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Birds of Prey (2011)
Birds of Prey, Volume 2: Your Kiss Might Kill
Black Canary, Starling, Poison Ivy and Batgirl. Together, as Gotham City's covert ops team, they're taking down the villains other heroes can't touch. They are the Birds of Prey. The Birds face a multitude of threats from outside and in! A dangerous new villains threatens to expose Black Canary's dark secret, and the Court of Owls sets its sight on everyone in Gotham for a Night of the Owls tie-in. Plus, the girls bring a gravely injured Poison Ivy to the Amazon hoping to help rejuvenate her, but they're going to need her help more to stay alive!
Collecting: Birds of Prey 8-12, 0
Collecting: Birds of Prey 8-12, 0
144 pages, Paperback
First published March 15, 2013
30 people are currently reading
661 people want to read
About the author
Duane Swierczynski
525 books924 followersDuane Swierczynski is an American crime writer who has written a number of non-fiction books, novels and also writes for comic books.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 110 reviews
August 20, 2022
(B) 73% | More than Satisfactory
Notes: A schlocky series of splinter stories and sour, slapdash sundry. It’s fruitless fodder: illustrative of its own irrelevance.
Notes: A schlocky series of splinter stories and sour, slapdash sundry. It’s fruitless fodder: illustrative of its own irrelevance.
June 24, 2025
"What were you thinking?! Do you realize what you've just done?" -- Black Canary, inadvertently stealing my questions intended for the writing staff
Birds of Prey, Vol. 2: Your Kiss Might Kill? More like 'your storyline might lead to drowsiness.' While this was not exactly an altogether 'bad' volume - there were a lot of action sequences, which means something . . . I guess - the artwork was second-rate, and many scenes were akin to title characters standing in a room yelling at each other in a shrilly manner over trust issues. (Yes, I really desired for every third conversation to center on THAT tedious aspect. 🙄) At least the finale - a standalone flashback on the erratic first meeting of Black Canary and Batgirl, who were working separate investigations on the same matter, but soon join together for that greater good - helped redeem the lackluster main narrative, which failed in its positioning of Poison Ivy as a pivotal cast member.
Birds of Prey, Vol. 2: Your Kiss Might Kill? More like 'your storyline might lead to drowsiness.' While this was not exactly an altogether 'bad' volume - there were a lot of action sequences, which means something . . . I guess - the artwork was second-rate, and many scenes were akin to title characters standing in a room yelling at each other in a shrilly manner over trust issues. (Yes, I really desired for every third conversation to center on THAT tedious aspect. 🙄) At least the finale - a standalone flashback on the erratic first meeting of Black Canary and Batgirl, who were working separate investigations on the same matter, but soon join together for that greater good - helped redeem the lackluster main narrative, which failed in its positioning of Poison Ivy as a pivotal cast member.
September 23, 2013
This review can also be seen at http://www.addicted2heroines.com/2013...
If you're looking for a comic with a female dominated cast, then Birds of Prey is the obvious choice when trolling through DC's New 52 lineup. I had high expectations for this one after reading the first volume, Trouble in Mind.
Did this volume live up to those expectations?
No. Not really.
But it wasn't awful, and I've recently come to appreciate that when dealing with DC's reboot effort.
So.
Black Canary has gathered a group of kick-ass ladies together to fight evil and injustice. Now for some reason she thought it would be a good idea to add Poison Ivy to the team. Hmmm. Right off the bat you have to question her leadership skills. Or at the very least, you have to question her ability to get a good read on someone's personality.
Darling, I've invited our new neighbor Charlie Manson over for brunch. He said he'd like to introduce us to the rest of his family...
And yet, having Ivy on the team is probably the coolest thing that this team has going for it. 'Cause lets face it, Black Canary is one of the dullest A-listers out there. In fact, the only time I've ever been interested in her is when she's paired with Green Arrow. It's like two semi-boring superheros squished together can somehow make one cool superhero. I'm thinking they need to re-introduce these guys to each other again as quickly as possible. And if you've had the misfortune to read the new Green Arrow title, I'm sure you'll agree with me.
Starling is probably the next best thing to Ivy on this team, and since she's a new character in the DC universe there's some interesting potential for her. She's not good, she's not evil, and she like to make things go BOOM!
I like her.
As far as Katana goes?
Ehhhhhhhh.
Not so much. She just comes off as weird. I suppose anyone would seem that way if they owned a soul-sucking sword that also housed their husband's spirit, but still...
I mean, you never see her face in that dorky costume, and she always whispering something to her dead hubby.
Awkward!
Barbara Gordon is awesome, but this isn't her comic, and part of what makes her work as the revamped Batgirl is Gail Simone's writing. And she's not writing this. So basically you just have Batgirl popping in and out of the action, but not really an official member of the team.
Man, I miss her being Oracle!
Lately no title is complete in DC until they are part of the Court of Owls crossover, and that goes for this volume of Birds of Prey. Batman makes his obligatory appearance, chastises Canary for being idiotic enough to trust Ivy, and then scurries off into the night.
Whoops! Excuse me. We all know that Batman does not scurry. He quietly melts into the shadows.
Ivy, of course, does what she does best, and...well, that's a spoiler, so never mind.
There is a bit of resolution to the accusation that Canary murdered her husband, but it sort of got glossed over between Poison Ivy's hi-jinks and the crossover stuff. I would have liked to have had more details, but maybe that's going to come to light in the next volume.
In the end, I'd say this was entertaining enough for me to continue with this title, even though I wasn't blown away by it.
If you're looking for a comic with a female dominated cast, then Birds of Prey is the obvious choice when trolling through DC's New 52 lineup. I had high expectations for this one after reading the first volume, Trouble in Mind.
