Hidden Oracle

Birds of Prey (Volume 2) #10
Written by Gail Simone
Art by Inaki Miranda

Cassandra Cain gets name dropped again as Tim asks why she doesn’t have access to Kord Tower. I don’t know that I am completely satisfied with the answer that she has too much going on now because well…we are never shown what the hell she has going on. I hope this wasn’t a throw away line and Gail or DC editors plan to show us what is going on with Cass soon enough. This was an otherwise fantastic issue that showed off how tough the Birds are and how it was a good plan to fake Oracle’s death. Loved the bit with Catwoman too!

Birds of Prey 8 and 9

Birds of Prey (Volume 2) #8
Written by Gail Simone
Art by Guillem March

Black Canary is in trouble and as always the Birds are in a terrible situation. That is one thing that is great about the Birds – they always seem to be in these situations where I have no idea how they are going to get out of them but they always succeed. That is what makes them great to read about. Huntress’s reaction to seeing Bruce was great too!

Birds of Prey (Volume 2) #9
Written by Gail Simone
Art by Inaki Miranda

I like these Inaki Miranda’s art. I know she or he is not staying on this title but DC should put him or her somewhere. Anyways, this was a good issue as Dinah proves too strong for Mortis and Calculator believes he has killed Oracle (But we all know he hasn’t.)

Kord Tower

Birds of Prey (Volume 2) #7
Written by Gail Simone
Art by Ardian Syaf

This was a great issue as we learn more about the new Birds base: Kord Tower – it is pretty damn awesome and apparently Oracle wants to fake her own death. Hmmm…how? Mortis has an interesting power for a supervillain and the Birds go to a strip club! Great stuff! I was sad to see Cass left off the list of people that have access to the tower – but I suppose we can chalk that up to her being in Hong Kong now it wasn’t needed.

One Night Stand

Adventure Comics #517
Written by Paul Levitz
Art by Kevin Sharpe
Co-Feature by Jeff Lemire
Art by Mahmud Asrar

 

The main Legion story…not sure what to think of it. Teenagers do drink and have sex in real life, but I don’t know, seemed a tad inappropriate for the Legion at this point in their history for Saturn Girl and Cosmic Boy to be going out on a barcrawl and ending up in a one night stand! Saturn Girl wanting to prove herself was a good storyline though and everything. The back-up with boring old Ray Palmer did nothing to excite me. I miss Panda and Head and all the great Ryan Choi supporting characters and Ryan himself. Why isn’t Ray trying to solve Ryan’s murder? I really don’t like seeing freaking Calculator again and I hope this is the last we see of him for a while.

Secret Origin Of The Legion

Adventure Comics #516
Written by Paul Levitz
Art by Kevin Sharpe
Co-Feature by Jeff Lemire
Art by Mahmud Asrar

 

The main feature was really good as the now deceased R.J. Brande tells his life story and how he created the Legion. It was a heartwarming tale about an alien who just wanted the universe to work together and be peaceful. I loved it and it made a great “secret origin” for the Legion. The first part of this new Atom back-up annoyed the hell out of me, not just because it stars the boring old Ray Palmer instead of Ryan Choi who was brutally murdered over in Titans – but because the villain is Calculator! We don’t need any more Calculator stories for a while! Come on he should have stayed in Arkham after the Batgirl arc. I am so sick of this guy.

Proxy

Batgirl (Volume 3) #12
Written by Bryan Q. Miller
Art by Lee Garbett and Pere Perez

 

The Calculator is defeated and Wendy becomes the new fill-in for Oracle as “Proxy.” I figured that was what was going to happen with Babs back with the Birds of Prey and I am glad it did. Too bad no Cassandra yet. Not much else to say ):

New Mentors

Batgirl (Volume 3) #11
Written by Bryan Q. Miller
Art by Lee Garbett and Pere Perez

 

I feel like despite being action-packed, not much happened in this issue. Calculator has gotten inside Barbara’s head but she is holding her own and Wendy is helping out Batgirl. It has some cool visuals but still no mention of Cassandra so I really don’t care. With Babs running the Birds of Prey again, Cassandra along with Wendy should be Steph’s new mentors.

