Batgirl And The Birds of Prey #20 - A Review

In the wake of Gus Yale's death, the secrets of The Birds of Prey have been lain bare and the team is all but broken. Black Canary hid the fact that her powers were still overclocked from a previous encounter.  Batgirl hid that she was using intelligence stolen from The Calculator to influence their activities. And Huntress... well, she's been visiting her crime-boss mother in prison and has been called to act as a character witness at her parole hearing. Despite the tension between them, the three heroines must come together again and soon, as the robotic assassin Burnrate begins to arrange a different sort of union...



Unfortunately, this series is coming to a close and I'll be sad to see it go. The Benson Sisters' stories have been nothing short of phenomenal and I've greatly enjoyed how they revitalized the classic Birds of Prey line-up for the reality of Rebirth. I just wish they'd had an art team worthy of their work. While not as bad as they've been in earlier issues, Roge Antonio's pencils are still incredibly uneven (particularly during the action scenes) and while Marcelo Maiolo's lighting effects are decently applied this month, this is still a very rough-looking comic.

The Final Analysis: 6 out of 10.

Batgirl And The Birds of Prey #18 - A Review

Approached by her former employers with the covert organization Spyral, Huntress uses Barbara Gordon's recent invitation to speak at an energy developers conference as a means of bringing an international arms dealer to justice. Naturally the rest of The Birds of Prey are happy to help but can the three friends triumph when the arms dealer upgrades his arsenal with stolen super-villain technology and a new super battery to build the ultimate climate changer?



I hate to harp upon this point but Batgirl and The Birds of Prey really needs a good, regular artist and it needs it soon. Guest artist Marcio Takara's work here is, to put it politely, a far cry from their previous work on All-New Wolverine. The pencil-work here is even sloppier and more heavily over-inked than Takara's recent run on Detective Comics! The detail work in the small panels is particularly worthy of lamentation. The one bright side to the artwork, quite literally, is the vivid colors of Jordan Boyd.


It's a crying shame because the story by Julie and Shawna Benson is wonderful. Saving Paris from rogue weather events is a fantastic concept and there's a neat little link between this issue and this week's issue of The Flash to boot! It's just a shame that such clever writing and dialogue has to be paired with such ugly artwork. Get the likes of Rachael Stott or Emanuela Lupacchino on this book and it could easily be one of DC Comics' top titles.

The Final Analysis: 5/10. Great story and good coloring but the art makes it nearly unreadable.

Batgirl and the Birds of Prey #17 - A Review

A mysterious plague threatens the lives of every man in Gotham City. The Birds of Prey have gathered the rest of the city's heroines - and even The Sirens - to help them keep the peace and find a cure. Can they thwart the plans of Patient Zero - the super-genius behind the viral attack - and her followers in The Daughters of Gotham?


The story comes to a satisfying conclusion under the pens of The Benson Sisters. Despite the large cast of characters, nearly everyone gets a moment to shine. All of the characters sound like themselves, even special guests Wonder Woman and Lois Lane.

Unfortunately, the artwork continues to be an ordeal to work through. There's no consistency to Roge Antonio's work, with differing levels of detail being provided to different characters in the same panel. Patient Zero, for instance, is rendered in a more realistic style than the cartoonish, streamlined superheroines she's taken hostage. A larger problem is the colors of Marcelo Maiolo, which leave everything looking washed out or orange-tinted to the point that all the white heroines are the same shade as Harley Quinn!

 The Final Analysis: 5 out of 10.

Batgirl And The Birds of Prey #16 - A Review

The Birds of Prey have picked up some unexpected back-up in dealing with the plague that is slowly killing the men of Gotham City. Not only have Batwoman, Orphan and The Spoiler offered their aid but Harley Quinn, Poison Ivy and Catwoman have joined them along with Wonder Woman! Even with such formidable assistance, the battle ahead of them will not be easy - particularly once they learn of the new organization that stands against them!


