Legion World Forums LEGION COMPANION Dr. Gym'll's Cultural Rarities Birds of Prey

The latest storyline is the best so far IMO, and that's saying something!

I'm excited by this little preview: more guest stars and villians? Bring 'em on! BoP is also one of the best paced books on the market, and by that I mean costantly moving along with action while also allowing for good character time and chances to show that our heroines are thinkers.

As long as we are keeping the Huntress I don't care what she wears!!!!!

I also would love to see Vixen in this series!!!!! or Gypsy or Katana or Looker or Onyx!!!

icefire, ummmm...

I can't say nuffing. But I think you'll be happy.



Gail

I'll echo Cobie there on the writing of Huntress. Because I only got back into comics a few years back I completely missed the old Huntress (as in the pre-crisi version) and the current version was well established when I first found out about her. But there's something about her that I love and I don't give two hoots if she's not the daughter of Batman and Catwoman. She does get shafted quite a lot by Bat writers but what with the Greg Rucka mini of a while back (just a great read) and now how she's being writen in BoP I just love her even more.

I have to admit I was kinda worried that with her in the title as well as Babs and Dinah my two fave ladies (well, two of my three fave along with Wonder Woman) would get less screen time but I think Gail has the balance just right. The way all three are written means that they play off each other really well. You've got a good mix of characters (and I've never seen Dinah get embaressed or shocked by someone else's sexual whiles before. ) and abilities and the tension between all three works really nicely. I'm also glad the use of guest stars is still being done so well. When the book first started that was one of the main appeals to me. You had a core cast of just two characters but pretty much every story arc featured someone else as well. Gail's got that mix just right as well and even in the current arc with the three main cast members as well as two other kick arse ladies there isn't a sense of anyone getting squeezed out because there isn't room for anyone else.

OK, just gushing a bit now but when you read a book and love it it's nice to let the creators know that you appreciate what they're doing.

Skipping the obvious nudity joke that Pov's already made, does that mean she's going to be back in her pre-Hush outfit (please say yes), or something new/a varient of the Hush outfit?

I always liked the costume she wore in Morrison's JLA. Howard Porter never draws an unatractive lady. Plus it's just a classic.

Although her current togs are a nod to the costume the original Huntress from Earth 2 wore back in the pre-crisis days.

But I like that outfit!!! It's ginchy, I tells ya!

I also love Huntress's current outfit! I've never even liked the Huntress before and I think the reason I'm starting to actually like her now is *because* of this outfit! What's wrong with me?

But the outfit that really needs to go is Dinah's! I can't stand it! It is just so BORING! Please tell us you're going to change that one too Gail?

I wouldn't object to seeing Dinah back in the grey & green...

Me too. Not that there's anything wrong with scantily clad females, but the green and grey full body suit did look both nice and practical.

Plus she wore it when she was in the JSA, wheich means Sadowski drew her in it. Bonus marks already.

Is anyone else into this book. Simone & Benes rock. The last 2 issues were amazing, beautiful. #67 saw Oracle, Black Canary, Huntress, Catwoman, Shiva, Cheshire, Katana and Gypsy. It's becoming what I've always wanted to see in comics, a femme force to be reckoned with. I think Vixen is slated to appear in the future too. It seems Huntress has officially been brought on as a regular, thus completing DC's "Charlie's Angels".

Owl Lad, a whole bunch of us are into this! I love this title, it's definately one of DC's best right now. Gail's stories and dialogue are really good--I don't think I've enjoyed Dinah this much in awhile. And the art is gorgeous.

And b/c of her appearances in BoP (and recently in the Outsiders), Huntress may now be my favorite DCU female character. I can't get enough of her!

just bought two issues of BOP. I have to admit it was the covers that attracted me to start with. That Land draws some hellofa sexy women.

But once i had got past the covers I really enjoyed these two stories. Makes me happy for the next few issues of the legion.

Cobie, why is Huntress in bed with a man and her mask on?

My absolute favorite title right now!!!!

She went on a date with that guy as part of an agreement to get info from him. She didn't want to give away her secret ID so she wore her mask on the date. Personally I think Simone did a disservice to the character by having her live up to her 'ho rep (that Dinah was busting on her for) and sleeping with that jerk-off on the first date (unless the fact that his face was covered is meant to leave open the possibility that it was some other guy she F-ed).

Birds of Prey, since Simone took over, has never failed to be one of my best reads every month!

She crafts an excellent story, and ties her ends at the end of an arc well. Everything seems to have its place and despite the predicaments the characters get into, there's always a nice resolution be it happy or not.

Not to mention, there's this thing called characterization that I am positively in love with. I really like the interaction between Dinah and Babs, as well as Huntress' interactions with basically any human being. Gail's always eloquent dialogue is really what brings these gals so alive!

Havent read it, but this might be one thing i don't agree with. Seems like they are trying to turn Huntress into 'Ho-tress. And too think, she used to be one of the classiest characters in the DCU. Well, before the crisis anyway.

