Review: Birds of Prey #21
[Editor’s Note: This review may contain spoilers]
Writer: Kelly Thompson
Art: Sami Basri with Vicente Cifuentes
Colors: Adriano Lucas
Letters: Clayton Cowles
Reviewed by: Matthew B. Lloyd
Summary
The Birds are on the run…Barda is down, Canary loses, Sin and Cass barely escape, but what’s the bigger plan…and who are these people that are so formidable?
Positives
Thompson finally seems to be getting the hang of things. Two issues back to back feel…right. Babs and Dinah’s feesl accurate in Birds of Prey #21. Babs tries to tell Dinah what to do, but as the agent in the field, Black Canary has to do what is right in the moment, even if things don’t turn out…well. Oddly, Big Barda’s reputation works better in this issue than when Thompson gives her something to do or writers her dialogue. It’s the first time an unconscious character was more effective than a conscious character.
There’s a pretty interesting mystery afoot. There’s a team that appears to be somewhat the “opposite number” of the Birds of Prey that are running a mission who so far have the upper hand. The Birds of Prey are struggling…and the idea is working. Barda is compromised by the end of Birds of Prey #21 and it has a fair amount of potential as well as featuring the super-power of one of the team the Birds are facing.
Negatives
Unfortunately, Kelly Thompson can’t keep away from the ideas she loves: 1. Megaera and 2. Large Cast she can’t use adequately. In previous issues Thompson has demonstrated an inability to use this large cast she’s introduced. She hasn’t made Vixen, Onyx or Grace interesting enough for the reader to care about their inclusion. That makes Babs calling them in to help at the end of the issue feel like nothing more than plot armor. Harley Quinn also gets the call, and she ruins everything so her inclusion in coming events will only damage the good work we’ve already seen in this current storyline. Harley is a character that cannot be legitimately used as a hero. Barbara Gordon is smart enough to know she is an emotionally/ psychologically traumatized person and that encouraging her behavior actually hurts her. It just doesn’t work, and it is especially ignorant to use her as a member of the Birds of Prey both in universe and metatextually (The BoP concept was ruined in the DC Extended Universe movie simply to inadequately and inaccurately serve Harley Quinn).
The whole Megeara/ Sin storyline is still a huge disconnect. It’s clear Thompson is trying to use it as an “identity” metaphor, but she doesn’t have the writing chops to pull it off. Sin’s inclusion in the series could be a positive element, but Megeara is just a waste of an idea that Thompson can’t make work. Thankfully, Megaera has a small presence in this story so it doesn’t have much impact on Birds of Prey #21.
Verdict
Birds of Prey #21 is another good issue that’s in running for best of this series. Thompson finally seems to have found the sweet spot for what a Birds of Prey story should be. Banter between Dinah and Babs finally sounds right and Barda is the best she’s been so far. Thompson can’t stay away from things that don’t work like Megaera and her unnecessarily large cast, but those aspects play a much smaller role in this issue.
