Review: Birds of Prey #7
[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.
