Birds of Prey # 57 - Mobile Edition

DC Comics
Birds of Prey # 57
By Hervé St-Louis
August 3, 2003 - 14:27

DC Comics
Writer(s): Gail Simone
Penciller(s): Ed Benes
Inker(s): Alex Lei
Cover Artist(s): Alex Lei

This is the second installment of the new creative team headed by Gail Simone and Ed Benes. In this issue, Oracle enlists the Huntress to help her root out Savant, the new mastermind who captured the Black Canary, last issue. Meanwhile, the Black Canary, severely disabled, prepares her escape.

Simone has finally answered the wishes of several fans of the Black Canary and the Huntress. She has made them competent. When I saw how easily Savant captured the Black Canary, last issue, I became anxious and thought Simone would serve us the same old dish. While many have complained about Chuck Dixon's handling of the character, he only perpetuated the tradition of making her a dumb blonde.

Benes' illustrations are more solid than the last story, and the storytelling flows better. In the last issue, several action scenes seemed out of synch. However, Benes has problems illustrating non standard muscle heads and luscious babes. I opened a page featuring a baby, while skimming through the book. The baby looked like an old fat woman. Let's hope he improves.