GOOD THING: Not surprisingly, The Death Of Oracle is a metaphorical death. That still doesn't stop the final pages from being powerful ones, as Barbara Gordon explains her revised role in the war on crime and a thinning of the ranks of her agents. And worry not Cassandra Cain fans - she is accounted for.
BAD THING: Inaki Miranda is a fine artist, but I think this cartoony style isn't well suited toward Birds Of Prey. At the very least, it is ill-suited to this darker, more serious story and the direction that Gail Simone seems to be moving.
And if the art MUST be cartoony, he should see little blackbirds - not stars!
The Final Verdict: Some overly cartoonish artwork can't spoil the stirring conclusion to this story nor spoil the excitement for the coming new era of Birds Of Prey!
Not so very long ago I was not buying comics at all. I had been a Marvel fan primarily my whole life, and got burnt out on my favorite characters getting trod on to sell the next mega event or gads "reimagined"
ReplyDeleteRecently I promised my son that if he passed a required reading in class, he got a trip to the comic book shop. Reading your reviews and loving mythology I grabbed Gail's Wonder Woman.
Must admit I loved it. I have given up on it during it's "reimagined" plot right now, but followed Gail to Birds of Prey.
While I am still loving it, the artwork was horrible this issue. Not even good by "cartoony style" standards. Not as bad as issue three of Batman Incorporated mind you, but very very bad.
If I had one critique of Gail's writing, it's that while she writes characters and motivations very well, she does not write battle or combat scenes well. Maybe there is some factor I am missing, but she seems not to care about the fighting as much, and tends to just gloss over it as quickly as possible, only stopping at moments that are good to show something about the character.
While not enough to detract from my enjoyment of her books, she is the one writer I would seek out right now, for me it is a slight gap in her armor.