Decisions: Birds Of Prey and The Huntress

No, it's not Lady Marmalade, but these girls are just as tough and sexy.

Warning: Most likely contains spoilers.

---

Issue #3

Birds of Prey

Issues #2 and #3

Re-cap:  Canary and Starling are reeling from the sudden explosion of the man they were trying to protect.  Turns out he had a bio-bomb in his head triggered by hypnotic suggestion.  What will technology come up with next?  In an effort to find those responsible, Canary recruits Katana and Poison Ivy. They encounter and defeat some bad guys with strange inviso-armor and the same bio-brain bombs as  prisoner of war kill switches.  While they don't get their man, they do get the names of some other "walking dead" and set out to rescue them.  In a masterfully orchestrated train rescue, Canary learns she's been implanted with a brain bomb herself.

What Soars: Any time you have strong women leading the charge, I'm all for it.  While gun-slinging, butt-kicking badassery aren't the best role models for young women, it's also important to me that female characters in comics aren't always the sidekicks, the background art, or the talentless comic relief. Our own world is made up of people (male, female, straight, gay, disabled... the list goes on) who are strong badasses in their own right.  Our comics should reflect that.  I also like the storyline here.  While it can make you think, "huh?" at times, there's a lot of action, plot and conflict in a short 20 pages.  It's important to me that a reader gets his money's worth when buying comics.

What Crashes:  Can you tell I'm picky with art?  While the pencilling in this book is not awful, the rendering of Poison Ivy makes her look old and haggard.  I'm sorry, but that's not the Ivy I know.  The story seems a little far-fetched as well.  Hey, I know this is sci-fi and you can pretty much dream up anything you want, but my brain has been running over the whole idea of Dinah being implanted by a simple kiss. It's a hole-filled plan I'm not sure I buy.

Decision: It's interesting and fun to see chicks kick some butt.  While the cliffhanger has had me wondering, "What next?" I'm not sure this is a title I want to follow in the long term.

---

Issue #2

Huntress

Issues #2 and #3

Re-cap:  Huntress is still in Italy trying to track down the mob boss responsible for trafficking weapons and women. While she's able to knock off henchmen pretty easily, she keeps running into walls when it comes to apprehending the big boss, Moretti.  Her pursuits take her to Pompeii and she learns about an arrangement with Magreb to accept and protect their outgoing leader.

What Soars: There's really very little wrong with this.  The artwork is pretty good, the story line is complex and action packed.  This would be a great book to pick up for "Bat" fans into crime drama.

Issue #3

What Crashes:  I thought I could be into this title, but I'm finding that I'm just not into stories of mob boss crime and politics.  No matter how sexy and powerful Huntress is, and I know she's doing the right thing, I'm just not engaged.  Perhaps it's too much "reality" for me.  I guess if I wanted to hear about trafficking, I'd turn on the news.  I'm also not sure I buy that her tiny arrows do so much damage AND can support her weight when climbing.  Also, there was one scene where Huntress shot an arrow which ricocheted multiple times before embedding itself in the side of a ship.  Suddenly it had a bomb strapped to it.  You think they would have caught details like that somewhere along the line.

Decision: It's only a six issue run, so I was really hoping to see it through, but I simply can't do it.  I'll save my cash for other, more compelling titles.  I'm hoping with the more "sci-fi" permise, I'll be more into the Huntress in World's Finest come June.

---

All images copyright DC Comics and used under the guidelines of Fair Use.