Following their summer break adventure last year, DC has once again rounded up Harley Quinn, Poison Ivy, and Catwoman for another adventure as the Gotham City Sirens. Taking the place of each character’s series for the month (much like this one will be doing), the previous series was a fun adventure that didn’t do too much to advance any of the series, and was more of an excuse to cash in the Gotham City Sirens branding (and probably to extend the copyright, if we’re being honest). Well, it must have worked well enough for DC to team up the trio again with returning writer Leah Williams, as the Sirens are back, and ready for space!
Well, kind of. The “Orbit” part of the title actually refers to Lunaria, the most exclusive nightclub in Gotham. Catwoman believes the that club is really a front for a vault of priceless artifacts, and the one that has really piqued her interest is “the Conduit”. Catwoman recruits Harley to serve as the distraction artist, but Harley loops in Ivy, who conveniently has been researching the club and their less than environmentally friendly habits. With the three in on the plan, they attend Lunaria’s open house night, expecting an easy job. But what heist ever goes off smoothly? Certainly not one where the Conduit is less of an artifact, and more of a living, breathing creature. And definitely not one where the location is run by a surprise longtime DC villain!
DC
As someone who doesn’t read the Harley Quinn or Catwoman ongoings and trade-waits Poison Ivy, I was a little hesitant to jump into Unfit For Orbit. Was I going to be completely lost, especially with how much can change in a year for an ongoing? Thankfully that wasn’t the case here, as Leah Williams’ script is light enough to pop in and give you the up and up on each lead’s current status quos without info dumping. Williams’ script is also full of fun heist tropes, which will either delight or annoy you, depending on where you stand with that sub-genre (thankfully, I’m a big fan). As expected, the interplay between all three ladies is still just as fun as always, even with the differences in their lives now.
While Matteo Lolli hasn’t returned for Orbit, Haining is here to make their own mark on the series. The Taiwanese artist has a great, expressive style that is the perfect mix of American and Manga influences, bringing a cool mix of American figure work and manga flow. It’s truly unique and makes the book really stand out from other comics on the stands, as well as the style I’m used to on Poison Ivy. There’s a great sense of play in these pages, and Haining’s designs for Harley, Ivy, and Catwoman’s nightclub looks are pretty much tailor made for cosplayers this year.
Anyone concerned that they aren’t up to date on the characters to check out Gotham City Sirens: Unfit For Orbit should cast those fears away. This is a fun, breezy adventure that probably won’t be too consequential to any of the leads’ main series, but does it have to be? A lot of the fun with comics is just seeing our favorites play off of one another, and Unfit For Orbit is a great miniseries to just pick up and try out. If you’re looking for a fun comic to steal some of your time, these ladies are the right ones for the job.
You must be logged in to post a comment.