It seems like Huntress is more "lonely and damaged" than a straight up 'ho bag, which might not be a lot better but I think Simone brought it up as a precursor to having her change. It's still a well written issue and I'm enjoying having Huntress brought into the mix. Something else else about the "ego/superego/id" trios always make for good stories (Kirk/Bones/Spock, Robin/Superboy/Impulse, Larry/Mo/Curly etc...). I just hope that by the end of it, Selena's growth will stick by the time she's brought back into the Bat family - it seems almost every arc is about her being a screwup then finding growth. She needs a new schtick.

The Canary/Wonder Woman sparring session was also great -- one of the best depictions/descriptions of Wonder Woman's nature I've seen. Benes is absent this issue, but Bennett is more than adequate here. I think I might actually prefer him.

Bah! If men score on the first date, they're studs. If women score, they're ho's. I for one was surprised but no less tickled to see that Huntress decided to give the li'l guy a go-round. And as cute as LAND had him depicted on the cover, I don't blame her!

BOP has a lot of fans here, and is possibly the comic with the MOST separate threads devoted to it here in the CULTURAL RARITIES forum.

Cant wait for Gail's LEGION issues.

And BOP is going bi-weekly for the summer-- YEAH!

Another *huge* BoP fan here. As others have said if anything the book has got immeasurably better since Gail took over, and it was one of the best books out there even before that (excepting the last few Dixon issues and some of the crappy fill in issues after). I wasn't a huge fan of Benes at first simply because of his extreme T&A (I had the same problem with him on Supergirl) but he's grown on me hugely and is excellent at doing emotion as well as action so I can forgive some of the more cheesecakey moments.

As for the latest issue... I tend to agree with Drake with regards to Helena. She is a little man hungry, but that's always been a complaint that's been leveled at Dinah as well and I think it's no more true of her than it is of Dinah. As Lash says there does seem to be double standards for men and women. Nightwing has hardly been averese to jumping into bed with the ladies at a moments notice and that seems to be OK with everyone. Helena is a bit screwed up though and I think her sexual escapades are a vent for that. It's a shame no-one really picked up on Greg Rucka's characterisation of her in his mini from a couple of years back but Gail seems to be going much more from that as a starting point and sort of ignoring the intervening psycho-batgirl-No-Man's-Land characterisation of her, which I think is a very good thing. Gail has managed to make her fit well into the group and balanced the three ladies against each other brilliantly.

Also I *loved* Dinah sparring with Diana. It was established post crisis that Dinah was the first heroine that Diana met once she came to Man's World and occassionaly it's been mentioned that they're friends but this is probably the first time I've ever really seen anyone do anything with it (apart from the really nice little bit in Phil Jimenez's run on WW where Oracle told Diana that Dinah said hello). It shows just how capable Dinah is, and how respected she is by her peers (sp?) while not getting away from the fact that Dinah is her biggest critic and has a big issue with self-doubt. Gail really seems to have been playing on that what with her relationship with Shiva the last few issues and is taking her (as well as Babs and Helena) on a journey of growth. The ways she's going Gail could well establish these three women as the preminent female crime fighters in the DCU, only just behind Wondy.

also did anyone else get the little in-joke at the end of the issue? Someone over at the GLA yahoo group mentioned it and I hadn't seen it at first. Look at the second to last panel with the kids that Helena is teaching. Remind you of anyone? And if not bear in mind that Gail used to write the Simpsons comic. He he.

I missed the injoke! Who is she teaching? Harry, Ron and Hermoine ?

Loved the Dinah/Diana sparring match. Diana needs a woman friend in the super-hero community very badly, and Dinah is perfect for the role. They're the true 'icon heroines' of the DCU.

Like I said, I love the Huntress. Nightwing and Arsenal are man-whores anyway! Poor Helena just needs a life and a nice guy to remind her that she is loved! Good comments all around on her though. I have the feeling that there is at least a starting point being established for Gail to show some character growth for Helena.

Maybe if "Lisa" wasn't miscolored...

My disappointment with her going to bed with that guy was that he was a pompous jerk the whole time and Helena showed nothing but contempt for him until the end of the date where she softened, but nothing indicated actual attraction. I get that he's a "good guy" underneath and that she saw a similarity between them in terms of people who put on a tough exterior, but I don't think Simone meant for it to have been a positive thing either -- just an example of how lonely and kinda lost she is. It's believable, but I thought she had grown more than that. To me, it'd be the same if a male hero slept with a young (barely legal) fan or some skank. The fact that she didn't take off her mask meant that this wasn't about really connecting to someone, and Simone didn't really create a likable character that you'd want to see paired with *any* female you respected (not me anyway).

Actually, all of them are miscolored since they're supposed to be yellow...!

Since Dianh is referred to as Ms. Lance, is she then the daughter of Dinah Drake and Larry Lance? What happened to the original Black Canary anyway?