Workshop: "The Birds of Prey Team" by Merfilly
Publisher: DC Comics
First appearance: 1996 (Team)
Created by: Chuck Dixon (writer), Gary Frank (art),
Current roster
Oracle (Barbara Gordon)
Huntress (Helena Bertinelli)
Lady Blackhawk (Zinda Blake)
Misfit (Charlotte Gage-Radcliffe)
Black Alice (Lori Zechlin)
Judomaster (Tatsu Yamashiro)
The Manhunter(Kate Spencer)
Notable former members and allies
Black Canary II, Big Barda, Batgirl II, Robin III, Nightwing, Wildcat I, Spoiler, Catwoman, Jade Canary (aka Shiva), Power Girl, Vixen, Blue Beetle I, Militia and Honey, Savant and Creote, Gypsy
The Book
Birds Of Prey is an oddity in the comic world. Some might call it groundbreaking, being a book that is, for the most part, strictly about super hero WOMEN working together and pulling each other out of the fire, all while saving the world. Others might dismiss it as a cheesecake book, suited only to letting artists go wild with drawing the various women on the team. Both groups would be wrong.
Simply put, from its concept and execution, Birds Of Prey has been about heroes. Granted, these heroes look sexy in their costumes, but the underlying formula was built as much around two people trying their best to give all they had as heroes.
The core team was Oracle and Black Canary. Oracle, some may know better, as the former Batgirl, Barbara Gordon. Black Canary is the second woman to carry that title, the daughter of the original golden age JSA Black Canary. Oracle rebuilt herself from the shattered former Bat Partner into the hacker extraordinaire that every hero in the DC Universe wants to have on speed dial. Black Canary was fading into obscurity and rescued from debt when Oracle asked her to be her operative, her ‘legs’ so to speak. From that beginning, we have moved forward twelve years, with seven miniseries or prestige one shots and an ongoing title well past the century mark.
Some considered the book to be the Bat Family’s stepchild, and they have, on occasion, tied into Batman’s cross-over storylines. Bat Family members make appearances, but so do other heroes, villains, and forgotten faces. Black Canary and Oracle have evolved from strangers to one another, to close friends, and finally moved apart as reall relationships are wont to do.
The artistic talent has ranged through Drew Geraci, Butch Guice, Greg Land, Casey Jones, Ed Benes, and Joe Prado pencils inked by Dick Giordano. Linked to this hard hitting talent, each of whom brought something different and notable to the book, are a range of writers. Two names, however, jump out when people say Birds of Prey.
Chuck Dixon started us off and gave a long run. Under Dixon, we saw the evolution of friendship. He gave us a Barbara Gordon coming to terms with her past, her loss, and her future. He handed us the Black Canary whose life had been in the toilet, and let us watch her go through the phases of putting her life straight once more. With Dixon, though high action plots oozed through the run, we also got intense personal development.
Gail Simone was the next full-time writer, and she hit hard and fast with the plots. The tight bonds were there, firmly in place, letting her show us the versatility of the female DC Universe. Nor did she keep it a girls’ club. We actively had two men in the team for a time, and got an expanded team that has become the new look for Birds Of Prey. No longer was Black Canary the only direct resource for Barbara’s crime fighting intelligence; she worked alongside Lady Blackhawk, Huntress, and Gypsy.
The book has been under Sean McKeever's guidance, continuing Simone's expansion of the team and introducing more facets of the new members of the team. However, scheduling difficulties have meant he is leaving the book, and new writer Tony Bedard will get to show off his talents, coming away from Countdown and the Supergirl/Legion mini.
The people
So, who are the Birds?
When Batgirl was retired, Barbara Gordon was attacked viciously by the Joker, as an effort to victimize Jim Gordon as a means of hitting Batman where it hurt; classic woman in refrigerator syndrome. Kim yale and John Ostrander, a married couple of comic writers, decided to take that victim and turn her into someone the entire world could look up to.
Thus Oracle was born.
