Batgirl and the Birds of Prey #10 Review and *SPOILERS*

Brainwash Blitz

Written By: Julie Benson, Shawna Benson

Art By: Roge Antonio, Allen Passalaqua, John Rauch, Deron Bennett

Cover Price: $3.99

Release Date: May 10, 2017

*Non Spoilers and Score At The Bottom*

In our previous issue we saw Black Canary's time undercover as she infiltrated Blackbird's School for Gifted Youngsters, where we actually saw Blackbird teach Black Canary a thing or two about her powers and gave her some new skill sets when it comes to the Canary Cry.  All good things must come to an end though because after weeks of watching and waiting, Dinah uncovered Blackbird's plan of stealing her students powers after they've reached a certain height.......... and that's where you'd think the Birds of Prey would be called to come in a sling out some ass whoopins, but no, Dinah got another kid involved named Owen, who had mind control powers and after he got his powers taken from him, Dinah went and chugged on the Kool-Aid and was all about all things Blackbird from then on out.  Thankfully, Black Canary had been gone awhile so the Birds and her Emerald Archer boyfriend got on the case to track her down and with the help of the now powerless Gemini and Bludhaven's hero Nightwing, they might just have a shot.  Let's jump into this issue and see if the Birds can pull Black Canary away from the Dark Side.  Let's check it out.

Explain It!:

Our issue begins with Blackbird's former student Gemini, showing our team of heroes where her last mailing address was, but by the time the good guys show up, everything has been cleared out...... Well, except for the former mind controlling student Owen, who's just sitting around on the ground, wondering about who he is, but the trail doesn't stay cold for long because Gus, the new Oracle informs the heroes that Blackbird has broken into their Watchtower headquarters.  

Once our team arrives, they find their base wrecked and Black Canary standing in the middle of it....... Yeah, I know what you're thinking, didn't Gemini have shape shifting powers that Blackbird took?  That's right and after a few choice questions from Batgirl, she discovers that this Black Canary is a big fat phony and the ass kicking commences.  Initially, it doesn't look good for our heroes because Blackbird has Black Canary and another student named Kimi, who has force field powers with her, but after Blackbird discovers that Huntress can't be affected by her mind control thanks to the Spyral hypnos she had Tiger turn back on for this fight, things start looking up for the Birds.  That, and the fact that they find out that if they use their own loving bond for Black Canary, they can break Blackbird's spell over her.  

In the end, our team overpower Blackbird with their own mental powers and to make sure that they won't be getting a visit from Blackbird in the middle of the night down the line, Huntress uses her hypnos to wipe Blackbird's mind of everyone's secret identities that she got from Black Canary.  As our issue closes, Dick and Gemini head back to Bludhaven and Green Arrow makes his way to Seattle, leaving our heroes to celebrate and to welcome the new Oracle Gus into the fold properly....... Too bad that someone can use his medication against him and tell Gus that if the Birds of Prey don't show up to where they want them, he's not getting anymore pills.  Yeah, I don't know what Gus is taking, but besides for the whole betrayal out of desperation thing going on, I'm starting to trust Gus more and more.

That's it for this issue of Batgirl and the Birds of Prey and while there isn't anything too terribly wrong with this issue, besides for an errant dialog balloon here and there, there wasn't anything really to this issue either.  Our team find out where the bad guys are and then take them down with the mental power of love...... that's about it.  I've really been enjoying the art in this book lately and this issue is no exception, I just wish it was used to tell bigger stories because everything just seems way too tame and underdeveloped to really get me invested in the book and make me think that there are actual stakes involved.  Maybe that's just me, but even with those complaints, this isn't a terrible issue, i just wish there was more going on with it.  

Bits and Pieces:

Birds of Prey continues to be a so-so book that gives you a pretty straight forward story with not a lot of stakes involved, making it seem less important when compared to other DC books.  That being said, it's not a bad issue and the art really works for these characters.  

6.3/10