(Click On The Image Above To See The Full Two-Page Spread!)
My comments and complaints about Batgirl And The Birds Of Prey #15 remain the same in considering this issue. The script by The Benson Sisters is fantastic and does a wonderful job of capturing the personalities of all the heroes and villains involved. The artwork by Roge Antonio is lazy and ill-defined, with a coloring job by Marcelo Maiolo that leaves all the characters save Huntess with the same washed-out white skin-tone as Harley Quinn. Read it for the story. Suffer through the artwork.

The Final Analysis: 5 out of 10. Again, that's purely for the story.

Batgirl And The Birds of Prey #15 - A Review

The mother of all flu bugs seems to have hit Gotham City and it only seems to be infecting men. With Commissioner Gordon in his death-bed, half of Helena Bertinelli's class out-sick and Oliver Queen having just come into town, all the men closest to the Birds of Prey are endangered. Can they get to the bottom of things or will ace reporter Lois Lane beat them to the punch? And what other unlikely allies might join them in their fight?


Batgirl And The Birds of Prey #15 is a prime example of how terrible artwork can sink a great story. Not only does Roge Antonio seem to have rushed his pencil work and barely inked the artwork but there are numerous examples of figures being retraced throughout the book. Throw in some weird facial expressions and a coloring job by Marcelo Maiolo that leaves Lois Lane and Barbara Gordon as pale as Harley Quinn and there's not a single page of this book that looks good!


This is doubly unfortunate because The Benson Sisters have outdone themselves on the script for this issue. Bringing Lois Lane into the action adds a whole new level to things and the guest stars are perfectly handled. The final page offers up an honest surprise that I dare not spoil but it is well worth fighting through the rest of the issue to get to it.

The Final Analysis: 5 out of 10. Great story. Terrible artwork. 

Batgirl And The Birds Of Prey #13 - A Review

The Birds of Prey wind up in the thick of things, as the criminal past of Gus (a.k.a. the new Oracle) comes back to haunt him. Tangled in a plot involving a corrupt bio-engineering firm and the machinations of both The Calculator and Catwoman, things become even more complicated when Poison Ivy launches her own attack on the company's headquarters. Even if they survive with their lives and integrity intact, will Gus still have a place with the team?


The conclusion of Source Code is an enjoyable if somewhat rushed spectacle. Julie Benson and Shawna Benson's scripts are as strong as ever, but I wish they'd had a bit more time to let this story unfold at a more leisurely pace. If nothing else, I'd like to have seen a flashback tale detailing The Calculator's past encounters with the team in the Rebirth reality rather than the quick montage we got in the last issue.

The artwork, unfortunately, remains the series' weak point. Roge Antonio's individual panels look fine but the flow of action between them is a bit odd at times. Allen Passalaqua's colors look decent enough, though there is a coloring mistake in this issue where Canary is given Barbara Gordon's hair and skin tone in a close-up that the editors really should have caught.

The Final Analysis: 7 Out of 10. Enjoyable in spite of its flaws.

Batgirl And The Birds Of Prey #10 - A Review

Black Canary has disappeared while trying to infiltrate the operation of a metahuman criminal trainer called Blackbird. Thankfully, Batgirl and Huntress have Nightwing and Green Arrow ready to lend a hand. And a good thing too! Because it seems that everyone's favorite "pretty bird" has fallen prey to Blackbird's mind-control powers!


Batgirl and The Birds Of Prey remains one of my favorite books and one of the most underrated books of the DC Rebirth line. Shawna and Julie Benson have truly captured the essence of the title characters and this issue proves their no slouches when it comes to writing Nightwing and Green Arrow. In fact, I dare say the brief moment of Ollie comforting Dinah when she finally breaks free of the mind control rings far truer romantically than most of the "love scenes" in Ollie's own title. Roge Antonio's artwork in this issue may be his strongest offering yet, his fluid style proving perfectly suited to depicting the epic superhero battle at the heart of this issue.

Final Analysis: 9 out of 10.

Batgirl And The Birds Of Prey #8 - A Review

When Nightwing is injured trying to bring down a metahuman known as Gemini, it falls to The Birds Of Prey to bring the rogue shape-shifter to justice. The bigger problem may be the mysterious Blackbird, who is apparently mentoring Gemini and several other up-and-coming super-villains. And then there's the rumors of an underground fighting league for metahumans setting up shop in Gotham...


