Before I talk about Birds of Prey, I thought I would talk a little about Rachel. A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned in one of my commentaries that I had just found out my girlfriend's best friend Rachel was terminal with brain cancer. Though few people comment on BatWatch, I did get a large outpouring of concern when I posted the article on ComicVine, so I thought you might want an update. Keep in mind that my info is at least three times removed, so details might be sketchy. (That's Rachel on the right and my girlfriend Mary Jane on the left)

To see this article with images, Click Here.

Rachel had surgery a couple of weeks ago, and they removed much of the brain cancer, but of course, it is nearly impossible to completely eliminate cancer in the best of circumstances, and in the case or rooting around the brain, the doctor simply cannot get it all without doing major damage. The surgery and healing has gone about as well as possible; Rachel had a similar surgery a couple years ago, and in comparison, she is healing much, much more quickly. She is fairly close to feeling and acting normal now. She is not quite as sharp as she should be,she is a little child like at times, and she occasionally has trouble remembering specific words, but she is aware and can carry on regular conversations for the most part. Her slowness is not due to the cancer but to the swelling from the brain surgery, and as the swelling continues to decrease, she should get back to normal...at least for a while. She is doing chemo and radiation to slow down the cancer growth, but barring some miracle, it's just a delaying tactic, and she will probably die within eight months.

I've got some issues with God which I will probably talk about some time, so I'm a bit..,cynical about the helpfulness of prayer, but hopefully, my cynicism is misplaced. If you feel you have a connection with the Almighty, go ahead and say some prayers for Rachel.

Birds of Prey

From one depressing subject to another, let's discuss Birds of Prey. Birds of Prey, unlike Nocenti's Catwoman or Hurwitz's Worlds' Finest, is not horrible, but it sure as heck is not good either. Contemplating this subject for the past few days, I realized I actually did not have any scalding remarks for the series. Birds' failing is not in being particularly bad, but just in being frightfully dull. After consideration, I've thought of three things that would dramatically help the series improve.

1. Develop the Characters!

You might think you read team stories for cool action, but you don't. You read it for the team dynamic. Seeing the personalities of Batman, Superman, Green Lantern and the rest of the League members bounce off each others is at least as entertaining as watching them pummel the baddie in any given Justice League comic. The same is true of any team book, and that is the main area in which Birds is failing

Of the five current members of Birds of Prey, only one of them has a discernible personality, Starling. Starling is a foul mouthed, no nonsense, impulsive, wise cracking, extroverted, double dealing, mysterious chick with an attitude, and I love her. The rest of the cast sucks.

Now some people might think I'm talking smack about Poison Ivy and Katana, but these two ladies are no longer on the team. In Poison Ivy's case, her absence is a shame because she was the only character outside of Starling who added some dynamic to the team. Whereas all the other girls were busy playing hero, Poison Ivy was purely in the game for herself, and her jaded attitude and selfish interest gave the team a little personality. As if he was fearful that the book might break free of mediocrity, series writer Duane Swierczynski killed her off. Katana, for her part, really did not add much to the team. She was one of three martial arts experts, and her personality was identical to the rest of the team except she was quieter and more secretive. I guess this might have added a smidge more flavor to the team, but it is irrelevant now because she was written off in a three part arch which went nowhere so she could have her own series written by the ever so talented Nocenti. It's judgment calls like this that really make you question DC editorial.

That leaves Black Canary, Starling, Batgirl, Strix and Condor. I've enjoyed both Dinah and Babs pre-Flashpoint, but they both come off as incredibly flat in the DCNU Birds of Prey. Perhaps Dinah is a tad more bossy. I think Batgirl might make an occasional joke during combat, but beyond that, they seem identical. Strix and Condor are pretty much brand new characters, and neither of them have made much of an impression. Strix is an ex-talon who does not talk to anyone but Batgirl and seems almost childlike at times, so I guess their might be some potential for chemistry there. Condor has no apparent purpose or point, and he's a moron.

In review, the current team chemistry consists of one interesting character, Starling, and a bunch of one dimensional throwaway characters. As long as the majority of the team is nothing more than blond chick, redheaded chick, mute girl, and moron, nobody will invest much in these stories.

2. Define the Nature of the Team

In all seriousness, I cannot tell you one thing that separates Birds of Prey from every other team comic book on the market. Justice League is about the best heroes on the planet handling the largest threats. Batman Incorporated is about Bruce creating an army of heroes that will fight crime on a local level while aiding in the battle against the global threat of Leviathan. Teen Titans is about teen heroes who unite out of necessity and for mutual support. Birds of Prey is about...I have no idea.

The Birds seem to just bounce around from conflict to conflict dealing with whatever crops up. If they have some specific focus, I have no idea what it is. Perhaps they word as counter terrorist operatives?

Most of the team members are human, so that might make them stand out from the crowd, but wait, Condor is a metahuman with telekinesis and Strix presumably has resurrecting powers.

There is the obvious angle that all the characters are girls, but Condor screwed that up.

Condor is a bird name though, so could the teams identity be that all the characters are named after birds? That's completely shallow and a meaningless justification for a team, but at least its something, but no, even that will not work because Batgirl is on the team, and Bats are not birds. In fact, if we look at all the DCNU members of Birds of Prey, then the series should actually be called Birds, Bat, Plant Lady and Sword of Prey which does not have much of a ring to it.

Anything that defines the team's purpose could only help.

3. Portray Black Canary as Intelligent.

Would anybody describe pre-Flashpoint Dinah as stupid? I would not, but as much as I have tried to enjoy her current presentation, I just can't think of her as anything other than an idiot.

The first issue I ever read was the best example of Swierczynski making Black Canary an imbecile. The issue in question, number12, started with Poison Ivy trying to kill some innocent dude because he played a role in what she considered a crime against nature. (if I followed the plot correctly. This issue never explained why Ivy was trying to kill him) Black Canary stops Ivy and chews her out, yet Dinah still proceeds with the team's next mission which involves the Birds destroying an oil mining platform to help with Ivy' environmental crusade. On the plane ride there, Poison Ivy and Black Canary nearly kill each other, but despite this, Dinah again decides to move on with the plan and destroy the oil rig. Now, for perspective, an oil rig can cost as much as $500 million dollars and employ hundreds of people. The oil this rig produces fuels the entire world economy, and the damage to this one rig would cause energy prices to go up for every person in the world. Still, Black Canary carries out the plan. How can you respect a team leader who makes such incredibly stupid judgment calls?