She misses her free-flying days, heavily in the earlier issues, and grows to accept that her will, brains, and spirit are more than enough to keep doing the things that first made her sew together her own costume. Working through the women (and men) in her life, Oracle reaches out and makes a difference, often on levels that no other comic book team can work at. We've seen Oracle send operatives out to protect third world dictators so that they can reach trial, protect pregnant women from vengeful Penguins, crack the mafia bureaucracy, and coordinate countrywide efforts to repel enemy actions.
She also has a penchant for borrowing satellite services, funneling dirty money into expense accounts for her operatives, and telling Bruce Wayne/Batman to shove it.
What's not to like about that?
As far as Oracle is the heart of the team, you have to stop and take a good long look at the 'faces' of the team as well.
Black Canary came to the Birds at the worst time of her life. Hounded for debts she could not pay, just getting by in Seattle where her entire life had gone to hell, she was skilled but low-profile enough to suit Oracle's needs. The early run of the book has some interesting arguments between them, as they try to find a balance of power between the intel (Oracle) and the on-site action (Black Canary). This was all before Dinah knew just who her boss was, as the premise of the book was pitched at a time when DC Comics had 'erased' the shared knowledge of heroes' identities.
Huntress, on the other hand, came to Birds after having, more or less, recovered her own feet under her. Despite being fired from the League for wanting to kill Prometheus, and then having the Batgirl costume taken away during No Moan's Land, Helena Bertinelli was getting by fine, using her methods to handle Gotham's underbelly. Initially, Oracle resisted her for those methods and their history with Dick Grayson, while Black Canary tried to make peace. Dianh's days as peacemaker came to a rough halt, for a time, after Helena callously made commentary about archers in context of Helena having slept with Roy Harper.
It did not take long, though, for the friendship to blossom on all three sides, and as Simone's run peaked, the dynamic between Huntress and Oracle was noteworthy and more noticeable than the one between Black Canary and Oracle.
Lady Blackhawk joining the team had to do with the need to move the team out of Gotham...a move made because of events in No Man's Land. She is the team pilot, and has proven on more than one occasion to be as strong a fighter as the others. It should be noted that like Huntress, Lady B goes armed, using her service pistol for intimidation or threat as needed. She is the Alfred of the female team in that exceptional use of guns.
More recently, other characters have joined the team or gone on missions, but the only two that seem to bear true mention at this point are Misfit and Black Alice.
Misfit, a teleporting, rapid healing character, tried to take on the mantle of Batgirl. The team, still consisting of the four ladies mentioned above, were hard put to dissuade her. Barbara tried very hard, haunted by her failure with Spoiler and Batgirl II (Cass), to keep Charlie, as she is known, from taking up the role of a hero. The girl is gawky and nervous at times, but bold and quick at others, eventually earning a provisional nod to work with them. Barbara seems to think now that teaching her and watching over her is the best way to keep her alive. With the history of having been the sole survivor of a fire that claimed her family's apartment, Charlie needs the close-knit atmosphere of the Birds.
So, enter Black Alice, with her own issues on family time. Lori is the daughter of a suicided, drug addicted mother and a father who shattered with the death of his wife. Black Alice has the ability to take on the magical powers of ANY hero or villain that is magically based. She was able to borrow Charlie's powers, implying Charlie might be magically born after all.
With Huntress, Misfit, Black Alice, and Lady Blackhawk as the core team, Oracle definitely has her hands full. No matter the threat though, as seen when she put Spy Smasher in her place, Oracle can find a team to beat it. Even Jade Canary (Lady Shiva) showed back up to prove to Katarina (Spy Smasher) that Oracle had their full support.
Resources
I highly recommend birdsofprey_fic as one community that has collected an impressive amount of Birds related fic.
shananagin has turned a hand to the antics of Misfit, with a deft touch for Charlie.
mrswoman has a moving series of Oracle/Huntess that can be found by visiting the table on her profile.
rysler collects a nice variety of Birds fic at her webpage.
And I'd be very remiss if I did not point out the wonderful e-collection maintained by bop_femslash at Birds of Prey Fanfiction E-Books.
This is, by no means, a comprehensive list of the great authors out there who have shown the various sides of the ladies, and their varied men, to say the least.
Questions
I'd like to hear everyone's thoughts, or answer any questions I didn't cover in the comments below. Thanks, as always, jen_in_japan for letting me join the fun.
