[Editor’s Note: This review may contain spoilers]

Writer: Kelly Thompson
Art: Jonathan Case and Gavin Guidry
Colors: Jordie Bellaire
Letters: Clayton Cowles

Reviewed by: Matthew B. Lloyd

Summary 

Part 1 “Worlds Without End” begins in Birds of Prey #9- just where did Dinah, Barda, Sin, Cass and Mari go when they followed Barbara into that portal?

Positives

The fourth art team debuts on this series and Jonathan Case and Gavin Guidry have another style to strut on the pages of Birds of Prey #9.  It’s adjacent to Leonardo Romero’s, but remains distinct.  Jordie Bellaire’s colors go along way in maintaining a consistency.  The atmosphere in this story is communicated quite well through the art as we explore this strange world.

Negatives

The latest issue of Doom Patrol puts the team in a routinely bizarre situation…oh, er… uh…this isn’t Doom Patrol?  Tone has been an issue with this series since issue #1.  In that issue, Harley was rightly feared to distract from the tone of the series, and Kelly Thompson has managed to do that to an even greater degree with Birds of Prey #9 without Harley even being mentioned in the issue.  Thompson has Dinah mention Danny the Street and that makes it clear that this series has veered into Doom Patrol territory.  That’s exactly how this issue feels.  There’s almost nothing in this issue that feels like a Birds of Prey comic.  Despite Dinah and Barbara being a part of the story…it’s gone off in such a strange direction that it reads like a Doom Patrol comic.  As a Doom Patrol comic it has some potential.

That tone is reinforced by some of the awkward humor in the opening sequence.  This was apparent in parts of Birds of Prey #8 as well.  It doesn’t land the way Thompson thinks it does and just comes off as a juvenile.  Thompson also brings back the picking between Mari and Dinah over Dinah’s costume choices.    Would they really pick like that when thrust into an unknown, confusing and dangerous situation?  Thompson also is having trouble with Dinah’s voice, she’s more and more detached as “too cool to care,” despite what we get of substance with the character indicates the opposite.  There’s no secret to be revealed that Dinah genuinely cares for Barbara.  The decision to include it is misplaced, unnecessary and superficial.  It’s just an odd thing to bring up.

Negatives Cont’d

There’s a strange moment when Meridian comes to- she was knocked out and left behind.  She goes to Star City and goes to the home of … Oliver Queen?  There’s an additional attempt at awkward humor before Zealot steps out from another room.  It’s not clear, but this must be Grifter, right?  He and Zealot were together in issue #1, but a blond man with facial hair in Star City is going to be taken as Ollie.  

There are unanswered questions as Dinah, Sin, Barda, Cass and Mari find a way out of this world and it seems rushed.  It comes off as a contrived moment to make the reader think, “oh wasn’t that fun!”  However, it really just makes the story feel like it’s going nowhere.  Almost nothing of real significance happens.  Everything is to cutesy.  Is this Thompson’s style or just a poorly conceived approach to this series?  

Verdict

Birds of Prey #9 strays further from the what makes the Birds of Prey the Birds of Prey.  Ill suited humor and a tone and milieu that resembles the Doom Patrol are the biggest culprits.  Coupled with the fact that the story barely moves forward, the issue is relies on the out of place elements to carry it.  There’s little substance to what transpires and it seems to set up a meandering arc that will end in a “surprise.”  There are some elements that have potential, but not in within the pages of Birds of Prey.

The post Review: Birds of Prey # 9 appeared first on DC Comics News.

[Editor’s Note: This review may contain spoilers]

Writer: Kelly Thompson
Art: Javier Pina and David Lopez
Colors: Jordie Bellaire
Letters: Clayton Cowles

Reviewed by: Matthew B. Lloyd

Summary

Dinah and company go to a fashion show and a fight breaks out, but there’s a surprise once Meridian (Maps) shows up and… … things get worse.

Positives

The art by Javier Pina and David Lopez is really good and probably the single best aspect of Birds of Prey #8.  There’s some good action moments and iconic poses here and there, and the overall look is pleasing.  The pull off they “tough” and the “sexy” equally well in this fashion show turn brawl issue.   

It’s good to see Babs as Oracle in this issue, it pushes this run closer to what the core concept of Birds of Prey has always been.  It’s not a team with a name, it’s what Barbara Gordon does.  Unlike the first arc in this series, the two-parter that concludes this issue is closer to the target.

Negatives

Like last issue, Vixen’s (Mari McCabe) plan feels weird.  With Birds of Prey #8, it becomes clear it is indeed a contrivance.  It’s an excuse to get the ladies into sexy clothes and have a fashion show in order to include Vixen.  The connection to the Red and Green is a much stronger way of making Vixen relevant to this story.  The fashion aspect is forced and remains awkward. 

This two-parter is supposed to connect the previous arc with the upcoming one and doesn’t really feel like a separate story.  There’s no real end to it.  The cliffhanger if anything demonstrates it’s the middle chapter of something else.  That something else is what Thompson poorly set up in the first six issues, someone is trying to kill the Birds of Prey and Barbara is the most vulnerable.  As stated in previous reviews, the story is told all out of order.  It isn’t pulling off the mystery element as it should.  Coupled with the tone of the writing detracts from the seriousness of the main plot.  This isn’t Booster Gold and Blue Beetle in the “bwa-ha-ha” era of Justice League.

The tone of this issue and indeed the entire series is not quite right.  The humor isn’t in the right vein, and Thompson has a trouble finding the right voice for Dinah and Barbara.  This ends up detracting from the inclusion of Barbara in the issue.  Sin seems particularly pointless as the inner monologue with Megeara is neither humorous or interesting.  It already feels like a MacGuffin for how Barbara will eventually be saved.  Additionally, Meridian/ Maps is beginning to feel like the villain of the piece…or maybe just an oblivious pawn.  One would think that after her admission of culpability last issue, someone would realize she needs to stay away from them instead of leading the bad guys to them.

Verdict

After an improvement last issue, Birds of Prey #8 slides backwards.  The tone isn’t right, the plot feels forced and the mystery isn’t playing out in an interesting manner.  Putting Barbara Gordon in danger has been done before, and done better- “The Hunt for Oracle.”  Thompson still doesn’t seem to get what makes Birds of Prey work as a concept.  The time travel works against it, the lack of character focus is missing…at least the art in this issue is nice.

The post Review: Birds of Prey #8 appeared first on DC Comics News.

[Editor’s Note: This review may contain spoilers]

Writer: Kelly Thompson
Art: Javier Pina
Colors: Jordie Bellaire
Letters: Clayton Cowles

Reviewed by: Matthew B. Lloyd

Summary

After Dinah explains to Barbara why she wasn’t included in the rescue of Sin interrogate Meridian on what she knows.  This gives Barbara a place to begin the investigation on who’s targeting the Birds of Prey.

Positives

Page one of Birds of Prey #7 is huge indicator of how this issue is going to go.  Javier Pina’s art stands out immediately.  It’s significantly different from Leonardo Romero, but that’s not a bad thing.  Nor is it a criticism of Romero’s work.  Instead, it’s one of those rare occasions that two distinct artists of great skill are working on the same title.  There’s a texture to Pina’s work that adds some depth to the visuals.  Jordie Bellaire maintains the same type of color palatte as in previous issues, but Pina’s textural approach adds something special to the overall look.

Also, one page one, the appearance of Barbara Gordon and the nature of her conversation with Dinah (Black Canary) Lance immediately changes to feel of the book, and for the first time this series genuinely feels like a Birds Prey comic.  It’s a hard truth, but if you don’t want to write Barbara Gordon, you really don’t want to write the Birds of Prey.  Thompson makes the personal connections between Babs and Dinah feel legitimate and as Barbara echoes this reviewer’s feeling (why wasn’t she involved in the first arc?), the next question is where is Helena (Huntress) Bertinelli?

