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Birds of Prey (1999) (First Editions)
Birds of Prey, Vol. 7: Perfect Pitch
After being paralyzed by the Joker, former Batgirl Barbara Gordon became Oracle and formed a crime-fighting team with other female heroes including the martial artist with a devastating sonic scream, Black Canary, the vigilante known as the Huntress and the mysterious Lady Blackhawk!
In this volume, the Secret Society of Super- Villains takes one of the Birds of Prey hostage and demands their leader's secret identity as ransom. The Birds will have to save their friend and battle the superhuman mercenary known as Deathstroke in order to defend the security of their leader.
Collects Birds of Prey #86–90, 92–95
224 pages, Paperback
First published March 30, 2007
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377 people want to read
About the author
Gail Simone
1,078 books1,237 followersGail Simone is a comic book writer well-known for her work on Birds of Prey (DC), Wonder Woman (DC), and Deadpool (Marvel), among others, and has also written humorous and critical commentary on comics and the comics industry such as the original "Women in Refrigerators" website and a regular column called "You'll All Be Sorry".
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews
March 13, 2019
Scaling back a little after the lengthier-than-usual and multi-storyline Vol. 6: The Battle Within, Simone and crew keep it to just two tales - which, a little jarringly, are separated by a "1 Year Later" announcement - in Vol. 7: Perfect Pitch. The opener features the 'BoP' quartet, in a continuation from said prior volume, setting up shop to fight the organized criminal element on the streets of a conspicuously Superman-less Metropolis. (It's probably a typical story by now in this series, but is still executed with a graceful style by the dependable Simone.) It was highlighted by appearances from Commissioner Gordon and Green Arrow, and concluded with an unexpected but slyly charming little scene between a diligent Huntress, an appreciative Black Canary and stoic guest star Batman.
The second story has a different flavor, with Black Canary overseas on a brutal jungle-based training mission. In her absence the roster is filled out by the camouflage-gifted Gypsy and the steely-eyed martial artist Lady Shiva (a.k.a 'Jade Canary'). Much of the humor - and there were a few actual laugh-out-loud moments, courtesy of the dialogue, during the car chase scene - is derived from the contrasting personalities of the teammates and also the young but street-smart school student (the daughter of a villain) who is briefly in their protective custody. This one doesn't skimp on the action, either, with our good gals taking on some particularly bad guys, like the disgustingly evil Prometheus.
The second story has a different flavor, with Black Canary overseas on a brutal jungle-based training mission. In her absence the roster is filled out by the camouflage-gifted Gypsy and the steely-eyed martial artist Lady Shiva (a.k.a 'Jade Canary'). Much of the humor - and there were a few actual laugh-out-loud moments, courtesy of the dialogue, during the car chase scene - is derived from the contrasting personalities of the teammates and also the young but street-smart school student (the daughter of a villain) who is briefly in their protective custody. This one doesn't skimp on the action, either, with our good gals taking on some particularly bad guys, like the disgustingly evil Prometheus.
February 11, 2019
A really strong first half sadly shifted to a okay second half due to event.
So what's it about now that we're in the 7th volume of birds of prey? Is it still fun? Well yeah, duh, it's written by Gail Simone. So we have the birds all working together once more to take down the mob. Yes...the fucking MOB. Even Batman gets involved and he isn't too happy. We also have Gordan find out the big secret of who Barbara really is. Next up is the one year time skip which leaves Black Canary and Shiva exchanging lives and trying to be each other's style of life for awhile while protecting a certain doctor's daughter from getting abducted by one of the most vicious villains out there.
Good: First half really is fun. The feel of family with the team is special that don't get in other titles. The art is a nice improvement here. Not so many ass shots, a bit more cartoony, yet the action stays super high end and fun. Also the year time skip isn't all bad, I like the switch between Shiva and Black Canary a lot.
Bad: But the pacing of the 2nd half feels off. As if we just got back together the team in the first half and now they are kind of broken up here. Also, the dialogue abundance at times in fights still is a bit much.
Overall, another great collection. Sure, still too much dialogue at times and the shift of the 2nd half is a bit much, but it remains fun and entertaining throughout. A 3.5 out of 5.