First appearance: 1996 (Team)
Created by: Chuck Dixon (writer), Gary Frank (art),
Current roster
Oracle (Barbara Gordon)
Huntress (Helena Bertinelli)
Lady Blackhawk (Zinda Blake)
Misfit (Charlotte Gage-Radcliffe)
Black Alice (Lori Zechlin)
Judomaster (Tatsu Yamashiro)
The Manhunter(Kate Spencer)
Notable former members and allies
Black Canary II, Big Barda, Batgirl II, Robin III, Nightwing, Wildcat I, Spoiler, Catwoman, Jade Canary (aka Shiva), Power Girl, Vixen, Blue Beetle I, Militia and Honey, Savant and Creote, Gypsy
The Book
Birds Of Prey is an oddity in the comic world. Some might call it groundbreaking, being a book that is, for the most part, strictly about super hero WOMEN working together and pulling each other out of the fire, all while saving the world. Others might dismiss it as a cheesecake book, suited only to letting artists go wild with drawing the various women on the team. Both groups would be wrong.
Simply put, from its concept and execution, Birds Of Prey has been about heroes. Granted, these heroes look sexy in their costumes, but the underlying formula was built as much around two people trying their best to give all they had as heroes.
The core team was Oracle and Black Canary. Oracle, some may know better, as the former Batgirl, Barbara Gordon. Black Canary is the second woman to carry that title, the daughter of the original golden age JSA Black Canary. Oracle rebuilt herself from the shattered former Bat Partner into the hacker extraordinaire that every hero in the DC Universe wants to have on speed dial. Black Canary was fading into obscurity and rescued from debt when Oracle asked her to be her operative, her ‘legs’ so to speak. From that beginning, we have moved forward twelve years, with seven miniseries or prestige one shots and an ongoing title well past the century mark.
Some considered the book to be the Bat Family’s stepchild, and they have, on occasion, tied into Batman’s cross-over storylines. Bat Family members make appearances, but so do other heroes, villains, and forgotten faces. Black Canary and Oracle have evolved from strangers to one another, to close friends, and finally moved apart as reall relationships are wont to do.
The artistic talent has ranged through Drew Geraci, Butch Guice, Greg Land, Casey Jones, Ed Benes, and Joe Prado pencils inked by Dick Giordano. Linked to this hard hitting talent, each of whom brought something different and notable to the book, are a range of writers. Two names, however, jump out when people say Birds of Prey.
Chuck Dixon started us off and gave a long run. Under Dixon, we saw the evolution of friendship. He gave us a Barbara Gordon coming to terms with her past, her loss, and her future. He handed us the Black Canary whose life had been in the toilet, and let us watch her go through the phases of putting her life straight once more. With Dixon, though high action plots oozed through the run, we also got intense personal development.
Gail Simone was the next full-time writer, and she hit hard and fast with the plots. The tight bonds were there, firmly in place, letting her show us the versatility of the female DC Universe. Nor did she keep it a girls’ club. We actively had two men in the team for a time, and got an expanded team that has become the new look for Birds Of Prey. No longer was Black Canary the only direct resource for Barbara’s crime fighting intelligence; she worked alongside Lady Blackhawk, Huntress, and Gypsy.
The book has been under Sean McKeever's guidance, continuing Simone's expansion of the team and introducing more facets of the new members of the team. However, scheduling difficulties have meant he is leaving the book, and new writer Tony Bedard will get to show off his talents, coming away from Countdown and the Supergirl/Legion mini.
The people
So, who are the Birds?
When Batgirl was retired, Barbara Gordon was attacked viciously by the Joker, as an effort to victimize Jim Gordon as a means of hitting Batman where it hurt; classic woman in refrigerator syndrome. Kim yale and John Ostrander, a married couple of comic writers, decided to take that victim and turn her into someone the entire world could look up to.
Thus Oracle was born.
She misses her free-flying days, heavily in the earlier issues, and grows to accept that her will, brains, and spirit are more than enough to keep doing the things that first made her sew together her own costume. Working through the women (and men) in her life, Oracle reaches out and makes a difference, often on levels that no other comic book team can work at. We've seen Oracle send operatives out to protect third world dictators so that they can reach trial, protect pregnant women from vengeful Penguins, crack the mafia bureaucracy, and coordinate countrywide efforts to repel enemy actions.
