Sirens Of The City is a Rosemary's Baby for a Post-Roe V. Wade USA

Tomorrow sees the print release of Sirens Of The City #1 by artist Khary Randolph and writer Joanne Starer, created under their Glass Eye Studios imprint as part of the 2022 expansion of Substack comic book grants. Unlike many of the other recipients of Substack's funds, like James Tynion IV, Tom King, Elsa Charretier, and Chip Zdarsky, Randolph and Starer chose to bring their series to Boom Studios over creator-owned rival Image Comics who get the lion's share of the Substack deals. Has it paid off?

As I understand it, orders from comic book stores jumped 156% from initial orders at Final Order Cutoff, from just over 16,000 copies to over 25,300 copies at FOC. No doubt those orders were boosted by the addition of Boom's first-ever variant cover from Marvel and Image artist (and fellow Substack creator) Skottie Young. And while it looks like Sirens Of The City is on track to be Boom's biggest new creator-owned launch of 2023 (so far), there's reason to believe retailers may come up short tomorrow.

Sirens Of The City is the story of a runaway teen, Layla, who is struggling to survive on the streets of 1980s New York City. But this NYC has a gritty urban underworld filled with supernatural creatures, and Layla is pregnant with a supernatural child-to-be that she never asked for… but the underworld wants. Yes, it's a supernatural thriller, but also clearly an allegory for class, race, and reproductive rights in the States. Basically, Rosemary's Baby for a post-Roe v Wade world.

Which, given that it's releasing just after the one-year anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v Wade, and just a couple short weeks after the Supreme Court rolled back additional protections in the form of affirmative action and protections for LGBTQ+ citizens, may drive additional attention and conversation around Sirens Of The City this week and into the summer. Will its timeliness lead to a sell out and a second printing?

Adding fuel to the fire is that Boom is also bringing Randolph and Starer to San Diego Comic-Con next week to promote the launch of the series with an exclusive edition alongside cover artist Jenny Frison, whose iconic portraits have helped drive sales for other female-led Boom series like Something Is Killing The Children, Grim, Briar, and Alice Ever After. Expect to see more chatter about the buzzworthy launch next week. Sirens of The City #1 features an extra-long debut issue with 30 pages of story and art, and is in stores tomorrow, Wednesday, the 11th of July.