Gotham City Sirens: Unfit for Orbit #3 review

3 weeks ago 13

So for this month instead of reviewing the latest issue of Catwoman, I get to check out Selina’s wacky adventures alongside her fellow Gotham City divas in Gotham City Sirens: Unfit for Orbit #3. Considering how DC approaches wacky most of the time, this could end up being more punishing than my regular routine… or more rewarding. Let’s find out which of those I’m dealing with here.

These Girls from Gotham Get Along Like Glue

One of the first things that immediately stood out to me is that all three of the Sirens are actually unambiguously heroic in this comic. Yes, Selina barely counts as a villain, and the other two have also been moving in that direction for some time now. But still the plot of this comic is about stopping Desparo and saving the Conduit who is a little kid. Not because they have an ulterior motive or they want to use the kid or anything. They do it because well…it’s the right thing to do. I actually really like this but I can see how fans of these characters may not be completely pleased.

I actually want to talk a bit about the art and story and the fact that this comic uses it really well. In the opening scene, we see Ivy trying to contact the other two and we are left unclear if the message has gone through. We then cut to Selina pointing out how distracting the music is with regards to her concentration (also loved the little touch of used thought bubbles; a rare sight in modern comics indeed). Finally Harley, who is trapped in the nightclub gets four consecutive pages without dialogue as she gets herself free, with only a single word balloon on the last of these pages after she’s shut down the music.

Unfortunately outside of that there’s only one other thing I can give this issue some praise (which will come a bit later) as the rest of the comic is rather bland. The dialogue is generic and considering there wasn’t as much of it what little we see sticks out. The pencil work by Haining is fine but she has very little material to work with. The colors are bright and flashy but once again the script doesn’t allow for much variety in that regard. When most of the backgrounds are “red wall”, “blue wall”, and “green flame” can’t really blame them.

As for Despero and what I think about his role in all of this, well I will have to shed my mild-mannered reviewer look to become SuperAkash.

*one coke-fueled binge later*

Ok, so as the self-proclaimed resident Justice League expert around these parts, I have a soft spot for Despero. While he has been often treated as the opposite number to Martian Manhunter in recent times, he has remained a true blue Justice League villain like the Royal Flush Gang or Queen Bee. And unlike those villains, Despero has remained a threat even after all these years. Even post New52, he beats up several heroes like Firestorm, Element Woman, and the Atom (actually the villain Atomica) and crashes the Watchtower before J’onn beats him.

And then Bendis did this.

So, no, Despero running a nightclub isn’t the worst thing to have happened to him. As a matter of fact it is actually a decent modern take on the Flame of Py’tar story which is what Despero is best known for.

And nothing will be as bad as him getting one-shotted by Cassandra Sandsmark, when he previously single-handedly took on Superman, Wonder Woman, Power Girl, Hourman, and Captain Marvel.

Recommended If

You wanted to see the Sirens be heroic
You are a fan of art telling the story without needing words
You wanted to read another Despero story

Overall

Gotham City Sirens: Unfit for Orbit #3 is overall just fine. There are some fun moments and some clever story-telling techniques. The choice of Despero as the main villain is an inspired one that actually works to some extent. However, the lackluster plot, generic dialogue and visuals restricted to boring interiors holds it back quite a bit.

Score: 6.5/10

Disclaimer: DC Comics provided a copy of this comic for review purposes.

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