Cats Have Claws and Roses Have Thorns
Written By: Julie Benson, Shawna Benson
Art By: Roge Antonio, Allen Passalaqua, Josh Reed
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: July 12, 2017
*Non Spoilers and Score At The Bottom*
Batgirl and the Birds of Prey has been a series that has really disappointed me because while I was all about it when it was announced, it seems to be more about jokes and quips than actually making these characters stand out or even propelling them to the type of status that I believe they deserve. Hopefully, that changes, but I doubt that the jokes will because the Bensons's seem to be all about those and their Star Wars references. In our previous issue, we found out that Gus was working for the Calculator to bring down the Birds of Prey, but with a bit of a twist at the end we discovered that The Calculator's family had been kidnapped by a company that he sold plans about to Catwoman so that she could put together a heist. So now, it's up to the Birds of Prey to convince Catwoman to give back what she stole so that an innocent family can be saved. Let's jump into this issue and see if the Birds can stand against the Cat. Let's check it out.
Explain It!;
A problem I had in the previous issue of Birds was the inclusion of Catwoman being portrayed the way she was since we're dealing with a very different version right now in the Batman book and with Bruce proposing to her the way he did, I'm thinking that she's going to at least try and stay on the straight and narrow until at least the end of the Honeymoon. The Benson's try to resolve this a bit by having Batgirl call Bruce for a favor and him being hesitant because of where his relationship with Selena is right now, but ultimately it still feels weird and the most we get out of Batman in this issue is Batgirl simply wearing his cape and cowl as a means to full Catwoman into approaching her. Okay, with all that aside, I have to say that the rest of the issue is pretty damn impressive though with the size and scope that they're giving our heroes because normally this book feels pretty small in comparison to others, but this gives us a bit of a backstory between Catwoman and Poison Ivy, who we find out Catwoman was actually stealing from the company Terracare for so that she could get her hands on a special vial of something that they were working on and we have our team separating and hitting this dilemma at all fronts, which with the amount of characters we're now dealing with in this book, definitely makes everything feel bigger.
So yeah, Black Canary and Huntress are going into Terracare undercover, while Batgirl, Gus and The Calculator try to get back what Catwoman stole, but when we find out about Ivy's involvement and that she's been secretly working for Terracare undercover so that she can bring down the company from the inside, our story converges on Terracare, where Black Canary is acting as the broker to make sure that the property stolen and Calculator's family are exchanged properly and Huntress is gathering intel as a simple handywoman who was hired to replace a broken window. Our outside Birds team try to get to Terracare now that they know that Ivy has the vial the company actually wants, but something goes down within one of the labs that just sets the eco extremist off and she starts going hog wild within the company, wrapping people up in vines because in her mind, there are no innocents within Terracare and for some reason, that includes Huntress, who finds herself at the mercy of Poison Ivy.
In the end, Batgirl, Catwoman, Gus and The Calculator try to make their way inside the company to try and stop Ivy before she goes too far and while there is a fuck up in the dialog balloons here, it's a pretty cool cliffhanger for this issue.
That's it for this issue of Batgirl and the Birds of Prey and while Catwoman still feels odd in this title for where her character is in the Batman book, this story actually feels like it could be the best arc that this series has produced yet and actually has me excited. Yeah, Black Canary is still making dumb jokes and we have to have our Star Wars references added into the story, but overall, this issue gets me excited because it feels bigger than anything we've dealt with in this series so far and I love that we're bringing Gotham mainstays into the mix to add to the scope of the dilemma. The art by Roge Antonio as well looks great and I started thinking that this may be the best we've gotten from the artist as well and since that's my biggest draw to this series right now, that's saying something. So yeah, I'm excited for this arc and look forward to what we get coming next.
Bits and Pieces:
This issue of Birds actually gets me really excited because it feels like the biggest story we've gotten from this series so far and I love the inclusion of all the characters........ even if Catwoman feels off. The art is great and I'm happy to be excited for whatever we get next out of this arc.
7.5/10
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