A cloud of mystery
I have to preface this review by giving you all an explanation of my dilemma. I must confess, yes Gail I have let you down, that I did not read the first run of The Birds of Prey. In fact by the time I noticed it on the shelf at my LCS the book was nearing its end. Gail's name was not on the cover and I wasn't interested in the art or Tony Bedard at the time. But much time has past since then and when the announcement that Gail and Ed were heading to the Birds of Prey I was on the phone putting this on my pull list months before it was available for ordering. Now here is the real problem. My LCS was shorted on their order from Diamond and only received 3 copies. My dear son was sent to pick up books on that particular Wednesday, I had accepted a new post ion at the company I work for and was splitting my time between two offices and on Wednesdays I was in the office that isn't close enough to pick up before my LCS closed. Well he got to the shop and picked up our pile of books and had my BOP #1 in his hands and some how left it behind. He didn't pay for it so he had to leave it on the box. Needless to say the issue got sold and I was left empty handed. So I call and the owner of the shop orders me another one and it doesn't come in. Diamond announces that it is sold out and no more. So long story short I won't have number one until next Wednesday and I wasn't going to review this book until I had read that. Well obviously that didn't happen dear reader because here we are spending our time together looking at the long winded story of my dilemma. So how was this issue?? Lets get to the review!
Wow! This story starts off with a bang. The internal monologue of
Black Canary is great! If you have no idea what happened in several other books this monologue fills you in with the right amount of info. We have humor and violence. Two hall marks of Gail Simone's great work on Secret Six. Not that it has Doll in it which I won't hold against it because we do have Huntress. The team has history they work together very well. Hawk is a brute and I love him for it. Oracle is given some bad news here and is taken aback for a moment but recovers to lead us to the last page cliffhanger. I am hooked and will be here monthly on this title.
The art is by the polarizing Ed Benes and there are a few pages done by Adrianna Melo inked by Maiah Benes. I was sad to see that Benes couldn't finish the issue. I am a huge fan and even more so after seeing his portion of this issue. The only place that the issue loses points is here and because the change from one to the other was noticeable not that it took away much, just that I was loving Benes' work so much.
Gail has a hit on her hands here. I can't wait to read #1 and this issue again next week. Also, 30 days for the next issue will feel like an eternity for me. I want more of this book! Thanks Gail and company for a great read!
4.5 out of 5 and a strong buy recommendation. #1 is not too hard to get if your shop is out the big online retailers still have copies and there may be variant issues out there. So get out there and get on board with this series now
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