The mystery at the heart of Birds of Prey #7 is who’s time travelling to try and kill the Birds of Prey?  We don’t get any big answers, but a few clues are uncovered as Barbara recruits Vixen.  It’s a solid start to this two part story…

Negatives

…and that may be a problem already.  It doesn’t seem like one more issue will solve the mysteries that have been introduced.  This may mean another story after the next issue to conclude the larger tale with this grouping of characters only around for this two-parter.  The use of more and more super-powered characters takes away from the core concept of the Birds of Prey.

It’s still, and probably always will be awkward to see Barbara refer to her work as the Birds of Prey.  It’s still a misperception by Thompson that this is a team instead of simply what Barbara does as Oracle and that any old group of female characters can be in a book titled “Birds of Prey.”  As strong as this issue is, it does reinforce the idea conjured by last issue’s revelation by Meridian that this is where issue #1 should’ve started.  This would’ve made it the first issue feel like a true Birds of Prey issue instead of an imposter and given an interesting opening set of pages with multiple mysteries.  Dinah could’ve told Barbara the whole story, thus including her in the comic even if she was excluded from the mission.  The first impression would have been stronger than what was actually presented in issue #1.  It’s taken six issues to get to a comic that felt right some of the needless missteps in the first six issue.

Finally, there’s something odd about the dialogue when Vixen chastises Dinah for not feeling comfortable in the undercover disguise she’s picked for her.  It doesn’t really matter that Vixen thinks it’s no less modest than Dinah’s fishnets, it only matters what Dinah thinks.  People’s levels of modesty are unique, and it’s not right for Vixen to judge Dinah.  It seems like Thompson is playing it for laughs, but it just comes off as awkward.

Verdict

Birds of Prey #7 is easily the best issue of the series so far.  The inclusion of Barbara Gordon and thus connecting the book to the core Birds of Prey concept makes it feels right.  This issue doesn’t feel as derivative as feared with the time travelling killer plot that seems so similar to the first arc in the current Justice Society of America series.  Things seem to be going in the right direction as long as future issues can wrap up the killer plot and move beyond connections to the first arc.

The post Review: Birds of Prey #7 appeared first on DC Comics News.

[Editor’s Note: This review CONTAINS spoilers]

Writer: Kelly Thompson
Art: Leonardo Romero
Colors: Jordie Bellaire
Letters: Clayton Cowles

Reviewed by: Matthew B. Lloyd

Summary

Dinah’s team “saves” Sin and Dinah learns more about Maps’ mysterious methods for contacting Dinah to begin with.

Positives

Starting at the end of Birds of Prey #6, Thompson’s big surprise reveal (we’ll get to it) DOES make this title seem more like an actual Birds of Prey comic instead of simply being one in name only.  It’s not a lot but it does feel like the possibility is there that it might eventually become a Birds of Prey comic.  Romero’s art is still enjoyable, even if the script doesn’t give him room to show off his layouts and action bits.  His faces and what he communicates with them are wonderful and do the job in telling that aspect of the story.

Negatives

What really stands out about Birds of Prey #6 when Thompson hits the reader with the big reveal in the sequence with Maps and Dinah is that this story was told completely out of order.  It contributes greatly to the feeling that this series has never really felt like a Birds of Prey comic.  Barbara Gordon finally makes an appearance to talk to Dinah at the end, and while it’s great she’s there, Dinah’s inability to give her a real reason for not including her on the mission (I mean, BoP IS Barbara’s after all) is awkward and unnecessary.  Dinah and Barbara have a more open/ honest friendship.  Dinah’s pulling a Batman, here.  This leads to another conversation, this time between Dinah and Maps.

Maps reveals (spoilers now) that Dinah tried eleven previous times to save Sin and in every attempt with Barbara included, both she and Sin died.  We also learn that Dinah told Maps not to let her have Barbara on the team for this final mission that succeeded.  From a storytelling perspective, if the reader had known all this ahead of time, everything Dinah does or doesn’t do would’ve been much more interesting.  Understanding there’s something larger at stake that actually relates to the core concept of BoP ( relationship between Babs, Dinah and Helena).  It would’ve felt like something approaching a BoP comic, and it would’ve been much more interesting and engaging.  Furthermore, Maps reveals that she thinks that someone from the future is trying to kills the Birds of Prey (despite the fact that they’ve never been a team that calls themselves that).  Thompson’s decisions continue to indicate that she doesn’t really understand the Birds of Prey concept, though at least tangentially she seems to understand Barbara’s importance to it.

If this arc had begun with seeing Dinah’s failures and then her telling Maps to make sure Barbara wasn’t included, then this whole mission would’ve felt very different for the reader.  It would’ve been clear there was more at stake, and heightened the intensity of the drama. 

Negatives Cont’d

Unfortunately, this idea that Thompson introduces of a time traveling attack on the Birds of Prey feels derivative of the first arc in the current Justice Society comic.  Helena Wayne travels back in time chasing the as yet to be revealed Per Degaton in his attempt to kill the JSA in ALL time periods.  Helena’s already failed in some time periods and her final stop is the present day DC Universe.  Going forward, it appears that this will be a subplot that will play out in this title after Birds of Prey #6.

I normally wouldn’t critique a lot of standing around talking if the talking is good, but a lot of the talking in this issue could’ve been handled differently if the story arc had included some of the info dump as part of the plot instead of dialogue.  Had we known all about their 11 previous attempts to save Sin, the conversations at the end would not have been necessary.  There’s a rushed quality to finish things up and part of it is seen in all the talking.

Additionally, the actual finale was also rushed and anti-climactic, and it didn’t really resolve the issue.  Sin and Megaera are not actually separated.  Megaera has ceded control of Sin’s body back to her so that she can “just live in the world.”  This creates a couple of inconsistencies.  First, as the team is trying to draw Megaera out with this magic jar, they feel like it’s working and Megaera is being pulled into the jar.  It’s not clear why the team stop trying to recapture Megeara in the jar.  It just seems like they stop…because.  Secondly, if Dinah had the foreknowledge to keep Barbara out of the mission, why didn’t she have the foreknowledge to have magic users on the team to fight a mystical magic based adversary? Since she didn’t, Sin is not completely saved, but instead running around with Megaera inside her.  This comes off as contrived and not a genuine result of simply not being able to separate them.  Dinah had eleven other tries…and she didn’t think to also have Maps tell her to bring magic users?  The real reason is that Thompson has other plans down the line…that’s obvious.  However, for the internal logic of the story, this could’ve been set up better, as this mission still has the feeling of bringing a knife to a gun fight.  The finale isn’t unsatisfying in a “wow, it’s unresolved because of cool plot points,” but rather, “it’s unresolved because the characters were stupid!”  It falls into that category of storytelling in which the more one thinks about it the less it makes sense.  If the reader just read it and didn’t think about it, it would be better.

Verdict

While the ending of Birds of Prey #6 indicates there may be some hope for this title in future issues, the finale of this first arc reinforces the notion that Thompson isn’t all that interested in the Birds of Prey  concept.  It’s a disappointing first arc for the relaunch of a Birds of Prey title.  The magic, mystical and time travel elements push the title further away from that core concept of the grounded, hand-to-hand combat, espionage, undercover mission that is central to the Birds of Prey concept.  It would be better for Thompson to create a new team without damaging the Birds of Prey.  A complete restart is the best option for this series, either as a proper Birds of Prey title, or a new team concept that fits what Thompson actually wants to write about.

The post Review: Birds of Prey #6 appeared first on DC Comics News.

[Editor’s Note: This review may contain spoilers]

Writer: Kelly Thompson
Art and Colors: Arist Deyn
Letters: Clayton Cowles

Reviewed by: Matthew B. Lloyd

Summary

Sin and Dinah come face to face with Megaera and have a tense discussion…while the rest of the players try and hold off the Megaera controlled Amazons.

