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

The latest issues have me feeling underwhelmed so far. I want to LOVE this series like I used to--c'mon Gail, take me there!

After issue #6, I'm out... I'm tempted to stick around for the "Death of Oracle" storyline, but I disliked the last two issues so much that I doubt I will...

I'm out too. I feel bad because I love Gail, but this book's just not holding my interest.

I dropped it. And the only reason why is because Black Canary continues to just... tick me off.

I was out before it became fashionable.

Whellp, guess I'm still in the closet, lol. Cu'z I'm lovin it. Huntress used her brains and stood her ground, and actually earned Shiva's respect as a fighter in that she knew she would take a beating, but still stood in against a superior opponent.

The Birds kick ass. Love it.

I read 6 and 7. Will be fine if I never read another White Canary/Lady Shiva story again in BoP.

The biggest reason is, I'm quite sick of how those two tend to send our Birds straight to Defeatist-ville: "Oh, it's Shiva... well, we're all dead. Been nice knowing you.", and stuff like that. WTF? I'm tired of reading the Birds talk about themselves like that, even if they do end up winning or just coming up a draw.

Also, I signed up for a Simone/Benes reunion on BoP, not the musical artistic chairs this has become since Benes mysteriously disappeared. Losing Benes took a lot of joy out of the book for me. He drew such hot gals and guys.

I'll have decide wether I buy the next issue or put it back on the rack from my pull and drop it. Right now I won't miss BoP.

I think BoP is getting Ardian Syaf (late of GLC), hopefully as the new regular artist and not just a fill-in. If that's the case I think BoP will be in good hands, Lash. Hang in there!

Lashickle, stick it out. The writing has got to have a bit of drama, build dynamic.......tension.

And Syaf is doing great. Things'll settle down. Good storytellin' will out.

I'll give it another issue-- but if my girls act like even once, "Oh Dear-- we're such losers and we're going to die this time for reals because this enemy is so much better than we are..." I am outta here.

I prefer my ass-kicking chicks with utmost confidence.

New full time artist with #12.... Jesus Saiz.

the cover to 12 is up at comic book resources and it's great. I've loved his stuff since I saw it on Fallen Angel and its only getting better. The latest stuff I've seen it on is the Aborted Hawkeye and Mockingbird ongoing.

His women are cool, sexy and damn fine. Love his stuff and look forward to this greatly.

Are you confusing Saiz with David Lopez, Rick? Lopez, not Saiz, was the artist on H&M and, IIRC, a run on Fallen Angel. Funny because I don't think their styles are all that similar.

Saiz, some of us know for his run on Brave & the Bold with JMS. IMO, his work there was absolutely stunning! Looks like BoP is in terrific artistic hands!

Lardy, you are completely correct. they have very similar styles to my eye and I do it all the time. Thanks for the correction. But yeah, his stuff is gorgeous.

Lash, if you haven't seen his art, check it out.

http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=30302

Catching up on the latest issue, I thought they were an improvement from the first few...but honestly, I still feel like something is missing. I can't put my finger on it, but I'm just not loving BoP like I did during Gail's first run.

Maybe a little of it was Dinah’s willingness to submit to events in the last arc (and even Shiva’s), which I found annoying. I did like that Huntress stepped up to the plate. I also found the girls all out at the strip club to actually a bit of a parody rather than being funny. I usually find these scenes to be pretty entertaining—yet, here, I felt like Gail was trying to give the fans what they expect rather than naturally showing the girls have fun. I don’t know…maybe I’m just disheartened by the first few issues and not getting into it.

I think Gail is nailing Huntress and Lady Blackhawk (who I love) really well. It’s her usage of Black Canary and Oracle that needs to get back on track. Gail may be a little overwhelmed at what’s happened to Dinah between her first BoP run and now (could a character be more under-utilized and treated like she didn’t matter?), and I don’t blame her.

The latest arc is the “Death of Oracle” and the first part makes me think this means it won’t actually Barbara’s death but rather the end of every single DC superhero using Oracle as a tool and everyone basically knowing who she is. I really hope that’s the case because wow, talk about taking a good idea and dragging it through the mud. Every DC superhero should NOT be using Oracle—she basically was becoming DC’s Wolverine, appearing in so many titles. I’d love for her to curb her connections and add back some of the mystique to the character. It may be just what is needed to get Babs back on track.

What is needed at this point IMO is an adventure with some completely new characters & settings to kind of get things moving again.

I don’t dislike the series—after all, I love the characters, premise and writer. But I feel like it should be better than it is. When Gail was first on BoP, it was a contender for Top 5 best comics in the industry. Now it doesn’t even come close to that.

Review: Birds of Prey #7

This issue began the "Death of Oracle" storyline in this title. I, for one, am glad to see the prolonged White Canary arc over and the title focusing on something else. The bad thing is that instead of going into new territory, Gail has opted to find some resolution to the rivalry between Oracle and her opposite number, the Calculator. In a way that's almost exactly what happened between Dinah and the White Canary in her last arc, though those two didn't have the history built up that Oracle and Calculator do. Especially if you've been reading Batgirl, then it's only been 2 or 3 months since the last confrontation.

