In this review of Sirens: Love Hurts #2, the Sirens and Black Canary continue their investigation into the murdered women in Gotham’s nightlife. But can Dinah select a wedding dress first?
Sirens: Love Hurts #2 main cover by Babs Tarr (DC Comics)
SIRENS: LOVE HURTS #2
Written by TINI HOWARD
Art and Main Cover: BABS TARR
Variant Covers: DERRICK CHEW, TULA LOTAY
Page Count: 32 pages
Release Date: 3/11/26
This review contains spoilers
Previously on Sirens: Love Hurts
The Sirens meet up with Dinah Lance, recently engaged to Oliver Queen – The Green Arrow and then ditch her. A string of young seemingly sacrificial murders of young women catch all four women’s attention, especially when the police appear to be covering up the strangeness of the murders.
In Sirens: Love Hurts #2 Dick and Barbara are helping Dinah wedding dress shop when the bride to be notices the Sirens are also there trying on dresses and trying to get her to work with them on finding the killer – who they suspect to be Calendar Man. After trying to prevent the two groups from noticing each other, she rushes out when she gets a text from Renee Montoya – the cases of the murders they had found have been closed. She also clues Dinah into a new murder.
The Sirens head off to intercept Calendar Man. After a brief altercation he reveals his alibi – he’s been out of town all month for his birthday. Dinah comes by to pick the Sirens up to check out the new murder scene. They agree to tap their sources to try to get more information about the victims and ritualistic overtones of the crime scenes.
Who’s getting hitched again? (DC Comics)
Catwoman gets Batman to work with her to find a connection between the victims. Dinah is overwhelmed with wedding stuff. Ivy is taking the investigation very seriously, but realizes that Harley has doodled all over the backs of the crime scene photos…and the front. But together they realize that the patterns of the stab wounds in the victims are constellations – and that each was mutilated with their own zodiac sign.
Selina discovers that all the women had the same therapist, and that another one of her patients, Emily Shannon, has an upcoming birthday. She’s an artist and is having an exhibit. At her party a mysterious lady in a large hat and coat separates Emily and starts to stab her, and though the Sirens and Dinah stop her, the killer gets away.
Dinah invites the Sirens to her Halloween show, and afterwards the street is crawling with revelers. Selina thinks she sees the killer, but keeps losing track. However, they find a door with the current season’s zodiac sign over the door – a Scorpio. They enter the building where the killer has another girl in her clutches. She threatens to kill the girl unless the Sirens give her their star signs. Selina insists the killer take her in place of the victim. The would-be-assassin throws the hapless victim at the Sirens and escapes through a trap door.
Dinah decides to call in Montoya and the Sirens book it, unhappy with Dinah’s decision to get the police involved.
Sirens: Love Hurts #2 ends with the killer marking out her next victims – a cat and a clown.
Review
I am struggling with this series a little bit. I will say, it is a certain flavor of story that makes the inane chatter more palatable. The art is very colorful, light, and fun – lending to the je ne sais quoi of the story.
It helps that, though it is a serious subject matter (serial killing of young women with ritualistic overtones) the story doesn’t take itself too seriously. We have sex, revealing outfits, weirdly friendly conversations between villains and heroes, and Dick Grayson with a strangely obsessive opinions on Dinah’s arms in a wedding dress.
I will say, one thing I appreciate, is that while this is a “women focused” book where females are solving the crime, the art eliciting the male gaze, but writing for women (I guess?), it isn’t putting men down, which is very refreshing. The art of “anti-man feminisms” where women rule and men drool is unhelpful and disgusting. While the men aren’t heavily featured in this story, the (non-villains) ones that are are helpful, kind, understanding, and non-toxic. Which is lovely.
Now, I will be remissed if I didn’t mention the Catwoman/Batman hookup. If I’m reading Sirens: Love Hurts #2 correctly…they were getting it on for a week? This seems out of character for Batman, but hey, the story is lighthearted and fairly self aware. It was lovely for this massive Bat/Cat fan to see this connection and the “Dick Dizzy” that Selina experienced, forgetting to send her findings to the group.
Over all, Sirens: Love Hurts #2 has been an entertaining read, and I have not hated it, which is high praise for Sirens books as of late. The story is clipping along at a good pace, not dragging too much, but also spending time with the characters in a non-crime solving context, which is great for character building.