So what's it about now that we're in the 7th volume of birds of prey? Is it still fun? Well yeah, duh, it's written by Gail Simone. So we have the birds all working together once more to take down the mob. Yes...the fucking MOB. Even Batman gets involved and he isn't too happy. We also have Gordan find out the big secret of who Barbara really is. Next up is the one year time skip which leaves Black Canary and Shiva exchanging lives and trying to be each other's style of life for awhile while protecting a certain doctor's daughter from getting abducted by one of the most vicious villains out there.
Good: First half really is fun. The feel of family with the team is special that don't get in other titles. The art is a nice improvement here. Not so many ass shots, a bit more cartoony, yet the action stays super high end and fun. Also the year time skip isn't all bad, I like the switch between Shiva and Black Canary a lot.
Bad: But the pacing of the 2nd half feels off. As if we just got back together the team in the first half and now they are kind of broken up here. Also, the dialogue abundance at times in fights still is a bit much.
Overall, another great collection. Sure, still too much dialogue at times and the shift of the 2nd half is a bit much, but it remains fun and entertaining throughout. A 3.5 out of 5.
August 13, 2021
Birds of Prey: Perfect Pitch collects nine issues (Birds of Prey #86–90, 92–95) of the 2003 on-going series and covers four stories: "A Wakeful Time", "Perfect Pitch", and "Progeny".
"A Wakeful Time" is a one-issue storyline told in three parts (Birds of Prey #86) has the Birds of Prey finding a new headquarters at Dalten Tower. They throw a surprise get well party for Barbara Gordon. While Black Canary is shopping for a gift for Gordon later that night she encounters a bad guy named Tonantzin and defeats him. Meanwhile, Huntress tracks down Don Sigiorello and forces him through threat of violence to name her his new capo of his family.
"Pitch Perfect" is a four-issue storyline (Birds of Prey #87–90) has Noah Kuttler as the Calculator, purveyor of information to villains, trying to find the identity of his counterpart – Oracle. In order to accomplish this, he manages to capture someone who knows Oracle's identity. Meanwhile, Huntress continues her efforts against the mobs with the help of Creote and Black Canary.
"Progeny" is a four-issue storyline (Birds of Prey #92–95) that continues the Birds of Prey story a year later, with new addition to the team with one surprise – Talia al Ghul as Jade Canary. It has Bradford Thorne as the Crime Doctor wanting to defect from The Society – he contacts Oracle, who sent Huntress to protect him from the likes of Clayface, Killer Crock, and the Ventriloquist.
Gail Simone penned the entire trade paperback. For the most part, it is written rather well. Simone's strength is in her characterization, plotting, and her dialogue has improved. Simone manages to convince readers that the cast have a deep bond with the occasional, but welcomed sassy asides. The plotting – especially the titular story, is well plotted with nice curveballs to keep the story engaging.
Paulo Siqueira (Birds of Prey #89–90, 92–94), Joe Bennett and Eddy Barrows (Birds of Prey #87–88), Adriana Melo, Bruce Timms, and David Lopez (Birds of Prey #86), Adam DeKraker (Birds of Prey #90), and Joe Prado (Birds of Prey #95) penciled the trade paperback. For the most part, the penciling was done rather well, but suffers from an ever-changing bullpen of artists. Timm's style of cartooning is new to the series and among the more traditional superhero sequences Bennett and Siqueira are the best as both supply clean expressive work. However, it is too many pencilers, which makes the artistic flow rather coarse.
All in all, Birds of Prey: Perfect Pitch is a good continuation to what would hopefully be a wonderful series.
"A Wakeful Time" is a one-issue storyline told in three parts (Birds of Prey #86) has the Birds of Prey finding a new headquarters at Dalten Tower. They throw a surprise get well party for Barbara Gordon. While Black Canary is shopping for a gift for Gordon later that night she encounters a bad guy named Tonantzin and defeats him. Meanwhile, Huntress tracks down Don Sigiorello and forces him through threat of violence to name her his new capo of his family.