Did this volume live up to those expectations?
No. Not really.
But it wasn't awful, and I've recently come to appreciate that when dealing with DC's reboot effort.
So.
Black Canary has gathered a group of kick-ass ladies together to fight evil and injustice. Now for some reason she thought it would be a good idea to add Poison Ivy to the team. Hmmm. Right off the bat you have to question her leadership skills. Or at the very least, you have to question her ability to get a good read on someone's personality.
Darling, I've invited our new neighbor Charlie Manson over for brunch. He said he'd like to introduce us to the rest of his family...
And yet, having Ivy on the team is probably the coolest thing that this team has going for it. 'Cause lets face it, Black Canary is one of the dullest A-listers out there. In fact, the only time I've ever been interested in her is when she's paired with Green Arrow. It's like two semi-boring superheros squished together can somehow make one cool superhero. I'm thinking they need to re-introduce these guys to each other again as quickly as possible. And if you've had the misfortune to read the new Green Arrow title, I'm sure you'll agree with me.
Starling is probably the next best thing to Ivy on this team, and since she's a new character in the DC universe there's some interesting potential for her. She's not good, she's not evil, and she like to make things go BOOM!
I like her.
As far as Katana goes?
Ehhhhhhhh.
Not so much. She just comes off as weird. I suppose anyone would seem that way if they owned a soul-sucking sword that also housed their husband's spirit, but still...
I mean, you never see her face in that dorky costume, and she always whispering something to her dead hubby.
Awkward!
Barbara Gordon is awesome, but this isn't her comic, and part of what makes her work as the revamped Batgirl is Gail Simone's writing. And she's not writing this. So basically you just have Batgirl popping in and out of the action, but not really an official member of the team.
Man, I miss her being Oracle!
Lately no title is complete in DC until they are part of the Court of Owls crossover, and that goes for this volume of Birds of Prey. Batman makes his obligatory appearance, chastises Canary for being idiotic enough to trust Ivy, and then scurries off into the night.
Whoops! Excuse me. We all know that Batman does not scurry. He quietly melts into the shadows.
Ivy, of course, does what she does best, and...well, that's a spoiler, so never mind.
There is a bit of resolution to the accusation that Canary murdered her husband, but it sort of got glossed over between Poison Ivy's hi-jinks and the crossover stuff. I would have liked to have had more details, but maybe that's going to come to light in the next volume.
In the end, I'd say this was entertaining enough for me to continue with this title, even though I wasn't blown away by it.
May 22, 2017
This was OK, maybe even 3-stars worth of spandex-clad action, but there were three glaring problems that brought the fun skidding to a halt for me:
-- The New-52-fueled "Dinah's dangerous backstory" with some crime she is accused of, and now admits to, and may not have happened or he's getting fixed up by Amanda Waller (where does she find the time to run all these secret projects? Frankly, I liked the previous, nearly villainous, non-svelte Amanda Waller better. And I DIDN'T like her!)
-- Poison Ivy's powers are now super-super-super-everything -- stronger, faster, more varied, more suited to whatever happens.... C'mon, DC, it's like you're making this stuff UP!
-- Constant overreaction/underreaction. Y'all keep yammering on about not trusting Ivy, yet you let her get away with so-o-o-o much...
Well, better luck next volume. Maybe all will be better after "Rebirth".
-- The New-52-fueled "Dinah's dangerous backstory" with some crime she is accused of, and now admits to, and may not have happened or he's getting fixed up by Amanda Waller (where does she find the time to run all these secret projects? Frankly, I liked the previous, nearly villainous, non-svelte Amanda Waller better. And I DIDN'T like her!)
-- Poison Ivy's powers are now super-super-super-everything -- stronger, faster, more varied, more suited to whatever happens.... C'mon, DC, it's like you're making this stuff UP!
-- Constant overreaction/underreaction. Y'all keep yammering on about not trusting Ivy, yet you let her get away with so-o-o-o much...
Well, better luck next volume. Maybe all will be better after "Rebirth".
August 12, 2013
DC’s release dates for its mass-market collections are stupid. Between the hardcover special releases and some bizarre need to spread releases out, it’s been eight months since I reviewed Volume 1 and fourteen months since the first issue in Volume 2, issue #8, was printed. This obviously isn’t a problem for people who are just collecting the issues, but DC seems pretty intent on screwing its MMP base, particularly those of us who are fans of Batwoman. Now, part of this delay is because I’m STILL enormously behind on the reviews, but, much like the U.S. government, I refuse to let facts get in the way of a good rant.
I really enjoyed the first collection of the new Birds of Prey, so it is with mixed feelings that I report that Volume 2 leaves much to be desired. Between the jerky plot jumps and the ill-conceived Poison Ivy arc, the issues in this volume never really get down to business. Some of this is due to the Night of Owls and Issue #0 ‘crossover’ events, which derail the existing plot lines in really jarring ways. But even the two arcs that belong to the Birds feel clunky and don’t have the same storytelling hook present in Swierczynski’s first arc.
But before I can get into the details, we have to go back to the end of Volume 1. In my review of Trouble in Mind, I noted that by the end of the collection, they had only really gotten one layer off the onion-like mystery that was the first story arc. Evidently, I was the only one who liked that. So, instead of diving further into this story of biological weaponry and clever brainwashing, we are dropped ass-first into a totally new arc that looks to be about Black Canary’s New 52 backstory. No time is given to the old plot and there is literally no resolution to be found anywhere in Volume 2.