Batgirl And The Birds of Prey #8 sets up a series of subplots in this issue, which promise to keep things interesting for our heroines for a good long while. Julie and Shawna Benson are proving to be both master storytellers and good character writers. This is something that is rarer than you'd think in comic books!

The best part of this issue - and the one thing that threw me for a loop - was the relationship between Helena and Barbara. I had thought we were in for a repeat of the rivalry we saw back in the Chuck Dixon days of Birds of Prey. The Bensons took these expectations and flattened them, having both women admit to their feelings for Dick Grayson and deal with it like adults. It helps, of course, that Helena is prone to detachment and Barbara - ever the intellectual - is smart enough to divorce her feelings from what her brain tells her is a complication she doesn't need. In this, the past of the characters is acknowledged while still remaining true to both characters.


The artwork in this issue suits the series. Roge Antonio is fantastic at crafting expressive faces and that's to the benefit of this issue, which is largely built around some spirited conversations. Colorist Allen Passalaqua does his usual stellar job of finishing the artwork.

Batgirl And The Birds of Prey #7 - A Review

Barbara has moved into her clock-tower digs but she finds herself beset by burglars. What's weirder is that her burglars are also her realtors! As Dinah and Helena go undercover and get a crash-course in the housing market of Gotham City, Barbara and the new Oracle start investigating just what makes Babs' loft such a hot property.


I've always enjoyed stories and series like Damage Control and Common Grounds that looked at the realities of life in a world full of super-powered beings. Those of a like mind will enjoy Batgirl And The Birds of Prey #7 simply for the sequences of realtors trying to sell "unique fixer-uppers" where the previous tenant may have been a former super-villain. Beyond that, this issue is still an excellent character study of the personalities of the various Birds and a wonderful one-shot story for new readers to utilize in gauging the series as a whole.


The artwork is a little off this month. Claire Roe is a fine artist but some of her character poses in this issue seem forced and unnatural. The opening action sequence, with a new villain called The Zodiac Master, seems rushed and cramped though the rest of the issues' action scenes work perfectly fine. The colors, however, are fantastic throughout.

Batgirl And The Birds Of Prey #4 - A Review

The false Oracle is still on the loose and multiple setbacks have Huntress reconsidering her partnership with Black Canary and Batgirl. They also have Huntress thinking of her past and the family she's lost. Could this new Birds of Prey team be over before it has truly begun?


I didn't read Grayson, so I didn't know if the new Helena Bertinelli differed in any significant degree from the pre-New 52 Huntress. Julie & Shawna Benson deliver a fantastic retelling of Helena's origin in this issue, firmly establishing their take on the character and reasserting her role among The Birds.


The artwork for this issue is astonishing. Roge Antonio and Allen Passalaqua do a fantastic job bringing The Bensons' script to life. Antonio's sense of visual storytelling is fantastic and the splash-pages look phenomenal As far as the colors go, I love that Batgirl and Huntress have distinctive shades of purple for their respective motifs. .

Batgirl And The Birds Of Prey #3 - A Review

The hunt for the wicked hacker who stole the Oracle name from Barbara Gordon continues. The Birds have a lead which leads them to a favorite restaurant of the Gotham mob. Yet Oracle has their own operatives - a team called The Snakes - that are poised to strike Commissioner Gordon and his team!
This book is fortunate to have two great artists working on it. Claire Roe's gift for drawing expressive faces makes the various scenes of characters just talking a real treat, even in the case of the stoic Huntress. Roge Antonio does a fantastic job on the flashback sequences, showing the formative years of a young Dinah Lance as she ran away from her foster home and discovered a home and martial arts in the dojo of her first sensei.  Allen Passalaqua colors both sections with a unique style, with the modern story sporting a more vibrant palette and the flashbacks muted in pale greys, blues and off-whites.


