Rather than try to top last year’s fantastic, cameo-laden Halloween special, issue #10 foregoes trick-or-treating for an Autumn themed episode starring Poison Ivy and a murder mystery lead by Damian Wayne. As always, Li’l Gotham is a lighthearted, all-ages comic with self-contained tales that can be enjoyed by anyone.
Ivy in the Fall
Derek Fridolfs & Dustin Nguyen’s “Ivy in the Fall” has a beautiful opening sequence that shows Ivy indulging in all the seasons leading up to Autumn, which is when she suffers a great depression. In order to pull her out of this funk, Harley Quinn calls up all of her closest pals, including the Joker, to help brainstorm for ideas that could make Ivy forget that everything green is now, well… gone. This story has some of the most gorgeous colors in the series and the most dazzling Poison Ivy imagery I’ve seen in some time. It’s definitely not as funny as other episodes, but in terms of cuteness and quality water colors, the comic is running on all cylinders… I feel like I should’ve made a plant reference there instead of a car one, but oh well.
Horror Stories
Also not all that funny, but definitely cute and Nguyen experiments with the color palette during some fun sequences that involve the sidekicks theorizing “Whodunnit.” The story is about Damian coming home from a night on patrol to find Alfred dragging what appears to be a dead body in the far east wing of Wayne Manor. He tells Tim and Katana what he saw and they begin looking for clues as to whether or not “The Butler Did It.”
Recommended If…
- Poison Ivy is one of your favorite Bat-villains
- You miss the days of Gotham City Sirens
- Dustin Nguyen’s watercolors always make you happy
- You’re shopping for a kid or the kid inside you
Overall
It’s cute as always, but not quite as funny as the previous issue. “Ivy in the Fall” had gorgeous colors and “Horror Stories” is an atmospheric mystery that’ll keep children guessing all the way up till the end.
SCORE: 7.5/10
