Birds of Prey #1 

Writer – Kelly Thompson 

Artist – Leonardo Romero 

“Megadeath, Part 1” 

New Comic Book Day for the week of September 6^th was a bit weird. By the time I got to the local comic shop by work on Friday September 8th, there weren’t a whole lot of books left on the rack. Even looking at the previous two weeks offerings, nothing really jumped out at me. I ended up buying Birds of Prey #1, Fire and Ice – Welcome to Smallville #1, and Masters of the Universe: Forge of Destiny #1 (which I bought for a friend and his sons). 

Dinah Lance is recruiting a group of heroines on a mission to rescue her sister Sin. She has a group picked out that will make others “$h%t themselves”. Make no mistake, the tagline on the book, “face-breaking first issue!” is not a spoiler, but a fact! At first I couldn’t get past the first panel, and the twisty, topsy turvy word balloons that encompass the conversation between Oliver Queen and Dinah. It didn’t sink in for me until I read the comic and re-read that first panel again before everything made sense. Noticeably absent from the group is Barbara Gordon aka Oracle and you’ll find out why she isn’t included by the end of the issue. There is a sixth member that is revealed and they share what Dinah and company must do to rescue Sin. It’s not going to be pretty, that’s for sure. 

Speaking of pretty, Leonardo Romero’s silver age style art and Jordie Bellaire’s eye-popping colors really pull you into the story. There is a really great double page spread of Dinah and Cassandra Cain fighting League of Assassin ninjas that set the stage for the rest of the book in terms of action. Kelly Thompson does a great job bringing all these seemingly random characters together, adding a dash of humor throughout in a formula that hits that sweet spot. On the second page of the comic, you’ll see a note of all the women Dinah had in mind and it makes you wonder, what if they were picked instead of the ones that round out the roster. When I first saw the cover reveal to this series, I was shocked to see Big Barda amongst the group. She’s one of my favorite characters and she is definitely pound for pound the group’s heavy hitter. Her friendship with Cassandra Cain is probably my favorite so far and it’ll be great to see how her and Small Bat’s bond grows over the course of this series. 

The only thing I have to nitpick about this issue is that there’s a very tiny box at the bottom of the opening page that says this comic takes place after Green Arrow #6. Luckily, I came across it and it helps answer why Oliver Queen is with Dinah. Remember when he was stuck in outer space with no way home when I reviewed Green Arrow #1? I guess we won’t need to read the rest of his long-delayed miniseries, will we? It’s on my pull list so I PROBABLY will since I already started reading it. 

Kelly Thompson reignited and reinvigorated Carol Danvers in Captain Marvel over at Marvel Comics and I’m excited to see the Birds of Prey hit the stratosphere once more with her at the helm. 

If you passed this one over, you might want to go back and pick this up before its too late. 

Next Issue – “BLACK CANARY’S ALL-NEW TEAM ON THEIR FIRST MISSION! Black Canary has built an all-new team with a very specific and very dangerous first mission: extraction! Their target: [REDACTED]! She’s being held on [REDACTED] and guarded by a battalion of [REDACTED]. Sounds simple enough, right? Well, then we’re explaining it wrong! It’s a terrible mission! And before it can even be launched, the Birds have to gather a few mysterious supplies and see some old familiar faces…that they punch!” In Stores October 3, 2023.