As I alluded to last week in my review of the first issue, every heist, no matter how well planned, is going to have an unexpected element. And in Gotham City Sirens: Unfit For Orbit #2, the trio of Harley Quinn, Poison Ivy, and Catwoman have to contend with not one, but two unplanned speed bumps on the road to heist glory. One, the fabled “Conduit” Catwoman is after isn’t a thing, but a small alien child. Two, the person who owns Lunaria Nightclub, the front for the mysterious vault housing The Conduit, is famous Justice League baddie Despero, a villain who is far outside of the ladies’ fighting class. These stakes make an already fun comic even better, and add a thrilling element of just how the trio is going to get out of this mess.
As Catwoman and Ivy decide to figure out just what to do with The Conduit, Harley takes matters into her own hands and smashes the little guy out of his prison. This, of course, brings them to the attention of Despero, who’s not too happy to have his prized possession removed from its cage and possibly stolen. After a hilarious back and forth between Despero and the Sirens (they have no idea who he is, and really, why would they), he unleashes his full psychic might on the trio, incapacitating them with plans to use them as slaves on his ship. The Sirens attempt to fight back, but are quickly overpowered again, leading to the three of them being sectioned off to different areas of the club, without the ability to contact one another. This is where Ivy discovers that the Lunaria nightclub is actually a spaceship that is going to use the club-goers as fuel to take off. Guess we’re going to space after all!
DC
Continuing the trend from the first issue, Leah Williams’ script is just fantastic here. The interplay between the Sirens is extremely fun, and the moment Despero is revealed to their lackluster surprise was legitimately laugh out loud funny in its execution. As mainly street-level characters who only interact with denizens of Gotham, it’s not a surprise they wouldn’t know who Despero is, and Ivy’s glib “I think he said Desperado” was one of the funniest lines I’ve read in a comic this year. Really the only issue with Williams’ script at this stage is that the Lunaria reveal happens a little too late in the issue.
Haining’s art once again floored me this issue. With the set up already done, they’re able to really cut loose here, with some truly dynamic art as the Sirens fight off Despero’s weird minions. Haining makes a point to give each member of the Sirens their own fighting style that matches their personality: Ivy is standing back using her vines for range, Catwoman is dodging and using her grace to move quickly, and Harley is smashing and using the element of surprise to her advantage. But Haining also shows even more skills with their facial work here, with super expressive art that really makes the book come alive even when no one is fighting. Despero especially is a great example of this, as Haining shows them barely containing their rage at times when dealing with the Sirens.
The second issue of Unfit For Orbit raises the stakes for the series considerably, but also remembers to have a lot of fun with the story. The Sirens are in way over their heads, but now the fun is going to be watching them try to get out alive. Of course, solicitations being the way they are we KNOW that they’ll come out okay from this, but just how that’s going to happen is going to be fun to watch.
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