The story by Julie and Shawna Benson is a thing of wonder. Their six-page flashback into Dinah Lance's background has done more to define Dinah's past and character than all 12 issues of  Brenden Fletcher's Black Canary series. And the story set in the modern day has a twisted humor not seen since the days of Gail Simone's Birds of Prey run. The Birds are back, baby!

Batgirl And The Birds Of Prey #2 - A Review

The Birds of Prey have a lead on the new "Oracle", who is aiding and abetting the Mafia families of Gotham. Batgirl is fighting mad and in little mood to talk when both Commissioner Gordon and Batman raise concerns about her working with the new vigilante called Huntress. Huntress herself continues to have trouble fitting in with the team, being the sort of person who picks fights to test her teammates - a spectacularly bad idea when one of your teammates is Black Canary!
Writers Julie Benson and Shawna Benson truly grasp these characters and write them in a way no author has managed in several years. The interaction between the various Birds is the high-point of the book. While they are far from a functioning team, the interplay between them as the camaraderie builds and Huntress slowly gains the trust of her new allies proves quite amusing.


The issue features two art teams, but this does not distract from the flow of the story at all. There are a number of striking visuals throughout but  my personal favorite is the shadow of Batman falling across the clock-face of Batgirl's clock-tower just after Barbara asserts her independence. It looks good but is also a powerful symbol of Batgirl trying to get out of Batman's metaphorical shadow. The color art is also notable, particularly the gradient effects used in the twilight duel of Huntress and Black Canary.

Batgirl And The Birds Of Prey #1 - A Review

Someone has taken over the identity of Oracle - the alias Barbara used as an information broker during the time she was paralyzed. Thankfully she and Black Canary have a lead. Unfortunately, that lead is on the hit-list of a new masked marauder called The Huntress, who is out to kill all the Mafioso involved in the death of her family. Can this trio of vigilante vixens find common ground before their mutual enemies expose their identities or kill them off?

While the Rebirth incarnations of these heroines are a far cry from the versions who once headlined Gail Simone's Birds of Prey, it's clear that Shawna and Julie Benson had the classic series in mind while writing this opening arc. Huntress is a loose cannon, who perfectly pushes the buttons of the more order-minded Batgirl. This, in turn, forces the usually passionate Black Canary to play peace-keeper between the two. It's a fascinating balancing act and hearkens back to the interaction of the characters before they became fast-friends as well as partners in crime-fighting in the original series.

I'm still uncertain about artwork, however. Generally I like Claire Roe's style, but there's something about her design for Batgirl that just looks off - possibly the over-large eye-holes that do little to hide her face. Additionally, some of the posing of the characters seems awkward and forced at times. Still, the general dark aesthetic suits the story well and the colors by Allen Passalaqua are well-chosen.

The Ten Best Moments From Injustice: Gods Among Us - Year Two (So Far)

I haven't written a lot of reviews of Injustice: Gods Among Us - Year Two despite it being one of my favorite series right now.  I feared I was growing repetitive in describing my love of Tom Taylor's writing and how well he has developed the base concept of a rather simple video game into a complex tale that has given some of my favorite characters the best portrayals they've had in years.  To that end, I've decided to showcase my ten favorite moments from the series so far, in the hopes that this will explain what I feel unable to articulate in an original manner.


1. Ollie And Dinah Forever.


As Seen In: Injustice - Year Two #1

It's no secret to most of my regular readers that I'm a big fan of Green Arrow and Black Canary.  Yet few writers in recent years have managed to write them effectively as a couple on those rare occasions they've been portrayed as a couple.  At best, they're written as sitcom fodder with Ollie as the bumbling dad and Dinah as the long-suffering mom.  At worst, they're outright hostile to one another and seem to survive purely on fantastic make-up sex.  Taylor is one of the few who writes them as a real couple who truly love each other. And nothing better showcased that than the first scene of the first issue - a flashback in which we see Dinah defending her man's honor against the bikers who were flirting with her, much to Ollie's amusement.


2. "You want me to say something?"


As Seen In: Injustice - Year Two #1

In the Injustice game, it is revealed that Green Arrow was the first hero to die in the rebellion against the tyrant Superman.  Taylor revealed the exact specifics during Injustice: Year One and began exploring a question that the game left unanswered - how did that world's version of Black Canary react to the death of her lover at the hands of Superman?