"Pitch Perfect" is a four-issue storyline (Birds of Prey #87–90) has Noah Kuttler as the Calculator, purveyor of information to villains, trying to find the identity of his counterpart – Oracle. In order to accomplish this, he manages to capture someone who knows Oracle's identity. Meanwhile, Huntress continues her efforts against the mobs with the help of Creote and Black Canary.
"Progeny" is a four-issue storyline (Birds of Prey #92–95) that continues the Birds of Prey story a year later, with new addition to the team with one surprise – Talia al Ghul as Jade Canary. It has Bradford Thorne as the Crime Doctor wanting to defect from The Society – he contacts Oracle, who sent Huntress to protect him from the likes of Clayface, Killer Crock, and the Ventriloquist.
Gail Simone penned the entire trade paperback. For the most part, it is written rather well. Simone's strength is in her characterization, plotting, and her dialogue has improved. Simone manages to convince readers that the cast have a deep bond with the occasional, but welcomed sassy asides. The plotting – especially the titular story, is well plotted with nice curveballs to keep the story engaging.
Paulo Siqueira (Birds of Prey #89–90, 92–94), Joe Bennett and Eddy Barrows (Birds of Prey #87–88), Adriana Melo, Bruce Timms, and David Lopez (Birds of Prey #86), Adam DeKraker (Birds of Prey #90), and Joe Prado (Birds of Prey #95) penciled the trade paperback. For the most part, the penciling was done rather well, but suffers from an ever-changing bullpen of artists. Timm's style of cartooning is new to the series and among the more traditional superhero sequences Bennett and Siqueira are the best as both supply clean expressive work. However, it is too many pencilers, which makes the artistic flow rather coarse.
All in all, Birds of Prey: Perfect Pitch is a good continuation to what would hopefully be a wonderful series.
July 14, 2016
I really really enjoyed this! What a great combination of female heroes and the storylines were intriguing as well. I loved the way the team works together and I enjoyed the Shiva/Dinah life swap storyline a lot!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 15, 2013
A little bit better, but there is a lot going on. And this trade is a casualty of the year skip following Infinite Crisis. I'm not sure why the issues after the time skip were included in this collection instead of in the next, but it was a bit jarring. A few big changes, some temporary. Babs tells her father that she's Oracle now, and had been Batgirl in the past. He takes it rather well, considering. The group gets Batman on their side, as much as anyone can who isn't Batfamily. (Well, Babs is. Huntress, not so much.) And the issues following the year skip have what's actually a pretty interesting storyline, with Dinah switching places with Shiva, so each can see what the other's life has been like. Best part, though, was probably Dinah teaming up with Green Arrow for a few pages. It didn't last long, but it was a good look at their relationship at the time. I loved that they were able to act like professional adults while still feeling these conflicting emotions for each other. Most effective scene in the book. Most effective scene in the last couple dozen issues of Birds of Prey, for that matter.
March 30, 2016
Oh, Gail Simone... How I love the way you write the Birds of Prey... This is a lovely team book with a satisfying amount of quality character interaction. All these ladies have their own style, personality, and appearance. They're have enough in common to work well together, but there's also tension between some characters.
None of the plots in here are going to blow your mind, but that's not the point of the book. It's about interactions. It's about a group of women working as a team without being catty or competitive in a destructive/negative way. It's about how they support each other and learn to work together despite differences in approach or code. It's about developing relationships and learning to appreciate - or at least respect - each other. And that's beautiful. It's also about a bunch of beautiful women kicking ass. It's a pleasure to read.
Birds of Prey is mainly a team book, but Simone doesn't leave us without individual character moments either. There are different sections of the book that focus on or showcase the skills of Barbara/Oracle, Black Canary/Dinah, Huntress/Helena, and even Lady Shiva (I included their personal names for personal moments and professional names for hero moments)! And impressively enough, all of the women are interesting! I would have loved to learn more about the fascinatingly mysterious and cold Lady Shiva, or have the wild, fun-loving Zinda get some spotlight, and Gypsy seems like a sweetheart I'd enjoy getting to know. However, I understand there's limited space and Simone wanted to focus on developing her core Birds: Oracle, Black Canary, and Huntress. Still, a girl can dream, can't she?