Positives

The standout aspect of this issue is the tension that Kelly Thompson creates as Sin and Dinah attempt to talk their way out of Megaera’s belly.  They are literally inside Megaera and there’s a long discussion about Megaera’s motivations, Sin’s feelings of uselessness and Dinah’s possible solutions.  This doesn’t sound all that interesting as described, but the story itself manages to build the tension between the opposing sides.  Some of it is a bit cliched, but overall this aspect works quite well.

We don’t have Leonardo Romero on art for Birds of Prey #5, and yet Arist Deyn does some interesting things, especially with the color.  There’s some solid dynamic design and textural nuances that stand out.

Wonder Woman is controlled by Megaera by the end of the issue and it becomes clear this should’ve been the approach from the beginning.  All the nonsense about what’s going on in her book while seeming to address the larger world of the DC Universe just felt misunderstood in these pages.  Just having Diana mind controlled works as a much better reason for Diana fighting against Dinah and Co.

Negatives

The obvious negatives are that Harley is still alive.  She brings nothing to the book, and even when it seems like she’s supposed to it just feels contrived.   Thompson wants Zealot to seem really cool, but she’s too much of an unknown quantity to give her subplot any sort of weight.  There’s something going on beneath the surface with her, but there’s too much going on in the story for it to be anything more than surface level.  It’s not going anywhere.  Playing the long game is fine, but there has to be more than one breadcrumb to provide a trail to follow.

Arist Deyn while bringing some interesting aspect is a huge stylistic shift from Leonardo Romero.  It’s a shame Romero couldn’t be present to provide a consistent look for this chapter.  Deyn’s approach to figures doesn’t fit the genre, unfortunately.  Leonardo Romero is missed, but personal preference will determine how much you enjoy the visuals in Birds of Prey #5.  However, Deyn’s work does fit the particular magical aspects of this issue.

Negatives Cont’d

While there is a good building of tension in the conflict in this issue, Megaera’s choosing of Sin feels a little out of nowhere.  It’s a pretty weak reason for her to be chosen.  That’s to say not that Sin’s feelings of inadequacy are not real problems that could provide some interesting storytelling, but it’s such a common thing that it doesn’t make Megaera’s choice of Sin particularly special.  There should be something deeper or more unique at play for Megaera to choose her to posses. 

Additionally, Sin’s been out of the picture for a while and it’s weird that Dinah seemed to have forgotten about her until she was going to be “chosen”.  For Sin to have had these feelings and the lonely life she is shown to have there needed to be more set up.  When did Sin go to Themiscyra?  Has this been addressed and it’s just not memorable?  There’s something missing that would complete this aspect of the plot and give it a stronger overall foundation from a narrative perspective.  There’s something off about Dinah as well, but it’s clear that it’s there just so Harley can be the wild card and provide something useful though contrived to the story.

Verdict

Overall, Birds of Prey #5 is a better issue than #4.  It may not seem like it when breaking down the details, but there’s a stronger through line with the plot and the conflict building.  This is still not a Birds of Prey comic by any stretch of the imagination despite the title.  If anything, with Megaera it would be more at home as a Wonder Woman or Zatanna story, or perhaps Justice League Dark or Madame Xanadu.  The mystical/ godlike elements would be more in keeping with those characters/ concepts than Birds of Prey.  It would also lend itself well to Zealot’s suggested subplot.  If Dinah knew it was going to be this type of conflict instead of Harley, Barda and Cassandra, she should’ve chosen Zatanna, Constantine and Madame Xanadu…and maybe Dr. Fate!  It’s sort of like she took a knife to a gunfight.

The post Review: Birds of Prey #5 appeared first on DC Comics News.

[Editor’s Note: This review may contain spoilers]

Writer: Kelly Thompson
Art: Leonardo Romero
Colors: Jordie Bellaire
Letters: Clayton Cowles

Reviewed by: Matthew B. Lloyd

Summary

Dinah and Co. meet Diana and the Amazons in battle…and OOOPS- it’s all just a big misunderstanding.  This leads to a breakthrough in the plot however….

Positives

About halfway through Birds of Prey #4, the comic becomes somewhat intelligible and the actual plot is finally revealed by the end.  This makes about 1/3 of the issue pretty good from a writing standpoint.  Once Diana listens to what Dinah has to say about the mission, it feels believable.  It’s also nice to know that the Amazons have been trying to contact Dinah, but “couldn’t get through.”  Gee maybe ask Diana her longtime JLA teammate to reach out?  Additionally, Harley plays a much smaller role in this issue than in the previous three, and that’s a huge relief.

Leonardo Romero and Jordie Bellaire continue to make this an entertaining book visually, despite the erratic nature of Kelly Thompson’s writing.  Romero’s figures just plain look good as does Bellaire’s choice of colors.  Romero also does a nice job with the storytelling that helps the book flow narratively as best as possible with the given script.

Negatives

It’s odd to me, but clearly not Thompson, that Wonder Woman identifies this group of characters as “the Birds of Prey” when they are clearly not recognizable as such and the fact that this is the first time as we saw in issue #1 when Dinah assembled them for the first time that this group has ever worked together.  I think Thompson is the only person who upon first seeing this group together would say it’s the Birds of Prey.  It’s funny in a meta-way and sort of stupid within the story itself. 

The first third of this issue is a battle between Dinah’s faction and Diana’s faction and narratively it’s tedious and boring.  This is mainly due to the fact that it is completely nonsensical for Dinah and Diana to be fighting against each other.  If anything a quick message from Black Canary to Wonder Woman would’ve made all this unnecessary.  Essentially, if Thompson had written the characters instead of trying to fit characters into a story she wanted to tell, the first three issues wouldn’t have been necessary to get the plot to where it ends up by the end of issue #4.

Negatives Cont’d

As mentioned in the review for last issue, the reasoning  for not contacting Diana directly is confounding.   What was stated in issue #1 does not seem to line up with what’s presented in issue #3, and ultimately Birds of Prey #4 still doesn’t clarify things.  It’s certainly possibly that editorial didn’t communicate things clearly to Kelly Thompson about the events in Diana’s own title.   It’s a real mess over there, so that’s somewhat understandable.  What’s not understandable is why Dinah didn’t just reach out to Diana and ask for help?  Oliver was right there in D.C. with her and could’ve said something.  It’s makes no sense and seems only to be there because Thompson wanted to construct a conflict that was not naturally occurring.  It’s so poorly developed that it really does make the first three issues superfluous and a complete waste of time.

Had Dinah made attempts to contact Diana, but was unable to reach her that would’ve provided a reasonable situation which required Dinah to act.  Had she gone in looking to talk instead of fight and be secretive, that would’ve fit with the fact that these characters have a longstanding friendly relationship.  There’s no reason to think that Diana wouldn’t listen to Dinah, even if the United States military is waging war on Themiscyra at Tom King’s behest.

The mystical nature of the big bad revealed in the final few pages of Birds of Prey #4, push the genre further away from what one expects in a Birds of Prey comic.  It also makes some aspects of Thompson’s line up feel contrived.  Gee, sure glad Barda’s there when the “mega rod” is of Apokoliptian origin.  Zealot seems like she may be of use … but, I still don’t know anything about her, Thompson hasn’t developed her much.  At one point she says she hates this mission, and I have to agree with her.  That reveal of Megaera certainly appears to be be a job for Wonder Woman.  However, Harley the Wild Card will probably be able to bash her with her mallet in order to save the day.  I don’t know….

Verdict

If you’ve spent money on issues #1-3, you may feel really cheated with the plot developments in Birds of Prey #4.  It not only exacerbates the lack of reasoning on Dinah’s part in not even attempting to contact Diana for help, it just becomes clear that Thompson literally lost the plot for this arc in the very beginning.  Things just don’t make sense from a character standpoint, and there are just too many things that just are because Thompson wants them that way instead of them making logical sense based on character and the known world of the DC Universe.

