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Birds of Prey #88
Review posted: 06 Dec 2005
Writer: Gail Simone
Artist: Joe Bennet, Eddy Barrows, Jack Jadson
Artist: Adriana Melo, Will Conrad (cover)
Publisher: DC Comics
4.00 out of 5 Stars
Reviewed by John League
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Yes, I’m beating the “
You
Should
Read
Birds of Prey”
drum again. Here are five reasons, all from Birds of Prey #88.
Gail Simone gets these characters. The three main characters
of Birds of Prey have evolved and devolved in the hands of myriad
writers. Barbara Gordon as Oracle has been an omniscient operator in
international intrigue and a decidedly less glamorous air-traffic
controller for Batman. Black Canary has gone from a top-flight heroine
of the JLA to an alternately embittered and hapless rape victim to
Green Arrow’s sidekick/girl. Huntress has been angry,
determined, vengeful, heroic and slutty by turns.
Jadson et al. deliver strong visual impact in
appropriate places to undergird the flow of the story. Seems like
every comic book artist should be doing that, doesn’t it?
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The strength of Simone’s run has been casting these three
characters in roles that account for their histories without tying
them down inexorably but allow them to use their hard-won experience.
Much of this story involves Huntress infiltrating the Gotham mob, not
as a thug but as a boss, owing to her own family’s Mafia
heritage. Part of that plot involves bringing Black Canary and Green
Arrow back together for some work in Star City, a reunion full of the
requisite awkwardness and confessions that does not lose sight of the
rollicking adventurousness of their pairing. And as Barbara shows
signs of someday overcoming her paralysis, she reflects on how long
and hard the journey has been — and how close she could be to
retiring.
Gail Simone also can write dialogue. In character-driven
books, it is way too easy to have the characters looking at each other
beneath giant word balloons in each frame. Here, things are concise
and punchy, sprinkled with biting banter.
And Gail Simone can reel in long-forgotten plot elements.
Remember the senator that the Birds had locked up for blackmail about
twenty issues ago? Remember Savant, the blackmailer who almost took down
Oracle? They play key roles in moving this story along as the
Calculator is hell-bent on discovering Oracle’s identity to
seize control of Luthor’s spy satellites.
The art is solid. Joe Bennett and Eddy Barrows have teamed
up to bring a slightly rougher look to the book than Ed Benes employed
during the first part of Simone’s run. The art is not
jaw-dropping, but Jadson et al. deliver strong visual impact in
appropriate places to undergird the flow of the story. Seems like
every comic book artist should be doing that, doesn’t it, but
it’s not always the case.
Details add depth. When Barbara gets up in the morning,
she’s wearing a Green Lantern t-shirt. How can you not like
that?
—CCdC— Cover image used without explicit permission in accordance with the "Fair Use" provision of US copyright law.
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