Having walked into Punchline’s trap, Harley, Catwoman, and Poison Ivy only have one option to make it out alive: plant kaiju. Your Major Spoilers review of Gotham City Sirens #4 awaits!

GOTHAM CITY SIRENS #4

Writer: Leah Williams
Artists: Daniel Brandt and Hillyard Stein
Colorists: Marisa Triona and Louise Farrell
Letterer: Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou
Editor: Arianna Turturro
Publisher: DC Comics
Cover Price: $5.99
Release Date: August 28th, 2024

Previously in Gotham City Sirens: The quartet of Harley Quinn, Catwoman, Poison Ivy, and White Rabbit have stumbled across a plot by Punchline involving an energy drink that creates mindless zombies who are then used as live targets for people thinking they’re playing a video game. Their investigation has led them to Punchline’s base, where they’re promptly captured.

GAME OVER

Gotham City Sirens #4 starts off with the team surrounded by Punchline’s zombie creatures. Ivy uses her powers to raise a platform so they can come up with a strategy. The team splits up with Dumb Bunny, Ivy, and Harley staying to capture Punchline, while White Rabbit and Catwoman head inside to find a way to counteract the energy drink. Using her powers on the zombies, Ivy is able to combine them all into one giant monster that she and the others ride to capture Punchline, who’s escaping in a helicopter with her investors. Harley is able to knock Punchline out of the chopper before Ivy throws it into the ground. Inside the base, Catwoman and White Rabbit encounter a scientist who manages to drug them before they can get any information from her. During their drug trip, Catwoman realizes that she recognizes the feeling she’s having. Outside, the others are still fighting off the rest of Punchline’s henchmen, The Nasty Boys, when White Rabbit uses Dumb Bunny as a walkie-talkie and informs the team that the thing controlling everything is a synthesized version of Poison Ivy’s pheromones, which she does not like.

FUN, BUT TAME

Gotham City Sirens #4 is a comic that is frustratingly safe. Considering the popularity of the Harley Quinn TV show, the popularity of the three leads of this series in other comics, and a first issue that had some good absurd moments, there was an expectation that the finale to this story would be something bombastic, maybe a little vulgar, wild, and humorous. What we ended up getting was the conclusion that we had diet versions of all those things. Not to say that there weren’t some fun moments in this issue, like Catwoman and White Rabbit having a drug trip where their bodies kept taking on new art styles and forms. It was a really enjoyable section, but that was about as weird as things got. Sure, Poison Ivy creating a giant version of herself to catch a helicopter was cool, but it was over pretty quickly and in a fairly straightforward way. There’s honestly not much wrong with this issue, other than the fact that this felt like an opportunity to really cut loose and do something truly imaginative with these characters that just wasn’t taken. This issue does deserve credit, though, for wrapping things up succinctly without it coming off as rushed, which is impressive for a four-issue series. Also, the interactions between the main characters don’t feel cheesy or forced. Even Punchline gets some great bits of dialogue and banter.

INCREASINGLY CARTOONISH

In a strange twist, while the story of this series got progressively more straight-laced, the art got more cartoonish with each issue, which resulted in Gotham City Sirens #4 looking like everyone and everything is made out of rubber. It’s not a bad look, but it doesn’t feel quite in step with the tone of the writing.

BOTTOM LINE: WISHED THERE WAS MORE, IN MULTIPLE WAYS

Gotham City Sirens #4 is a perfectly functional ending to this miniseries. There are really no loose ends; everyone gets their moment, and there’s even some meat left on the bone for a possible reunion of this team in the future. It just didn’t feel as fun and wild as it could have and, in ways, was promised via earlier issues and solicitations. There was definitely some humor and some zaniness here, but it felt restrained and held back, which unfortunately left this issue feeling a bit lackluster—3 out of 5 stars.

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