gailsimone:

nanigasy:

scans_daily | Birds of Prey #2 Against the White Canary!

If I were asked the two things I miss the most about the new 52, it would probably not be the obvious suspects. Yes, I miss the benched characters and Donna Troy and WW’s origin and all of that stuff.

But personally, just me talking, the two things I miss the most are the Lois/Clark marriage, and the Birds of Prey being friends.

I miss that Huntress and Oracle and Canary and Zinda loved each other and always had each others’ back, no matter what. That Huntress would throw a drink in Shiva’s face to protect Canary, that Canary would face Brainiac’s electrocution to protect Oracle. I think that their relationship was one of the most subversive messages in mainstream comics, in some ways. And readers responded, the book was one of the most stable non-bat, non-gl books at DC the entire time I was on it. I think it was that friendship that people most treasured, and, I hasten to add, that helped make it the first truly successful all female team book in comics’ history, to my knowledge.

I like the new 52, and I like the new BOP in particular, Duane’s doing a lovely job on it, but it’s not yet (for perfectly understandable reasons, and it may never be) a book about female friendship in the same way that it had been previously. Similarly, there are few female friendships at all at this early stage, and I dearly miss them.

Fortunately, there’s room to grow, even if the cart moves slower than I would like.

That said, Bop really IS one of the best of the new books and is always worth reading!

thehappysorceress:

Birds of Prey: Empty Nest, my latest commission from Mike Kevan

(inspired by Gail Simone)

When it comes to Birds of Prey, everything is still so raw and emotional. Words fail to express adequately how moved I am by your commission. Sometimes you feel like you’re ready to move on because life goes on whether you’re on board or not, so you might as well. This brings it all back, and I’m not even close to being able to let go of the bop I’ve come to know, respect and love. I miss it so much, so terribly much that I ache for it.

randomfives:

ALA “Read” poster featuring the Batman family.

Nightwing, Robin, and Huntress working together with assistance from Oracle. Batman’s instructed them to look for Ra’s boat, The Strike.

Birds of Prey: Wanted by Cliff Richards

Birds of Prey Secret Files & Origins #1 (2003)

Huntress and Black Canary in “Flip Side” written by Paul Storrie, with art by Jeffrey Henderson

Huntress character profile written by Scott Beatty, with art by Shawn Crystal

Huntress and Oracle in “Who’s Next” written by Scott Young, with art by Phil Winslade

This is a nice issue to track down if you don’t already have it in your collection. The opening story is an 18 page Oracle and Black Canary feature, and is penned by Gail Simone, with art by Joe Bennet. It also includes a character profile of Batgirl (Cassandra Cain), Oracle, and Black Canary.

I do think it’s time for a new and updated Birds of Prey Secret Files since so much has transpired. Maybe that one could include a character profile on Lady Blackhawk, Hawk & Dove, and Savant & Cretoe.  

Huntress: Don’t know. Don’t care.

In “Who’s Next”, Oracle wants to chose a successor to Power Girl as her new partner. The story has some fun moments as Barbara vets several female superheroes. She logs onto a satellite feed and we see television images of Huntress who Barbara discounts because she doesn’t think she’s a team player. Much to her annoyance, she can’t overlook that Huntress may be useful, even if it’s a last resort.

swatkat:

And here Babs is apologising like a champ, and watching out for Dinah. They make my heart hurt when they’re like this.

This is my favorite Helena and Barbara scene! Helena was trying her darndest not to show a crack in her armour, and opening up like that was pretty big of Barbara considering who she is and pretty much knowing Helena was going to reject her. It was simply the right thing to do.

I enjoy  the dynamic of their relationship. It doesn’t come as easy to them as Barbara’s and Dinah’s or Helena’s and Dinah’s, and they have to really work at it. It’s kinda weird and neat, they have this acceptance/avoidance thing going between them.  In some ways their relationship reminds me of Wonder Woman and Artemis, except they aren’t as open or generally willing to express vulnerability around each other. That’s why this moment is a rare gem.

discowing:

Birds of Prey Roster by *Crimsonsea on deviantART 

I love that Huntress eyes are brown. It’s shallow and unimportant, but I do.  This is quite lovely!

I had not cared much for Charlie (Misfit) prior to Sean McKeever taken over the book. It was a combination of her powers and her annoying teenage quibble that turned me off. I felt they were out of place in a book like bop. By the time the series ended with Tony Bedard, I had started to come around. Her Huntress hero worship probably was a small part of that, but she also seems like a character full of potential, that in the right hand’s, is capable of playing a larger role in the DCU for the foreseeable future, especially when she has the birds of prey as mentors and mothers. 

While I was sad to see the book ending, a necessary regrouping was in order to get it and the characters back to what we as readers had come to associate with the Birds of Prey legacy. As it ended, the last page gave me hope that on some primal level the top brasses and writer’s still understood at the fundamental root what bop was all about. Barbara’s letter to Charlie, leaving her in the care, custody, and control of Helena, because she had come to trust her without reservation and knew within her heart Helena was the one person that can help Charlie reach her full potential as a human being, is one of those imfamous bop moments that will live on when you forget many of the details about other the various 127 issues.

I was disappointed to read the re-launch of bop and discover that Charlie was living in foster care. I hope the matter is addressed soon as it seems so anti-bop, and out of character for both Helena and Barbara. Not to mention I’m all about wanting to see character growth for Helena, and see the potential for Charlie’s presence in her life as just that, and a challenge to all of her comfort zones and sensibilities. I think Barbara saw that too, that Helena has spent far too much of her life alone, possesses an abundant amount of love to offer, and needed Charlie just as much as Charlie needed her. I would never attempt to say how things should be done, only that it’s my desire that someway, somehow, Helena and Charlie are apart of each other’s lives.

I always hated (even got to tell Sean McKeever who laughed) that Superman interrupted this exchange between Helena and Barbara. I thought stuff was about to hit the fan and get juicy! It was realistic that after the their fiasco and failure, that cost a lot of people their lives, emotions would be high. I’ve always enjoyed Helena’s perspective on situations. She’s hard on herself and just about everyone around her. But there’s an innate amount of intergrity and honesty that runs through her. She sees things and calls like they are.

I don’t know where this conversation could have gone if not for the interruption, probably to saying things people regret in the heat of the moment. I do know it lead to Helena and Zinda taking a little break to do their own thing for a second which was great because it gave them an opportunity to get to know one another better and it strengthened their bond and friendship. For that, I was grateful.