Not well, to put it mildly.

With that one sentence, after Superman approaches her following Oliver Queen's funeral, Dinah Lance makes it clear that no quarter will be asked or given in the coming conflict.  And we learn just how powerful Black Canary is and how very painful a sonic scream is to a man with super-hearing at point-blank range.


3. Where WERE The Guardians When Krypton Died?


As Seen In: Injustice - Year Two #5

When word of Superman's actions reaches the planet Oa, Ganthet of the Guardians of the Universe takes it upon himself to travel to Earth to plead with Superman to abandon his current actions.  Superman agrees to a meeting but then asks Ganthet to answer one question honestly after Ganthet cites the infinite wisdom of The Guardians as reason enough for Superman to heed his words.  It is a question that Ganthet does answer honestly and the answer leads to Superman telling him to get off his planet.

This scene is a powerful one.  But more importantly, it shows Taylor's talent for asking questions that have rarely, if ever, been addressed in recent comics... such as why was the destruction of Krypton - a disaster that was the sort of thing The Green Lantern Corps was founded to prevent in the first place - allowed to happen?


4. Barbara Gordon's OTHER Secret Life.


As Seen In: Injustice - Year Two #6

With Gotham City being the first city on Earth to "benefit" from the instillation of one of Superman's armies and the GCPD now redundant, Jim Gordon turns to his daughter for answers.  He reveals that he knew about her secret life as Batgirl and guesses that she must have some way of getting a hold of Batman.  Barbara says that she does but then she reveals that while her father figured out a lot, he didn't know everything... as a panel slides aside to reveal The Birds of Prey, who were in the middle of a strategy session when Jim Gordon came into the building.

It's nice to see The Birds as envisioned by Gail Simone back in action and Taylor writes all of the heroines involved quite well.  But it's also gratifying to have it confirmed that Jim Gordon knew damn well who the vigilantes in his city were and that his daughter was one of them. Taylor balances the humor of the scene as well as Jim Gordon's righteous anger perfectly.


5. Harvey Bullock - Bad Ass.


As Seen In: Injustice - Year Two #10

Harvey Bullock is a hard cop in a hard city.  He's a slob and a jerk but he's doesn't play games with the law.  And even after the GCPD is all but shut down by the presence of Superman's army, he still patrols the streets because his badge and his oath mean something to him.  At least, they mean enough for him to put himself between a pair of love-birds breaking Superman's curfew and the Super Soldier ready to go Judge Dredd on them.

Is Bullock's stand futile?  Of course.  And he knows it.  And yet, this scene is the quintessence of the series as a whole - morality versus security.  It symbolizes that there is a difference between Law and Order and that Superman's quest for peace has become so absolute that even lawful policemen have no place in The New Order.


6. All The Small Things.

As Seen In: Injustice - Year Two #11

It's always been my contention that any Green Lantern could match Superman - not necessarily through raw power but through sheer creativity.  That certainly proves to be the case here as one of the smallest of Green Lanterns - the squirrel-like Ch'p - is able to neutralize Superman's brain through sheer force of will.


7. Girl Talk.


As Seen In: Injustice - Year Two #13

Another of the interesting questions raised but unanswered by the Injustice game is how Harley Quinn goes from being The Joker's henchwench to one of the most trusted leaders of the resistance against Superman.  Taylor started Harley on the path to redemption in Injustice - Year One with an unlikely good deed by Green Arrow turning Harley's heart.  This issue - which starts off with a fight between Harley and Black Canary - turns hilarious and then touching as a pregnant Black Canary begs for a time-out from the fight to deal with a sudden bout of morning sickness and Harley begins to wax nostalgic about her own pregnancy.  If you are a fan of Harley Quinn, you owe it to yourself to read this issue if you don't read any other issues of Injustice.


8. Harley IS Practical, In Her Own Way...

As Seen In: Injustice - Year Two #15

Okay - maybe there's ONE more issue Harley fans upset with her current direction in The New 52 should pick up, if only for the scene where Harley sneaks into the hospital where Black Canary is giving birth to deliver a care package of gifts for the baby... including a baby-size muzzle.

