attacked by Ivy in the beginning, that looks sloppy. Then you got Nigma as a whole....I know he's being brainwashed but he looks off-model the entire time. When he's bashing Bonecrusher in the end (which was funny) he seemed to gain a lot of weight and height.

Not gonna lie...

 This book sucked! The plot is completely rediculous, c'mon catwoman, poison ivy, and harley quinn teaming up at the riddler's  apartment(which is a total dump).... please!!! Its a dissappointment that Dini's return to batman comics after the fantastic Return of Hush arc on Detective comics is.... this, something that really feels like a half assed effort on Dini's behalf and a real dissappointment for fans(especially catwoman fans of the recently canceled series). 

  Just trying to imagine this book fitting in the same world as Grant Morrison's Batman and Robin or Dini's previous work on Detective comics is ludacris!! I think this is definitely the first misfire from the new slew of batman books post RIP. I wonder how this book will go down in the podcast.

@PatK: I loved it, so if we talk about it, it will probably go over quite well. But it's a full week, so we might not.

I thought this was pretty bad. The dialogue was horrible, the art was average at best & the story was 26 was there a story?

As for the cheesecake thing, this was pretty mild.

I don't think I'll continue with this title.

@TNC - if you feel so strongly about the art being cheesecakey/porn don't buy it.

Loved this issue. Dini was on his game with these characters, I thought the artwork was fantastic. These are characters I enjoy when written well, I got a few good laughs from this book. I don't see anything that would make this book a bad fit when lumped with the other Batman books. Especially when we are at a starting point in this new era of the Batman family, there's hardly been time for a precident to have been set in these books. I believe Harley's shopping spree was a direct continuation from the Streets of Gotham first issue.

And on the topic of cheesecake. I don't have a problem with it. Cheesecake and pin-up is legit artwork, it's got a long tradition of being included on comic book covers. I dig it, and don't look upon it as a negative.

"I thought this was pretty bad. The dialogue was horrible, the art was average at best & the story was 26 was there a story?"

Coming from a Deadpool fan that's downright hilarious.

easily the weakest of the batman relaunches.  i really dont understand why this books needs to exist, other than to have a birds of prey anologue.  having said that, ill give dinni a few issues to turn it around

I liked this well enough. The writing was definitely a 4, but I wasn't feeling the art as much, for whatever reason. Still, a solid 3 star book. Can't wait to see what happens next.

@skeets -- Yeah, because Deadpool fans love books with shitty dialogue & no story (???). Hilarious zing, dude.

After flipping through it again, the art wasn't as bad as I first thought. The pencils & inks are pretty nice (even though some panels look really rushed in the second half of the book) it's mainly the colouring that made me not like it. Really flat & dull colours.

I stand by what I said about the dialogue though -- "Keep talking while I mist the orchids" ... lol yeesh.

awful. absolutely bloody dreadful... porn for awkward young men

@WadeWilson - Yeah, they do. Why else would they buy a book written by Dan Way?

@GarmaineGreer I couldn't agree more. I loved it!

This is a book of good old-fashioned fun nonsense. A lot of modern comics are too serious for their own good. Where Batman and Robin balance the serious and the sillines this book skews towards the silly and I'm okay with that.