All of the artwork is well done, but I do favour the art done by Siqueira and Riggs over the various artists who did the first half of the volume. I just love their art! Such great colours and lines that are tidy but also expressive.
None of the plots in here are going to blow your mind, but that's not the point of the book. It's about interactions. It's about a group of women working as a team without being catty or competitive in a destructive/negative way. It's about how they support each other and learn to work together despite differences in approach or code. It's about developing relationships and learning to appreciate - or at least respect - each other. And that's beautiful. It's also about a bunch of beautiful women kicking ass. It's a pleasure to read.
Birds of Prey is mainly a team book, but Simone doesn't leave us without individual character moments either. There are different sections of the book that focus on or showcase the skills of Barbara/Oracle, Black Canary/Dinah, Huntress/Helena, and even Lady Shiva (I included their personal names for personal moments and professional names for hero moments)! And impressively enough, all of the women are interesting! I would have loved to learn more about the fascinatingly mysterious and cold Lady Shiva, or have the wild, fun-loving Zinda get some spotlight, and Gypsy seems like a sweetheart I'd enjoy getting to know. However, I understand there's limited space and Simone wanted to focus on developing her core Birds: Oracle, Black Canary, and Huntress. Still, a girl can dream, can't she?
All of the artwork is well done, but I do favour the art done by Siqueira and Riggs over the various artists who did the first half of the volume. I just love their art! Such great colours and lines that are tidy but also expressive.
June 28, 2020
Perfect Pitch is the fifth volume of Simone's Birds of Prey Run, and is considerably slimmer than Vol 6.
The first story is a wrap up of previous character arc that Simone has been building for the last several volumes. The Birds of Prey battle the Calculator and a few Society Minions, specifically Deathstroke.
The Calculator is another great villain for Oracle, and he is deliciously creepy in this. Barbara continues her physical therapy to hopefully regain more movement after the discovery of being able to wiggle her toes after her tech infection last volume. She finally reveals her Oracle crime fighting to her father, Jim Gordan, who of course reveals he knew about her Batgirl past. Both she and her father stand up to Batman in this story, Barbara defending Huntress and Jim defending his daughter. It's a great moment.
Huntress comes into her own in this volume, completing her mission to help destroy Gotham's Mob problem, and earning a "great job" from Batman himself (proving that not even Batman is not above being wrong, and admitting error). Dinah continues to be a warm and wonderful character, kissing Batman for not being a complete dick. Savant redeems himself, refusing to give in to torture and defending Oracle.
It's a nice end for the characters on this team, just in time for an Event Wide DC Cross Over INFINITE CRISIS, making the second story line in this volume occur one year later.
Post-infinite crisis, the Birds are back in Gotham, and Black Canary has been replaced by Lady Shiva, calling herself the Jade Canary. Dinah has agreed to training setup by Shiva, only if the world's greatest assassin would take her place on a superhero team (and boy, is it fun to see Shiva interact with the other Birds and wear the fishnets!). While Dinah continues to level up her martial arts skills (but at what moral cost?), the Birds confront Prometheus (who I have never heard of) while trying to recruit Matt Thorne, a doctor trying to leave the Secret Society of Supervillains, called the Society in this. The Birds add a temporary agent known as Gypsy, who can make herself invisible (who I have also never heard of).
Matt Thorne is vastly entertaining in this, and it makes me want to see more of this version of the character. The artists have changed up, and the art has vastly improved. Overall this was a much more light hearted volume than previous, despite glimpses into the youth of Lady Shiva and the end of Matt Thorne. More Lady Shiva and Dinah interactions!
The first story is a wrap up of previous character arc that Simone has been building for the last several volumes. The Birds of Prey battle the Calculator and a few Society Minions, specifically Deathstroke.
The Calculator is another great villain for Oracle, and he is deliciously creepy in this. Barbara continues her physical therapy to hopefully regain more movement after the discovery of being able to wiggle her toes after her tech infection last volume. She finally reveals her Oracle crime fighting to her father, Jim Gordan, who of course reveals he knew about her Batgirl past. Both she and her father stand up to Batman in this story, Barbara defending Huntress and Jim defending his daughter. It's a great moment.
