Birds of Prey # 106
DC COMICS
WRITER: Gail Simone
ARTISTS: Nicola Scott, Doug Hazelwood
COVER: Stephane Roux

The Birds go head-to-head with the Secret Six in a chaotic, free-for-all in a former Soviet republic as Oracle watches her control of the team come apart. This is an amusing super-slugfest with each of the Birds pairing off against one of the six. The violence is grimey and gritty with all parties getting bloodied and muddied. But while the action is exciting, too many of the characters resort to the quips-in-combat style of dialogue which detracts from the excitement, partly because they make the danger seem less pressing and partly because some of the jokes simply aren't that funny. The art, while serviceable, lacks dynamism, especially in the fight scenes. The art team is clearly straining to fit all this fighting within the required number of pages. The character of Oracle still shines in this tale which has her trying to juggle six or seven life-threatening tasks simultaneously while dealing with a hyper-active adolescent. The mystery of a heroine who has mysteriously returned from the dead, just adds to the suspense of this story.