BIRDS OF PREY #116
What did the
iFanboy
community think?
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Size: pages
Price: 2.99
This review contains spoilers, click here to read
I'm a really new reader to Birds of Prey actually, but it's been one of those titles that I've been interested in cheking out for some time. Except I always seemed to find some excuse to not buy it. This week the cover really caught my eye, and seeing Gail Simone's (Villains United, Wonder Woman) name on there helped give me that little nudge to say "Okay, let's give this a go." It probably didn't hurt that I actually had fewer than 10 books for me this week either.
I flipped through it as I sat around the shop talking with friends, and after the obligatory laughs and puzzlement over the fact that the issue is credited to Simone on the cover but McKeever (Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane, Teen Titans) inside, I realized that I needed to pick up the previous issues that my store had on the shelves. I realized that I was a dope for waiting so damn long to try this title out.
One thing that I like about this book is the varied cast of characters. Oracle, Huntress, Lady Blackhawk, Misfit, they all come from different backgrounds, are in different places in their lives, and are all ultimately heading in different directions, but for this period in time are working together, relying on each other, and, most importantly, learning from each other. You don't get to see as much in this issue as you do in #114 and #115, but the interplay between Huntress and Lady Blackhawk has been really cool to read. It makes the battle between them in this issue (LB having been drugged to think she's Queen Killer Shark) mean a little more. Plus then there's the great tensions between Oracle and Misfit: one of those reluctant mentor/eager student sorts of deals. I don't like to draw comparisons between books and creators too often, but having just recently exposed my brain to Whedon's Astonishing X-Men, I can't help but get the same "vibe" from BoP as I do from that book--mostly because of the way that relationships between a diverse set of charcters work and are played with.
In addition to the great cast and relationships in this book, I think McKeever is doing a wonderful job of balancing and blending multiple plotlines in this book. Again, this particular issue may not showcase this feature as prominently as the previous couple of issues, but it is still there, and is something that is necessary for me to really enjoy a book.
The last thing I wanted to comment on was Nicola Scott's excellent artwork. I like the clean lines, I like the angles, I like the action, I like the facial expressions, I like the character designs (Killer Shark looks freaking awesome!). Really great stuff. I'm sorry to see that she hasn't done much other work yet.
Overall a really great read. Clever stuff. Looks great. I'm in for the ride.
Art: 4 - Very Good
Great review. Couldn’t agree more…