What Is Gotham City Sirens?

Gotham City Sirens is a DC comic book series created by Paul Dini and Guillem March.

The spinoff series ran for a short two years from June 2009 to to August 2011 with a total of 26 issues.

With the latest news of Margot Robbie collborating with Suicide Squad director David Ayer to bring us the first Harley Quinn spin-off movie in the DCEU featuring the Gotham City Sirens, fans are wondering a bit more than just who the members are.

Yes, we know we’ve got Poison Ivy, Catwoman and Harley Quinn as the main characters, but there are only a few story arcs through the entire run and they also involve other majory characters like Dick Grayson, Joker, Riddler, Talia, and Zatanna.

As far as what we can expect from The Gotham City Sirens movie, we have no idea yet, but we can at least dig a little deeper into the comics and learn more about these specific characters.

Yes, these versions of the iconic Gotham anti-heroes are all bi-sexual now.

There is a HUGE possibility that the movie could focus on the romantic relationship between Harley and Ivy.

Let’s set this up first:

Catwoman, Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn are tired of playing by other people’s rules regardless of which side of the law they’re on. These tough ladies have a new agenda that’s all their own, and they’ll use any means necessary to pursue it. But can they get along and work as a team? And who will get hurt along the way?

Catwoman was not herself after being attacked by Boneblaster because she thought Batman was gone. Ivy saved her and brought her back to health. Harley was living at Ivy’s and Catwoman suggests they start a team.

Together, they make up the Gotham City Sirens.

The comic book series followed Ivy, Harley, and Catwoman on a few fun story arcs that included other ladies like Zatanna and Talia.

However all of the fun ended when Gotham City Sirens was cancelled in August 2011 to make way for the line-wide relaunch called The New 52 and the girls went their seperate ways.

So let’s take a look at the main characters as they relate to The Gotham City Sirens comic book series…

Harley Quinn

You might be asking yourself, what else do I possibly need to know about Harley Quinn.

Well, the answer is that some movies based on comic books tend to take their own direction.

And this is exactly the case with David Ayer’s Suicide Squad.

We know that Harley Quinn was once the Psych Doc for The Joker, Harleen Quinzell. The Joker brainwashed her, abused her, and she fell in love with him, while at the same time turning into a mentally insane anti-hero.

There is a time when she leaves the Joker and is single which takes place in Gotham City Sirens. Harley is on a personal mission to put the pieces of her life back together.

This comic is hugely influential for several reasons, and it’s a crucial step in Harley Quinn’s journey away from her abusive relationship with the Joker and towards her bright and autonomous future as her own anti-hero.

This isn’t the first time that Harley moved in with Ivy, but it is the first time they are in a romantic relationship in the comics.

Wether or not the movie will explore this we aren’t sure, but it probably will seeing as how LGBTQ characters are becoming the focus in the comics and finally being introduced on-screen.

This Harley, although still Harley Quinn, is not the same lovesick and controlled maniac we met in David Ayer’s Suicide Squad.

Poison Ivy

In Gotham City Sirens, Poison Ivy also known as Dr. Pamela Lillian Isley, is an eco-terrorist. She loves her plants and wants to take care of the earth. 

However, she still uses them as weapons, especially her lethal poison kiss.

We just discussed her relationship with Harley during Gotham City Sirens, and they have their ups and downs just like any relationship, except Ivy has super powers and Harley doesn’t quite understand love yet – so of course, they both use these against each other in their quarrels.

In the middle of all of this, Ivy is trying to help Harley get over The Joker.

Meanwhile Harley keeps having horrible flashbacks (that are shown on the pages) of how badly Joker abused her and kicked her around.

In Gotham City Sirens, Poison Ivy takes a job at the Gotham City branch of S.T.A.R. Labs, under an assumed identity “Paula Irving” due to her criminal history.

In one story arc refered to as “Strange Fruit” Ivy discovers an alien plantlife that can grow an entire forest in one night. 

Seemingly coming under the plant’s control and being promised to be its queen, Ivy aids its escape from the lab, battling Catwoman and Harley Quinn on her way to Gotham Park, where the entity plans on spreading her spores in an attempt to take over the planet.

Oh, it’s also worth nothing that these three aren’t “best friends” through all of Gotham City Sirens.

Catwoman, Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn fight with each other as much as they save each other in the comic series.

 

 

Catwoman

In Gotham City Sirens, Catwoman also known as Selina Kyle, knows all the secrets about Batman.

She is still a master thief, which is how she has all of this insider info in the first place, but she ends up getting tortured a few times for the info.

Catwoman, distracted by the loss of Bruce Wayne, was taken down in Gotham City by Boneblaster, a new super-villain trying to make a name for himself by killing big name vigilantes.

Due to her recent encounter with Hush, Selina was not herself in peak physical condition. She was saved by Poison Ivy, who then brought Selina back to her hideout, which was actually the apartment of the Riddler, whom was being drugged by Ivy.

Her biggest story arc in Gotham City Sirens is her kidnapping, again to find out info on Batman’s true identity.

Selina is later kidnapped by an unknown party using her to find out the secret identity of Batman by trapping her in a dream sequence. Meanwhile, Ivy and Harley get help from both Talia al Ghul and Zatanna to locate her.

They later find her underground with Shrike and the mastermind of Selina’s abduction, Sempai.

As the ladies fight for Selina, Selina manages to break out of her dream sequence without revealing Batman’s identity.

Selina really misses Batman!

If The Gotham City Sirens has anything to do with the original comics, there are about 4-6 storylines to choose from.

And most of them include the joker in some way…