George Perez calls upon his Sirens #1 (Review)
Reading time: 3 minutes
George Perez’s Sirens is incredibly complicated. The story is extremely dense in an old-fashioned style that most comic books are free of. Yes, this means that this issue will be comprised of a lot of text to tell this story. However, even after so much text contained within the issue, there is still a lot of pieces of a potential puzzle that could add up to a greater whole. While Sirens does not come off as fully formed in terms of foundation in the space of one issue like other ongoing series from places like Image, it does enough to justify the title as a series that has its own hooks and ongoing story plot threads.
Sirens crafts a reason for existence early on in the series, due to the change in lead protagonists. Yes, these individuals all happen to be female, but their personalities are still very different. The backstory for each of these members remains engaging throughout. There are several different scenes in this tale that twist expectations leading up to something that readers may not expect at first. A prime example of that happening is what happened the slave woman in this story, but it happens in a format that is non-traditional. This story is as good as a superhero comic, but it is freed of some of the different expectations that come from Marvel and DC. The blend of genre’s is something that will hopefully work in term’s of this book’s favor. In the space of one long issue Steampunk is blended with science fiction and historical drama. There is a lot to unpack in the space of just one issue.
This ultimately works in favor of the comic, by giving Perez the creative freedom that he needs in order to turn in some fascinating work. By having an all-female cast, the artist and writer can really start to flesh out a whole new landscape for each of these characters. This comic book is sort of like a “getting the band back together” issue that has wide-reaching consequences spanning throughout this new Universe being crafted. Watching these twists and turns occur throughout the book regarding some of the instances that we begin to see some of these changes is fascinating, one example of this is the many different type of settings that are explored in this world. There is also a sense of intrigue in this comic as well, as readers are attempting to figure out what is actually going on with the alien threat that occurs in the space of this saga.
Perhaps the most refreshing part about this issue is that George Perez actually takes his time to get his art just right for the comic book. The work in the title makes it obvious that the artist and writer really do care about the comic book he is making, and the story that he is crafting. The amount of goodwill based on those two styles of comic book producing blending so well together will give fans a new perspective on how to read a story like this. Comparing these layouts to other recent material from George Perez will give fans a different outlook on how to perceive the art here. Fortunately, Perez also had a fair amount of time to produce this title, and it really shows. The linework, page layouts, emotions, and expression are fascinating pieces of artwork that are lovingly illustrated. His style blends some of the clean line-work from his Avengers run, and some of the complicated line stylings from the early New Teen Titans work. Whatever influences are being combined here, they sure do work in favor of the issue.
Perez has created a work in Sirens that is strong, but needs to be followed with care. Through mixing so many different genres and words on the page, this book is asking a lot of its readers. The payoff towards the latter half of the first installment is nice, but is still sort of underdeveloped. There is plenty of room for the artist and writer to continue to flesh out and grow the series further, but at this point it’s hard to give a concrete recommendation to the narrative of Sirens until more pieces of the puzzle begin to unravel. Then again, you should be buying this based on artwork alone.
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