GOTHAM CITY SIRENS #12

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Avg Rating: 3.4
 
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Written by TONY BEDARD
Art by PETER NGUYEN
over by GUILLEM MARCH

Size: 32 pages
Price: 2.99

I feel as though I should take a deep breath before starting this review because I must say I am very disapointed with this comic. The first thing I feel I should mention though is that I am a very curious about what is happening in the DC offices with Paul Dini, his name appears on the solications for this title, as well as Streets of Gotham, but there has been a number of fill in issues as of lately. Not to mention, the synopsis don’t match up with the comics (see the synopsis above!), which is more than a little annoying.

This issue opens up with Selina raiding a Cathedral in search of her estranged sister Maggie’s whereabouts. If you read the recent Blackest Night: Catwoman issue, you would know that Maggie has recently gone loony and is now after the demon which she believes is possessing her sister. Yeah… On the other side of things, we catch up with Ivy at S.T.A.R. Labs. When we last saw Ivy, she was captured by an ex employee, who had just been fired and was taking it pretty hard so she decided to get revenge on Ivy. It was quite cool to see how Ivy is never the victim, and quickly reverses the tables on her capturer.

Now, as for the main plot involving Maggie, it breaks my fanboy heart to see such an uninspired direction being taken. I have said before that my favorite character in comic books is Catwoman. I was a huge fan of her monthly book when Ed Brubaker launched it, and to this day my favorite Catwoman story is ‘Relentless’ which re-introduced the character Maggie, as well as turning Black Mask into one sadistic SOB. Ever since then, I have always wished to see the return of Maggie since I felt she had a lot potential to be a great supporting character. Unfortunately, Bedard has taken the character in the opposite direction by making her into a new threat for Selina. Not only that but the concept of Maggie believing herself to be an avenging angel dressed as a nun, on a mission to destroy the demon that is possessing her sister feels like something a high school student thought up thinking it was cool and edgy.

I really wish Dini was handling the writing duties right now as he has shown us throughout the years that he has an exceptional skill at getting inside the villains heads and making us hate and care for them even more. I will admit that having sister vs sister can be an interesting concept if done well(just look at Rucka’s recent Batwoman stories), but the key is to make us care. I once cared about Maggie, but I am just not enjoying this direction for the character. I suppose this must be the fate of all siblings of superheroes in the DCU.

On a more positive note, I have enjoyed how recently we’ve seen Harley acting almost as a sidekick to Selina’s Catwoman. They are not quite the traditional dynamic duo you would expect, but it is quite refreshing to see them working so closely together. There is definitely a theme of Catholic guilt in this issue, which is fitting with Selina and Maggie, and there is even quite a lot of Catholic imagery, though some of it felt forced in.

Something must also be said about the art chores, I was disappointed by the art of Peter Nguyen, whose style just feels too fast and loose. The anatomy isn’t quite there, and the facial expressions are down right awful in some places, however, I have a feeling this might be more of the inkers fault as I’ve seen Nguyens art before and it was definitely much better looking than in this issue.

Story: 2 - Average
Art: 2 - Average

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