Oh well. On we soldier. The backstory issue is promptly derailed by the intrusion of the Batman crossover, The Night of Owls. The crossover event is actually kind of interesting, involving an ancient society that has been controlling Gotham behind the scenes for centuries. Shades of Batman Begins aside, the story is worth checking out in general, but the Birds of Prey contribution to the crossover is dull. The Birds end up fighting against one of the Talons, cryogenically preserved superhuman assassins from history. There is almost nothing to redeem this issue, although the Talon’s perception of the teams’ costumes as 19th Century finery, or in Katana’s case, a suit of Japanese armor, complete with demonic samurai mask, is visually interesting.
The conclusion of the crossover artificially sets up the next arc. Poison Ivy is critically injured during the fight with the Talon, and the team takes her to a remote island to regenerate. This kicks off Poison Ivy’s arc, which I won’t discuss because of spoilers, though I will say that the Canary backstory issue is left entirely unexplored and mostly unmentioned in a horribly awkward example of the continuity stupidity.
Other aspects of the book are stronger. The art continues to be high quality and while I can’t quite turn the corner on Starling’s battle getup, I generally like the character design. Sometimes Katana’s outfit gets super-streamlined and loses the small, blocky armor plates that made it look more realistic, but that could be attributed to the shift in artists. Travel Foreman takes over for Jesus Saiz right after issue #8 in a pretty seamless transition. The combat in Foreman’s run is a little muddled, which is a problem when you’re dealing with 4-5 heroes, but it isn’t a deal-breaker by any stretch of the imagination.
Thematically, this collection of Birds of Prey is more simplistic than Volume 1. A lot of the grey of the team’s morality is shoved into black and white in the context of the stories being told. Poison Ivy in particular is much reduced by her poorly written Face-Heel Turn, which seems to strip all of the interesting subtext out of her character. In doing some research for this review, I came across a lot of complaints that the first arc of Birds of Prey had been poorly received by comic fans because it was paced too slowly. I suspect Swierczynski was under pressure to make the comic move a little faster and had to sacrifice the strong character elements to do so. The result is something much closer to a traditional comic’s pacing, but missing all of the fantastic writing that made Birds stand out.
Volume 2 concludes with another Issue #0, detailing how Starling and the Black Canary met. It’s an interesting story dealing with the traditional Batman villain, Penguin, but it derails the Poison Ivy arc before it feels like it finishes. Also, I didn’t really care how the band got together because I was invested in what they were doing. While the obsession with origin stories has been discussed in relation to the inability of Hollywood to move past them, there’s also something stupid about having to tell them every time a series gets rebooted. What’s even more annoying is that we had gotten a look at Canary’s actual origins issue #8, and that plot got entirely dropped. If he had to write an Issue #0, anyway, the least Swierczynski could have done was tie those two elements together.
The internet informs me that this stretch of issues is the start of an almost year long drought of good Birds of Prey stories. Both the upcoming arcs and those contained in Volume 2 are shorter and more necessary to the greater DC continuity than they are to the Birds themselves. At this point, I think DC’s desire to maintain a more integrated and unified world setting, has irrevocably damaged some of their better properties. And while these detriments aren’t enough to turn me off Birds of Prey entirely, I just can’t recommend Your Kiss Might Kill as a stand-alone experience.
I really enjoyed the first collection of the new Birds of Prey, so it is with mixed feelings that I report that Volume 2 leaves much to be desired. Between the jerky plot jumps and the ill-conceived Poison Ivy arc, the issues in this volume never really get down to business. Some of this is due to the Night of Owls and Issue #0 ‘crossover’ events, which derail the existing plot lines in really jarring ways. But even the two arcs that belong to the Birds feel clunky and don’t have the same storytelling hook present in Swierczynski’s first arc.
But before I can get into the details, we have to go back to the end of Volume 1. In my review of Trouble in Mind, I noted that by the end of the collection, they had only really gotten one layer off the onion-like mystery that was the first story arc. Evidently, I was the only one who liked that. So, instead of diving further into this story of biological weaponry and clever brainwashing, we are dropped ass-first into a totally new arc that looks to be about Black Canary’s New 52 backstory. No time is given to the old plot and there is literally no resolution to be found anywhere in Volume 2.
Oh well. On we soldier. The backstory issue is promptly derailed by the intrusion of the Batman crossover, The Night of Owls. The crossover event is actually kind of interesting, involving an ancient society that has been controlling Gotham behind the scenes for centuries. Shades of Batman Begins aside, the story is worth checking out in general, but the Birds of Prey contribution to the crossover is dull. The Birds end up fighting against one of the Talons, cryogenically preserved superhuman assassins from history. There is almost nothing to redeem this issue, although the Talon’s perception of the teams’ costumes as 19th Century finery, or in Katana’s case, a suit of Japanese armor, complete with demonic samurai mask, is visually interesting.
The conclusion of the crossover artificially sets up the next arc. Poison Ivy is critically injured during the fight with the Talon, and the team takes her to a remote island to regenerate. This kicks off Poison Ivy’s arc, which I won’t discuss because of spoilers, though I will say that the Canary backstory issue is left entirely unexplored and mostly unmentioned in a horribly awkward example of the continuity stupidity.
Other aspects of the book are stronger. The art continues to be high quality and while I can’t quite turn the corner on Starling’s battle getup, I generally like the character design. Sometimes Katana’s outfit gets super-streamlined and loses the small, blocky armor plates that made it look more realistic, but that could be attributed to the shift in artists. Travel Foreman takes over for Jesus Saiz right after issue #8 in a pretty seamless transition. The combat in Foreman’s run is a little muddled, which is a problem when you’re dealing with 4-5 heroes, but it isn’t a deal-breaker by any stretch of the imagination.
