REVIEW – George Perez’s Sirens #1 (BOOM! Studios)

Publisher: BOOM! Studios
Writer/Artist: George Perez
Release Date: 17th September 2014

Sirens serves as legendary (a term I don’t throw around casually) creator George Perez’s first creator-owned work in a decade, and it’s clear from the opening few pages just how invested Perez is in this project. This ambitious tale introduces us to a group of (super)heroines who have been displaced through time for their own protection, only to be reunited to tackle a catastrophic threat, and displays the full extent of both George’s imagination and his creative abilities.

Perez’s artwork is of its usual high standard here as he crams every panel with detail, energy and emotion. Occasionally things can get a little overcrowded as a result, but these instances are few and far between in what is undoubtedly a very attractive book to look at. It’s also worth acknowledging the rich variety of character design that has gone into this series, from the Sirens themselves to the drastically diverse worlds (and time zones) they inhabit. Interestingly, rather than merely creating the Sirens from scratch, George has in fact based each of them on a different woman in his life, from his niece (depicted here as ‘Ammo’, a gun-slinging Western belle), to various cosplayers he has made friends with through the convention circuit, to his dancer wife Carol (the inspiration for ‘Fanisha’, the mystic of the group).

My only real criticism of this first issue is that, well, there’s a lot to take in. Names of people and places are fired at us in rapid succession, which left me more than a little dazed at times as I struggled to keep tabs on just who everyone was. It’s clear that Perez has poured an incredibly amount of time and effort into fleshing out the world he has created, and while this definitely enhances the feeling of immersion you get as a reader, it can also be a little daunting when you find yourself hurled headlong into such a diverse, expansive world. For my taste, I think this series is going to work a lot better as a collected edition than as single issues, as while this opening chapter did more than enough to pique my interest, it did leave quite a lot of gaps in terms of what was actually happening.

Overall, while its ambition and scope may actually be hindering the storyline focus somewhat, at least for the time being, Sirens still serves as an impressive opening salvo from one of the true giants of this industry. The artwork is fantastic, the character design is varied and rich, and in spite of the minor flaws, it’s terrific to be able to see a creator like Perez pouring his heart out into a project he clearly cares to passionately about. Count me in for the rest of this series.

Rating: 4/5

PREVIEW ARTWORK.

[Click thumbnail for full size image]