Comics / Comic Reviews / DC Comics

Review: Birds of Prey Rebirth #1

By Zak Edwards
July 25, 2016 - 12:55

One of the most famous scenes from Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns is when he beats up the mutant leader at the end of issue one. Fighting in the dirt and mud, Batman's inner monologues details his strikes and discusses how landing blows in certain spots will have certain effects. He then likens himself to a surgeon and anyone over the age of 16 rolls their eyes a little bit.

Birds of Prey interior art by Claire Roe & Allen Passalaqua.

Birds of Prey Rebirth #1 opens up with this same styling, except it’s Barbara Gordon,  aka Batgirl, doing the narration. It maintains that same Bat-precision but a little bit more family-friendly. She talks about jawbones and nerve clusters as the art shows off her skills in a strangely still and wooden manner, all before putting a thief in a headlock and forcing him to unlock his phone. This four-page sequence is the rest of the issue boiled down, warts and all. So if you like the beginning, you'll probably like the end.

The problem with almost every single Rebirth special I’ve read must be in the job description handed out to writers. It's as if a slow, meandering wander through history is the very first requirement. Most of the comics, with a possible exception to Rucka's meta take in Wonder Woman, have followed this format and it’s dreadfully boring. Birds of Prey has a similar slog through history but, with Barbara Gordon, this going through history means heading to an eventful night with a Hawaiian-shirt Joker and a gun.

I don’t think complete erasure is the answer, but there is something disturbing about how often and how graphically we revisit this singular moment in Barbara’s story. It feels like an undoing of the New 52 Batgirl series in its entirety, from Gail Simone’s deep dive into the trauma right up to the recent Batgirl of Burnside. Heading back really does feel like a complete step backwards. And while I understand the need to set up a new status quo, Birds of Prey focusing on Batgirl’s trauma drags the entire issue through unnecessary territory. I want to see the band back together, as it were, or at least interacting, but writers Shawna and Julie Benson instead have Barabara monologuing for half the issue. And Huntress gets her own three-page monologue later on. For a team book, these characters sure spend a lot of time talking to themselves.

Birds of Prey Rebirth #1 cover by Yannick Paquette & Nathan Fairbairn

Thankfully, the issue picks up after its slog through history and ends with an actual story that moves forward (an accomplishment next to many of the Rebirth specials). It is also where the Birds of Prey actually interact the most. It's hardly a coincidence both in terms of story and art, since this is exactly where Roe's work is at its best. The art at the issue's outset is clunky and wooden, much like the script, but she finds a groove by the end that lets the issue end on a higher note.

Roe's style is almost as if Craig Thompson got serious, which is perfect for the world here. When needed, her characters are expressive and excitable. But when things are more serious, like Huntress' brief monologue in the church, the art's moodiness adds weight. And for the final fight sequence, the team's chaos is perfectly captured in Roe's similarly chaotic art.

tl;dr review: Call me back when the band is actually back together instead of disparately spouting off monologues. The art, like the script, improves as it goes along, ending in something worth reading.

Last Updated: August 31, 2023 - 08:12