Birds of Prey #60-67

Birds of Prey #60-67

Originally released in 2003

Written by Gail Simone

Art by Ed Benes

I decided to continue with Birds of Prey, since I liked it (particularly the writing) the first time around.  After being captured by Savant in the previous storyline, Black Canary is temporarily wheelchair-bound thanks to having a fractured arm and two fractured legs, forcing Huntress to be Oracle's field agent.

Not wanting to bury another friend, Oracle is tempted to fire Black Canary, though she relents by the end of the two-parter.  We get some good conversations that help to develop both characters while they're separated from each other, and Huntress shows off a fun dynamic with Black Canary.

The art didn't feel as exploitative in these first few issues, though maybe I just didn't notice it as much. (There is a segment about midway through these issues that feels excessively fanservicey, but the rest didn't go near the extent of that or the previous set of issues) The writing is good, and it's clear that Savant is part of a much larger conspiracy - a corrupt senator serves as the face of it, at least for this story, but I'm curious about how far it ranges.

Admittedly, the drama over whether Oracle is actually going to fire Dinah rings a little hollow since they're the main characters of this comic, and friends; it's inevitable that it's going to turn out to be a misunderstanding and they'll find common ground.  Still, it helps to bring Huntress into the main cast and expands the supporting cast, including the owners of Italian restaurant that Barbara likes.

Following this is a story arc where Black Canary travels to Hong Kong to meet with her dying martial arts teacher.  Also called to their master's deathbed was Lady Shiva, the deadliest assassin in the world, who was Canary's fellow student.  I'm not sure if this is a coincidence or not, but this comic came out a few months after Kill Bill, and it feels like this story arc was inspired by it to some degree. (then again, it could just be based on similar martial arts movies, and many of the similarities that I'm noticing are related to the second part of Kill Bill)

When their master (who was already dying of cancer) is poisoned and an assassin known as Cheshire is believed to be the culprit, Dinah and Shiva track her down, with Dinah doing her best to keep Shiva from killing anyone.  Meanwhile, back in Gotham, Oracle's system is being hacked, resulting in her giving incorrect information to her superhero contacts.

When Cheshire reveals that she didn't kill their master, and that she was planning to assassinate the US senator that Huntress had been threatened by earlier, the three women (Canary, Shiva, and Cheshire) reluctantly join forces to discover the truth behind the assassination.

Some of the plot points in the final issue of this story arc (such as Oracle's computers being hacked) are wrapped up rather abruptly, but the bigger reveals tie in well to what had been built up to in the previous issues. Shiva and Black Canary have a good dynamic, to the point where Shiva offers to make Canary her apprentice, and the two of them clearly respect each other despite their very different paths in life.

I liked these issues; a large part of it felt more like a Black Canary solo series than a team book, though Oracle did get some focus. We even get a bit of backstory on Dinah's mother, who's the focus of issue 66 as she hunts down a serial killer in a flashback that ties in with the main plot. The climax in issue 67 is suitably dramatic but a little rushed, particularly in the aftermath, but for the most part, I thought this was a pretty good story arc with twists and turns that made sense.