Review: Sirens Gate #5

As you know, comic books come in all shapes and sizes. Take this run, Sirens Gate from Dynamite Entertainment. On one hand its an experiment of utilising CGI as an artistic art form. On the other hand the book caters to the idea that comics are full of sexy girls and little else, an idea that has been lauded at comic books and their fans for any number of years.

Tara’s grasp of reality faces another test in the shape of Lady Rose and a hidden agenda. What is the truth, the half-truths and outright lies that color Taras unrequited fascination from Lady Rose, and is Tara really ready for the greatest challenge on her reality?

The book is the creation of writer/artist Shannon Maer who many may know from hos work as a game designer, his work on television as well as publishing. With those facts in mind, looking at the writing first, Maer is aware that sex sells. I am not always against such an idea, after all there is room on the rack for a wide range of books. I do however require an element of originality to proceedings. The book comes across like a half-baked episode of Buffy with all the clichés but none of the charm. The attractive Lady Rose is clearly hiding things from her young paramour, yet Tara still goes to her for help? Having not read issues 2 through 4 I am uncertain of some of the characters; the army guy seems instantly disposable, as do the majority of the cast.

Maer utilises 3D CGI models in lieu of regular art methods such as pencil or even digital pencils. The result is a haphazard affair where a lot of facial elements work in an oddly wooden manner contrast with awfully stagnant body poses. As such there is not a lot of natural movement through the panels and therefore the pages. The book is filled with over the top body types, with arm positions, boobs and legs all looking unnatural. Think a glitchy Catwoman or Poison Ivy from the Arkham games and you will get the idea! The colors work well enough, there is a good level of depth and darkness to affairs, which fits the horror trope well. Maer takes a unique stance to lettering and lettering boxes, having the boxes positioned diagonally into or out of the images, trying to give the book a pseudo 3D effect, possibly to match the 3D model elements. In reality, it just makes reading the book that much more difficult.

This book is not for me. Whilst I can appreciate the ambitious nature of the book, I can’t get past the trope driven storyline or the bland unimaginative art models

Writing- 2 Stars

Art – 2.5 Stars

Colors – 3 Stars

Overall – 2.5 Stars

Written by; Shannon Maer
Art by; Shannon Maer
Published by; Dynamite Entertainment

Author Profile

Johnny "The Machine" Hughes

I am a long time comic book fan, being first introduced to Batman in the mid to late 70's. This led to a appreciation of classic artists like Neal Adams and Jim Aparo. Moving through the decades that followed, I have a working knowledge of a huge raft of characters with a fondness for old school characters like JSA and The Shadow

Currently reading a slew of Bat Books, enjoying a mini Marvel revival, and the host of The Definative Crusade and Outside the Panels whilst also appearing on No-Prize Podcast on the Undercover Capes Podcast Network