Birds of Prey #1 Spoilers Inside!
Writer: Kelly Thompson
Artist: Leonardo Romero
Colourist: Jordie Bellaire
Letterer: Clayton Cowles
Editor: Ben Abernathy
Publisher: DC Comics
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: September 5th, 2023
Order: Birds of Prey #1
Build-A-Team
When starting this issue, I first thought that I was missing out on an issue that I didn’t read but with this being set after Green Arrow #6, I’m sure we’ll get more explanation then and during the rest of this run.
Dinah Lance has to make a team, a team fit enough for a suicide mission to rescue her sister Sin.
The only requirement is that Barbara can’t be on the team, a neat way to explain why she’s missing from this Birds of Prey lineup but once again, I’m sure we’ll get a real explanation on why she couldn’t be involved.
It’s kept a mystery during the start who is sending Dinah on this mission and while I couldn’t make any guesses, the reveal at the end of the issue was so worth it.
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Dinah Lance is the first member of the Birds of Prey team and currently serving as its leader, unless we count the person who assigned her to this role.
Although I’m not up-to-date with the Green Arrow comic, it’s heartening to see Dinah and Oliver reunited, albeit briefly, before she embarks on this mission.
What I particularly enjoyed about this introductory segment was that we got a glimpse of who Dinah was considering to be her team originally.
It was fascinating to observe who didn’t make the cut, as they might appear in a future iteration, given that Kelly Thompson had already confirmed that the lineup will alter somewhat later on.
My favourite addition to the team is my favourite batfam member Cassandra Cain.
It seems like she is still being given the silent type role in this but not too much as I loved the moments she had when trying to tell a story about Harley Quinn.
Thompson has made sure to showcase Cass’s strength and made sure to acknowledge her assassin’s past.
Personally, for the mission it seems like they’ll be tackling, Cassandra Cain seems like the perfect fit for the job as not only has she got the strength but she’s able to be sneaky if she needs to be.
We saw how she was able to handle a hit from Big Barda, she can for sure hold her own. I also love the Big Barda and Cass dynamic that Thompson is going for here and love Big Barda calling her different variations of ‘small bat’, it’s something that I’d love to see more of in the run.
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There are two characters who also got added to the lineup, Big Barda as previously mentioned and Zealot.
These are two characters that I’m actually not familiar with so I can’t really go into detail on what I think of them being on the team but I can talk about how I liked them in the issue.
I don’t know Big Barda so I don’t know how accurate her characteristics are but it seems like she has this stereotypical big strong character who speaks in simple words and is funny.
Now I don’t hate it but I do hope that there is more to her in general.
Now when it comes to Zealot, I wasn’t able to gather anything from her in this issue, she got barely any words in besides from her introduction pages and I’m worried that this could be a problem in later issues where some characters just seem forgotten about, but I’m sure she will hold her part in the story.
I want to mention the outstanding art and colours in this comic before I introduce the last member of the team. Leonardo Romero and Jordie Bellaire have created a distinctive, retro look that makes the comic stand out.
The colours are particularly noteworthy, and I’m not sure if they’re using watercolours or post-processing effects to achieve the effect, but they blend seamlessly with the art and contribute to the vintage feel they’re aiming for.
Last but not least is Harley Quinn. I used to be a massive fan of Harley Quinn but have slowly been falling out of love with her. She hasn’t got a good show, a good run and now she feels forced into this team-up.
I can only hope that they use her for her IQ as that would be great to see utilised and would make her spot on the team not a wasteful one.
As of now though, she seems to only be around for comic relief and while it seems okay now, it can get quite tedious real quick so I can only hope it changes quite soon.
In this issue, the most exciting development was the revelation of the identity of the person who sent Diana on a dangerous mission to rescue Sin.
This individual is known as Maps or Mia Muziguchi, a character who I have personally followed and hoped would one day become a Robin. However, in the future, she goes by the name Meridian.
Her inclusion in the story was unexpected, and I am eager to learn more about why she sent them on the mission, aside from the fact that Sin is Diana’s sister.
Her appearance has raised numerous questions, such as why the Amazons are keeping Sin in Theymysicra and how their actions could lead to the end of the world.
Final Thoughts
Birds of Prey #1 is a captivating debut issue of a new comic series that flawlessly introduces the team we will be following and the mission they will embark on.
While there are a few characters that may not seem to fit the team or that I am not familiar with enough to make a definitive judgement, only time will tell how I feel about them by the end of the storyline.
Rating: 4 out of 5