Techno-Zombies

Batgirl (Volume 3) #10
Written by Bryan Q. Miller
Art by Lee Garbett and Pere Perez

 

Still no mention of Cassandra Cain and this was one of the weaker issues of the book…nothing really memorable occurred and the techno-zombie thing doesn’t do it for me. I guess I am just too sick of Calculator versus Oracle plots to enjoy this.

Recycled Story

Batgirl (Volume 3) #9
Written by Bryan Q. Miller
Art by Lee Garbett

AHHHH! I do not want to ever read another Oracle versus the Calculator story. How many times has this been done? 3,000 times. How many times have I cared? Zero. Why? Why must they keep recycling this plot. Where is Cassandra Cain, bring her in and I can forgive the recycled plot. Where is Kid Eternity for that matter? Calculator kidnapped him in Teen Titans, will he be involved in this? I really want to like this book. Steph is a great character and Miller writes well, but with this same old plot of Oracle versus Calculator and the still-lack of Cassandra Cain and no one even looking for her I can not enjoy it at all.

Eddie Bloomberg R.I.P.

Teen Titans (Volume 3) #74
Written by Bryan Q. Miller
Art by Joe Bennet
Co-Feature by Sean McKeever
Art by Yildiray Cinar

Yes Kid Devil (or Red Devil but I have always preferred Kid Devil) dies saving San Francisco from nuclear destruction in this issue. He died a true hero. The only problem I have with this is that it seems completely unnecessary. Why kill Kid Devil after McKeever built up such a good friendship between him and Blue Beetle? Was this only to sell books? I could be wrong but I have a feeling that this is why McKeever left the book over creative differences. An editor wanted to kill him and McKeever disagreed. Ignoring the death, this was a really good issue and Miller has shown he can write the Teen Titans well. Let’s just hope Felecia D. Henderson does as well. The Ravager back-up was basically Rose Wilson kicking ass and taking names, which is a good thing.

Bad Fashion Choices

Teen Titans (Volume 3) #73
Written by Bryan Q. Miller
Art by Joe Bennett
Co-Feature by Sean McKeever
Art by Yildiray Cinar

 

First of all, I am sure I mentioned it last time, but the outfits that Joe Bennett draws the female Titans wearing out on the town are so ridiculous and not at all what a real teenage girl would wear. Belly shirts are not that popular and are frankly slutty as all hell when they are that high up. And I am so sick of the Calculator I am not even kidding. Anyone who has been reading DC books since Identity Crisis knows that Calculator has been in every book. He was an interesting character at first, now he is just over used. This isn’t so bad writing-wise I still feel that Miller understands these characters and gives them each a unique voice and I liked the team work that they used in this issue. I enjoyed the Ravager Co-Feature more this time around although I was kinda hoping Will had good motives instead of bad. I hope that we see Rose build a supporting cast.

Miller Gets The Characters, Bennett Does Not

Teen Titans (Volume 3) #72
Written by Bryan Q. Miller
Art by Joe Bennett
Co-Feature by Sean McKeever
Art by Yildiray Cinar

 

Joe Bennett is not doing his best here at all. I mean Superboy and Wonder Girl never wore those outfits when they were together in that flashback and girls don’t wear belly shirts like that when they go out. I mean Miss Martian’s shirt was shorter every time he drew it. It was ridiculous. I am far from a prude, I don’t care that the characters are being sexualized, I care that they are realistic. And being 21 and so far off from my teen years, I can tell you that teenage girls don’t wear shirts like that. I have to say this though, Bennett does draw some amusing facial expressions in this issue. The story by fill-in writer Miller was actually pretty good. Miller definitely captures each Titan’s personality rather well and I liked the night on the town story’s Juxtaposition with Wonder Girl’s fight at Alcatraz. I just hope that funeral scene at the beginning doesn’t really mean one of these characters is going to die, cause we really DON’T need any more of that shit in this book. The Ravager back up was interesting and McKeever is always good with her character, but it hasn’t hooked me just yet.

