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Issue #02 - Ivy League
Scans and Review by Jim Harvey


Gotham Girls #2
Cover Date - November 2002
Written by Paul Storrie; art by Jennifer Graves and J. Bone; cover by Shane Glines


In the hot new series based on the WB Online webtoon, the female stars of the animated Gotham universe duke it out! Detective Renée Montoya, investigating the theft of a mysterious chemical compound, follows the deadly trail of Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn, while Ivy tries to convince Catwoman and Batgirl that they should cooperate with her (fat chance)!

Review

This issue picks up right where we left off, and hops right back into action with some great three way interaction between Harley, Catwoman, and Ivy. We get the typical insane Harley reaction (cracking Catwoman with a mallet), but Ivy is surprisingly calm here, a nice little twist. I also like the back story we get on Poison Ivy here, done in the sleek TNBA style. (Is it me, or does Ivy look a lot like Dr. Lake from the Batman Beyond episode "Meltdown" in Panel #3 on Page 3?) The classic restaurant scene from Pretty Poison (episode available on DVD!) looks pretty sharp in the redesigned style. I like how Ivy tries to rationalize with Catwoman by comparing herself to the burglar. A smart move by the plant lady.

Harley's look on the first Panel on Page 5 is hilarious! Is that intentional? There's some great dialogue here. The "kindred spirits" reminds me a bit of 'Anne of Green Gables'.

It's great to see Ivy using some of her plant-themed traps and such. The homegrown pepper gas is a nice little trick from Poison Ivy. I don't think that has ever been used before, correct? I've always wondered if these villainesses would get along, and now I get a pretty good answer. Then again, this is an awkward situation, so who knows if they really would get along. I remember Catwoman had a run in with Harley and Ivy in The Batman Adventures #12 which didn't end good, as well!

Now, as we cut to Montoya. I must admit, this little sub-plot is enjoyable. We finally see Montoya doing some detective work. She is actually a detective so it's good to see her do some work. Even though we all know where this is heading, it's great to see her working towards it instead of just fumbling into it by sheer luck or coincidence. "Ya Think" - heh - good line!

Then we're back in the action, which is moving fast and furious! I love this little sequence. We got two fights going on at once, almost chaos, and the scene is easy to read and understand. Usually a packed slugfest is hard to make out and understand, but it flows so nicely here. We jump from one sequence to another without giving up pace.

And this new story that Ivy presents...well...I can't help but be intrigued by this. Is she telling the truth, or is she just trying to get that vial. What's in that vial! Ivy has laid herself bare twice this issue, so this has me perplexed, and intrigued. You're doing a good job, Paul, with this little revelation. You're making it hard to figure out if Ivy is on the level here. We've seen how good she can fake her way through something to get to her goals (again, see 'Pretty Poison') so I wouldn't be surprised if we see this again. You really have me wondering here, Paul. Kudos to that! This really has me anticipating the next issues, because I really want to know if she's on the level!

The idea of the Ivy and Harley 'herding' Batgirl to Robinson Park was genius. Ivy is incredibly smart, so I thought a little trick like this would be within her power. Just a cool little trick thrown in which leads to Harley acquiring the vial.

And then there's the great art, which continues it's level of excellence presented in the first issue. I would love to see Jennifer Graves on these boards so I can congratulate her on her great work on the series. The artwork really accommodates and enhances the artwork. It meshes together perfectly.

I especially like Grave's depiction of Ivy. It's a bit of a mix between the B:TAS and TNBA style. We get some great curves on her body, but the same sharp design from the new look. Grave's depiction of Poison Ivy on the first Panel on Page 16 gives her this innocence that we've never seen for her. She looks almost vulnerable here, and it's so bizarre. Graves also continues to present us with killer depictions of Harley and Catwoman. Her Batgirl just continues to blow my mind. I love how she's drawn in this series. She looks just absolutely perfect.

My only complaint about this issue is that Tim Harkins is not lettering, but Phil Felix. I prefer Harkins over Felix because Harkins provides that classic lettering look that only he can provide. Hopefully he'll be back for issue #3.

I can't help but gush about this series. It's been a long time since I've had an animated comic to just gush over, and it's hard to resist. I'm loving this stuff here!

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