The post Review: Birds of Prey #4 appeared first on DC Comics News.

[Editor’s Note: This review may contain spoilers]

Writer: Kelly Thompson
Art: Leonardo Romero
Colors: Jordie Bellaire
Letters: Clayton Cowles

Reviewed by: Matthew B. Lloyd

Summary

Dinah and Co. make it onto Themiscyra and find Sin, though not without some help from Oliver Queen back in America who tries to delay Wonder Woman’s arrival on the island.  

Positives

Leonardo Romero continues to be the bright spot for this series.  Romero has a fun style that lends itself to the tone of the book.  While the script for Birds of Prey #3 doesn’t have the action sequences we’ve seen in the previous two issues, Oliver Queen’s “distraction” allows Romero to show what he can do.  The weathered look on the cover is a cool touch.  There’s no reason to think this issue is old and beaten up.  It’s not an homage cover or throwback to classic Birds of Prey, but it is still a nice effect.

Negatives

If we were to pretend that this comic was Harley and Friends #3, then we could skip this first section of the review.  However, this comic is Birds of Prey #3, and a comic with that title should be significantly different than what we get.  Even if we take the premise that Dinah had to use a team made up of these characters it could still feel like Birds of Prey.  However, Thompson seems to be revealing that her real interest is not Birds of Prey, but rather Harley Quinn and change suspicious readers’ minds that Harley is just the best thing.  Now, that’s great stuff for a Harley Quinn comic.  I mean that’s MAIN STREET.  But for a comic whose core concept has absolutely nothing to do with Harley Quinn, then it’s quite bad.  It doesn’t matter what the cover says, the substance of this comic is Harley Quinn and Tenuous Alliances.

Harley’s influence on the tone can be seen almost from the very beginning as they have to ride inside the belly of a megalodon in order to get to Themiscyra.  It’s silly, it’s weird and definitely feel like Harley.  It does not have the same grounded feel that Birds of Prey is known for with clandestine, undercover, espionage vibes.  This trick Harley pulls off with King Shark’s help also gives her a chance to get compliments from Dinah and the others on how great an idea she had to get on Themiscyra undetected.  This sequence feel out of place like the magic bits from Birds of Prey #2 with John Constantine.  

Negatives Cont’d 

We see “how great” Harley is near the end of the issue when Dinah thinks to herself that Harley wouldn’t be a bad role model for Sin…let’s see: crazy, former sidekick of the Joker, mentally, physically and emotionally traumatized by him, groomed to act like him and despite claiming to have “moved on” she still dresses and acts like he developed her to be…sounds healthy to me!  Thompson is bending the logical to the ridiculous to push Harley.  It’s fine if you want to do that, but don’t do it at the expense of other characters and concepts.  Harley doesn’t belong here and it’s frustrating to see her pushed so hard.  It’s all Harley all the time!  The tone that she brings is diametrically opposed to what has made Birds of Prey comics great in the past.  The decision to include Harley at all and exclude Barbara Gordon demonstrates that Thompson doesn’t really understand the core concept of Birds of Prey.  For her it seems like her definition is that Birds of Prey is simply a group of female characters.  This is a massive dilution of the concept.  This couldn’t be further from the truth, but it’s how Birds of Prey has been rebranded since the horrific Birds of Prey (And the Fabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) film from 2020.

For the longest time the “team” never referenced themselves because they weren’t that kind of team.  They were what Barbara Gordon did as Oracle, Birds of Prey was the manifestation of overcoming her own mental, emotional and physical trauma and getting back her agency.  She not only healed, but reinvented herself.  Birds of Prey was the title of the comic…but, they group never referred to themselves as such.  In this current issue, twice it’s used as a team name for Harley and Friends.

Negatives Cont’d

So, even if you’re enjoying this series and you like Harley and Friends and you think Harley is the greatest, there’s a plot point that just doesn’t make a bit of sense.  And, it’s not something ridiculous like riding in the belly of a megalodon.  It’s something that seems to be at the crux of the plot itself.  Since issue #1, it’s been suggested that Dinah couldn’t contact Wonder Woman for help in rescuing Sin because of the events going on in her own book.  The understanding has been that Diana is too tied up in those events and would be unavailable to help Dinah.  However, this issue presents something altogether different.

Apparently, they were worried about Diana interfering with Sin’s extraction.  This comes off like Thompson forgot what she had already written.  Would it make any sense at all that Diana under any circumstances wouldn’t help Dinah?  If that’s the conflict then that’s the real story and we’ve wasted three issues on mostly Harliness to get to the point where Diana escapes Oliver Queen’s distraction and teleports? (yes it’s that fast) to Themiscyra to confront Dinah and Co.  That’s a huge story if that’s the play…Diana is apart of what’s going on.  There’s no way, no matter what’s going on with Diana that she wouldn’t help Dinah in some way, even if she couldn’t physically be a part of it.  Yet, she’s willing and able to get to Themiscyra to apparently help stop Dinah and Co.  From what we’ve seen so far, this doesn’t make any sense either plot wise or in the characterization of Diana.

Negatives Cont’d

This isn’t the only characterization problem in Birds of Prey #3 either.  We’ve already seen Dinah’s lack of judgement in considering  Harley a role model for Sin, but  for whatever reason Thompson doubles down on this idea that Zealot believes Dinah wants her to kill Amazons.  The question isn’t really answered satisfactorily in a manner that demonstrates whether it’s Thompson or Zealot that doesn’t understand Black Canary’s character.  Dinah’s not a killer.  Sure seems like Zealot is though, and she almost makes my wish come true when she runs Harley through with her sword.  However, it’s not all it seems.

This could be a “positive” for this issue, but the neat aspect of it is undermined by that Harely-tone that is pervading the series.  Zealot performs a ritual when they arrive on Themiscyra that prevents her from being killed OR killing.  It helps her stay alive but it also prevents her from killing anyone for Dinah.  (That’s such a strange take on Dinah).  In order to show that this ritual is in play she runs Harley through, YAY!  Alas, she doesn’t die.  This could be a really cool element to develop, a character who has killed, but now doesn’t want to.  That’s pretty cool and interesting, but by stabbing Harley and making a joke out of it the deeper psychological aspect is overwhelmed by the tone that permeatesthe book with Harley’s inclusion.  Harley Quinn ruins everything.

Verdict

Birds of Prey #3 is not a good Birds of Prey comic, however, it is a pretty good Harley Quinn comic. If you’re here for Harley and how great she is then you will flip that score around, probably.  If you’re a fan of the Birds of Prey, this isn’t it.  Whith each successive issue this title feels less and less like a Birds of Prey comic.  Additionally, the issue with Wonder Woman throws the whole thing off.  Tonally it flips back and forth between serious and silly and it just doesn’t seem like it knows what it wants to be besides an argument for how great Harley Quinn is- which she’s not.  It feels like Thompson is auditioning to write the Harley Quinn animated series on MAX.  Romero’s art can only do so much to make this book enjoyable.

The post Review: Birds of Prey #3 appeared first on DC Comics News.

One can’t blame those writers for following the entertainment trends of the era, it only makes sense.  Except when it doesn’t; when the approach doesn’t fit the core essentials of the character.  Those writers were crafting tales that fit popular trends because it’s what they thought would sell, they were not, however, focusing on the elements that had made Batman popular to begin with.  And, this is where we are today.

It’s not hard to see how many of today’s comic book writers are  writing for the time and not for the character.  It’s not easy to always balance that.  You can’t write Batman like he’s still in 1940, unless it’s a period piece of course.  The trick is to keep the character grounded at his core while exploring relevant issues that make the story feel contemporary while losing nothing of what makes Batman who he is.  Unfortunately, it seems many writers in comics today are making these same mistakes.  DC Comics as a whole seems to not understand the difference at times.  There are some recent examples we can look at to see what’s going on as we explore what makes a character that character especially ones with a long publishing history.