Anyhow, as Cobie suggests, it looks like "Oracle" will be going away as Babs is looking to change her operating choice in some unknown manner. Part of that involves Savant approaching calculator and playing double-agent in order for Babs to manipulate Calculator in a game of chess with the criminal mastermind. there's some question as to whether Savant is actually on Oracle's side. Hopefully, that's just for Calculator's benefit because I felt things were resolved nicely between savant and Barbara a coupla issues ago. After all, it was Calculator who was directly responsible for torturing Savant. It's hard to believe Calculator wouldn't take that into account, so there could be layers upon layers to this battle of wits that could prove interesting.

There are some nice scenes of the other Birds having some down time at a men's strip club with Dove's reactions being particularly amusing. Meanwhile, Bruce and Barbara have some nice scenes reaquainting with each other and setting up the scenario. Calculator recruits some nasty baddies to take down the other Birds. They ambush them at the strip club and end with a cliffhanger.

This storyline has potential but will ultimately succeed or fail by how it unfolds. Cobie's right that BoP hasn't been as good as it could be. I suspect that it may not quite get there until after this arc when there's a cleaner slate, but that doesn't mean this won't be a satisfying arc. New villainess Mortis shows promise with some of those trademark Simone idiosyncracies.

One definite plus is the art of Ardian Syaf, whose stuff I enjoyed most recently on Green Lantern Corps. Ardian has a detailed style that evokes Nicola Scott a little in places. He's here for the next couple of issues and is a welcome change from the inconsistency we've had so far in this series. I'm also enthused about the upcoming arrival of Jesus Saiz as regular artist. His stuff on JMS's B&B was really great, so I hope he'll be here for the long haul.

BoP is still a good book but needs to nail what it does best. I felt Secret Six had a bit of a slow start as well, but as it went on Gail really knocked it out of the park. Hopefully, BoP is just getting warmed up, too!

Lardy's rating for Birds of Prey #7: 3 Donuts (out of five)!

So "Death of Oracle", the second story-arc, was MUCH better than the first story-arc IMO. It totally got the title back on track, after I almost stopped reading. In fact, I had let the last three issues pile up before finally finishing the arc.

I really enjoyed all the different Birds working together, as well as the supporting role Batman played. Gail finally seems to have a handle on Hawk & Dove where I'm enjoying their presence.

Oracle no longer helping other heroes besides the Birds & Bats is a much needed and long overdue development. She had basically become DC's Wolverine by appearing in so many comics. It had gotten to where all the heroes were almost cheating...like they didn't have to use their brains and figure stuff out on their own anymore. I hope this development sticks.

It's too bad the artist wasn't consistent throughout the story but the final two issue's artist, Inaki Miranda, was really fantastic IMO! I hope we see more of him!

I'm glad to see the series finally back on track.

Having her still accessible to Bat-characters barely cuts down on her Wolverine-like omnipresence. Have you seen how big a chunk of DC's monthly output is Bat-related?

I was initally off-put by this direction. It just didn't seem like somthing Barbara Gordon would do. I didn't consider the aspect of various heroes not using their own brains/resources, though. That's a good point. Too bad she didn't make it.

I do think she'd stick with JLA member access, perhaps. I guess since Dick, and presumably always since there'll more than likely always be a Batman in the JL, is a JLAer- *he'd* have access. But Babs wouldn't help Donna Troy if she called?

That doesn't make sense. It's arbitrary and selfish.

I'm back to being put off.

I dropped this awhile ago, but with Jesus Saiz coming on board, I'm gonna have to check it out again. J'adore his art!

God how I love this wonderful, twisted woman and how she manages to rip the rug right out from under you. Gail Simone for President 2012!

The Huntress / Catman "date" issue was pretty good, but I expected something completely different. So in a way, I was a bit let-down by the lack of chemistry and the revelation at the story's end.

Still, my girl Huntress was badass as always and I like seeing that.

I read 11-12. I am very grateful that the musical artists problem has been fixed, and am VERY pleased that Saiz has the permanent slot!

Issue 12 was a beauty to behold. (11 was good too)!

With EVS as her running mate! Political polar opposites, coming together to fix everything... I can dig it!

So...who are the new BoP?

link

That's Poison Ivy up top and presumably Dinah to the left. (Not feeling the new costume! )

To the right, is that Katana, maybe? Any other ideas?

In the middle and background with the arm tat? No clue. Maybe a female version oof the Tatooed Man that I may vaguely recall reading about?

I love Jesus Saiz as artist, and Swierczynski
did some solid work writing Iron Fist after Brubaker and Fraction left. But I'm not sure I wanna read a BoP book potentially without Babs or Helena in it.

At the moment I think I'll pass.

I think it might be Rose & Thorn.