She also has a penchant for borrowing satellite services, funneling dirty money into expense accounts for her operatives, and telling Bruce Wayne/Batman to shove it.
What's not to like about that?
As far as Oracle is the heart of the team, you have to stop and take a good long look at the 'faces' of the team as well.
Black Canary came to the Birds at the worst time of her life. Hounded for debts she could not pay, just getting by in Seattle where her entire life had gone to hell, she was skilled but low-profile enough to suit Oracle's needs. The early run of the book has some interesting arguments between them, as they try to find a balance of power between the intel (Oracle) and the on-site action (Black Canary). This was all before Dinah knew just who her boss was, as the premise of the book was pitched at a time when DC Comics had 'erased' the shared knowledge of heroes' identities.
Huntress, on the other hand, came to Birds after having, more or less, recovered her own feet under her. Despite being fired from the League for wanting to kill Prometheus, and then having the Batgirl costume taken away during No Moan's Land, Helena Bertinelli was getting by fine, using her methods to handle Gotham's underbelly. Initially, Oracle resisted her for those methods and their history with Dick Grayson, while Black Canary tried to make peace. Dianh's days as peacemaker came to a rough halt, for a time, after Helena callously made commentary about archers in context of Helena having slept with Roy Harper.
It did not take long, though, for the friendship to blossom on all three sides, and as Simone's run peaked, the dynamic between Huntress and Oracle was noteworthy and more noticeable than the one between Black Canary and Oracle.
Lady Blackhawk joining the team had to do with the need to move the team out of Gotham...a move made because of events in No Man's Land. She is the team pilot, and has proven on more than one occasion to be as strong a fighter as the others. It should be noted that like Huntress, Lady B goes armed, using her service pistol for intimidation or threat as needed. She is the Alfred of the female team in that exceptional use of guns.
More recently, other characters have joined the team or gone on missions, but the only two that seem to bear true mention at this point are Misfit and Black Alice.
Misfit, a teleporting, rapid healing character, tried to take on the mantle of Batgirl. The team, still consisting of the four ladies mentioned above, were hard put to dissuade her. Barbara tried very hard, haunted by her failure with Spoiler and Batgirl II (Cass), to keep Charlie, as she is known, from taking up the role of a hero. The girl is gawky and nervous at times, but bold and quick at others, eventually earning a provisional nod to work with them. Barbara seems to think now that teaching her and watching over her is the best way to keep her alive. With the history of having been the sole survivor of a fire that claimed her family's apartment, Charlie needs the close-knit atmosphere of the Birds.
So, enter Black Alice, with her own issues on family time. Lori is the daughter of a suicided, drug addicted mother and a father who shattered with the death of his wife. Black Alice has the ability to take on the magical powers of ANY hero or villain that is magically based. She was able to borrow Charlie's powers, implying Charlie might be magically born after all.
With Huntress, Misfit, Black Alice, and Lady Blackhawk as the core team, Oracle definitely has her hands full. No matter the threat though, as seen when she put Spy Smasher in her place, Oracle can find a team to beat it. Even Jade Canary (Lady Shiva) showed back up to prove to Katarina (Spy Smasher) that Oracle had their full support.
Resources
I highly recommend birdsofprey_fic as one community that has collected an impressive amount of Birds related fic.
shananagin has turned a hand to the antics of Misfit, with a deft touch for Charlie.
mrswoman has a moving series of Oracle/Huntess that can be found by visiting the table on her profile.
rysler collects a nice variety of Birds fic at her webpage.
And I'd be very remiss if I did not point out the wonderful e-collection maintained by bop_femslash at Birds of Prey Fanfiction E-Books.
This is, by no means, a comprehensive list of the great authors out there who have shown the various sides of the ladies, and their varied men, to say the least.
Questions
I'd like to hear everyone's thoughts, or answer any questions I didn't cover in the comments below. Thanks, as always, jen_in_japan for letting me join the fun.