Alan Scott, The Green Lantern  

There are different kinds of changes that can be wrought on a character, marriage, children, death of a loved one, loss of powers, etc…..  Sometimes, characters can be reinvented, though it seems that it’s rarely for the better as a reworking that eliminates the core elements of the character most likely will alienate fans of the character.  There’s a lot of this going on at DC Comics in a number of titles, and the most recent example is Alan Scott, The Green Lantern.  This is easily the most incendiary topic in this editorial.  It would’ve been such even had writer Tim Sheridan not gone on X (formerly known as Twitter) to essentially call anyone who did not support the book as a homophobe or bigot.  He has actually completely overlooked the larger issue, which is the topic here- Is Tim Sheridan actually interested in the character of Alan Scott and his 80 year history?

Alan Scott first appeared in All-American Comics #16, cover dated, July 1940.  That first story presents the origin of The Green Lantern.  While there was very little deep or nuanced storytelling during the Golden Age for the character, writers did eventually pair up Alan with an adversary, the Harlequin, a criminal who would not only match wits with the Green Lantern, but who was also interested in his romantic affections.  This should be familiar to readers as Batman and Catwoman have had a similar relationship since their first meeting back in Batman #1 (Spring 1940).  While Bruce and Selina never dated or got married in the Golden Age, the two flirted with Selina even trying to put aside her criminal ways at times .  Batman let her go on more than one occasion because he was so enamored with her, including that first appearance.  It wouldn’t be until the Bronze Age that Bruce and Selina got together, got married and had a daughter in continuity.  It was the continuity of Earth-Two, but it’s a very similar situation to Alan Scott and Molly (The Harlequin) Mayne.

Like the Bat and the Cat, Alan and Molly finally got married in the Bronze Age.  Both pairs of characters had a similar dynamic as hero/villain/love interest.  Bruce and Selina’s marriage resulted in daughter, Helena Wayne, the Huntress, but ended in tragedy as Selina died trying to protect her family after a false claim by a former confederate.  Devastated, Bruce was never the same and died in action a few years later.  Alan and Molly got married only after Alan learned that his first marriage had resulted in the birth of twins that his wife had hidden from him.  When Alan and Molly got married in their twilight years (Infinity, Inc Annual #1) they had a ready-made family.  Not to say it was always easy (Alan had to rescue her soul from Hell at one point), but the couple remained happily married until Flashpoint and the launch of The New 52 in 2011 when all previous DC continuity was restarted.

By the time The New 52 launched, fans of Alan Scott had more than a costume and power set to like about the character.  Heck, even more than just the fact he was a traditional hero!  During the Bronze Age, writers, chiefly Roy Thomas filled in the gaps between the Golden Age and “the present” to develop a more complex Alan Scott with compelling story elements in his long life.  Not only had Alan been duped into marrying Rose Canton (the Golden Age Thorn) but he’d fathered two children with her in their short marriage whose existence she’d hidden.  It was a surprise to Alan when he found out and it provided a whole new avenue of stories and character nuance to explore.  Alan’s relationship with his children Jennie-Lynn (Jade) Hayden and Todd (Obsidian) Rice were central to Alan’s character from the mid ’80’s until Flashpoint in 2011.  When Todd was revealed to be gay, it provided a whole other level to the friction between father and son that had been present since their first meeting.  Even if it wasn’t intended by creators Roy Thomas and Jerry Ordway, it was a natural interpretation of his character that writer Marc Andreyko seized upon when he outed Todd in Manhunter Volume 3 #18.  This insightful reading of the character by Andreyko was not only a contemporary element for inclusion, but yet another addition to Alan Scott’s story that grew the character deeper and more complex.  Scott is a man of the 1940’s and homosexuality was viewed very differently than it is today, or in the ’80’s when Rice was first created.

Even outside those aspects of Alan Scott specifically related to his sexual orientation, he was shown in the Bronze Age and beyond to have a very close friend in Jay Garrick, the original Flash.  Their bonding extended to their respective wives as well.  This was 80 years of storylines and character development when all was seemingly thrown away when James Tynion IV retconned Alan’s sexuality in the Green Lantern 80th Anniversary issue.  

With the launch of The New 52, DC Comics presented a new take on the concept of parallel Earths and the multiverse which had played a significant role since its introduction in The Flash #123.  In Earth 2 #1 (2012) we meet Alan Scott, a young man unencumbered with any history as he is a brand new version of the character who has yet to become Green Lantern.  This Alan Scott is gay.  Writer James Robinson wanted to have a gay character since Obsidian had been wiped from existence with Flashpoint.  Making Alan Scott this new gay character makes sense in a metatextual way. 

The New 52 Earth 2 characters were last seen with any sort of significance in Earth 2: Society #22 in 2017.  In a matter of five years, the New 52 Alan Scott was obsolete as DC had already launched the Rebirth initiative with the promise that the original Justice Society of America would return “soon.”

After a time travelling appearance in Justice League #32 (2019), the Justice Society of America including Alan Scott and Power Girl (more on that later) returned not only to continuity, but the present in Doomsday Clock #12.  It would’ve seemed that the original Golden Age Green Lantern was back with his history and character intact.  It was then a surprise that raised many questions about Alan and his history and family when the aforementioned Green Lantern 80th Anniversary 100-Page Super-Spectacular retconned Alan’s sexuality.  

With the publication of Alan Scott: The Green Lantern #1,  this mini-series serves to re-contextualize Alan’s history.  With that being the purpose, how much are DC Comics interested in the substance of the character of Alan Scott?  When you eliminate a character’s history and motivation, relationships etc, what’s the interest in the character then?  All that’s left is the superficial aspects, a name, a costume, a power set?  Is Alan Scott: The Green Lantern writer, Tim Sheridan actually interested in the attributes that made  Alan Scott a founding member of the JSA?  The stories that have shaped him?  The substance of his character as a founding member of the JSA and one of the first heroes of the DC Universe?  The established history with his teammates, and family?  Or, is Sheridan interested in the idea of Alan Scott?  Is he just a JSA character that can provide representation?  Is he invested in the established history and depiction of Alan Scott or simply writing the story of a gay man in the 1940’s?

If the substance of Alan Scott’s history and character attributes are changed is it really still the same character, or is it the substance of a new character wearing the superficial particulars we associate with Alan Scott?    We can’t see how much history has changed, because very little has been done with that so far.  We’ve seen Jade and Obsidian in Infinite Frontier, but there’s no guarantee they are still in play.  The same goes for Molly Mayne-Scott.  Is that marriage still something that’s part of these characters’ history?  In this recontextualization will we learn that Alan lied and misrepresented himself to both his wives?  Is this an heroic action? We’ve seen a retcon in Justice Society of America and The New Golden Age that indicates Molly had a son who has grown up into a character known as The Harlequin’s Son.  This is new, so what else has changed?  A quick examination of Alan Scott: The Green Lantern #1 depicts what we do know has changed.

In this first issue, Alan is blackmailed by FBI head J. Edgar Hoover in joining the JSA.  This is a massive change from the established origin of the JSA.  The JSA formed when British Agent Intrepid asked The Flash, Green Lantern (and Batman in pre-Crisis on Infinite Earths continuity) to help with a mission in Europe which was first told in DC Special #29 (September 1977).  It led to all the founding members coming together with a final save of Washington, DC from a special Nazi bomber and stopping the assassination of U.S. President, Franklin Delano Roosevelt.  Is this still the JSA’s origin?  If so, was Alan Scott involved?  

