Reviewer: Chris Delloiacono
Story Title: Girls’ Night Out
Written by: Gilbert Hernandez
Penciled by: Casey Jones
Inked by: John Beatty
Colored by: Hi-Fi
Lettered by: John E. Workman
Editor: Lysa Hawkins
Publisher: DC Comics
BIRDS OF PREY has lost something in the eight months since Chuck Dixon departed. Terry Moore took over for a short run; followed by Gilbert Hernandez’s current six issue swing, all in anticipation of the arrival of new series writer Gail Simone. The stories by Moore and Hernandez have been a drastic departure from the James Bondesque formula that Dixon usually followed. In fairness though, the direction seemed to be editorially mandated due to the Birds of Prey television show.
Hernandez’s plotting improves greatly from his first three BOP stories. The plot follows Black Canary (Dinah Lance) and Oracle (Barbara Gordon) on a vacation to an unnamed beachside resort. Dinah meets a seemingly normal guy named Tom, but plays very hard to get. Their paths cross a short time later in Gotham, and Dinah invites Barbara to be a “chaperone†for a night of dancing with Tom. During the course of the evening Barbara steals the show on the dance floor, and the girls save Tom from a robbery attempt.
Lots of inner turmoil is brought to bear as well. Barbara, confused over her relationship with Dick Grayson (Nightwing), falls for Tom. Dinah on the other hand, after much inner conflict, comes to realize that Oliver Queen (Green Arrow) is really the only guy she wants to be with. Nothing is ever cut and dry in the comic world, and it appears that Tom has a darker side, as is revealed on the last page. I assume this storyline will carry through the final two issues of Hernandez’s run.
The artwork is solid, with Canary and Oracle looking very appealing, although I would like to see a more diverse color palette used on BOP. The dark, grim, and gritty Gotham City can only be seen in so many comics, without losing much of its resonance.
With the recent cancellation of the Birds of Prey series, and the new team coming on board soon, hopefully we’ll see less love stories, and Oracle and Canary acting like college coeds, and get back to what BIRDS OF PREY is meant to be.