Why?  The panels above say it all.


9. The Charge Of The Light Brigade.


As Seen In: Injustice - Year Two #15

Guy Gardner has always gotten a bad rap as a Green Lantern and I think Taylor has done a great job of showcasing all of the better points of Guy's character throughout this series.  Yet while Guy gets a lot of awesome moments and funny moments, nothing quite tops the ending of issue 15, where he calls ahead to tell Black Canary that The Guardians are sending a Brute Squad to take Earth back from Superman and his new found allies in The Sinestero Corps.

Dinah asks if he thinks they can take the planet without blowing it up.  Guy admits that he isn't sure, which is why they are bringing their own.  And then we pull back to see Mogo The Living Planet bringing up the rear of a gigantic crowd of Green Lanterns!


10. Jim Gordon - Earth's Greatest Hero


As Seen In: Injustice - Year Two #20

Watching Jim Gordon go from honest cop to freedom fighter over the course of the series is one of the more satisfying subplots of the book.  His fight with Cyborg in this issue - another symbolic battle between Man versus Machine that repeats one of the common reoccurring themes in the series - is one of the best so far.  But nothing quite matches the end in which Jim Gordon - a common man pushed to uncommon ends - looks down on the world he is trying to save and bids his daughter and spiritual son Batman farewell.


Think I missed a moment?  Have a favorite I left out?  Let me know in the comments.

Batgirl #34 - A Review

I am sorry to see the team of Simone, Pasarin and Glapion leave Batgirl.  For the better part of three years, they have delivered one of the best books the New 52 had to offer.  And they deliver one hell of a satisfying conclusion in Batgirl #34.


Gail Simone's script ties up most of the on-going subplots from her run, as Batgirl moves to stop the gang-leader Knightfall from enacting her plan to cleanse Gotham City of all undesirables.  She does this with a team made up of darn near every awesome superheroine Gail Simone has written in the past as well as the heroes of Simone's recently canceled series The Movement.  Some may say this is indulgent on Simone's part but I don't care.  It's nice to see Misfit again, however briefly.


What can I say about Fernando Pasarin and Jonathan Glapion that I haven't said before?  Precious little, save that I will look forward to their future projects and am glad to see that Glapion will be taking over the inking duties on Green Arrow.  I can also say that Matt Ryan does a fine job on the two pages that he inks here and that if the title page didn't inform me there was more than one inker working on this book, I never would have known.

Batgirl #33 - A Review

Batgirl #33 came out at the same time it was announced that Gail Simone, Jonathan Glapion and Fernando Pasarin would be moving on to other projects.  Thankfully, it appears they will be allowed to go out with a bang, as this issue starts what promises to be an epic conclusion to their run on the book.  And it all starts with a reunion of sorts for the Birds of Prey...


Though this version of Huntress is a refugee from another Earth, it does my heart good to see these three heroines together again.  Yet even ignoring the nostalgia-bait, Simone's script is a strong one.  Though the plotting is largely concerned with Barbara building an army of her own to counter the group organized by the violent vigilante Knightfall, this issue does not want for action.


Fernando Pasarin does his usual stellar job on the pencils.  Jonathan Glapion is joined by Matt Ryan in providing the inks for this issue.  I'm not familiar with Ryan's work but I could not detect any difference in the inking from one page to the next - my main consideration in any comic featuring multiple inkers.  Poor inking can make or break a comic and Batgirl #33 is apparently fortunate enough to have two good inkers.  I say apparently because if it weren't for the credits page, I wouldn't have thought this book to be the work of two inkers!

Arrow News: 'Arrow' Might Turn Oliver Queen's Sister Into Speedy

SOURCE: 'Arrow' Might Turn Oliver Queen's Sister Into Speedy



It seems that the original character of Thea Queen (Oliver Queen's younger sister) on the new Arrow show might not be so original. Indeed, it seems it combines elements of the Roy Harper and Mia Dearden characters and has been planned to do so since the original pilot script...

