Still on the Shelf #2 - Birds of Prey

Originally published March 31st, 2003 on www.ComiXtreme.com. This work is, of course, © Craig Reade.

Birds of Prey is one of the lesser of DC's Batman-related books. Oracle and the Black Canary are the focus of this title, but it is not uncommon for characters like Huntress, Nightwing, Spoiler, Blue Beetle, and others to be injected into story arcs, due to Oracles well-known "network of connections," and other personal relationships. One of the best things about this title is a trait that many of the other of these lesser Bat-titles share: the motivations and experiences of Batman's chosen circle, without the big guy himself around. It helps to establish a solid, independent foundation for these characters that makes their interactions with Batman himself that much more interesting. For that reason alone, this title is worth an occasional read.

Last issue-

Not a lot of action occurs in Birds of Prey #53, but they did lay a lot of groundwork for the continuation of this story-arc. Dinah and Barbara take a much needed vacation (smell the literary cliché), and while about, Dinah meets a gentleman by the name of Tom, who sweeps both Dinah and Barbara off of their feet over the course of the issue. This leads to the both of them analyzing their current, respective relationships. Dinah seemingly emerges from this crisis of the heart more firmly entreanched in the notion that she is making the right choice by remaining with Oliver Quinn, while Barbara is left much more confused about the state of her relationship with Dick Grayson. And, as all tales of this nature go, no matter how ideal Tom seemed, we are given a hint at the end of the issue that he may have some very shady connections indeed, which will no doubt pop up to cause trouble in the next issue.

Thoughts-

This is a title that I feel suffered a great deal when the "Birds of Prey" television show was introduced on the WB. As anyone who gave the show a shot already knows, the premise of that show was a hodgepodge of concepts from throughout the history of the "DC Universe," some of which quite blatantly contradicted the current state of affairs in the comic book realm. While this is not unusual, it did lead to some changes in the Birds of Prey title that I found to be pretty distasteful. A lot of the depth in the story was tossed out in favor of some much more shallow, "Hot Chicks fighting crime"-type action, and the whole book was given a feel that would be of much greater appeal to fans of the TV show. This proved pretty disastrous to the quality of the title itself, and it has seen a pretty steady drop in sales over the last few months.

With the cancellation of the television show, the creators of Birds of Prey seem to be very actively engaging in damage control, as pretty evident by the last issue, #53. Some pretty wide gaps in logic were filled in (like how could someone break into the Clocktower so easily?), and stronger ties were reestablished to important characters to both Dinah and Barbara, namely Nightwing and the Green Arrow.

Bottom Line-

Birds of Prey #54 comes out on April 23rd- this is a pretty good time to jump in, since it is the second issue of the new story arc. If this title returns to its focus from a few months ago, it should return to being a very solid book. The art is great, and so long as the story catches up with that, again, all should be well with the title. At this point, I would say that Birds of Prey is definitely worth a look- judging by issue #53, they are laying the groundwork for a solid upswing. Gail Simone and Ed Benes are set to take over the title beginning with issue #56, which should be a real boost to the recovery of Birds of Prey. Gail Simone most recently worked on Agent X (and Deadpool prior it its cancellation). I really enjoyed the work she did on that title and have very high hopes for what her addition to Birds of Prey will mean for the quality of the story.

Next week, I will be taking a look at Sleeper. As always- I appreciate any suggestions you might have for titles you would like to see covered here. See you next week!