While some of the ideas that Sheridan introduces are compelling and fitting for the story of a gay man from the 1940’s, it doesn’t fit Alan Scott ‘s 80-plus year history.  Changing something about a character that fundamentally changes the character’s history and make up does not honor the substance of the character or engage the fanbase that’s built up around the character over the years.  For Alan Scott, that’s 80 years.  There have been so many stories with so much consistency in Alan’s portrayal, changing things doesn’t  genuinely fit.  He’s now a reluctant hero not that interested in using his power to fight evil and and is being controlled through blackmail.  It’s a change that seems to be there for other reasons and is not pertinent to the core of the character.  What if Superman was Superman only because he was being blackmailed over the fact he was an alien.  What if that was the mitigating factor in his decision to be on the JL and/ or to be a hero at all?

It’s this that raises my question about Sheridan’s interest and even DC Comics’ interest in the character.  It doesn’t make sense to move a character away from the aspects that brought the character appeal over the years.  Ignoring these established things in favor for traits that are topical would logically turn fans away as seen with Batman in the ’50’s and ’60’s.  It’s something we’ve seen recently with another well established character that has since changed back.

“Ric” Grayson

The reasons behind the “Ric” Grayson era of Nightwing may be different from the motivation for changing Alan Scott’s sexuality, but the results are the same.  When Nightwing was struck with amnesia he developed a new personality that severed all his relationships with the Bat-family- Bruce, Alfred, Barbara Gordon, his brother Robins, etc.  Not only were these relationships severed, but “Ric” forgot his history and his personality shifted somewhat.  Without Dick Grayson as part of the Bat-family, memory of his history or friendships and his past as a blank slate…he was no longer the character people liked.  He was no longer the character that appealed to readers.  “Ric” was a different character, with a different outlook on things and different relationships.  While this direction may have garnered new fans, and kept some, readers were ecstatic to have Dick return. 

Essentially, everything people liked about Dick Grayson was gone with “Ric.”  Dick is a character that has a long history and to eliminate that takes away what people like about the character.  It’s no different than what’s being done with Alan Scott.  The change to “Ric” was an in-story change, but the results were the same.  This situation is different when compared to Alan Scott because it doesn’t appear that DC or the writers didn’t care about him.  Instead, it felt like they wanted to either kill time or have a reason to change his name from “Dick.”  It’s important to remember, however, that like Batman before him in the 60’s, readers lost interest in Nightwing because he was divorced from the elements that had made him popular.  There are some other DC Comics characters that are suffering the same treatment as Alan Scott.

Power Girl … Paige Stetler ?

Alan Scott isn’t the only JSAer suffering an identity crisis that suggests the writer isn’t really invested in what made the character popular.  Power Girl has recently been relaunched in a new eponymously titled ongoing series from DC Comics.  Power Girl has been around for nearly 50 years, like Alan Scott, the New 52 resulted in a new version of the character.  Unlike Alan Scott, the New 52 version had minor changes to the character.  Especially notable is that Power Girl maintained her personality, attitude and a very similar history with one of the most significant aspects being retained, her friendship with Helena Wayne, the Huntress.  This is of course the New 52 version of the Huntress who managed to be very similar to her original incarnation with all the essential elements intact.  While there is now a third version of Helena Wayne appearing currently in Justice Society of America, it’s her bestie Power Girl who’s suffering at the hands of writer, Leah Williams.

The chief element of Power Girl’s characterization that fans point to for liking the character is her personality.  From the outset, she was portrayed as a brash, confident, outspoken young woman.  She’s always wanted to be her own and make her own way and not rely on her cousin, Superman.  More than anything this has defined her character.  Her history after the Crisis on Infinite Earths suffered, but her original origin was returned to her in 2005.  Through it all she maintained her personality that had won her fans.  It is very perplexing then that despite professing that the Power Girl in current continuity is this original version when the most glaring inconsistency is her personality in this new series by Leah Williams.  It’s diametrically opposed to what readers have come to love about the character.  It’s like seeing Batman as a snarky, wise-cracking, bombastic street acrobat.  It just isn’t who the character is.  Furthermore, the writing itself contradicts the stories that are referenced in the comics themselves as well as the official DC Comics blog that servers as a primer for readers on the character and this series.

The blog states that this version of Power Girl is the original pre-Crisis on Infinite Earths, Earth-Two version.  It references her first appearance in All-Star Comics #58, her changing back story and return to form in JSA: Classified.  What’s confounding is that while these new stories by Leah Williams reference her past, including the Karen Starr identity and supposedly her job as a Tech company entrepreneur, Williams doesn’t appear to understand the substance of them.  

In the back up stories from Action Comics #1051-1053, PG is being attacked by Johnny Sorrow.  He claims that he and Power Girl are the last two survivors from their universe.  If PG is from the original Earth-Two, this doesn’t make any sense.  It’s well established that Psycho-Pirate is the only other survivor from Earth-Two as well as the only one who remembered the Multiverse for decades after the Crisis on Infinite Earths wiped out the multiverse.  Furthermore, Johnny Sorrow was never an Earth-Two character.  He appeared in Earth 2: Society, but the blog makes it clear that the Earth 2/ New 52 Power Girl is a different character, and these new stories aren’t about her.  In fact, Johnny Sorrow made his first ever appearance anywhere in New Earth continuity (post-Crisis, post-Zero Hour) in Secret Origins of Super-Villains 80 Page Giant #1, (December 1999).  He would have no memory of any life on Earth-Two, since he never appeared in that continuity.

The blog explains that Power Girl was raised in a simulation on her symbioship, however the title scrawl from Power Girl #1 says she was sent to Earth to watch over baby Kal-L.  Both Kryptonians were sent as infants so PG could certainly not look after baby Kal-L as she was a baby herself.  Her ship took longer to arrive, and thus she was raised by it arriving on Earth as a young woman when it took longer than anticipated.

The blog states that she doesn’t wear the “S” symbol because she didn’t work long with Superman on Earth-Two.  This is patently false for a number of reasons.  Her reason for not wearing the “S” can be found in All-Star Comics #64, her 7th appearance ever as seen in the image below.

And interestingly, the blog clearly indicates that the All-Star Comics stories are part of her past, a past that did include time together plus she made the decision about the “S” BEFORE she revealed herself to the world.  Also, the title scrawl mentioned above claims she DID work along side Superman.  

One of the most curious and off-putting aspects of Power Girl’s portrayal in this series is her 180 degree personality shift.  The blog claims the biggest thing for PG is her identity:

“A Power Girl so far removed from her point of origin, so many worlds and continuities away, that anyone would have a hard time telling who she’s really supposed to be—much less herself. This is a Power Girl who needs to undergo some serious soul searching to find out what she’s really about, which is where we find her today.”

It’s not clear how PG got to this point.  We have the Karen Starr identity referenced so we know that part of her history is intact.  The blog says she has returned with the rest of the JSA during Doomsday Clock.  The quote from the blog above tries to make readers believe that she’s having some sort of identity crisis, but as it states elsewhere in blog, that was resolved in Infinite Crisis and the JSA: Classified storylines.  Leah Williams suggests these identity issues in her stories, but never explains how PG went from a confident, independent woman insecure, unsure of herself and dependent on Superman for an identity (she wears the “S” now).  When did that happen?  It’s diametrically opposed to how she’s always been portrayed.   It doesn’t make sense and it appears that Williams (and blog writer Alex Jaffe) isn’t aware of the substance of the character.  To Williams she’s just an alternate Supergirl, instead of a distinct character that has always behaved differently from the main universe Supergirl.  In fact, it appears that is the length and breadth of Williams’ understanding of Power Girl.

There’s another bizarre quality to Williams’ portrayal of Power Girl.  She writes Power Girl like she’s new to Earth, like her rocket landed, she met Kal-L and a few days later found herself lost and showed up on the main DC Earth.  She seems wholly unconnected with her past with the JSA which is currently on display in Justice Society of America which is currently publishing.  That book acknowledges Power Girl’s past and provides a depiction that is in line with her established personality.

