So far the new #1 comics by DC have been a bit hit or miss for me. The hits have been knocked out of the park while the misses have been mixed. Most of the misses I did enjoy (with a few exceptions) but I didn’t think it warranted an ongoing read. For this new incarnation of the Birds of Prey team I wouldn’t normally think twice about picking it up. But then the creative team was announced and I was not prepared at all. Duane Swierczynski as writer and Jesus Saiz working together? Considering Swierczynski is a very underrated writer and Saiz drew one of the best DC books recently (Brave and the Bold) suddenly I was all over this book.

Unfortunately I hate to say that this issue just didn’t do enough for me. On a technical level, nothing is particularly wrong with it. Swierczynski introduces us to two members of the team (Black Canary/Starling) during a rescue mission. The action sequences are drawn really well by Saiz and it’s clear that he wanted to impress quickly with a lot of one page spreads of big moments. The moments with Black Canary on the car are easily the best moments of the book. What I didn’t like about this issue is that Swierczynski didn’t do a whole lot else to get me intrigued for the future of the book. Except for the final two pages, this could easily been a quick one-shot of some action packed moments with some of the females of the New DCU. Instead it feels like Swierczynski told 18 pages of a fun action film but then quickly had to throw in some plot at the end to make it ‘interesting’. With some of the other pages in this book, Saiz doesn’t get much to work without outside of the high flying moments. It’s mostly talking heads and when it isn’t talking heads, he frames parts of the action with close up of the characters. It’s weird on why Saiz made these choices considering the previous titles he’s worked on.

If you want a fun, action packed comic involving some badass girls of the DCU; then this is the book for you! When you look closer at the issue however, you see a lot of cracks at the base. We only get a few of the full team with not much going for them apart from a daring rescue mission. Plus I never understood why Black Canary is considering a criminal with only a casual mention of it. Add in some mixed art decisions by Saiz and it’s a pretty disappointing issue as a whole. In the long run, maybe this series will read a lot better as one whole story. As for now this is just one mindless action packed issue with cramming some type of plot at the end. Just not what I’m looking for in a new book, especially with a great creative team coming from these two.