What started out as a promising series, Sirens, by the second issue already somewhat muddled.  While George Perez deserves some praise for going to a smaller publisher to tell his story, equally his choice of story is a bit questionable here.  At its roots the problem comes from the use of time travel, one of the hardest plot devices to get right in science fiction, and while Perez had a good enough idea for it here, it does get a little bit lost in itself.  The story here picks up immediately from where it left off in the previous issue with the team of Sirens facing off against their arch-enemy.  This conflict takes up the entire issue, with still no resolution for the standoff, only the stakes have been raised.

While the time travel gives some confusion it is also used at the same time for a clever sequence about halfway through the book detailing the story behind one of the powerful swords being used.  In a split frame sequence, the present and past of the weapon is told in what is so far the most memorable sequence of this series.  At the same time while the time travel plot device ends up not as convoluted as it was at the beginning, there are a few other clichés that don’t really work either.  The entire standoff is reminiscent of a Star Trek episode, and there is not much to distinguish it from one, through the various tricks and tactics played by both ships.  Equally too it seemed as though Perez wanted a chance at a Deadpool like character, so confused by the voices inside their head that they break the fourth wall.  While this can be humorous in the right context, it doesn’t really work here, instead acting as an unnecessary aside.

The end result of this issue is that it is about as muddled as the first few pages would indicate.  Although it gets on firmer footing by the end of the issue, there is still a lot of explanation for what is going on, the concept behind the series almost swallowing the story whole for its level of exposition.  So while this is indeed at times an excellent endeavor, it also becomes a little lost in itself, both for biting off more than it can chew but also for not aiming as high in breaking the clichés.  It is still a fun series, just not necessarily heading in the right direction with this issue.

Story and Art: George Perez
Story:  7.3 Art: 8.0  Overall: 7.3  Recommendation: Pass

BOOM! Studios provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review.