Gotham City Sirens #25:
Summary: We get started with some goon impersonating a member of the Arkham Asylum staff telling Poison Ivy that if she could free herself from the Asylum before 36 hours passed the goon's boss would spring a trap that would give Ivy Catwoman on a silver platter. Needless to say, that interests Ivy greatly, as it was Catwoman who put her in Arkham to begin with, and Ivy gets to work on getting free. After a few hours time, Ivy manages to get a single vine into her cell, which allows Ivy to grow some plants that eliminate the pesticides that were being pumped into her cell. From there, Ivy sends some mind controlling plant toxins through the ventilation system, taking control of the guards, who let her out of her cell. Before leaving the Asylum, Ivy decides to kill Harley Quinn for her betrayal last issue, and enters Harley's room with murderous intent. Upon entering, Ivy is confronted by dozens of drawings of Harley and Joker together and takes pity on Harley, since Harley was obviously insane. Instead of killing Harley, Ivy offers her the chance to kill Catwoman, which Harley jumps at. The two women head to Penguin's hideout and ask Penguin what his plan was, which surprises Penguin since he didn't think Ivy would figure out he was behind the initial message given to her. The three villains talk for a while, and Penguin gives the two women the location of the trap he had set up for Catwoman. From there we head to Catwoman, who is watching one of Penguin's armored vans, which had been addled with a flat tire. Before Catwoman can sneak over to the van, she is surrounded by Ivy and Harley, which ends this issue.
Thoughts: This was another comic where I have no serious complaints. The story was logical, the pacing was good, the art was good, everything came together nicely. I mean it wasn't perfect or anything, but it does have me looking forward to the next issue, which means it did it's job well.
Score: 7 1/2 out of 10.
The final issue of this series should be good.Batman: The Dark Knight #4:
Summary: Beneath Gotham City in the sewers, Etrigan the Demon and a very possessed Ragman are battling each other for some reason... Demonic territory rights or something, I don't know. Anyway, Etrigan manages to get the upper hand on Ragman, even though Etrigan's power levels had been diminished since he lost his rank in Hell. Before Etrigan can deliver the killing blow to Ragman, Blaze, who I believe is still the ruler of DC's Hell, arrives on the scene and tells Etrigan to stop beating up her chosen agent. Blaze tells Etrigan that she was impressed by his actions, and offers to return his former ranking in Hell to him, which Etrigan readily accepts, much to the dismay of Etrigan's human host, Jason Blood. From there, Etrigan helps Ragman up and the two prepare to go along with whatever Blaze's plan was. Meanwhile, Batman(Bruce Wayne in this issue) is driving Dawn Golden towards police headquarters so the cops could end the massive manhunt for her. Before they arrive, Dawn begs Bats not to take her to the police since she feared her father would find her. Bats is a bit perplexed by that since Dawn's father was dead, but Dawn explains that her father had been the leader of a satanic cult and she believed he had returned to earth after his death as an agent of Hell... So THAT'S why Ragman is possessed! Bats is a bit dubious about that claim, but agrees to take Dawn to her penthouse home first. Unfortunately for Bats, a few hundred demons seem to know that Dawn was there and this issue ends with the demons quietly scaling the building. There were a couple of other plot threads running through this issue too, but instead of going over them in detail, I'll just toss out some quick words on them. Commissioner Gordon was suspended from the force for supposedly running a Venom dealing racket, and that girl who snuck into the Batmobile a few issues back(a rather pathetic attempt at recreating Jason Todd) deals with some family problems.
Thoughts: So next issue is going to give us Batman vs Etrigan, a possessed Ragman and a horde of demons? Um, okay... That's kind of weird for a Batman comic, but whatever I guess... After the slow build of the first three issues of this series, this issue was pretty much in fast forward, which isn't all that surprising I guess, with the DC reboot getting ever closer. For me, this issue opened up on the wrong foot with that annoying girl who was joyriding in that Batmobile a few issues back... I don't see any reason for her to be around, and don't see the reasons to create what appears to be a female Jason Todd. The battle between Etrigan and Ragman was fun, but seemed out of place in a Batman comic... The stuff with Gordon may have promise, but considering it's all going to be washed away(presumably) with the reboot, it didn't serve any purpose. Dawn's origin story, with her crazy, demon-worshiping father was okay, but again, felt out of place in a Batman comic. So while this was an okay comic, it's not something I'd go out of my way to recommend reading.
Score: 6 out of 10.
It's DEMON MADNESS!!!!!
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