Thematically, this collection of Birds of Prey is more simplistic than Volume 1. A lot of the grey of the team’s morality is shoved into black and white in the context of the stories being told. Poison Ivy in particular is much reduced by her poorly written Face-Heel Turn, which seems to strip all of the interesting subtext out of her character. In doing some research for this review, I came across a lot of complaints that the first arc of Birds of Prey had been poorly received by comic fans because it was paced too slowly. I suspect Swierczynski was under pressure to make the comic move a little faster and had to sacrifice the strong character elements to do so. The result is something much closer to a traditional comic’s pacing, but missing all of the fantastic writing that made Birds stand out.
Volume 2 concludes with another Issue #0, detailing how Starling and the Black Canary met. It’s an interesting story dealing with the traditional Batman villain, Penguin, but it derails the Poison Ivy arc before it feels like it finishes. Also, I didn’t really care how the band got together because I was invested in what they were doing. While the obsession with origin stories has been discussed in relation to the inability of Hollywood to move past them, there’s also something stupid about having to tell them every time a series gets rebooted. What’s even more annoying is that we had gotten a look at Canary’s actual origins issue #8, and that plot got entirely dropped. If he had to write an Issue #0, anyway, the least Swierczynski could have done was tie those two elements together.
The internet informs me that this stretch of issues is the start of an almost year long drought of good Birds of Prey stories. Both the upcoming arcs and those contained in Volume 2 are shorter and more necessary to the greater DC continuity than they are to the Birds themselves. At this point, I think DC’s desire to maintain a more integrated and unified world setting, has irrevocably damaged some of their better properties. And while these detriments aren’t enough to turn me off Birds of Prey entirely, I just can’t recommend Your Kiss Might Kill as a stand-alone experience.
July 19, 2016
Meh. I enjoyed the first volume enough that I think I'll get myself a copy to own. However, this mishmash of bad art and incoherent storytelling is not coming home from the comic store with me and I'm going to return my library copy asap so it doesn't give my other books bad ideas.
April 24, 2015
Very interesting. RIP Poison Ivy. Starling's working for Amanda Waller?! Black Canary's husband is alive?!
October 30, 2015
Like always, the art come first. Jesus Saiz picks right up in this volume churning out the same horrendous art that he produced for volume 1. Nothing about his art is appealing in the slightest. Travel Foreman picks up arts duties in the Night of the Owls crossover story. The art in that issue blows Saiz's art out of the water. Character faces look pretty decent and there is much more detail than in the art Saiz drew. A couple issues into Foreman's run, Timothy Green II has co-artist duty for an issue. You can definitely tell the difference in the two artists. Foreman has some good looking lines, but stuff drawn by Green II looks like water was dropped on the lines when he drew them. Everything has this smudged look to it. Character faces even look like the lines were blurred. I'm a horrible, but I can draw better faces than Timothy Green II. The final artist in this volume is Cliff Richards. He produces the best art in the series yet. I wouldn't put Richards in the top tier of artists at DC, but he's really close to being there. His art looks much superior when compared side by side with the other art in this book. It is too bad he wasn't around from day 1 of the title's relaunch. I hate that DC shuffles their artists around so much. Too many of these New 52 books only have the same artist for an issue or 2. At least this series ended up with a better artist at the end of the musical chairs. Art only gets 3 stars because Richards doesn't have enough issues to make up for the subpar art at the beginning of the book.
I enjoyed what Duane Swierczynski did in the first volume of this series and was dying to find out what happened after the cliffhanger on the last page of that book. Unfortunately, the previous storyline seems all but forgotten when this volume opens up. It seems like the editors must have forced Duane to take the story in a different direction. That seems to happen at DC as often as artists being swapped around. there is absolutely no closure to the first volume's story arc. There is just a loose thread dangling. Issue #8 is the first issue in this volume and it ends with another loose thread because issue #9 has a Night of the Owls crossover story shoe horned into the title. As I have said before, I hate these company wide (or in this case Batfamily wide) crossovers. The Night of the Owls story didn't fit in any way, shape, or fashion with the stories that were being told in this book. At least, there was a smooth transition from the end of issue #9 into the next story arc that starts in issue #10. The last few issues in this volume feel rushed and like pieces of the story are missing. What happens in 3 issues feels like it should have taken 6 issues to develop. I don't think that everything that was wrong with the story in this volume is completely the author's fault, but that doesn't change the fact that there is a lot wrong with the story. Writing gets 3 stars.
I really want to like this version of Birds of Prey, but the series has a lot of faults: the design for the Poison Ivy and Black Canary characters are the worst designs either character has ever had in their publication history, the story has too many loose ends, and the art doesn't have any consistency. I'll give this series one more volume to improve before I move along to something else. As of now I really can't recommend this series to the average comic reader. ONLY pick this up if you're one of the world's biggest super fans of the author, one of the main characters, or God forbid, one of the artists.
I enjoyed what Duane Swierczynski did in the first volume of this series and was dying to find out what happened after the cliffhanger on the last page of that book. Unfortunately, the previous storyline seems all but forgotten when this volume opens up. It seems like the editors must have forced Duane to take the story in a different direction. That seems to happen at DC as often as artists being swapped around. there is absolutely no closure to the first volume's story arc. There is just a loose thread dangling. Issue #8 is the first issue in this volume and it ends with another loose thread because issue #9 has a Night of the Owls crossover story shoe horned into the title. As I have said before, I hate these company wide (or in this case Batfamily wide) crossovers. The Night of the Owls story didn't fit in any way, shape, or fashion with the stories that were being told in this book. At least, there was a smooth transition from the end of issue #9 into the next story arc that starts in issue #10. The last few issues in this volume feel rushed and like pieces of the story are missing. What happens in 3 issues feels like it should have taken 6 issues to develop. I don't think that everything that was wrong with the story in this volume is completely the author's fault, but that doesn't change the fact that there is a lot wrong with the story. Writing gets 3 stars.
I really want to like this version of Birds of Prey, but the series has a lot of faults: the design for the Poison Ivy and Black Canary characters are the worst designs either character has ever had in their publication history, the story has too many loose ends, and the art doesn't have any consistency. I'll give this series one more volume to improve before I move along to something else. As of now I really can't recommend this series to the average comic reader. ONLY pick this up if you're one of the world's biggest super fans of the author, one of the main characters, or God forbid, one of the artists.
January 19, 2016
I really, really wanted to like Birds of Prey: Your Kiss Might Kill. I like DC. I love Black Canary, Poison Ivy, and Starling. But I wish that their stories were actually good. I think Duane Swierczynski is a really great author. I’ve read a few of his novels and they were super high throttle packed with tons of action and I loved them. I expected that from Birds of Prey and was sorely disappointed.
First things first, the chapters do not flow together nicely. I expect for there to be jumps from one scene to the next like most comics but I also expect to understand the jumps. I was caught off guard a couple of times especially when it went from the main story to the The Night of the Owls tie-in. I felt like a random story was just thrown in the mix. Swierczynski did do a good job of tying the next chapter to the Owls but the one before had no lead up.
Speaking of The Night of the Owls I’m seeing a lot of the same issue being published in more than one trade with the New 52. That’s getting old. Maybe I’m the only one? I get that you might want to get all the issues for a big event but it feels like DC is just milking it’s readers. Have they always done that?
The girls themselves were fairly tough but a little flat. I wanted more depth from them. I can see a thousands sides of Batman but not more to Starling? Starling is my favorite by the way, mouthy with tattoos. I only expect flatness from Katana because that’s who she is. She is packed so tightly that it’s hard for her to let anyone in. As for the other girls, it really does feel like a dude is writing women. I didn’t get the same impression of Swiercynski’s work in his novels that I read.
The art and the character designs were awesome. Just what I wanted for them. Ivy’s flipflop on the group was pretty good too. But other than that, this was pretty much a disappointment. However, I have been suckered into reading the next trade that comes out because #0 that is at the end. Now I really want to understand the group dynamics more…
Overall, if you want something light, that you don’t have to think about too much check this out. The art is nice and you might be suckered into reading the next one if you’re like me. :) Besides, it took like four volumes of Suicide Squad for me to like it. So there is still a chance, right?
- See more at: http://fanboysinc.com/?p=890&prev...
First things first, the chapters do not flow together nicely. I expect for there to be jumps from one scene to the next like most comics but I also expect to understand the jumps. I was caught off guard a couple of times especially when it went from the main story to the The Night of the Owls tie-in. I felt like a random story was just thrown in the mix. Swierczynski did do a good job of tying the next chapter to the Owls but the one before had no lead up.
Speaking of The Night of the Owls I’m seeing a lot of the same issue being published in more than one trade with the New 52. That’s getting old. Maybe I’m the only one? I get that you might want to get all the issues for a big event but it feels like DC is just milking it’s readers. Have they always done that?
The girls themselves were fairly tough but a little flat. I wanted more depth from them. I can see a thousands sides of Batman but not more to Starling? Starling is my favorite by the way, mouthy with tattoos. I only expect flatness from Katana because that’s who she is. She is packed so tightly that it’s hard for her to let anyone in. As for the other girls, it really does feel like a dude is writing women. I didn’t get the same impression of Swiercynski’s work in his novels that I read.
The art and the character designs were awesome. Just what I wanted for them. Ivy’s flipflop on the group was pretty good too. But other than that, this was pretty much a disappointment. However, I have been suckered into reading the next trade that comes out because #0 that is at the end. Now I really want to understand the group dynamics more…
Overall, if you want something light, that you don’t have to think about too much check this out. The art is nice and you might be suckered into reading the next one if you’re like me. :) Besides, it took like four volumes of Suicide Squad for me to like it. So there is still a chance, right?
- See more at: http://fanboysinc.com/?p=890&prev...
September 2, 2021
Birds of Prey: Your Kiss Might Kill picks up where the previous volume left off, collecting the next five issues (Birds of Prey #8–12) of the 2011 on-going series with the Zero-Month tie-in Birds of Prey #0 and collects six interconnecting one-issue stories.
Black Canary's past comes back to haunt her when she's tracked down by government agents for the murder of her husband, which she admits to having committed. The Birds of Prey are attacked by a group trying to take her in led by Infiltrator, including Flesh, Head and Napalm. Meanwhile, Pamela Isley as Poison Ivy, sacrifice, resurrection, and betrayal makes up the rest of the narrative.
Furthermore, two tie-in issues for Night of the Owls (Birds of Prey #9) and Zero Month (Birds of Prey #0) events were added, which has the Birds of Prey combating the Talons of the Court of Owls and the Penguin respectively.
Duan Swierczynski penned the entire trade paperback. For the most part, the issues explores Dinah Drake's back story, before she formed the Birds of Prey. It also explores the character Pamela Isley as Poison Ivy and her eventually betrayal of the group. Appearances of Barbara Gordon as Batgirl were many. The Zero Month tie-in, relates a mission with Dinah Drake teaming up with Barbara Gordon as Batgirl and Evelyn Crawford as Starling as they confront Oswald Cobblepot as the Penguin and his connections to Basilisk.
Travel Foreman (Birds of Prey #9–11), Jesús Saíz, Timothy Green II, Cliff Richards, and Romano Molenaar (Birds of Prey, 8, 11, 12, and 0 respectively) are the pencilers for the trade paperback. For the most part, the penciling styles complement each other rather well, albeit distinctive, making the artistic flow of the trade paperback somewhat smooth for the most part.
All in all, Birds of Prey: Your Kiss Might Kill is a somewhat good continuation to what would hopefully be an equally wonderful series.
Black Canary's past comes back to haunt her when she's tracked down by government agents for the murder of her husband, which she admits to having committed. The Birds of Prey are attacked by a group trying to take her in led by Infiltrator, including Flesh, Head and Napalm. Meanwhile, Pamela Isley as Poison Ivy, sacrifice, resurrection, and betrayal makes up the rest of the narrative.
Furthermore, two tie-in issues for Night of the Owls (Birds of Prey #9) and Zero Month (Birds of Prey #0) events were added, which has the Birds of Prey combating the Talons of the Court of Owls and the Penguin respectively.
Duan Swierczynski penned the entire trade paperback. For the most part, the issues explores Dinah Drake's back story, before she formed the Birds of Prey. It also explores the character Pamela Isley as Poison Ivy and her eventually betrayal of the group. Appearances of Barbara Gordon as Batgirl were many. The Zero Month tie-in, relates a mission with Dinah Drake teaming up with Barbara Gordon as Batgirl and Evelyn Crawford as Starling as they confront Oswald Cobblepot as the Penguin and his connections to Basilisk.
Travel Foreman (Birds of Prey #9–11), Jesús Saíz, Timothy Green II, Cliff Richards, and Romano Molenaar (Birds of Prey, 8, 11, 12, and 0 respectively) are the pencilers for the trade paperback. For the most part, the penciling styles complement each other rather well, albeit distinctive, making the artistic flow of the trade paperback somewhat smooth for the most part.
All in all, Birds of Prey: Your Kiss Might Kill is a somewhat good continuation to what would hopefully be an equally wonderful series.
January 2, 2014
Birds of Prey Volume 1 got off to a strong start, but volume 2 seriously faltered. The most troubling part was continuity, but the stories also felt disconnected.
Volume 2 jumps all over the place in the timeline and two distinct sections both take place “now” with the same characters in different locations! The team faces Talon in Gotham “now”, but pulls Poison Ivy from the freezer truck “two days ago” (which should have happened after the battle with Talon since it is also in the truck), this followed by a stint in the jungle before being in Dubai “now” and back to the jungle again “one week ago” and then ends “one year ago”. This made the book tough to follow, despite being so short.
Another problem is that these stories feel cobbled together. The Court of Owls felt shoehorned in to accommodate what I’ve learned is a series crossing event, at least across the Bat family of titles. The writers managed a decent effort to tie it into their story of Ivy’s double cross, but that wasn’t given full measure since they were also trying to expand Canary’s backstory. This made the Ivy storyline a bit ridiculous since it wasn’t given enough development to be believable. I agree with another reviewer, the team comes off dumb as bricks!
Despite these negatives, one thing saved the book for me – a truly surprising twist that ties the series into another I’m really enjoying: Suicide Squad. I won’t ruin it by saying how, but it made sense and has so much potential, not only for a possible crossover, but for a strong story arc to keep the team engaged. And, I loved Batman’s cameo in the volume. Overall, this entry doesn’t live up to the first but is enough to bring me back for more. Recommended.
Volume 2 jumps all over the place in the timeline and two distinct sections both take place “now” with the same characters in different locations! The team faces Talon in Gotham “now”, but pulls Poison Ivy from the freezer truck “two days ago” (which should have happened after the battle with Talon since it is also in the truck), this followed by a stint in the jungle before being in Dubai “now” and back to the jungle again “one week ago” and then ends “one year ago”. This made the book tough to follow, despite being so short.
Another problem is that these stories feel cobbled together. The Court of Owls felt shoehorned in to accommodate what I’ve learned is a series crossing event, at least across the Bat family of titles. The writers managed a decent effort to tie it into their story of Ivy’s double cross, but that wasn’t given full measure since they were also trying to expand Canary’s backstory. This made the Ivy storyline a bit ridiculous since it wasn’t given enough development to be believable. I agree with another reviewer, the team comes off dumb as bricks!
Despite these negatives, one thing saved the book for me – a truly surprising twist that ties the series into another I’m really enjoying: Suicide Squad. I won’t ruin it by saying how, but it made sense and has so much potential, not only for a possible crossover, but for a strong story arc to keep the team engaged. And, I loved Batman’s cameo in the volume. Overall, this entry doesn’t live up to the first but is enough to bring me back for more. Recommended.
June 12, 2018
This is a bit of a step down from the rapid-fire, joyful first volume. The Birds' enemies and goals become much more ill-defined (thanks in no small part to derailment by the Night of the Owls crossover event), setting up what seems to be a murder mystery about Black Canary that just kind of peters out and disappears. Instead, we're left with the Birds having to combat Poison Ivy, a member of their own team, thereby partially destroying a dynamic that was making this book work in the first place. It really feels like editorial interference more than weak writing by Swierczynski, but it's not great no matter how you slice it.
Mix in the fact that there is about 80% less Starling in this volume (one of the best new characters of the New 52, in my opinion), then throw in the semi-unsettling art of Travel Foreman and you have a much less enjoyable overall work. Foreman's art is perfect for something like Animal Man, where his heavy lines and slightly askew characterizations add to the feeling of eeriness. But in Birds of Prey, a stylish, fast-paced spy action comic, it slows everything down and just kind of makes it weird. I really did not think it suited this story at all, outside of a few creepy baddies here and there.
That said, I still find Swierczynski's pacing and minimal dialogue a big breath of fresh air from the rest of the New 52, which is sometimes so dense with narration you can't even see the art on the page. For all its flaws, this book reads quickly and lightly, with just enough flare to make it stand out. I'll keep up with the series for those reasons alone. I wish it had maintained the same dynamic as the first volume, but it could've been much worse.
Mix in the fact that there is about 80% less Starling in this volume (one of the best new characters of the New 52, in my opinion), then throw in the semi-unsettling art of Travel Foreman and you have a much less enjoyable overall work. Foreman's art is perfect for something like Animal Man, where his heavy lines and slightly askew characterizations add to the feeling of eeriness. But in Birds of Prey, a stylish, fast-paced spy action comic, it slows everything down and just kind of makes it weird. I really did not think it suited this story at all, outside of a few creepy baddies here and there.
That said, I still find Swierczynski's pacing and minimal dialogue a big breath of fresh air from the rest of the New 52, which is sometimes so dense with narration you can't even see the art on the page. For all its flaws, this book reads quickly and lightly, with just enough flare to make it stand out. I'll keep up with the series for those reasons alone. I wish it had maintained the same dynamic as the first volume, but it could've been much worse.
November 17, 2016
This was okay. Alot of the New 52 books are okay.
It starts pretty much midway through a fight where some men are after Dinah. The group tries to stop them, a Talon joins the fight and all hell breaks loose. They have to freeze it to stop it and Ivy seemingly takes herself down with it to "save" the others.
I don't like the idea that she was out for herself the whole time. She's dying and wants the others to help with her environmental terrorism bucket list, essentially and that just sucks. It gives such a dirty twist to what was a pure team and I hated it.
Art is still amazing. There was less Katana and Starling than I wanted but it was cool seeing how Dinah, Starling and Babs met.
3.5 stars.
It starts pretty much midway through a fight where some men are after Dinah. The group tries to stop them, a Talon joins the fight and all hell breaks loose. They have to freeze it to stop it and Ivy seemingly takes herself down with it to "save" the others.
I don't like the idea that she was out for herself the whole time. She's dying and wants the others to help with her environmental terrorism bucket list, essentially and that just sucks. It gives such a dirty twist to what was a pure team and I hated it.
Art is still amazing. There was less Katana and Starling than I wanted but it was cool seeing how Dinah, Starling and Babs met.
3.5 stars.
March 13, 2014
Despite being all over the place, this was still a good trade. Great characters. Some intrigue. A holier than thou cameo from Bats. This trade has a lot going for it, but the focus isn't as tight as the first few issues. A whole lot of random shit goes down and by the end, I really wasn't sure what the hell had happened, other than Poison Ivy is one crazy, hot, salad lady. I respect the artistic team in this book; Travel Foreman is a very talented artist, and Swierczynski writes full throttle action that's smart. Definitely will keep reading this series.
January 15, 2019
Rep: Japanese side character
less confusing than i remember it being but what tf happened to the choke storyline???
less confusing than i remember it being but what tf happened to the choke storyline???
December 31, 2015
My general thought process during this volume was something like "meh, whatever".
October 10, 2020
⭐️⭐️- ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Contains spoilers for Volume 1.
Volume 2 is everything Volume 1 wasn’t- it’s a messy compilation of shorter adventures that misses the big picture.
One of the biggest mistakes in comic book narration is faulty coherence. Volume 1 set up a fast-paced adventure. It ended with a cliffhanger. Naturally, the readers expect their questions to be answered in the next volume. That’s just logical.
Instead, we got Volume 2. Several shorter adventures are combined to expand the characters’ background, but the main questions aren’t answered.
1. In Volume 1, the characters face memory loss and some weird episodes. They seem to be getting brainwashed. Yet, this is never explained.
2. The main antagonist supposedly survives (according to Katana); however, the antagonist is nowhere to be seen in Volume 2? Maybe don’t end Volume 1 with that cliffhanger if you aren’t going to continue this plot?
3. Poison Ivy is supposed to die within hours due to the antagonist’s manipulation. Yet, this is never touched upon again?
If I hadn’t read Volume 1 just a few days ago, I would have missed these coherence issues, which is why I’ve rated the book 2 stars.
Don’t get me wrong, Volume 2 has its moments. Some artwork is beautiful, I liked the Black Canary flashbacks. I could have given Volume 2 3 stars, but I’m honestly sick of plot problems.
Contains spoilers for Volume 1.
Volume 2 is everything Volume 1 wasn’t- it’s a messy compilation of shorter adventures that misses the big picture.
One of the biggest mistakes in comic book narration is faulty coherence. Volume 1 set up a fast-paced adventure. It ended with a cliffhanger. Naturally, the readers expect their questions to be answered in the next volume. That’s just logical.
Instead, we got Volume 2. Several shorter adventures are combined to expand the characters’ background, but the main questions aren’t answered.
1. In Volume 1, the characters face memory loss and some weird episodes. They seem to be getting brainwashed. Yet, this is never explained.
2. The main antagonist supposedly survives (according to Katana); however, the antagonist is nowhere to be seen in Volume 2? Maybe don’t end Volume 1 with that cliffhanger if you aren’t going to continue this plot?
3. Poison Ivy is supposed to die within hours due to the antagonist’s manipulation. Yet, this is never touched upon again?
If I hadn’t read Volume 1 just a few days ago, I would have missed these coherence issues, which is why I’ve rated the book 2 stars.
Don’t get me wrong, Volume 2 has its moments. Some artwork is beautiful, I liked the Black Canary flashbacks. I could have given Volume 2 3 stars, but I’m honestly sick of plot problems.
October 28, 2019
This volume shows even less of the characters than its predecessor. It's just a mix of different events that take place over the course of a year that ends with a plot twist I probably would've cared about if there had been more time for character build-up and development. I can't even tell how all events are connected (especially with the things that happened in the previous volume). Maybe the story really is as incoherent as I think it is but probably I just don't care enough to bother understanding it.
August 11, 2018
Didn’t enjoy this one as much as the first volume. It’s very choppy mostly due to tie-ins and storylines possibly getting resolved in other books. I don’t know. Then the last book is a big flashback. It just didn’t flow well at all.
May 13, 2020
*see review of vol. 1*?????????
January 1, 2026
I miss the days where they let Poison Ivy be an actual bad guy
September 7, 2014
This series got a little better in the second volume, though, overall, it remains very, very average. And this volume kinda went all "Captain Planet", which felt a little awkward to me.
My biggest complaint is that the characters have no depth. And so it feels strange when we are forced to learn their back stories. Kinda like being given an answer to a question you didn't ask. I would much prefer to be intrigued by their personalities, their quirks, behaviours and dynamic in the group first; build my curiosity up instead of presenting every detail on a plate right under my nose.
For example, Katana. Every time she talks to her sword, someone on the team pipes up to explain that her dead husband is trapped inside and that's the reason she talks to it. Does it have to be that way? Couldn't we just wonder why the heck she is talking to her sword? Give her a weird little quirk that no one else has? Make us question her behaviour and sanity? Why does everything have to be explained to the reader at point-blank range? Give the reader a little space to imagine for themselves and breathe life into the character.
Because, as it is now, Starling is the only character with an ounce of personality. All of the other teammates seem like the exact same person, to me.
Meh. I complain too much. I guess I see that there is potential in this title... and it is just sitting there not being used.
3.5/5
My biggest complaint is that the characters have no depth. And so it feels strange when we are forced to learn their back stories. Kinda like being given an answer to a question you didn't ask. I would much prefer to be intrigued by their personalities, their quirks, behaviours and dynamic in the group first; build my curiosity up instead of presenting every detail on a plate right under my nose.
For example, Katana. Every time she talks to her sword, someone on the team pipes up to explain that her dead husband is trapped inside and that's the reason she talks to it. Does it have to be that way? Couldn't we just wonder why the heck she is talking to her sword? Give her a weird little quirk that no one else has? Make us question her behaviour and sanity? Why does everything have to be explained to the reader at point-blank range? Give the reader a little space to imagine for themselves and breathe life into the character.
Because, as it is now, Starling is the only character with an ounce of personality. All of the other teammates seem like the exact same person, to me.
Meh. I complain too much. I guess I see that there is potential in this title... and it is just sitting there not being used.
3.5/5
February 6, 2014
The reason Vol 2 is better than Vol 1 is because Poison Ivy takes over for awhile. This New 52 version of the Birds of Prey is making me feel like I really don't like Black Canary, which is a real shame because I've seen some sort of cartoon with her in it and I remember wanting to know more about her. Overall we have another cliffhanger ending that I was more annoyed with then I felt anything else. I don't know what's up with this team, I don't know if it's the writing or they aren't getting to do anything compelling because they are an all girl team (which also translates to comic book head honchos think less people will read the books since they're all girls so less focus is placed on them). This is such an interesting team and I feel like they can do some truly compelling things, but right now they're defaulting on soap opera type story lines.
March 23, 2014
Maybe it's because I was a fan of Birds of Prey before the New 52, but are these characters schizophrenic? The way they behave now is nothing like the characters I grew to enjoy so much in Gail Simone's run. The best of the book is the Origin tale, explaining who exactly Starling is; she's enjoyable mainly because she's new so I don't have a standard of comparison (although she does play out a fair bit like Grace from... I don't even remember what book that was). The main story is sidetracked by a Court of Owls crossover and then focuses on a Poison Ivy that is being dehabilitated (removing the rehabilitated aspects of the character) back to a villain. But none of these characters seem true to the way I remember them - I guess that's probably just a symptom of the New 52. Unfortunate that it did more damage than it did rehabilitation.
June 12, 2013
This was all over the place. Time-wise and story-wise. There's a bit of the Night of the Owls event in here, there's some of Canary's past, there's some oddness with Poison Ivy, there's a bit where they meet as a team for the first time. It just felt like it jumped around too much, as soon as I became at all interested in a story line it went on to something else. And some story lines weren't really that interesting to begin with. So, hoping this gets better. Definitely miss the old Birds of Prey.
November 18, 2015
This was not as good as the first volume and for some reason most of the story was happening somewhere off page which left the rest feeling disjointed. The writing was flat with the story going no where. I found issue #0 was the best out of this group of issues.
I don't understand why Black Canary, Batgirl and Poison Ivy are so boring, you wouldn't think that Katana who is so emotionless would turn out to be one of the more interesting characters. Starling continues to be a fun character too bad this volume wasn't.
I don't understand why Black Canary, Batgirl and Poison Ivy are so boring, you wouldn't think that Katana who is so emotionless would turn out to be one of the more interesting characters. Starling continues to be a fun character too bad this volume wasn't.
February 4, 2016
Again 3.5 stars. Because Batgirl comes in. And Poison Ivy shows her devious nature. Then a Talon shows up. It's interesting how Gotham is being tied in. This is like a sideshow of the main events that have happened at the Big Top. Still interesting but not shocking and take your breath away interesting.
April 28, 2013
The plotting seems to have faltered somewhat here, as compared to the previous volume. No real surprises, though it's as fast-paced as ever. As for the art, Travel Foreman is great on horror titles like Animal Man, where he does terrific monsters, but unsuited for a book featuring female heroes.
April 1, 2013
The book was honestly floundering until they scrapped the whole story line for a "Night of the Owls" tie-in. I sure hope this series gets better soon.
December 22, 2016
I didn't enjoy this at all, I'm not sure if I'll continue with this comic.
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