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Those who have followed Birds of Prey since Gail Simone

In a comic-book universe informed by Batman's emotionless reaction to the feelings of those around him, the empathy Simone enables for her characters is captivating.

began her run on the book two years ago have witnessed a transformation of the title. From Chuck Dixon's book about wheelchair-bound Barbara Gordon continuing her own personal crusade against crime and injustice with Black Canary as her agent, Simone gradually shifted the book's emphasis to Black Canary and over the past year has broadened the book to meaningfully include Huntress as a part of a team—one that is no longer merely a back-up unit for Batman.

Now that Barbara, Dinah and Helena are open with each other, betrayal and manipulation are twice as painful.

Having pursued Rose/Thorn across Metropolis only to find her shot, Black Canary and Huntress wait for her to emerge from surgery in the hospital—only to find that cops on the take have already made off with her. Thorn then flees her captors (not before taunting Huntress with a “T”-shaped cut on her arm for “Thorn”). Putting the pieces together with Rose's detective friend John, Canary and Huntress find out who is really responsible for the recent killings blamed on Rose/Thorn. The developments of the Rose/Thorn story probably require one to actually follow that book regularly (also written by Gail Simone), but the whole operation plays out smoothly, leading to a closing recap aboard the Birds' plane/traveling headquarters.

This issue satisfyingly ties up what had been seemingly scattershot plotting over recent issues.

It is here that Huntress, at first uplifted by the good they did on their various vigilante-hunting missions, realizes that there was perhaps a deeper purpose to Barbara's decision to leave Gotham City. Furious with Barbara, Huntress abandons the team, declaring that Barbara is every bit as manipulative as Batman, a particularly cutting remark considering Huntress' own checkered history with the Dark Knight.

This issue satisfyingly ties up what had been seemingly scattershot plotting over recent issues, explaining why the Birds of Prey were wandering all over creation looking for vigilantes. It also reinforces this book's strength and one of the major changes Simone has engineered here: character-driven story. Anyone who has watched Huntress consistently rejected by Batman, Nightwing and various other elements of the Bat-world can understand her frustration and anger at Barbara. Elevating the conflict even more—and underscoring a growing friendship between them—Black Canary stands up for Huntress, demanding that Barbara fix whatever deception she has wrought.

In a comic-book universe informed by Batman's emotionless reaction to the feelings of those around him, the empathy Simone enables for her characters is captivating. My greatest fear about this book is that DC will pull her off of Birds of Prey to work her magic on a more-popular title (she already is getting a run on Action Comics later this year).

This is the last issue for artist Ed Benes on Birds of Prey. Benes has been criticized for sometimes crossing the line into “cheesecake” depictions of female characters. Personally, I have sometimes been overwhelmed by the musculature of his characters. But his art is clean and often expressive, and in general his work has been strong. Joe Bennett (Captain America And The Falcon) takes over with #81.

Birds of Prey is the only title I have read consistently over the past two years, and I have reviewed numerous issues for ComicCritique.Com. This, however, is the first issue I have rated 5 out of 5 stars. It may not have the same impact on readers who have not followed the title regularly, but for those of us who have, Birds of Prey #80 was well worth the wait.