John Prince's first step is to find a way to neutralize the Birds of Prey. Of course the team is still - for the most part - a covert entity. But everyone knows Black Canary lives in Star City and with a host of other heroines trickling in and out of the city... well, Star City is becoming a regular Metropolis.
So being of a mind that like should fight like and being a man with an eye for the ladies, John Prince puts out a call for female mercenaries of all stripes; cutthroats, murderers, bounty hunters, desperadoes, mugs, pugs, thugs, ass kickers, shit kickers and Methodists. People with experience fighting archers and superheroes preferred.
John Prince got everything he hoped for and then some.
The Body Doubles - Carmen Leno is a Mafia princess out to prove her worth to The Family. Bonny Hoffman is a porn star looking for work as a real actress. Together, they are freelance assassins as deadly as they are beautiful.
Double Dare - Aliki & Margot Marceau are two circus-star sisters with a talent for three things; acrobatics, robbery and murder.
Lady Vic - Lady Elaine Marsh-Morton is a British noble continuing a long family tradition of elegant and subtle assassinations.
Crackshot - Melanie Jennings is a securities expert and expert sniper, who has been selling her talents for a good number of years. She's crossed Connor Hawke's path more than once and has been meaning to look him up for a while...
Vicious - She's a little bit crazy, a lot good with a knife and been looking to carve up a certain Canary for quite some time.
Moonbow - Brittany Brandon was a thrill-seeking heiress and would-be hero; an expert archer who sought to rob from those who threatened her family's company. For reasons known only to her, she joined up with Circe's all-villainess army a few years ago and then vanished into obscurity... until now.
It was Vicious who suggested the name, noting that her old team was gone - either dead or turned traitor. Vicious said it seemed to her that everyone on the team was like her; women looking for a new start and a little respect. And everyone liked the idea of having a name that suggested a dark bird. Very fitting that.
The plans were simple at first. Double Dare would provide the feint - a series of easily noticed robberies. At that point, the rest of the team would attack en mass, hoping to overcome the local vigilantes through sheer numbers and firepower.
Problem is, not everybody in The Ravens is fully committed to the cause.
Crackshot just answered the call because... well, she's still got the hots for that cute, innocent Connor Hawke kid. And the only time he ever seemed to pay much attention to her is when he was trying to get her to stop killing someone.
And Moonbow? Well, she's in it for the kicks and the test of being able to play Robin Hood against the expert, playing at being a bad girl as she looks for a way to bring down John Prince from the inside, using her clever villainess disguise.
Yes, the Birds have more allies than they know... but that knowledge may be slow in coming. And this is just John Prince's opening salvo.
Hmm. Isn't it a little much to have the Body Doubles -AND- Double Dare? I mean, yeah, it gets some more boots on the ground, but I can see it getting confusing pretty easily. Maybe if you just changed the 'working name' of the Princess/Pornstar duo or something.
ReplyDeleteHmm. Isn't it a little much to have the Body Doubles -AND- Double Dare?
ReplyDeleteWell, they are both horribly over-the-top pairings, but that is where the similarity ends. Apart from them both having "Double" in their names, they have little in common as characters or in appearance.
I'd like to think I'd be allowed an artist who can visually differentiate between...
a) auburn-haired French gymnast with a long braid
b) auburn-haired French gymnast with short hair
c) blonde gun bunny who wears lots of flashy, if tacky, outfits
d) raven-haired gun bunny who wears lots of flashy, if tacky, outfits
Good group you got there. Interesting how a few of them are from Nightwing's dwindled rogue's gallery, but they'd work in an anti-Birds of Prey way.
ReplyDeleteCredit where Credit is due - Gail Simone had Lady Vic and Double Dare teamed up in Secret Six. That's where Pistolera from the original Ravens died, in fact. And all of these women except Moonbow and Crackshot were in the Secret Society of Supervillains and have similar M.O.s, so it isn't much of a stretch to suggest them teaming up.
ReplyDelete