Gotham City Sirens #6

Jan 2010

When we last left off, original Joker sidekick Gaggy had been released from the big house (no pun intended) and was dead set on reliving the good old olden days.. you know what he means. The days with no Harley Quinn.

This cover... I like. Poison Ivy looks very powerful and the neon-ish petals are a nice touch.

Inside, Harley's getting dragged off to a nicer moider spot or maybe a retro death trap. Poison Ivy took a bubble thing (?!) to the face and now she can't adventure no mo'. Catwoman did not, I repeat, did NOT land on her feet when falling into the hyena enclosure, leaving thousands of fans and cat enthusiasts disappointed.

On the way to her certain doom, Harley catches Gaggy by surprise and he begins to villain monologue. It's nice to know that some things never change.










Selina and Ivy escape their own personal death traps only to fall victim to another one. They delay their painful deaths momentarily but end up calling for back up in the form of one Jenna Duffy the Carpenter and her Tools of Compounding Invoices.
That's pretty much how you know the Sirens were desperate. They may leave with their lives today, but my gosh they will pay through the nose now if they weren't already!

The thing I like about the Gaggy saga is how it quietly parallels Harley's story and gives a new insight to the Joker before she arrived.

Gaggy goes on to elaborate about this past - he was working in Haley's Circus doing his comedy tightrope act and also appearing in the sideshow showcasing his glass breaking scream.
Things changed when the owner hired a new trapeze workin' family (The Flying Graysons, anyone?)
and Gaggy is packed off to join the other clowns, usually dressed as a baby.

Needless to say he resented this a lot and wasn't too upset when the family Grayson met a grisly fate.
Years pass before one night a certain trench coated figure is in the front row, watching Gaggy snap and smash a seltzer bottle in another clown's face.

He surprises Joker when he visits Gaggy's dressing room and asks to shake his hand.. knowing full well who Joker is. Joker is amused at Gaggy's death wish but removes his fatal joy buzzer.








They team up and seem to form a pretty tight friendship. Joker, for his part seems to be straight out of the Ace Chemical plant/beginning of The Killing Joke era at the circus but during the crime sprees it looks like the early Batman comics.

Classic comedy jail, like at our local theme park. Love it!

I like how you don't get a full back story, just bits and dabs here and there but enough to see that the Joker - when he snaps, fully snaps. The lead up to it is suspenseful even though you know what's going to happen.

Even though you don't see much of Joker in this issue you do get to see his whole range. His calm demeanour at the circus, his cheerful 60's crime spree, brooding in his hideout, his charming psychopathic personality - seemingly not aware he hurt Gaggy but drawing him back to his side easily, as if he hadn't done it in the first place. Then the model prisoner doing comedy skits then  snapping violently, forever more condemned to mental institutions.










You feel a bit for Gaggy when he watches a new partner move into his place - topped by Joker referring to Gaggy as some painful bad joke analogies. Gaggy notes that the Joker was different as well, replaced by a 'sullen, psychotic creep'... hence leading into why he was impersonating the Joker in the first place. It's a nice throwback to Harley's memories of an embarrassed Joker who wasn't keen on re-living his past.

This bit has always seemed off to me though. When Joker says everything seems "too gaggy" - Harley immediately assumes it's a person. Which it is, don't get me wrong, but if someone said that to me I'd assume they meant it was too corny or something.



Gaggy decides the best way to get Joker back would be to strap Harley to a rocket (Batman: Harley Quinn style?) but just in time - the other Sirens and Jenna bust through the door. Taking advantage of the ruckus to free herself, Harley punches Gaggy and straps him to the rocket instead.

Jenna drives the girls home in her van - which has a cool bombshell inspired decal on the side (that looks really, really uncomfortable for people with lady bits, in all practicality) and the girls discuss the events.

Yep, some things never change. Well, unless you reboot the universe a few times and even then it's iffy.

Gaggy lives, but is very angry about it - leaving the door open for a later reunion.

The Short End of the Jester Schtick

I mentioned how Gaggy's story is really the fore-runner for Harley and Joker's relationship, didn't I?

Starting with the way they both know who the Joker is.. but aren't scared, not really. Both have similar costumes. The crime spree partnership. The 'accidental or on purpose' injuries. Doing time together. Endowing him with their own nicknames. Both trying to provide comfort/assistance to Joker, even when he absolutely snaps, like the part where Gaggy tries to get to Joker after the prison incident reminded me so much of the scene in Mad Love when Harley does a similar thing.

They had to find their own way when he wasn't around because he would never come to them on the outside. Both became things Joker 'outgrew.'

Harley is pretty calm during her ordeal and the little snark about Harley 'cheating' on Joker even though they're broken up is hilarious when Harley tries to explain that it wasn't even Bruce Wayne in the first place.
At the end of the issue, Harley even talks about how she compares herself to Gaggy - mooning over the Joker before deciding that maybe the real Joker had changed and being shut up by Ivy's plants.

The art is better than usual in this issue - some nice sepia effects for the Gaggy/Joker flash backs, Harley still has the same face as the other women but looks a lot cuter and the main thing for me is that when she moves gymnastically, it looks a lot more realistic and less... spaghetti body? like in some previous issues.

Joker is shown with a hyena in the flashback scenes.. but I don't think it's Bud or Lou given the timeframes. Gaggy has also kept/got more Hyenas specifically for his death trap. I love the way Batman and his sidekick were tied into Gaggy's history without him knowing it, although I thought there were more than three Graysons?

Anyway, some nice foreshadowing in the comic, particularly with Joker and the rocket in the hideout. Speaking of, the Joker hideout was the perfect setting for this comic.

Wotta Comedian!

Harley: A lot of crazy thoughts go through your head just as you're about to be stabbed to death by an angry dwarf. There's the ever popular "WHY ME?" and of course "THIS CAN'T BE HAPPENING!" But somewhere way down the bottom there's this calm little voice that says 'Calm down. We can take this mook.' I'm gonna go with that one.

Harley: If I've learned nothing else from Bugs Bunny cartoons, it's that there's always SOMETHING I can say to get the bad guy to untie me.

Selina: Trapped!
Ivy: Of course we are. Please tell me the walls aren't going to move together.
Selina: The walls are moving together. 
Ivy: Of course they are. 

Gaggy: Even as Joker and Batman had their scores to settle, I made it my personal mission to bring down the Boy Wonder. I dunno why, but I always hated that kid!

Gaggy: ..Back then, even Batman and Robin were flummoxed by our antics!
Harley: 'Flummoxed'? Really? I'm about to be killed by a shrimp who uses the word 'flummoxed'?
Gaggy: Shut up!
Harley: Really?

Joker: I like you, kid. How'd you like to work for me?
Gaggy: Would I?! Who do I have to kill?
Joker/Gaggy: EVERYONE! (both laugh)