By Chuck Dixon, Jordan Gorfinkel, Gary Frank & various (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-84023-574-8
Birds of Prey recounts the missions and lives of a rotating team of female crime-fighters led by Barbara Gordon, the computer genius known as Oracle. Daughter of the Police Commissioner of Gotham City, her own career as Batgirl was ended when the Joker blew out her spine in a terrifying kidnap attempt. Trapped in a wheelchair she hungered for justice and sought new ways to make a difference in a very bad world…
Reinventing herself as a covert information gatherer for the Batman’s clique of avengers and defenders, she gradually became an invaluable resource for the entire superhero community, but in the first of these collected tales Babs undertakes a new project that will allow her to become an even more effective crusader against injustice…
This volume contains the one-shots, specials and miniseries that successfully introduced a spellbinding blend of sassy bad-girl attitude and spectacular all-out action which finally convinced timid editorial powers-that-be of the commercial viability of a team composed of nothing but female superheroes.
Who could possibly have guessed that some readers would like effective, positive, clever women kicking evil butt, and that boys would follow the adventures of violent, sexy, usually underdressed chicks hitting bad-guys – and occasionally each other …?
The issues gathered here, Black Canary/Oracle: Birds of Prey #1, Birds of Prey: Revolution, the pertinent section of Showcase ’96 #3 and Birds of Prey: Manhunt #1-4 form a breathtaking riot of dynamic, glossy crime-busting heavily highlighting the kind of wickedness costumes crusaders usually ignore, white collar and black-hearted…
The first tale ‘One Man’s Hell’, written by Chuck Dixon and illustrated by Gary Frank & John Dell, is set at a time when veteran martial arts crime-crusher Black Canary was slowly going to hell after the death of her long-time lover Green Arrow (of course he got better a few years later – see Green Arrow: Quiver for details).
Broke, uncontrolled and hell-bent on self-destruction, the increasingly violent and adrenaline-addicted heroine was contacted by a mysterious unseen presence and dispatched to an third world country to investigate a series of “terrorist attacks†that always seemed to profit one unimpeachably benevolent philanthropist…
With nothing left to lose Canary undertook the tragically brutal mission and gained an impossibly valuable prize… purpose.
Peppered with an intriguing array of guest-stars and villains this socially-conscious high-octane thriller established the Canary as one of the most competent and engaging combatants of the DCU and a roving agent of conscience and retribution more than capable of tackling the villainous scum who were clever enough to stay below the regular superhero radar: a reputation enhanced in the sequel ‘Revolution’.
Dixon, Stefano Raffaele & Bob McLeod crafted a superbly compelling tale wherein she and her silent partner (at this time Oracle was no more than a rumour to everybody but Batman and the Canary, who got “intel†and advice from an anonymous voice that came by phone, text or the radio-jewellery of her new costume) tracked a human trafficking ring to the rogue state of Santa Prisca and stumbled into a dirty campaign by American interests to topple the standing dictator.
When the venerable Showcase title was revived in the 1990s it was as a monthly anthology that highlighted old unemployed characters and events already originated rather than new wholly new concepts, swiftly becoming a place to test the popularity of the company’s bit players with a huge range of heroes and team-ups passing through its eclectic pages. This made it a perfect place to trot out the new team for a broader audience who might have ignored the one-shots.
Showcase ’96 #3 cover-starred Black Canary and Lois Lane, featuring a frantic collusion between the reporter, the street fighter and the still “silent partner†Oracle in a tale scripted by series editor Jordan B. Gorfinkel, laid out by Jennifer Graves and finished by Stan Woch. ‘Birds of a Feather’ found Superman’s then Girlfriend and the Birds taking out a metahuman gangmaster who had enslaved migrant workers to work in Metropolis’ secret sweat shop. Punchy and potent it led to the four-issue miniseries which ends this volume whilst introducing a new wrinkle in the format… teaming Oracle and Canary with an ever-changing cast of DC’s Fighting Females.
‘Manhunt’ saw Dixon again script a breakneck, raucous thriller which began ‘Where Revenge Delights’ (illustrated by Matt Haley & Wade Von Grawbadger) as the Birds’ pursuit of a philandering embezzler and scam-artist lead them into heated conflict with The Huntress – a mob-busting vigilante who even Batman thinks plays too rough. She also wanted the revoltingly skeevy Archer Braun (whom she knows and loathes as Tynan Sinclair) but her motives seem a good deal more personal…
The two active agents cautiously agree to cooperate but the mix gets even headier when Selina Kyle invites herself to the lynching party in ‘Girl Crazy’ (with additional inking from John Lowe). Canary consents over the strident objections of the never-more helpless and frustrated Oracle. Braun, it seems, is into bigger crimes than anyone suspected and has made the terminal error of bilking the notorious Catwoman…
Fed up with Babs shouting in her ear Canary goes off-line, subsequently getting captured by Braun, ‘The Man That Got Away’ (inked by Cam Smith) and clearly a major threat. He might even be a covert metahuman…
Shanghaied to a criminal enclave in Kazakhstan for the stunning conclusion ‘Ladies Choice’ (art by Sal Buscema, Haley & Von Grawbadger) Canary is more-or-less rescued by the unlikely and unhappy pairing of Catwoman and Huntress, but none of them is ready or able to handle Braun’s last surprise – Lady Shiva Woosan, the world’s greatest martial arts assassin…
This rollercoaster ride of thrills, spills and beautifully edgy, sardonic attitude finally won the Birds their own regular series which quickly became one of DC’s best and most consistently engaging superhero adventure series. This opening salvo is both groundbreaking and fantastically fun, and will delight any comics Fights ‘n’ Tights follower as well as anyone woman who’s ever had a man in her life…
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