Comics / Comic Reviews / DC Comics

Birds of Prey #1

By Hervé St-Louis
September 24, 2011 - 12:47

Black Canary, Dinah Lance is on the run for a murder she did not commit, while her new partner Ev Crawford – Starling is up to no good and under the influence of a terrible catholic guilt trip. When a reporter tails the heroines, it’s up to them to tail him back and then rescue him from weird men wearing chameleon-like invisibility suits. But a deadly kiss from one of the villains seals the fate of one of the three characters.

Although DC Comics says that premise of this series is about the Birds of Prey chasing villains no one else wants to touch, we don’t see any of that in this issue. Instead, we are thrown into an intrigue that shows how the heroines deal with a deadly team trying to kill a reporter that was trying to expose the Birds. It’s fun enough that both teams were using the same reporter for their purpose. There is little insight into what happened to Black Canary that she would be on the run from justice. With the new DC Comics universe, it’s hard to say if it’s the crime her old self was accused of in the previous Birds of Prey series or if the premise if a completely new one. About Starling, she’s interesting, but I do have to ask why create a new character when her personality and modus operandi could have been grafted on to any of the other hundreds of DC Comics heroine gathering dust somewhere in DC Comics’ vaults.

The Black Canary we see here is competent and so is Starling.  I like the suspense and how the duo was introduced. There’s also a cameo by a former Birds of Prey character which helps to establish who knows who, and what’s the deal with all these characters. Well, We don’t know exactly, as Swierczynski keeps that for another issue. This series, dare I say, in just a few pages will probably be more compelling than Gail Simone’s version. Simone was obsessed with making Black Canary look great. Here, she’s shown to be just that, without the over analytical monologue. The story is action-oriented. Ok, I like Starling. She’s different. She’s a lapse catholic or something, and she’s in your face and resourceful. I like her.

Jesus Saiz is perfect for this series. One important thing about Birds of Prey is that it has to look good. When you have female leads in a series, I don’t care if it comes off as sexist, but the leads must be beautiful. Each woman is beautiful here and graceful enough. The action was easy to follow. This series is a go for me.

Rating: 9 /10

Last Updated: August 31, 2023 - 08:12