“Gotham City Sirens” # 25 is the second to last issue in series that will not be part of DC’s New 52. The last issue felt like a good place to end the series but apparently two more books were needed to fill in the allotted space.  So after having Harley and Ivy taken into custody and the story arc seemingly over, writer Peter Calloway had to come up with something to fill up two more issues. So Ivy breaks out yet again after being offered a chance to kill Catwoman by a mysterious guard. As forced and contrived as it all sounds, it’s actually a fairly decent story.

Calloway tells his story from Ivy’s perspective and spends most of the issue detailing how she escaped  from Arkham. Before leaving she has unfinished business with Harley and then ventures out to find the identity of the person behind the Catwoman offer. It ends with the table set for a final showdown in the last issue but it still feels like something that’s just being tacked on. There are several good exchanges and I still enjoy seeing these characters at the forefront of a story. But overall it’s a humdrum tale that sets up a very obvious final issue.

Andres Guinaldo’s pencils and J.D. Smith’s colors combine to produce a polished and vibrant look. The characters look good and the environments has nice detail. Most of the panels are really busy and have a lot going on and the issue has a very creative layout with Ivy’s vines used to separate the panels. I found this to be pretty cool at first but as the issue continued it became more and more distracting. Overall the art is solid and while it’s not my favorite style, it’s still a fun break from the darker tone in other Batman titles.

While the art is certainly above average, it’s not enough to really excite me or overcome the story’s shortcomings. It’s hard to blame the creative team because this is obviously a result of being a “dead in the water” title. There’s no real suspense left in the series and it’s obviously just filling up space. But it’s not a terrible read and hopefully we’ll at least get a cool battle and end the series on a fun note.