Huntress comes into her own in this volume, completing her mission to help destroy Gotham's Mob problem, and earning a "great job" from Batman himself (proving that not even Batman is not above being wrong, and admitting error). Dinah continues to be a warm and wonderful character, kissing Batman for not being a complete dick. Savant redeems himself, refusing to give in to torture and defending Oracle.
It's a nice end for the characters on this team, just in time for an Event Wide DC Cross Over INFINITE CRISIS, making the second story line in this volume occur one year later.
Post-infinite crisis, the Birds are back in Gotham, and Black Canary has been replaced by Lady Shiva, calling herself the Jade Canary. Dinah has agreed to training setup by Shiva, only if the world's greatest assassin would take her place on a superhero team (and boy, is it fun to see Shiva interact with the other Birds and wear the fishnets!). While Dinah continues to level up her martial arts skills (but at what moral cost?), the Birds confront Prometheus (who I have never heard of) while trying to recruit Matt Thorne, a doctor trying to leave the Secret Society of Supervillains, called the Society in this. The Birds add a temporary agent known as Gypsy, who can make herself invisible (who I have also never heard of).
Matt Thorne is vastly entertaining in this, and it makes me want to see more of this version of the character. The artists have changed up, and the art has vastly improved. Overall this was a much more light hearted volume than previous, despite glimpses into the youth of Lady Shiva and the end of Matt Thorne. More Lady Shiva and Dinah interactions!
May 16, 2024
Picked up two volumes of Simone's run: her first ("Of Like Minds," Birds Vol. 4) and this one. I much enjoyed her seminal run on Secret Six, but on this title Simone tamps down her usual subversiveness in favor of a more mainline DC style. And she sure does deliver.
The big difference between Marvel and DC (talking about ink only, you kids) is that Marvel is mostly kvetching with the occasional fight, while DC is mostly fight with the occasional kvetch. Birds of Prey accordingly flits between ass-kicking and various perils that end with justified ass-kickings. Even Pitch Perfect, with the switcheroo between upstanding Black Canary and ruthless Shiva, is mostly about how and where asses shall be kicked. Simone shows she could easily blast out a killer Justice League book, and the dudes in DC editorial who failed to do that probably should have been shitcanned (looking at you, Geoff Johns, and your DC Cinematic Murderverse).
Just as Secret Six is more about fun queer psycho shenanigans than anything else, don't expect character development. Wheelchair-bound Babs/Oracle is intriguing but not exactly a disability role model; Dinah/Black Canary only appears interested in level-grinding and getting over her old flame. Look elsewhere for your feminist manifesto, as the audience here is presumptively *dorkboys* getting fishnets and fanservice to match. But if you're not writing a masters thesis and you just want a fun, entertaining DC title, this is one of the better ones.
There are too many artists across this run to reasonably critique, except to say Ed Benes draws his girls a little slutty and Brian Hurtt has a weird cartoony style that doesn't vibe the title. When your art template is "draw a hot girl, now draw another one," character design generally suffers. Thankfully Simone has writing that makes up for all that. For hardcore DC fans and anyone else who enjoys mainline superhero comics, well recommended.
The big difference between Marvel and DC (talking about ink only, you kids) is that Marvel is mostly kvetching with the occasional fight, while DC is mostly fight with the occasional kvetch. Birds of Prey accordingly flits between ass-kicking and various perils that end with justified ass-kickings. Even Pitch Perfect, with the switcheroo between upstanding Black Canary and ruthless Shiva, is mostly about how and where asses shall be kicked. Simone shows she could easily blast out a killer Justice League book, and the dudes in DC editorial who failed to do that probably should have been shitcanned (looking at you, Geoff Johns, and your DC Cinematic Murderverse).
Just as Secret Six is more about fun queer psycho shenanigans than anything else, don't expect character development. Wheelchair-bound Babs/Oracle is intriguing but not exactly a disability role model; Dinah/Black Canary only appears interested in level-grinding and getting over her old flame. Look elsewhere for your feminist manifesto, as the audience here is presumptively *dorkboys* getting fishnets and fanservice to match. But if you're not writing a masters thesis and you just want a fun, entertaining DC title, this is one of the better ones.
