Review – Birds of Prey #23: On the Run
Ray: The best writers can turn just about any scenario into a great comic, and that's the case for this issue – where the Birds of Prey largely face some forced and uneasy downtime. Oracle's lair has been bombed by the mysterious Daemon and his global army, and there are strict protocols for this – the birds need to vanish. So Cass, Sin/Megeara, and Black Canary all split up to meet at a designated spot later, and are alone with their thoughts. Sin and Megeara bicker over their next move, Cass grapples with the possible loss of two of her best friends, and Dinah struggles with her guilt over her last words to Barbara – and fends off a horny guy with one of the funniest scenes in this run in a while. But of course, Barbara is extremely capable – so I don't think it's a spoiler that she didn't die in the explosion, but that doesn't make the emotions surrounding it feel any less real under Kelly Thompson's pen. Compromised. Via DC Comics.
The most pressing crisis, of course, is Big Barda. Good news is, the team knows she's alive. The bad news is, they know she's possessed by Inque and has been turned into a living weapon. It's great to see the most memorable Batman Beyond villain make her way into the DCU, and the use of sonic weapons as a way to peel back the shadow coating is clever and leads to some great visuals. There's an excellent segment where Barbara lays out what each of the recruited villains stands to gain from this mission that puts more thought into it than you usually, see. The visuals by Sami Basri are great, and the end of this issue has an excellent surprise that sort of pulls the whole book full-circle, with some huge fan favorites making their return. This might be the best run on this title that wasn't penned by Gail Simone, thanks to its excellent use of the team dynamic, especially between the founders.
To find reviews of all the DC issues, visit DC This Week.
GeekDad received this comic for review purposes. Liked it? Take a second to support GeekDad and GeekMom on Patreon!
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