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Harley Quinn, Poison Ivy, and Catwoman will ride (together) again this August, Polygon can exclusively reveal, in Gotham City Sirens, a weekly-publishing miniseries from Leah Williams (X-Factor), Matteo Lolli (Marauders), Daniel Hillyard (Plush), and Brandt & Stein (Crowded).
The “Gotham City Sirens” is the now traditional name for the team up of Batman’s most prominent female villains (ish) Harley, Ivy, and Catwoman. And while the trio hasn’t seen a Gotham City Sirens book since 2011, the characters are doing quite well at DC Comics proper. Fans of DC’s ongoing Catwoman, Harley Quinn, and Poison Ivy books may be in for a shock when they see that none of them will be shipping an issue in August — but it’s just to turn the mic over to Williams and company.
Speaking to Polygon, Williams said that finding out about the pause was certainly a shock to her.
“I was nearly done with the book when Tini Howard — one of my very best friends; writing Harley Quinn and Catwoman — mentioned the books pausing, and I panicked,” Williams said. “I was like, ‘Wait, that’s when Gotham City Sirens is supposed to come out! What do you mean, the books are pausing?’ She was like, ‘No, sweetie, [laughs] they’re pausing for this.’”
In the new story, Harley, Ivy, and Catwoman are going on a Western themed adventure out by Gotham’s county line, facing off against the likes of Punchline, and a quartet of mysterious new villains called the Nasty Boys, a “cowboy-henchmen sensation soon to be sweeping the nation,” according to DC’s news release. Or, as Williams puts it, “ominously horny half-naked cowboys with automatic assault weapons.”
Williams naturally couldn’t share too many details of the plot, but explained that it was inspired by a strange wildlife encounter she once had driving through the middle of nowhere in Montana’s cattle country.
“Across the intersection was this alien creature I had never seen before, not native to Montana [...] It had these black spiraling horns and big black eyes, and stripes; there is nothing in Montana that looks like that. For years afterward, when I was describing this encounter to my parents or bosses, they were like, ‘Oh, you probably saw a moose. You saw a deer. You just imagined it.’ And like, ‘No, bitches, I KNOW WHAT I SAW!’”
It wasn’t until years later, when Williams spotted the same animal in a Texas animal sanctuary, that she discovered she’d come upon an African Impala, one that had likely imported for, and escaped from, an exotic game hunt.
“Ever since then,” Williams said, “I’ve been stewing over the idea of Who does that? Who imports exotic animals to Montana just for the sport of killing them? That is so foul to me, but it’s also legal there; completely within bounds.” Williams thought it was a perfect situation to unite the Gotham City Sirens, as lovers of animal (and plant) life with a pick-and-choose relationship with the law.
Gotham City Sirens #1 will hit shelves on Aug. 7, with issues #2-4 following on Aug. 14, 21, and 28. The first three issues will run for 22 pages, followed by a 40-page finale. The issues will be respectively drawn by Lolli, Hillyard, and Lolli again, and finally Hillyard, Brandt & Stein on #4. Triona Farrell will color each issue, with Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou on letters. |
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