DC Comics reviews 10/3/23 – Batman #138, Shazam #4

Birds of Prey #2

It’s just two issues in, but Birds of Prey is shaping up to be one of the more fun and entertaining action books from DC. While Harley’s inclusion still feels somewhat forced and a more diverse lineup of characters would be welcome, Black Canary’s squad has a fresh dynamic and is a team capable of lasting longer than a brief one-off mini-series.

Writer Kelly Thompson has a tremendous voice for the characters, who all sound consistent with their portrayals in other titles. That’s most noticeable with Zealot and Big Barda. Maybe the best aspect of the script is that Thompson doesn’t go for the low hanging fruit with some needless male bashing just to male bash. That’s a quick way to lose some of the potential audience. Instead, Thompson just makes her characters cool and if some guys are needed to help out, it’s OK.

The art from Leonardo Romero flows very nicely with the tone of this series and as always, the constantly reliable Jordie Bellaire provides stellar color work.

This has been a very pleasant surprise and a book that’s on the fast track to being one of my more anticipated reads each month.

Rating: 9 out of 10