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May 04, 2017 Web Exclusive By Jeremy Nisen

In relaunching Birds of Prey, writers Julie Benson and Shawna Benson and artists Claire Roe and Roge Antonio have accomplished something rather elusive: honoring the characters’ past incarnations while moving them forward, all against the backdrop of whatever line-wide continuity changes have been enacted from on high. We wouldn’t be so bold as so say it’s as good as the classic Chuck Dixon—or Gail Simone—helmed Birds of Prey volumes—but Batgirl and the Birds of Prey Vol. 1 is right there in the same atmosphere with good action, meaningful friendships, and character growth and introspection.

The character of Barbara Gordon is problematic due to the emotional resonance she invokes with past and current incarnations: as Batgirl, as Oracle, as a devoted daughter. The first volume tackles this head on, and mostly succeeds. Maybe a little too ponderous, a little too inside Babs’ head as she wiffle-waffles about what each role means to her. We were most impressed with the handling of the other two protagonists. Black Canary was pitch-perfect, almost real in a way—her look was perfect, a non-costumed superhero that could just be that too-intriguing lady at the rock show. The way her personality was portrayed matched, struck a very genuine tone. Less successful, but just fine, was Huntress’ constant agro and tough-guy one-upsmanship, but holy heck we loved how a key component of her origin story was altered (no spoilers here), and how it fit into the main story.

Not groundbreaking, but wholly enjoyable—couldn’t ask for much more from a monthly DC title. (www.dccomics.com)

Author rating: 7/10