Lame Ending For A Great Series

Birds of Prey #127
Written by Tony Bedard and Kevin Van Hook
Art by Claude St. Aubin and Fernando Pasarin

Meh….this series ended after ten years with a rather lame story about Calculator gaining some Kilgore powers and blah blah blah. Barbara has had mission go wrong a lot, and now she decides to disband the Birds? I don’t buy it. It was all too rushed and didn’t give a proper end to this series. And if DC even think about making her Batgirl again….I will scream! She is Oracle, she has grown as a character, let’s not live in the past. Not to mention we all know Cassandra Cain is the one true Batgirl. What a lame ending to a great series.

Secret Six 5 and 6

Secret Six (Volume 3) #5
Written by Gail Simone
Art by Nicola Scott

And DC’s craziest series gets even crazier in this issue as the villain Junior is revealed to be Ragdoll’s sister. I can’t believe I never thought of such a thing before as the villain did fit in a box! She is even scarier looking then Ragdoll.

Secret Six (Volume 3) #6
Written by Gail Simone
Art by Nicola Scott, Favi Pina, and Pete Woods

In the main story, learn more about Ragdoll’s sister and it turns out the one asking for the card is Mad Hatter who I am excited to see. He really doesn’t get enough appearances for a Batman villain. We also learn more of the perfectly disturbing backstory of Jeanette. Oh and Deadshot betrays the team. He was my least favorite member, so I really hope he is out for good. I like that despite they are working together, they really are still villains. In Origins and Omens backup story, we get some panels that could show the future of the team as well as an explanation of their origins by Mad Hatter who looks to have bad things in mind for their future. Awesome issue.

True Faces Of Evil

Birds of Prey #126
Written by Tony Bedard
Art by Claude St. Aubin

This was another fantastic issue of Tony Bedard’s run which is sadly coming to an end next issue. Out of all the Faces of Evil issue, this one was the most “faces of Evil”-ish of them all. Most of the issue, in fact, all of the issue is dedicated to the Calculator. This must take place after Final Crisis, as we get mentions of the internet going down like it happened during Final Crisis. The true evil that is Matchmaker is also shown this issue as he matches a young serial killer with a victim. Luckily he is stopped by Huntress. I’d like to reiterate that I really hope these Platinum Flats characters are used in other places around the DCU. They are really great villains.

Bye Bye Birdie

Teen Titans (Volume 3) #66
Written by Sean McKeever
Art by Eddy Barrows

Barrows really hit it out of the park this issue. I loved how he draws Gotham City; makes me wish he was on a bat-book. Anyways, McKeever writes what is probably his best issue on this title so far. We are introduced to a bunch of teen characters that are vying to be on the new roster of the Teen Titans. The interactions between the characters is fantastic and amusing and makes me truly believe McKeever was the right choice for this book. Look at the interaction between Bombshell and Red Devil or when Wonder Girl and Robin part ways. That is the saddest thing about this issue; Tim is leaving the titans after 66 issues. Wonder Girl has earned her right to lead the team and I look forward to see her do it. It was sad to see the picture of the old team with Tim, Bart, Cassie, and Connor. I question why Speedy says no to the team, she isn’t even living with Green Arrow anymore. Unless I am wrong and Kreisberg plans to keep her over in that title. I can’t wait to find out what the new roster will be!                                                            

Keep Her In The Chair

Birds of Prey #125

Written by Tony Bedard
Art by Scott McDaniel

I had a hard time getting through this issue, since I am not a fan of McDaniel’s art at all, and I have liked the art previously on this series. I DO like the Caretaker, who is a creepy villain that I think more people should use after this series ends. Same with the town of Platinum Flats, It is just a great concept. The writing is as good as ever, with Bedard being the most underrated writer on DC’s roster. But, I hated Barbara’s last line, as it is foreshadowing Didio’s plans to bring Babs back as Batgirl (Which is completely retarted may I add) and that doesn’t make me happy at all. I am getting more and more interested in the character of Infinity and I hope we find out more about her before the final issue. It is cool that she can read the minds of the dead. Not a power I have heard about in any other hero.