The question remains: Is Leah Williams actually interested in Power Girl as a character?  Does she understand anything about her history or personality?  These are the elements that won Power Girl fans over the years.  Williams seems to be ignoring them outright, or she’s just ignorant of them to begin with and has made no attempt to make them make sense.  Either way, it points to a lack of interest in the character other than the most basic superficial description, simply an alternate Supergirl, like Sheridan’s Alan Scott, a version of the character that doesn’t utilize the history of the character and shows no interest in the substance of the character.

And, There’s More…

This situation isn’t confined to Power Girl and Alan Scott.  The new Wonder Woman series from Tom King’s pen indicates much the same.  King is known for his controversial takes on characters, more often that not bending characters to fit the stories he wants to tell.  The new Wonder Woman is no different, and in this case the intent from the outset seems less rooted in an interest in Wonder Woman, but a desire to tell a story that requires great leaps in status quo and characterization to make work.  When did all those Amazons emigrate to the U.S.?  Are there even enough Amazons on Themiscrya to be statistically significant even if they ALL moved to the U.S.?  Why would Diana sit by and wait if the killer was identified as an Amazon immediately?  Why wouldn’t she investigate immediately?  The real reason is that that is not the story King wants to tell.  He doesn’t even seem to want to tell the story from Diana’s POV as The Sovereign is narrating the tale.  Very little so far indicates that King is interested in Wonder Woman outside the broadest definition of her.

It’s not new though, Human Target depicted all the Justice League International characters wildly out of character except for Guy Gardner.  He was already broken so King didn’t have to break him.  Strange Adventures turned the hero, Adam Strange into the villain.  King does it in nearly all of his stuff, the most notable outlier being Superman, “Up in the Sky” which perfectly depicts the Man of Steel.  If a writer has to change the fundamentals of a character is his/her interest really in the character or the idea of the character?

Even the new Birds of Prey comic doesn’t seem to really be interested in the core concept of the Birds of Prey.  Kelly Thompson is approaching the book like the concept is just a team of women.  She isn’t including founder Barbara Gordon, or centering the series on the relationship between Barbara, Dinah (Black Canary) and Helena (Huntress) Bertinelli.  In fact, Dinah is the only one of these characters in the comic.  Combined with the fact that the series reads like Thompson was looking for an excuse to write Harley Quinn, a character who has zero business being involved with the Birds of Prey, it again appears that the writer isn’t actually interested in what the made the Birds of Prey concept popular to begin with.  Instead, it’s being rebranded as something else, which would indicate that this rebranding is what Thompson is actually interested in and not the substance of the concept as it was developed over the years.  For Thompson, Birds of Prey is just a team of women characters, and again that’s the absolute basic definition of the concept with no substance.

The Balance Between Character and Story … Both Matter

I won’t say that some of the the stories mentioned above don’t have compelling aspects.  However, the big question is whether or not they work for the characters with which they are associated.  At one point comic book writers understood they were writing characters.  Characters that had histories, personalities, ways of operating….  Readers were following these characters because of how they had been built up and developed over he years.  Readers followed the continuing stories because they were invested in the substance of the characters.  Like people in the real world, we are attracted to substance, not color, gender or any other superficial element.  It’s the person inside that matters, and if that changes, that’s when relationships break down.

Even Alan Moore when writing Watchmen created his own characters instead of using the recently acquired Charlton characters that he had originally intended to use.  That story would have destroyed them for further inclusion in the DC Universe.  And, that’s what a lot of these writers are doing.  Adam Strange can’t be used in the DC Universe if Strange Adventures is “in continuity.”  The same goes for the characters in Human Target.  Everything readers liked about Power Girl has been removed from her characterization.  Fans just want to forget this run already, especially since they are getting the Power Girl they love over in Justice Society of America.  Alan Scott is completely out of step with his history and characterization and Sheridan’s aspersions about the JSA make this series inaccessible to existing fans of the team and Alan Scott.  

Creating new characters is the best option if one is not actually interested in existing characters but just the ideas of the characters and not the substance of the characters that have been developed through the years.  There’s got to be a balance.  Create a new character if necessary to tell a story, but don’t destroy or bend existing characters unrecognizably in order to tell a story.  We can only hope that some of these takes get cancelled and return the characters who were beloved to begin with.  We can also hope that writers will have the opportunity and means to tell their stories in a manner that will allow them to be judged on their own merit.  With long standing characters it’s difficult to separate the quality of the story, the writing, the themes if they do not fit the character.  It’s a balance, and the pendulum is swinging away from the importance of the substance of characters to simply the broadest definitions of them leaving the stories that MADE these characters left out in the cold.

The post Are Today’s Comic Book Writers Actually Interested in the Characters They Are Writing? appeared first on DC Comics News.

[Editor’s Note: This review may contain spoilers]

Writer: Kelly Thompson
Art: Leonardo Romero
Colors: Jordie Bellaire
Letters: Clayton Cowles

Reviewed by: Matthew B. Lloyd

Summary

Dinah struggles to keep her team together while Harley saves the day!  Of course Harley knows how to get the team on Themiscyra secretly!

Positives

Birds of Prey #2 starts with a touching flashback with Dinah and Sin.  It reminds the reader why this team has been assembled with a solid character moment.  Leonardo Romero brings another excellent performance on the art chores.  He displays a range from intimate to exaggerated which are both appropriate in their respective scenes.  Dinah and Sin in the opening sequence both exhibit a genuine fondness that Romero captures.  Additionally, in the span of 2 pages Dinah displays, confusion, anger and resignation in succession as she tries to keep her team together.

There are moments in this issue as Dinah struggles to get things going that this feels like a Birds of Prey comic.  They are few, however.

Negatives

Like it or not, your enjoyment of Birds of Prey #2 hinges on how much you like Harley Quinn.  If you’re a fan, you’ll probably enjoy this comic.  If you you’re not, then…this will be a frustrating read.  Harley just sucks the concept of the Birds of Prey out of the issue.  The moment it starts to feel like a Birds of Prey comic, Harley pops up and just becomes annoying.  Now, if Harley were to die by the end of this arc, it might be worth it, but what happens in issue #5 or #6 can’t make this issue any better.  There’s always hope for the next arc, right?  As long as Thompson gets Harley off the team, that is.  You can’t make readers like Harley if they don’t like Harley and Harley is written like Harley.

As Thompson has stated, Harley is the wildcard.  Will she also be the Harley ex machina- the out for plot corners?  She already feels like she dominates this issue with her solution to getting on Themiscyra.  It could prove to be an interesting moral quandary for Black Canary to get assistance from a villain like King Shark, but there’s no sense of that in the script at all.  Thompson realizes this is not the Harley Quinn animates series on MAX, right?  This just seems to shove character aside so Thompson can do something zany with Harley.  I get that Harley’s personality and characterization push her forward and dominate an issue, even if it’s not intended.  This knowledge doesn’t improve the issue, however.  I don’t know if it’s possible to write Harley accurately without this happening.

Negatives Cont’d

With John Constantine and the magic angle, it feels less and less like a Birds of Prey comic.  It’s true, one can imagine Barbara arranging using magic with an appearance by Zatanna, or I suppose even Constantine, but there’s something about the haphazard way it seems to come about that detracts from the tone of what a Birds of Prey series should be.  It almost feels like Thompson didn’t have a better idea so she had to go the magic route to get out of another plot corner.  I think it would’ve come off better had we seen Dinah go through the thought process of her plan instead of seeing it play out.  Again, it feel like she decided she wanted to use Constantine and wrote it that way instead of Constantine being a creative solution to a problem.  Good thing Constantine owed Dinah a favor.  How many people will owe Dinah a favor in this series?  And, it appears King Shark owed Harley a favor, too!  As it is, it is difficult to follow Dinah’s plan.  There’s a “hurry up and get there already” feel.  It’s a necessary step in the plot for the team to get to Themiscyra, but it’s more boring than interesting or exciting.

