Art by: Arist Deyn
Colors by: Arist Deyn
Letters by: Clayton Cowles
Cover art by: Leonardo Romero
Cover price: $3.99
Release date: January 2, 2024
Birds Of Prey #5 gets up close and personal with Megaera when Sin enters the belly of the beast, and Dinah goes after her.
Is Birds Of Prey #5 Good?
Birds Of Prey #5 is where the questionably rostered series transitions from oddly uneven to downright silly. Where else could a team of misfits come together for an impossible task against an unstoppable demonic force who talks like a spoiled brat and spends too much time learning conversation skills from Twitter?
When last we left the Birds Of Prey (BoP), the force responsible for all of Sin's troubles, Megaera, made itself known, tossed Wonder Woman aside like a cheap ragdoll, and launched an attack to claim Sin. Now, we learn how Sin became Megaera's fixation, and Dinah goes all out with the BoP to stop Megaera and Sin from merging. Shenanigans ensue.
What do I mean by shenanigans? Harley Quinn pulls out an endless supply of bowling ball-sized Looney Tunes bombs to create havoc. Zealot inexplicably gets concerned about Harley using "lethal" bombs (is there a non-lethal bomb?) after Zealot spent the previous ten minutes cutting Amazon warriors in half because her magic spell prevents death. And Dinah needs a fresh backhand to the face because she was too emotional to get her act together.
I wanted to like this series. I gave Kelly Thompson every benefit of the doubt. But it's clear this series is headed into goofy territory for its own sake. The characterization doesn't matter. Plot consistency doesn't matter. Drama, tension, and emotional beats don't matter. This series has devolved into "Harley Quinn and her Gal Pals go in a silly adventure" type of story, so if that's what you want, that's what you get.
On a side and surprisingly positive side note, Arist Deyn steps up as a guest artist in place of Leonardo Romero, and the art looks considerably better. Deyn has a much better grasp of movement and fight choreography. Deyn's faces look oddly young for the characters represented, but the visuals are more exciting, even if the writing is nonsense.
About The Reviewer: Gabriel Hernandez is the Publisher & EIC of ComicalOpinions.com, a comics review site dedicated to indie, small, and mid-sized publishers.
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Bits and Pieces:
Birds Of Prey #5 is the turning point in the series, where the fight to rescue Sin from a powerful demon devolves into Looney Tune-styled silliness. Bringing Arist Deyn as a guest artist is a significant improvement in the action, but the character work is abysmal, Megaera's "personality" is ridiculous, and the revelation behind Megaera's motivation to possess Sin is just plain eye-rolling.
5/10
This guest art was atrocious, can’t wait for Romero to come back
ReplyDeleteI rarely finish reading a comic book and end up being ANGRY. I completely hated it. I totally agree with you on the story side, but I was more angered about the art... dynamic? sure. But it was an inconsistent pastiche of '90s artists before their prime, badly copied. I am fuming, and will be cancelling my subscription.
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