The Cat's Out of the Bag

Gotham City Sirens #17

Written by Peter Calloway with pencils by Andres Guinaldo and inks by Walden Wong.

Official DC Synopsis: Catwoman’s been kidnapped, and now Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn must team up with Talia Al Ghul and Zatanna to free her before she gives up her most valuable secret – a secret that will force Talia to desperate measures.

With the return of Bruce Wayne taking center stage in all the other bat-books, it is nice to read something that isn’t weighed down by that story, but that’s about as far as my relief for this issue goes.

Continuing from #16, this issue begins with Catwoman in a dream-like state, being reunited with Bruce, until they are suddenly attacked by some strange sort of Clayface-like monsters. In the “real world”, Ivy, Harley, Talia and Zatanna continue to bicker over what Selina’s abduction is really about. (But as we already know, her abduction is part of a scheme to discover Batman’s secret identity)

Soon afterwards, the gang discovers in an underground cave that the person responsible for all of this is a former member of the League of Assassins, named Shrike. After a brief scuffle, the gang finds Selina, who has been under some sort of mystical spell by a sensei named Senpai. It turns out Senpai has a serious grudge against Batman, so he decided Selina would be his key to finding him. (And he was right, as he manages to pry Bruce Wayne’s identity from her mind)

I have to say that while I was not terribly excited by the last issue, this issue just felt even stranger. I wasn’t at all surprised that the villains turned out to be members of the League of Assassins due to Talia’s involvement in the story, but I’m still trying to figure out what exactly Zatanna is doing here.

More to the point, the story progression was awkward and hard to follow and the resolution(along with the cliffhanger) was a bit dull and lack-luster. I gave it a chance and, although there’s nothing specifically wrong with the portrayal of characters, I’ve never been a fan of Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy. And with Catwoman out of commission, this issue falls to the wayside.