In the "Arrow" pilot, Queen refers to his younger sister as "Speedy," an Easter egg that could easily get lost in the shuffle of an already jam-packed episode. But executive producers Marc Guggenheim and Andrew Kreisberg didn't make the reference just for the reference's sake. In fact, there's an early version of the pilot that further teased Thea Queen's eventual assumption of the Speedy mantle.

"My favorite moment in the original script, which Andrew wrote, that didn't make it into the pilot is when she's in the room with [her friend] and they're crushing up the pills," Guggenheim told TV Guide. "The original stage direction was she reaches over to the shelf and grabs a junior archery championship trophy to crush the pills. I'm like 'Why didn't we do that? We never should have taken that out!'"

That's the third suggestion of a superheroine being a part of Arrow in as many days. Could this be paving the way to a Birds of Prey spin-off more in line with the original comics? We can only hope.

52 Pick-Up - Week Three, Part One

BATMAN #2 - There's something very surreal about reading this comic, which opens with Bruce Wayne falling off of a tower, after playing Arkham City - which has a lot of the same landmarks and maybe a few people falling out of towers. Regardless, Scott Snyder tells a solid story centering around a secret society called the Court of Owls that has apparently been hiding out in Gotham and running things behind the scenes for years. While I share Bruce's skepticism about such a group existing without him knowing about it, Snyder's story is compelling enough that I trust him to explain this eventually. Capullo's art is still visually perfect for depicting the world of Gotham City, though his visual storytelling is a bit spotty at times, like on the page when we see how Bruce survived his fall thanks to a particular gargoyle. Still, this one is going on the pull list.


BIRDS OF PREY #2 - The logic train hit me hard with this issue. As of last issue, Dinah Lance is reportedly an outlaw framed for a murder she didn't commit. This is, apparently, a problem for her personally. Explain then why she recruits Katana - a known killer - for her team? It doesn't do much for your reputation to be seen with a known killer. While I can swing with the idea of this team being much a darker shade of grey than most hero groups (Indeed, I think of the original Birds of Prey the only person who hadn't killed someone before was Oracle and even she came damn close to killing The Joker herself on a few occasions.), I don't understand why, if you're part of a team that is willing to kill in the name of justice, it's really that big of a deal to be wanted to a crime you didn't commit. This pales, however, to the continuity issues in the art and how Dinah Lance is magically able to appear on a getaway airport trolley next to Starling, despite having been behind the security guards that were chasing after Starling earlier. Much as it pains me, I'll be passing on this until such time as Gail Simone returns.


GREEN LANTERN CORPS #2 - Trust Peter Tomasi to find a way to take the plot of Spaceballs and make it into a serious intergalactic drama! Picking up where last issue left-off, a group of Green Lanterns investigates a crime scene - an entire planet that died with two Green Lanterns present, their ring fingers cut off. The culprits turn out to be a group of aliens who have begun stealing resources from other planets in order to make up for their own lack of water and forests. Fernando Pasarin's art is a great as ever. A must read for any Green Lantern fans or lovers of cop dramas ...IN SPACE!

Huntress #1 - A Review

One of the characters I missed most in all of the New 52 titles was The Huntress. A long-time member of The Birds of Prey, conspicuous in her absence from that title as well as all of the other Batman titles, I was relieved to hear that she was getting a solo mini-series following the first month of the DC Revamp. And more, that mini-series would eventually lead to her joining the new Birds of Prey. And perhaps most heartening of all was the revelation that she would be returning to her old Kevlar catsuit costume rather than the belly-bearing outfit that Jim Lee had designed for her several years ago.



The issue opens with our heroine arriving in Italy. Her quarry? A packing container bound for Gotham, filled to the brim with illegal weapons and - to The Huntress' surprise - a number of captive women, apparently sold into prostitution. After seeing to the safety of the women and making contact with a local reporter, Huntress sets about tracking down the local gun-runners as they too begin to hunt the vigilante interfering in their business.