There are too many artists across this run to reasonably critique, except to say Ed Benes draws his girls a little slutty and Brian Hurtt has a weird cartoony style that doesn't vibe the title. When your art template is "draw a hot girl, now draw another one," character design generally suffers. Thankfully Simone has writing that makes up for all that. For hardcore DC fans and anyone else who enjoys mainline superhero comics, well recommended.
April 15, 2018
This is a very, very nicely written book-- Simone's run on Birds of Prey is one of DC's high-water marks-- but it doesn't hold together too well as a single volume. There's a year-long break between the two arcs due to one of DC's incessant reboots, and it's too jarring to be able to pick up the thread. Also, there are multiple artists on each issue and the styles just don't mesh well at all. In the very first section the story starts with the slick, bright chromatic '90's popular style, goes to a few pages of cartoon work, and then shifts to a kind of dark Infantino-influenced noir look. It's just too much of a Frankenstein art-by-committee approach to tell the story well. Still, I enjoyed reading it because Simone's script is excellent, and she excels at revealing a depth of character with just a few words and actions.
January 17, 2020
3.5 stars
While the illustrations were much less sexualized, the story did have a few problematic elements: a white villan trying to be an Aztec/Mayan God and white savior-ish subplot involving Black Canary adopting an Asian orphan.
While the illustrations were much less sexualized, the story did have a few problematic elements: a white villan trying to be an Aztec/Mayan God and white savior-ish subplot involving Black Canary adopting an Asian orphan.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 4, 2020
There were parts in this which I loved and then there were parts I really disliked.
Though as I didn’t realize this wasn’t the first volume, I think it makes sense that it was a little confusing to me.
Though as I didn’t realize this wasn’t the first volume, I think it makes sense that it was a little confusing to me.
April 1, 2018
I love my Birds.
September 11, 2019
Yes! So here for the Shiva and Black Canary story line!
December 16, 2015
I am beginning to see that not reading these in order may indeed have its drawbacks. This set appears to be the start of the Birds of Prey proper, with Huntress unconvinced that she really wants to be a part of it and Batman making a rather unexpected appearance (well, unexpected for me; I know nothing about Bats in comic-world). It also spans the Infinite Crisis... thing... about which I know nothing, except that a year is skipped and all of a sudden Black Canary is off doing weird things in a nameless Asian jungle while the mysterious Shiva is scaring the pants off people in Gotham.
In terms of plot, occasionally hard to follow for someone with little to no backstory, and also not a nice continuous arc like the previous Birds of Prey I read. The art was usually pretty fun, although I did feel uncomfortable with some of the shots of Black Canary and her kicks. It's nice to see a group of women working together with no arguments about who gets the guy (well, ok, some arguments, but 'getting the guy' in this case means 'kicking the guy') - they're by no means perfect, and there is some dysfunction, but it makes sense. So that's definitely a plus.
In terms of plot, occasionally hard to follow for someone with little to no backstory, and also not a nice continuous arc like the previous Birds of Prey I read. The art was usually pretty fun, although I did feel uncomfortable with some of the shots of Black Canary and her kicks. It's nice to see a group of women working together with no arguments about who gets the guy (well, ok, some arguments, but 'getting the guy' in this case means 'kicking the guy') - they're by no means perfect, and there is some dysfunction, but it makes sense. So that's definitely a plus.
August 20, 2008
Birds of Prey : I don't know when Barbara Gordon (aka The Oracle) became one of my favourite female DC characters, competing with the Black Canary, but she did, and it's good. It's also good seeing the relatively new blood of the Huntress and Lady Blackhawk. It's nice to have a comic with female leads who are competent, level headed and complicated like their male counterparts.
In this graphic novel, one of the birds of prey is taken hostage, by someone who demands Oracle's identity as ransom. Will the women be able to rescue their comrade and keep the Oracle's secret at the same time? It's a rollicking read to find out! There are some special guest stars in this series, making this comic one of the better ones out there.
