Gotham City Sirens #16 – Review

By: Peter Calloway (writer), Andres Guinaldo (pencils), Bit (inks), JD Smith (colors) & Travis Lanham (letters)

The Story: The Sirens respond to an emergency that is a trap for one of them.  Guest starring Zatanna and Talia Al Ghul.

What’s Good: This series works best when it revolves around Selina Kyle/Catwoman.  Of the three sirens, she is the strongest & best character.  Some folks may dispute that, but Catwoman has been able to carry her own ongoing titles much better in the past and has a much more interesting character than either Poison Ivy or Harley Quinn.

So, it is good news that this issue uses Selina to best effect.  It plays off her heroic-in-a-pinch nature by sending her to deal with a problem that none of the other Bat-family members has time for, but then pulls a switcheroo by having the ultimate bad-guy plot linked to her relationship with Bruce Wayne.  The whole thing is very nicely done with well-executed, in-character supporting bits from Ivy and Harley.  Ivy and Harley are nice characters, but if you need them to carry your comic title for an extended period of time…you might have a problem, so background is a perfect place for them.

This issue also gets bonus points for good use of two other Batman-associated ladies: Zatanna and Talia Al Ghul.

Joker’s Asylum: The Riddler – Review

By Peter Calloway (writer), Andres Guinaldo (pencils), Raul Fernandez (inks) Tomeu Morey (colors) and Patrick Brosseau (letters)

The Story: From his cell in Arkham, the Joker tells us a story about Edward Nygma’s attempt to solve one of the greatest riddles of them all: what makes a person fall in love?

What’s Good: I’m of two minds about this book, but before we dive into the details, let me answer the most important question right up front by saying that this book is quite good, and it’s worth the $2.99 if you’re any sort of fan of the Riddler (or the Joker, for that matter.)

Now here’s the thing about this story: it’s tremendous fun (and quite moving to me, but then I’m a sentimental sap at heart), but calling it a Riddler story is something of a misnomer. Joker (in full forth-wall breaking mode) is the one telling this tale, after all, and so the book becomes less about the Riddler himself and more about the Joker and his unreliable narration. We are ultimately left having no real idea what parts of this story are truthful; in fact, we have no real assurance that the whole thing isn’t simply a tall tale spun entirely out of the Clown Prince’s own deranged imagination—an elaborate joke on the reader, if you will.

With that established, the key question now becomes how it affects the quality of the reading experience. I will say that if you’re coming to this hoping for a straightforward Riddler story, you may be disappointed in ambiguous nature of the story’s reality. If you are willing to roll with it, however, and look beyond the plot, I think any Riddler fan will find plenty of (surprisingly deep and astute) characterization that will stand and endure well past the narrative itself.

In addition to being very well written and lovely to look at, the detail-oriented reader will have a fantastic time picking up all of the little details and references in the panels. As one who has a thing for riddles and visual puzzles, that aspect of the book made it well worth the price of admission alone. If you have a similar proclivity, I recommend it even more highly. (And just how many card references ARE there in the Riddler panels? I’ve managed to count six so far, but I’m sure there are more than that.)