Review: Birds of Prey #23
[Editor’s Note: This review may contain spoilers]
Writer: Kelly Thompson
Art: Sami Basri and Vicente Cifuentes
Colors: Hi-Fi
Letters: Clayton Cowles
Reviewed by: Matthew B. Lloyd
Summary
The Birds of Prey go on the offensive, but are they already hopelessly overmatched?
Positives
Like last issue, Birds of Prey #23 is far better than every issue in this series. Kelly Thompson proves she is pulling it together and shows that she’s finally figured this thing out. Dinah and Barbara act like they should. They have a protocol to follow and, having to follow it creates some excitement and tension as the must disperse in light of the explosion at headquarters.
It’s taken some time, but the core group of Babs, Dinah, Barda, Cass and Sin (not Megeara) finally feel like a group working together with their relationships and interpersonal interactions at the core of concept. It’s not something that we’ve seen really develop, but rather something that has sort of suddenly happened based on the situation they are in. Thompson hasn’t really developed this, but it’s just finally happened.
Thompson also mostly manages to stay away from the things that usually hurt these stories that she’s so fond of. She mostly stays away from Cela and Megeara and the whole foolishness with Velvet Tiger. They are present, but the issue focuses on the core of group instead of these other elements that have so far detracted.
Negatives
There are some character details Thompson gets wrong in Birds of Prey #23. She tries to make everyone too tough and borders on contrivance. It feels unnatural too often, there’s not enough balance in the characters. It’s overly simplified without any deeper nuance, though it may be getting better. Dinah just seems too mean. And, what’s this mention of “vents, why did it have to be vents?” Its clear she’s riffing on Indiana Jones and “snakes, why did it have to be snakes,” but it just feels awkward because there’s been no noticeable development of this as a quirk in Dinah’s character. It’s supposed to be funny, but it’s not only not funny, it’s so glaringly bad it detracts from the good things she’s doing in the issue. Editor? Editor?
While they don’t have a large role, her use of the larger cast is just poor. Grace, Onyx, Harley and Vixen have to real purpose other than to show up when Thompson needs them for the plot. Vixen has more potential as we saw back in issues #7– 8, but Thompson has a hard time using these character effectively. This is the set up for next issue. She hasn’t made us care about them.
I’ll give it to Thompson that she’s really trying to make Megeara work, but it’s just not remotely interesting. This idea for Sin has completely overwritten everything that was interesting about Sin.
Verdict
With Birds of Prey #23, Thompson has put together two pretty darn good issues in a row. That last page doesn’t make me think the finale will be anything other than a contrived ending with plot armor as thick as Barda’s thighs. She’s getting more of the details right even if some of the bigger picture is troubling or just downright out of place. The biggest issue is her inability to write three dimensional characters, they still too often feel forced and uncharacteristically imbalanced. But, this issue is one of the most enjoyable of the series.
