Birds of Prey #99 By Hervé St.Louis Nov 12, 2006 - 14:10:06 PM

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Birds of Prey #99
DC Comics
Writer: Gail Simone
Penciller: James Raiz
Inker: Robin Riggs
Cover: Ordway, Miller

Yasemin, the Turkish villain introduced several issues ago wants to hunt the Huntress to avenge her humiliating defeat from before. As both ladies hunt their prey, it’s up to the best of tem to catch the other first. This issue is the last one based on the dynamic of Oracle, the Huntress and Black Canary, as one of the birds exits this issue.

The game of the hunters is too short to have any significance. Perhaps if Simone had concentrated on focusing on the Huntress and Yasemin, instead of another teenage girl who wants to become a sidekick, we could have related more to this hunting competition. The lack of exposure made the resolution too quick. Sure, in the past, Simone has stretched stories beyond relevance, but here, dropping the sidekick is all that was necessary to provide a good story.

This issue raises several issues concerning the secret identities of the characters. The sidekick figured out everything about Oracle and the other Birds without even trying. A few months ago, we were shown that the Calculator, the villain gathering data for the bad guys in the DC Universe was trying to pierce the secret of Oracle without success. That a teenage nobody with teleportation powers could crack the case in moments is inconsistent with the previous story. This is weirder as Simone is the one who wrote both stories.

As for Yasemin, she seemed to crack the case of the Huntress’ secret identity rather quickly. Why does the Huntress even bother covering her face with a mask if any villain can decipher anything about her? And if Yasemin was so quick to figure out the Huntress’ identity, why hasn’t she sold the information to the Calculator yet? These stories lack any credibility. Why is it tough for the Calculator to figure out the Birds of Prey when everybody else does so in moments? Why even bother making the Calculator an information gatherer in the first place?

Another question, is when we first saw Yasemin, it was never mentioned that she was adept with guns. Now to make her more dangerous and a threat to the Huntress, she suddenly is the equivalent of a samurai with guns. Worse, is the Huntress explaining all of this to Black Canary. But the last time all these girls met, Both Black Canary and the Huntress were there and Yasemin had particular skills.

***Spoiler****

The saving grace of this issue is how Simone figuratively passes the torch to the Huntress by switching the interior monologue from Black Canary to the Huntress. That and the reaction of Zinda to Black Canary’s departure, were the only things that were pleasurable in this issue.

***Spoiler***

The artwork in this issue sucks. The cover is hideous and inking throughout is irritating. There, I said it. Raiz can’t draw a character the same in every shot. Sure, sometimes they look good. But it makes everything inconsistent. I can’t describe well what I loath about the inking but I’ll try. Instead of covering the hyper realistic artwork of Raiz with a good dose of smooth lines and large shadows, it highlights the bad proportions and facial disfigurements of the characters. The lines are so crisp that the characters look at you straight in the eye with no nuances. The reader doesn’t get a break. It’s all in your face.

6/10

Birds of Prey # 98

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