I've always liked Black Canary, and her relationship with the Green Arrow from the early 80s. Although I understand why they have to be apart (Call me, Ollie!), it's nice to see that they still have complicated feelings for each other. Pages 76-77 are really touching, and remind me why they are one of my OTP's - after Storm and Forge, that is.
In this graphic novel, one of the birds of prey is taken hostage, by someone who demands Oracle's identity as ransom. Will the women be able to rescue their comrade and keep the Oracle's secret at the same time? It's a rollicking read to find out! There are some special guest stars in this series, making this comic one of the better ones out there.
I've always liked Black Canary, and her relationship with the Green Arrow from the early 80s. Although I understand why they have to be apart (Call me, Ollie!), it's nice to see that they still have complicated feelings for each other. Pages 76-77 are really touching, and remind me why they are one of my OTP's - after Storm and Forge, that is.
August 12, 2013
I know a lot of people like Gail Simone's writing, but this collection didn't do much for me. A lot of the snarky characters are snarky in exactly the same way, and some of the "madcap" sections didn't seem as funny to me as they were probably meant to be. Some parts are narrated first-person in captions by different members of the team but it's not always obvious who it is doing the talking.
I found some of the ideas in the Lady Shiva and Black Canary connection interesting though, as Black Canary works to figure out how much like Shiva she can stand to be in exchange for learning to be a more proficient fighter.
I found some of the ideas in the Lady Shiva and Black Canary connection interesting though, as Black Canary works to figure out how much like Shiva she can stand to be in exchange for learning to be a more proficient fighter.
March 29, 2014
Lady Shiva playing Black Canary is everything I could ever want it to be; the year skip between volumes reads as jarring in a marathon session, but the jump ahead with Shiva and Dinah trading places raises a lot of great questions that are answered by volume's end. Are there still some confusing loose ends? Sure, but it's comics! I expect those. And Simone's continuing rehabilitation of Black Canary as a conflicted badass, as opposed to a constant damsel-in-distress, gets some interesting shading here. What happens when the Canary wants to kill, AND become a mother?
February 7, 2016
I like this series, which kept the grade up, but this was a little uneven. I didn't quite get how the calculator was beaten, and then the one year later happened, and then we get to dinah and shiva adopting kids. It was a big status quo shift, but it was because the takedown of the mobs by helena ended and then we have to build a few new plotlines again. It is always hard to do well, so you almost have to give the creative team the benefit of the doubt and pay it forward to the next few arcs.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 23, 2016
Well, this was my first big book of Birfs of Prey, and I must say I was pretty impressed!
Never saw Black Canary like the way she rocked it in the jungle!
Huntress and Shiva are also great characters, but it's Black Canary and Oracle who really show how it's done properly imho.
I will definitely pick up another copy of BoP if I come accross one ;)
Never saw Black Canary like the way she rocked it in the jungle!
Huntress and Shiva are also great characters, but it's Black Canary and Oracle who really show how it's done properly imho.
I will definitely pick up another copy of BoP if I come accross one ;)
July 30, 2023
Birds of Prey by Gail Simone and a host of artists truely displays great comics writing without making the women in the book a cliche! The multitude of artists and the somewhat jarring break in the middle take away some of the glory of this trade but overall all its very good.
February 20, 2015
Another decent volume of Simone's run on this series, marred by the jump of a year in continuity in the middle. As such the second half is far better, providing a nice bit of character building as Lady Shiva and Black Canary agree to switch places.
October 10, 2009
Goodness. Love it.
August 6, 2010
Freaking fantastic. Gail Simone is my favourite for a reason. Between Dark and Dawn is still my favourite, but I really enjoyed this one, too.
Read
August 7, 2010Villains United / One Year Later
September 10, 2010
Awesome.
April 9, 2012
Gail Simone continues her great writing with this addition to the book series.
January 6, 2012
I <3 you, Birds of Prey.
March 14, 2013
Great stories of the Secret Society and Shiva alike. Simone at her best, with real characterization.
September 7, 2015
BEST.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews