Birds of Prey: Huntress

Batman Post-Crisis #130

by Greg Rucka, Rick Burchett (Illustrations), Tula Lotay (Cover art)

In celebration of the feature film Birds of Prey (And the Fantabulous Emancipation of ONe Harley Quinn) comes BIRDS OF PREY: HUNTRESS.

Meet the character that inspired the film in this classic story!

The Huntress is framed for murder! Avoiding the Gotham City police, Huntress must revisit her childhood to discover the true culprit. While she seeks the clues necessary to prove her innocence, Batman and Nightwing are tracking her every move! As the mystery unravels, Huntress will uncover the terrible truth about the death of her parents.

From Eisner Award-winning author Greg Rucka (Gotham Central, Wonder Woman) and the Eisner Award-winning artist Rick Burchett (Batman, Superman), this volume collects Batman/Huntress: Cry for Blood #1-6

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Dc Comics, Batman, Superheroes, Comic Book, Graphic Novels Comics

152 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

Greg Rucka, is an American comic book writer and novelist, known for his work on such comics as Action Comics, Batwoman: Detective Comics, and the miniseries Superman: World of New Krypton for DC Comics, and for novels such as his Queen & Country series.

Reviews

[Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

"You want justice served? You want vengeance taken? You want honor restored? Then do it yourself. That's 'omertà.' When blood cries for blood, you answer the call . . . and you answer it alone." -- Helena 'The Huntress' Bertinelli, in the opening pages with her mission statement of sorts

Graphic novel origin tale - and don't be fooled by a recent re-release version boasting the cinematic Birds of Prey (And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn)-themed cover artwork, as this story is unrelated to that film and was originally issued in 2002 - featuring that purple-clad acerbic, acrobatic and crossbow-wielding Gotham City vigilante who, much unlike that burg's Dark Knight, has no issue with killing in her pursuit of justice . Also, although Batman is listed front and center in the title he is strictly a minor supporting player here (hell, Nightwing and Robin get more page time), and this storyline takes place well before Huntress officially teamed with Black Canary and Barbara 'Oracle' Gordon in the formidable 'Birds of Prey' crimefighting trio. It was not bad, but it's dialogue-heavy instead of having enough action scenes, and at times leans a little too much on the aura of The Godfather film trilogy in its depiction of organized crime. It was a shame that Ms. Gail Simone did not pen this volume, as roughly during the same era she churned out several editions of consistently absorbing Birds of Prey action-drama adventures for DC with what seemed like relative ease.

[Chad · Rating 4 out of 5]

Greg Rucka takes a Godfather approach to Huntress. When Helena Bertinelli's mob cousin is found murdered with a crossbow bolt, the Huntress is number one on the suspect board. This is definitely more of a crime family story than a super-hero story. Rucka fills in Helena's backstory and because it's Greg Rucka, he finds a way to incorporate The Question into the story as well.

Rick Burchett's art is solid. If you're wondering where this fits into the Batman timeline, it's right after No Man's Land ended, in the Batman: New Gotham era that Rucka also wrote.

[Sam Quixote · Rating 1 out of 5]

Helena Bertinelli/Huntress’ gangster pop got smoked by another gangster - Helena wants revenge, blood for blood. Yay…?

Greg Rucka is in full-on hack mode right from page one of this book which opens with a corpse floating in a swimming pool like every other noir. I’m guessing Rucka is a huge Mario Puzo fan because this book reads like Godfather fan-fic with mafia cliches everywhere. The one exception being at one point when Helena leaves for the countryside to train in Eastern martial arts for contrived reasons so we get a cliched training montage of she and her sensei doing moves outside, etc. like a bad ‘80s movie.

Batman and The Question are side-characters and don’t really add anything to the story. Was it good that Huntress, rather than taking the high road, basically continued the Cosa Nostra bloodthirsty culture? Eh, I was just glad when this nonsense was over. Rick Burchett’s art was essentially DC house style at the time (2000) and it looks dated and unremarkable now.

Batman/Huntress: Cry for Blood is a hackneyed mafia story with capes - another Greg Rucka stinka!

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

When a mobster winds up dead with a crossbow bolt in his chest, all signs point to The Huntress! Can The Huntress clear her name and answer some Questions about her past before Batman and GCPD bring her to justice?

My wife got me this for my birthday. I've long found the peripheral members of the Batman family to be more interesting than Batman and the Earth-2 Huntress is one of my favorites.

This is the first post-Crisis Huntress story I've read and I liked it quite a bit. Helena Bertinelli is the daughter of a mobster, the last Bertinelli after seeing her whole family slaughtered when she was a child. Now, she fights crime in Batman's image but in a more lethal fashion. In this outing, she's framed for murder.

Guest starring the Batman family plus The Question(!) and Richard Dragon, Rucka explores the Huntress' origin as she tries to figure out who's framing her. It reads more like a crime comic than standard super hero stuff, not surprising since Rucka was one of the masterminds behind Gotham Central. Rick Burchett's art is pretty slick. On an odd side note, back in the day I dated a woman whose mother dated Rick Burchett when they were in high school.

I like how The Question was an integral part of the tale, more so than the Batman family, and that he and Helena didn't immediately become entangled. I also like that Helena didn't go all goody-goody at the end despite the guidance of The Question and Dragon. Maybe I missed out by not reading more post-Knightfall Batman stuff because I want to read stories featuring The Huntress.

She's no Helena Wayne but I like this Huntress quite a bit just the same. Four out of five crossbow bolts.

[Subham · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was fun I guess?

So the story is mostly about Helena and well we learn her family history and tragic origins but when she is framed for murders and goes against the bat family and trains herself with The Question (Vic sage) and Richard dragon, something changes within her and she goes to find who is implicating her and her complex family dynamics and the twists keep on coming and its brutal and changes Helena's character for good. I like how its tragic and the story leaves it open ended as to what happened and shows the revenge side of the story really well. I didn't like that Batman was in the whole book for just a few panels when his name is on the front but regardless still a quick and good read and it will make you love Helena for sure!

[L. McCoy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Different than I expected... but mostly in a good way.

What’s it about?
One of Huntress’ criminal cousins is found dead. The thing is it looks like they were shot with one of her arrows. The Batfamily thinks it might be her but it’s not and she needs to figure out what’s going on.

Pros:
The story is pretty interesting. So despite the book’s storyline I just described when I read it, it felt more like a crime drama than a superhero comic and that’s really cool. (Note: obviously it still is a superhero comic but some elements of the story and it’s tone didn’t feel as much like the typical superhero adventure)
The artwork is pretty damn good, fits the book as a whole very well.

The characters are pretty interesting. This book is more about Huntress than Batman and I must say, her story and the character as a whole is pretty bad-ass.
The action scenes are pretty good.
This book has some good plot-twists and isn’t predictable.

Cons:
So at one point the plot sorta turned to a different, honestly not as interesting direction for an issue or two. Those issues weren’t bad but the sudden change in tone and such, maybe you gotta read it to know what I’m saying but yeah...
This story felt kinda rushed. That is surprising for a six-issue miniseries but really I think it would have been better if it was 2 or 3 issues longer.
I didn’t care for the ending much (partially because it was rushed but also a slightly weak conclusion).

Mixed thoughts:
There was one scene referencing specific events from another story and the characters were even arguing about it. It’s slightly explained fortunately but not entirely so I don’t know. Not a major issue and I’m glad they half-explain a bit of what it’s about but I still had a slight “WTF was that about” feeling.

Overall:
A good, not great comic. I don’t think I’d particularly recommend it if you aren’t interested in Huntress but she seemed cool in this so I enjoyed it.

4/5

[Katherine (Kat) · Rating 4 out of 5]

4/5 Stars

Individual issues rated below -

Batman/Huntress: Cry for Blood #1: 3.5/5
Batman/Huntress: Cry for Blood #2: 4/5
Batman/Huntress: Cry for Blood #3: 4/5
Batman/Huntress: Cry for Blood #4: 4/5
Batman/Huntress: Cry for Blood #5: 4.5/5
Batman/Huntress: Cry for Blood #6: 3/5

[Viola · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Great Helena Bertinelli focused miniseries. Cry for Blood and Batwoman: Elegy are proof that Greg Rucka knows how to tell an origin story. I liked the characterization, backstory, Helena's chemistry with the Question and not shying away from showing Batman in a more negative light, calling out his hypocritical treatment of Huntress. The art was the great kind of simplistic.
I also liked Tim's drive to prove someone was obviously framing Helena, it shows that he's the best Robin (fight me).
I really need to read the Nightwing/Huntress miniseries too.

[Logan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really great book! After seeing Huntress in Arrow, i wanted to get to know the character more, and this is a great story to jump onto. This book is set a while after No mans Land, where Huntress is hunting the mafia and she has a on the rocks relationship with batman. She is framed and hunted by the police and batman, and with the help of The Question, she must find out who really did it! Highly recommend it!

[Samuel · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was aight. Art was good, but not amazing. Story was fine. I thought the lore dump at the start about the mafia was pretty boring, but besides that it was an okay read.

[Tiara · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was fantastic. This story left me satisfied unlike The Hiketeia. Now don't get me wrong, The Hiketeia was very well written, but just felt abrupt and like it could've benefited from being much longer. Did not get this feeling here. I'm still a novice in the DC world, but Rucka created another great starting point for learning about another character in the DC universe. In fact, I think she may have just become my favorite character.

[Wendy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have been meaning to read this since No Man's Land because I wanted to understand Helena Bertinelli and understand why Batman was such a jerk to her then and now. Through her eyes, I saw Batman in a new, not so pleasant light.

Rucka once again does a masterful job of baring the soul of a character and presenting it to the reader in a package filled with depth and emotion.

[Paweł · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nie ma to jak historia z silną bohaterką. Schematy filmów o mafii przetykane osobistym dramatem Heleny.

[Rylan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was beautiful, I love Huntress so much ever since I first saw in Justice League Unlimited she’s been one of my favorite characters. I loved everything about this book from the retelling of her origin to her relationship with the Question. This is a must read for any fan of the Huntress it’s especially great for new comers who are getting into the character through the Birds Of Prey movie.

[Seth · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a pretty good story, the Bat-Family and The Huntress trying to solve the mystery of who is framing the Huntress for her cousins murder. I liked the story well enough, I just didn't love the art or the ending so much. The Huntress is still the DC Queen of bad assery and long live the Queen!

[Dr Rashmit Mishra · Rating 4 out of 5]

The events of this book are set sometime after "No Man's land" . No men's land was a fantastic story arc in many senses and it led to alienation of Huntress, who was never really a part of the Bat- family anyways , she after all was a killer and Batman used her to lure joker and further alienate her away from the family .

Talking of family, that's what this book is essentially about , the mafia family , that rules Gotham in the shadows of Batman , and Huntress 's family.

This book deals with a proper origin story for Huntress and plays out a mafia story in the viens of "The Godfather " in fact there are quite a few similar scenes in the two , this is garnished with a murder mystery that sees Huntress trying to clear her name from the murder .

The involvement of Batman is very minimal in this book , making this a pure Huntress book , and honestly with a clean , crisp art and the mafia storyline, it was definitely the best Huntress book I ever read , and i feel its an essential read for all bat-fans.

Quick edit : the only reason i dont give it a 5 star rating , is because at points the dialogues were way too corny , the involvement of 'The Question' felt unjustified and the book was marketed as a Batman/Huntress collab , where it barely featured Batman , so i felt cheated in that respect.

Another tiny edit : the comixology version i bought was so lagging when i flipped the pages . Ugh .

[Eva B.]

NOTE TO SELF: you own this one as Birds of Prey: Huntress

[Vinicius · Rating 5 out of 5]

Muito braba essa HQ. Além de retomar a história da origem da caçadora, mostrou a evolução da personagem superando buscar apenas vingança. Batman aparece mas não é tão frio e calculista, ele reconhece a caçadora e deixa ela resolver os b.o dela suave.

[Wayland Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rucka is a fantastic writer, and, for whateve reason, particularly good with female characters. He does a great job with everyone here, althogh I really don't think we needed another telling of Huntress' origing, but that's me.

Helena has finally more or less gotten the seal of approval from Batman, making her life in Gotham a lot easier. Then a mob boss (her preferred prey) shows up dead by crossbow bolt (her preferred weapon). Now Huntress, with some help from the always enigmatic Question, has to solve the case while avoiding both the police and the Bat-family.

I love Rucka's writing, I'm a fan of the Question, and some versions (including this one) of Huntress. I enjoyed this.

Recommended to fans of Huntress, Question, and various Gotham tales.

[Saimi Korhonen · Rating 4 out of 5]

“You want justice served? You want vengeance taken? You want honor restored? Then you do it yourself. That’s omertá. When blood cries for blood, you answer the call. And you answer it alone.”

When Helena Bertinelli was eight, her family was massacred. Only she was left alive. Now, years later, Helena Bertinelli has adopted the vigilante persona of the Huntress and is determined to find out who was behind her family's destruction and avenge them. But can she resist her darkest urges and remain "one of the good guys?" Can Batman or the mysterious Question help her?

Huntress is a fascinating character and one I have been wanting to read more about. This book offers an interesting look into her dual identity and explores both Helena Bertinelli, the mafia princess who saw her family massacred and was raised to become a weapon, and Huntress, the vigilante who buts heads with Batman and teeters on the edge between hero and villain. I like how she genuinely feels like a vigilante rather than a clear-cut hero: she is not afraid to get her hands dirty and she is not solely driven by a desire to help people. Yes, she wants to fight against her family and the mafia, but she is also on a personal mission to get vengeance, which is not as "heroic". Her backstory is horrifyingly brutal and though her determination to keep everyone at arm's length and refuse everyone's help does frustrate me, it makes sense why she has such a hard time trusting anyone or letting anyone near, emotionally. One aspect of her that made me feel so sad for her is how alienated she feels from everyone, even her superhero peers who, most of them, have experienced the kinds of traumas and losses that you'd think would make them be able to understand her: “They think they know what I want. Why I do what I do. But they don’t. They never have. They’ve never even tried to find out. He’s made it abundantly clear – I don’t belong." But even though she is not close with anyone, it made me smile that Tim Drake, for example, was certain she was innocent and demanded that Babs, as Oracle, help him investigate the case and figure out the truth. And Dick tries to offer her her help and only becomes angry when she, albeit accidentally, shoots an arrow into Batman. Though she is not one of the family, they do try to trust her and help her.

For Helena, this story is about finding out the truth as well as learning to be more than just a weapon. I loved this quote from this one guy she spends time with, who tries to help her: “Always moving forward as fast as you can to keep from ever looking back. Passion and rage as fuel. Fear and vengeance as destination. And the faster you move, the more your past drags at you, the more of you that breaks away. You’re coming apart. You’re shredding yourself. Slow down. Remember to breathe. It’s simple. It’s the essence of life.” In the end, there is a sense of her finally moving on, with her throwing away her Huntress costume and achieving what she dreamed of. It's a bittersweet scene, as she does what the Question, Vic, tries to stop her from doing, which was allow her biological father and one of the people behind the execution of her fam, Cassamento, be killed. She gets her vengeance and as a reader I felt both happy and sad for her, because, in the end, it doesn't change the fact that her family is dead and she is forever scarred by witnessing it. But she also tips off the cops and arranges for her uncle, the killer of Cassamento, to be arrested, so she does help take down the mob. It's a complex scene, a fitting end for a story about such a complex woman. This comic definitely made me love Helena even more and want to read more and more stories about her. One last thing about Helena: it was so cool seeing glimpses of her normal life as Helena rather than Huntress. She works as a teacher and it seems the kids really like her.

The supporting characters were all well done as in they felt like themselves. Batman is his gruff self but is also actively trying to help Helena, though he does not always go about it the right way. Same with Dick Grayson, who seems to have had a fling or something akin to that with Helena. Tim Drake was a cutie pie. The Question – or Vic – was a new character for me and despite his mask kinda creeping me out with its facelessness, I ended up quite liking his vibe and his genuine desire to be there for Helena and help her. There were so many old mafia men that I mixed some with others, but that didn't hinder my enjoyment of the book. The main villain was not the most complex man out there but he did surprise me with his reveal that he is Helena's biological father. He had an affair with her mom, Maria, who was abused by her husband. When another mob boss ordered the Bertinellis to be killed, Cassamento ordered everyone but Maria to be assassinated, but the killer messed up and spared the wrong Bertinelli woman. There's something so cruel about her survival being an accident: there was no grand reason, it was all just a mistake. I liked that Helena got her vengeance on him after all he did to her family and tried to frame her as a murderer and then force her to be his little soldier, even though, as I said, that finale scene was not pure celebration. Speaking of the mafia, it was fun diving into how Helena's relationship with her family and family business developed as she grew up: she went from someone who was taught her family were Robin Hood type figures to someone who has seen the brutal truth and wants to put a stop to their crimes and killings.

I really enjoyed this comic. The art had a vintage feel to it and I liked the limited, almost muted colour palette. It fit well with Huntress's vibe. I would happily recommend this to anyone interested in Helena Bertinelli – this would be an easy place to start getting to know her, as it feels like an origin story of sorts. There are some references to other DC stories but I wasn't bothered by them (I had not read said mentioned stories).

[Guilherme Smee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bah, gente, esse nem parece um quadrinho do Greg Rucka, apesar de ser. Os quadrinhos do Greg Rucka costuma m apresentar personagens densos, complexos com narrativas intrincadas e pesadas. Essa minissérie traz uma narrativa bastante linear e sem muitas surpresas, apesar de desvendar uma questão-chave da origem de Helena Bertinelli, a Caçadora. Também uma escolha acertada nessa minissérie foi colocar o questão e seu "sensei" Richard Dragon como personagens principais, evitando assim que o Batman servisse mais uma vez como mentor da Caçadora. Os desenhos do veterano Rich Buckler estão estranhos porque ele não se decide se está querendo fazer um estilo de traço que seja mais calcado num traço atual ou se ele quer buscar um estilo retroativo. Eu preferia que ele usasse um traço retroativo, mas isso não fica nem claro nas sequências de flashback, onde este recurso seria muito bem utilizado. Enfim, se você está naquela dúvida "compro ou não compro este encadernado", eu diria para você não comprar. É uma história totalmente dispensável, a não ser que você seja, como eu, um fã da Helena Bertinelli.

[Hilary "Fox" · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is said to be a Batman/Huntress book but people in the know realize this is really a Question/Huntress book. It's all the better for being that.

When one of Huntress's enemies is found dead with a crossbow bolt in his chest the world all turns on her. She's up to her old tricks again, isn't she? Who else would be running around with a crossbow, after all? Things are made significantly worse when she accidentally ends up nailing Bruce in the chest with one later. The only person she has left to turn to is one Vic Sage, the Question, who is asking a number of those himself about the situation at large.

This is a great Question comic, and the backbone for the Justice League Unlimited romance between Huntress and Question that I grew up loving so much. There are so many great scenes, and a fun bit of intrigue to unravel the drama between the mafia families of Gotham. This works well as an origin book for Huntress, and a deeper look into what makes Vic tick.

Got this one for my partner for Christmas, and I have to say I think he enjoyed it just as much as I hoped he would. Long live the Question.

[Kier Scrivener · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Identity is fragile, we construct it out of glass and pretend it's cast in iron."

First five star read of 2021, this was my first foray into Huntress and man, I loved it. It was completely solid, the art was integrative, telling a story all it's own, weaving in and out and with background information and evocative images. Rucka's writing was top tier from the first to the last page, Helena's characterization and story was impactful and allowed a new reader to understand and immediately be drawn in. It was emotional, it was funny, it used the characters of Gotham well.

[Aidan]

Not Rucka’s best, but it’s nice to see a Huntress story follow up on her heavy experiences in NML, which were probably the high point of Huntress material, as well as a follow up to Dennis O’Neil’s Question run. Excited to see where Rucka takes the Question next, and it’s too bad he never wrote much more Huntress material. Rick Burchett’s BTAS influenced art is easily the highlight here. The Godfather references are almost too many, but honestly they were pretty fun in how detailed they were. The wedding sequence in particular was a fun twist on such a classic scene.

[James W. Ware · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars.

Read on DC Infinity.

I love Huntress and Question together. Years ago, Justice League Unlimited made them an OTP for me.

Was this the romantic Question/Huntress love story I wanted? No.

Was it flawless? No.

However, Cry for Blood is a fascinating and at times beautiful exploration of family, identity, trust,and revenge the features the Bat Family characters we all love as a supporting cast.

My only wish is that it ran a little longer. The last issue felt just a little rushed and the ending didn’t quite pack the emotional punch I’d hoped for. This really didn’t ruin my experience, though.

It’s 6 issues! Read it in an evening and, despite its occasional flaws, you’re in for a good time.

[Carolina · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s a good enough story, though sometimes confusing. The art was nice, but not perfectly consistent.

[nat ☾ · Rating 4 out of 5]

helena is an icon. a legend. love her <3

[Mia · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was rather slow at parts, but overall, I like it, especially when Barbara showed up.

[Brittney · Rating 5 out of 5]

She was probably my least favorite from the movie, but this comic collection was on point. Absolutely enjoyed!

[Jordan T · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is the BEST!!! It is funny and very exciting. It's defendant one of the best mysteries I've red. I am a big huntress fan and when I saw this book I just had to read it. I loved reading about Huntress' backstory how the author built her characters.