Paul Levitz's script suffers some of the same flaws as his Legion of Superheroes title. The action sequences are top-notch and The Huntress is presented as a strong, capable heroine but we learn nothing about her outside of her life as a crime-fighter. The script reveals no information regarding her background or her motivations for being a superhero. Indeed, the only hint we have at her full name comes from a shot of her passport and her only connection to the DC Universe at large is an internal reference to Batman and a cue in the dialogue that Helena has connections with someone at The Daily Planet.

The artwork by Marcus To and John Dell is top-notch. Dell avoids the heavy inks that seem to dominate so many street-level hero books, allowing To's detailed pencils to show even in the scenes set in the dead of night. To is a wonderful visual storyteller, whose fight-sequences flow well. To also avoids the rampant cheesecake that seems to follow Huntress from title to title. Her modesty is preserved, even in a scene in which she subdues a Mafia informant in her nightgown.

All in all, this is a solid first issue with good artwork and a great set-up. The only worrying point is that very little is done to develop our heroine outside of her role as a hero. And yet, even this is not so worrying provided one has read the last page. It is here that an editor's note discusses the upcoming JSA title and goes on to say that JSA fans would be advised to keep an eye on The Huntress as well as Mister Terrific, which they mention features Karen Starr a.k.a. Power Girl. Could a restoration of the classic Huntress/Power Girl team-ups of the late Bronze Age be in the works? I hope so, because that's a hell of a tease otherwise.

Regardless, this book is a wonderful action book with a great heroine. Highly recommended.

Birds of Prey #1 - A Review

Birds of Prey #1 was a book I simultaneously looked forward to and dreaded. I dreaded it because – as a devout fan of Gail Simone – I was sad to see her leaving the book that she is probably the most famous for writing, especially after having returned to writing it just barely over a year ago. But as a Black Canary fan, who was intensely curious as to what the status quo of her background would be post-Revamp, I was still looking forward to it and hoping that DC Comics newcomer and experienced mystery writer Duane Swierczynski would do the character justice.

We start in the thick of it, with two of the titular “Birds” – Black Canary and Starling - acting to protect an investigative reporter who has been spying on the pair of them. It seems he was brought in to expose The Birds but was reluctant to publish without hard evidence – an attitude that his source responded to with ninjas in chameleon armor. A flashback reveals that Black Canary is wanted for a murder she didn’t commit and that she’s out to form a covert team of crime-fighters. Rejected by a newly mobile Barbara Gordon, Babs does see fit to give Dinah a list of potential candidates, including the swordswoman Katana. But before Dinah can investigate that, she’ll have to get herself, Starling and the reporter out of the fire.

Previous readers of Birds of Prey will no doubt be disappointed at how little there is regarding the team history… or if indeed they still have a history! The flashback indicates that Barbara Gordon and Dinah Lance clearly have some kind of previous working relationship but there is nothing to suggest that Babs was ever Oracle or the depth of friendship the characters shared previously. The news that Dinah Lance is a wanted murderer is somewhat less surprising (she was framed for murder and a wanted fugitive in Gail Simone’s BoP last year) but again – no details of just who she is supposed to have killed and why are forthcoming.

Thankfully, Black Canary is as tough as ever. Whatever else may have changed in her background, Dinah Lance is still a lady who can kick your ass and look good doing it. Starling is a little more of a cipher, her only character traits thus far being an apparent Catholic girl and of good enough character to worry about destroying a church while having no trouble gunning down ninjas. She’s no Huntress but it’s an interesting hook.

Jesus Saiz calmed my other fears about this book and what it might become. In a week where debate over the sexualization of superheroines has taken front and center in the reviews of many a comics-reading pundit, Diaz has gone unmentioned and unpraised. He draws beautiful women but he does not ever sacrifice action or story for the sake of a poster pose.

Should you read this book? If you’re a fan of good stories about truly strong women, you’ll like it. Should fans of the old Birds of Prey series read it? Provided you are patient about receiving answers to your questions and can hold your tongue about how much better it was a year ago, yes. I miss Huntress. I miss Misfit. I especially miss Zinda! But it isn’t fair to judge this book for being what it isn’t. Taken for what it is, it’s a damn fine read.