Furthermore, Dinah’s attempts to keep the team together seem to be proof that she hasn’t built a team that is “impeccably trustworthy.”  The readers knew this, why didn’t Dinah?  It just makes Dinah seem stupid for trusting them instead of going to true friends like Helena and Barbara- Meridian be damned!   That falls on Thompson’s shoulders for forcing this team together.  She shouldn’t have included the premise that Dinah was assembling them with the belief that they were all “impeccably trustworthy.”  If Dinah had taken a different approach, more of a  “I’ll do whatever it takes,” then her struggles would feel genuine.  As it is, this conflict feels contrived and there simply for the sake of conflict.  With Birds of Prey #2, it feels like Thompson is really interested in writing a Suicide Squad title.  This isn’t the Birds of Prey, it’s Dinah stuck with a couple people she can trust, two villains, and a couple chancers.

Verdict

Harley Quinn ruins everything she’s in.  She doesn’t play well with others and it’s no different in Birds of Prey #2.  She doesn’t mesh well with the rest of the team tonally.  Her ridiculousness detracts from what at times begins to feel like a Birds of Prey comic.  There’s far too little time spent on character which leaves too much time for Harley.  Thankfully, Romero does a really nice job with the art on this issue.  Script-wise it feels messy and cobbled together, you just sort of want to get through it so the plot can move forward.  It’s definitely a step backwards from last issue.

The post Review: Birds of Prey #2 appeared first on DC Comics News.

[Editor’s Note: This review may contain spoilers]

Writer: Kelly Thompson
Art: Leonardo Romero
Colors: Jordie Bellaire
Letters: Clayton Cowles

Reviewed by: Matthew B. Lloyd

Summary

Dinah (Black Canary) Lance has to put together a team to rescue her sister, Sin.  Who will she recruit and will they all say, “yes?”

Positives

The art by Leonardo Romero is simply fantastic.  Romero has a clean, uncluttered style that looks great.  There are some great action sequences that he approaches in different ways and they all work.  It’s clear what’s going on and he brings a dynamic flair to the pages.  In the quieter moments he also shines as he is able to communicate emotion effectively through body language and an economy of line.  Plus, there are some interesting angles he chooses in telling the story.  Jordie Bellaire chooses lighter tones of colors that compliment Romero’s style, which elevates the look of the issue as well.

Thompson focuses the story around Dinah and her character and it works well.  The play here uses DC continuity with the inclusion of Sin who hasn’t been seen since before the New 52 line wide reboot.  It’s a nice touch that makes the series feel connected to the DC Universe as a whole as well as the greater history of the DC Universe.  The character that contacts Dinah for this rescue mission is a well-played surprise that will remain such.  However, the inclusion of this character is a fun and interesting reveal that brings about more questions than it answers.

Positives Cont’d

There was a lot of speculation and internet discussion of this new line up when it was first teased teased.  The proof is in the pudding, and with Birds of Prey # 1 in stores, we get to examine that pudding, now.  As stated above, it’s great to have Dinah be the focus.  Thompson puts her and her family at the center and this works well.  Cassandra is a logical and believable choice for a rescue mission.  She’s stealthy, a known quantity to Dinah and maybe THE best fighter in the DC Universe.  As stated in the opening pages, Dinah needs a team that will make the adversary, “$@#% their pants.”  Cassandra fits this bill.

Next up we have Big Barda.  Barda is definitely a heavy hitter.  For a fight she’s a good choice, but on the stealth side of things, maybe not.  She could’ve learned some things from husband, Scott (Mr. Miracle) Free in this area.  Even so, she’s the muscle of the team and that works well enough.  This is a solid start to the team and the path that Dinah takes to recruit these two is done well, especially as it continues to rely on Dinah’s relationship to the target, Sin.

Negatives

Things start to go in a different direction with the next two choices Thompson has included for this story arc.  Zealot is totally unknown to me, and as a longtime fan of Dinah and the Birds of Prey, it’s seems odd that Dinah would go outside her previous teammates for a mission that is this important and for one she herself says she needs people who are “impeccably trustworthy.”  Cass fits that, and Barda ‘s been in the Birds of Prey before.  It’s alluded that Zealot owes Dinah a favor, and while she may think that Zealot has the skills (whatever they are) for the mission, is Zealot the best choice if it’s only a favor?  Is Zealot really invested in Dinah’s sister or anything that matters to Dinah?  The details in Birds of Prey # 1 are not convincing in this matter.

Thompson herself admitted in the release publicity for this book that she knew Harley Quinn would be divisive.  As with Zealot, the argument Thompson makes for her inclusion is not only unconvincing, and illogical, but…laughable.  It would be one thing to have a character argue that some element of Harley’s skills make sense for the plan, but Thompson has put the team before the plan, so it’s not clear how Harley would fit into this.  What makes even less sense is the argument we do get for her inclusion.

Negatives Cont’d

Cassandra shares a story with the others claiming that Harley is such a good fighter that Harley almost beat her in a confrontation recently.  It’s simply bad writing to suddenly imbue Harley Quinn with this sort of skill level.  It’s just as hard to imagine that Dinah would believe it.  So, even if Cass has an ulterior motive in convincing the team, Dinah should see through that fairly quickly.  It also doesn’t make sense that Dinah would go against her instincts on Harley’s trustworthiness that Thompson does include in the issue.  The bottom line is that Harley will always feel forced when included on a Birds of Prey roster.  There’s an argument coming up below that will claim this isn’t the Birds of Prey, just a team Dinah’s putting together for a mission.  However, Birds of Prey or not, like Zealot, Birds of Prey # 1 doesn’t make a convincing argument for Harley being on the team or for Dinah to go against her instincts. 

The idea that Harley is a “wildcard” is nothing more than Thompson not having a real reason to include her that makes sense.  It sounds cool, but is ultimately shallow.  Unless of course, like her newfound fighting ability Cassandra describes, Harley manifests whatever Thompson needs for the plot to work!  Thompson wants to use Harley, but it doesn’t add to the plot in any way or even make sense.

Here’s a real wildcard for you:  The individual that contacted Dinah about Sin’s abduction claims she can’t tell Barbara.  which is then the in-story reason for Barbara not being included.  What if, the Harley they recruit isn’t Harley at all, but Barbara in disguise as Harley?  That’s about the only way that it would make sense for Barbara not being on Dinah’s handpicked team, or Harley being on it!

Negatives Cont’d

Perhaps, the single greatest negative with this issue is that Barbara Gordon is not part of the team Dinah puts together.  I’ve argued before that Barbara is essential to the Birds of Prey, she’s what makes the team THE Birds of Prey, otherwise it’s just a collection of female heroes/anti-heroes or whatever. (The Birds of Prey aren’t always female either, just ask Hawk, Savant or Creote). 

Additionally, and as mentioned above, it doesn’t make sense that Dinah wouldn’t include her closest allies.  She’s got Huntress marked off the list on page 2!  While the final reveal of who’s abducted Sin implies that Dinah needs some heavy hitters, it also suggests that this team will need to be committed to Dinah (trustworthy!) and it stands to reason that those closest to her would be the best choices, friends and former teammates like Babs, Helena, Nightwing, Ollie and Roy, Zinda (Lady Blackhawk) Blake etc…. 

Verdict 

This issue is a bit of a mixed bag.  The art on Birds of Prey # 1 is  great.  The plot and focus on Dinah is interesting and engaging.  It’s the details that detract from the overall big ideas.  The line up of the “team” is obviously the biggest with some of the sub-details that go along with that which logically follow, the inexplicable reasoning for including Harley for example.  The line up ends up being confusing instead of exciting.  This line up might be interesting if Dinah fell into the situation and had to make do with them to get the job done.   This suggests that if this were not called Birds of Prey, it would get a higher rating because it could be viewed as its own thing.  Or, if Barbara Gordon (as Oracle OR Batgirl) and Helena (Huntress) Bertinelli were in the line up it would feel like the Birds of Prey and  it would’ve been a 9/10.

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