When it comes to comic book teams, there aren't a lot of all-female groups. In DC Comics, the two most popular are the Gotham City Sirens and the Birds of Prey. While the former is a trio of criminals, the latter is a group of vigilantes. Both groups, however, work toward their own brand of justice.
Gotham City Sirens only had a 26 issue series, though the characters in the center of the story have reunited in different stories and different mediums over the years. The Birds of Prey, on the other hand, had a series that lasted years before it was reset for new incarnations. Both teams have their merits, but which team is really the best?
10 SIRENS: Moral Ambiguity
The Gotham City Sirens are not heroes. They're criminals. The trio includes Harley Quinn, Poison Ivy, and Catwoman. While all three of them sometimes act heroically, they aren't the types to always do the right thing.
Poison Ivy wants to save the environment, but she has no qualms about ending the lives of humans. Harley Quinn has a soft spot for women and children in trouble, but she loves a good criminal enterprise. Catwoman doesn't like to see people hurt, but there's no glittering object she won't steal for her own amusement.
9 BIRDS: Barbara's Leadership
While the Sirens are willing to play on all sides of the law, the women also all act on their own instead of with any real leader. The Birds of Prey, however, have a leader who can unify them.
Barbara Gordon leads the group, usually from the shadows, as Oracle. Her team begins with just her and Black Canary but eventually expands to include Huntress, Lady Blackhawk, and more. It's Barbara who gets all of the different team members to trust one another and work together.
8 SIRENS: Less Members
With a firm trio of members, the Sirens' stories only have to focus on a few characters. The Birds of Prey, on the other hand, usually has more than three in the thick of the action.
Having a larger number of members means the stories have to rotate amongst more people, and sometimes, the focus is split more than comic book readers would like. That can result in some characters not getting any substantial stories for several issues.
7 BIRDS: Helena's Journey
Of the Birds of Prey, Huntress has one of the more compelling arcs. She's a loner, used to operating on her own terms, and being as lethal as she chooses. When she begins working with Oracle and Black Canary, she has to temper her violence and her tendency to go her own way, something that doesn't come naturally to her.
Watching Helena become a full-fledged member of the team, committed to helping people and serving justice instead of revenge is part of the appeal.
6 SIRENS: Shared Living Space
While the Birds of Prey do share a workspace, they don't usually all live in the same place. In contrast, the Gotham City Sirens series actually has the trio of criminals sharing an apartment.
That means the conflicts that occur between the group aren't just born out of whether they each pull their own weight on a job. Their conflicts are more personal as they worry about things like trusting one another to give advice about relationships and life outside of their criminal activities.
5 BIRDS: Rotating Members
Despite the Birds of Prey having to share story space with a large number of individuals, their rotating cast actually works in the group's favor. If a couple of characters leave to work on their own for a while, someone new can come in and shake up the dynamic.
Someone like Lady Shiva joining the team, or Poison Ivy deciding she wants to be a hero, creates a whole new dynamic for the team. With the Sirens always including the same three women, the dynamic doesn't really have the chance to change.
4 SIRENS: Brutal Honesty
Heroes can be guilty of telling one another what they want to hear so they can maintain their well-oiled machine of a team. Harley, Ivy, and Selina don't hide their opinions from one another - even if they hurt.
Part of the Gotham City Sirens arc is Harley trying to figure out if her relationship with the Joker should be over for good. Selina and Ivy don't pull any punches when explaining to her just how rotten they think he is - and how Harley needs to move on for good.
3 BIRDS: They Have Day Jobs
While the Sirens are full-time criminals, that's not the case for the Birds. Instead, team members for the Birds of Prey typically have day jobs, even if some of them are simply covers for their night job. The identities of Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn certainly aren't a secret. Even Selina Kyle is pretty well known outside of her mask.
The Birds of Prey team members, however, are mostly masked vigilantes. They have to keep an air of anonymity about them, requiring them to live normal lives in addition to their crime-solving. That can create conflict, but it can also show another side to the character, like Dinah the performer or Helena the teacher.
2 SIRENS: Betrayal Is Easy
The villains might be brutally honest with one another, but they also know how to keep their secrets - and when the right time is to betray one another. Harley betrays Ivy and Selina when she decides to break the Joker out of Arkham instead of killing him. Selina, in turn, leaves Ivy and Harley in Arkham to fight it out, resulting in the two being caught while she escapes.
It's not an intentional betrayal, but knowing she couldn't stop their fight, she walks away. When Ivy and Harley again team up for revenge, Selina reveals the ultimate betrayal to them: she's been working with Batman to keep them safe. Selina uses her relationship with Batman to make sure neither of the other women is arrested while working with her, something Ivy doesn't entirely believe, but something that shows sometimes their lying to one another is for a good reason.
1 BIRDS: The Crimes Are Realistic
Comic book fans love the over the top nature of superhero stories, it's true. Every once in awhile, however, we all want our comics to have an element of realism here and there. That's what makes the Birds of Prey so great.
Typically, the team isn't fighting magical elements, supernatural plants, or doing the impossible. Instead, they're hunting down human traffickers, gang leaders, and the types of criminals people see every day. When the Birds of Prey win, it makes for one satisfying conclusion.