Review: Batgirl and the Birds of Prey Vol. 1- Who is Oracle?

Quick Summary

Pros: The character development and team dynamic in this book is fun to witness.

Cons: The second half and finale of the book are rushed and messy. The humor can be hit or miss depending on personal taste. The art falls distinctly below average.

Overall: This book manages to enjoy several successes when it comes to providing a decent mystery and character development. However, these are often overshadowed by the book’s more numerous flaws. These range from hit and miss humor to a messy finale. All of this together makes for a book that falls below average in general.

Story

The first volume of Batgirl and the Birds of Prey is not necessarily a bad comic, but it also is not a good one. A solid first half and some emotional character development clash with a lackluster second half and a botched finale to make a story that is mediocre at best. Humor will be the factor which truly tips the scales one way or the other; however this will mostly come down to personal preference due to how subjective humor is. Personally, this was not a book I really enjoyed, however there is enough promise here that I am interested in seeing how the quality will be going into Vol. 2.

(spoilers start here)

Starting out with the good, the best part of this book is probably the character development that can be found within. Batgirl, Huntress, and Black Canary’s past is highlighted in a way that shows these three women are not all that different. They all have had rough experiences in the past, they all have a problem with their mothers, and they all are on a mission to make the city a better place. Seeing them develop in the past and seeing how it helps them grow together in the present is really satisfying and fun to watch. In particular, Huntress joining the group and finding her place on the team is enjoyable and heartfelt.

Outside of character development, the actual plot to the story starts out rather interesting as well. It mostly revolves around the Birds of Prey attempting to thwart a mysterious digital criminal who is using Batgirl’s old alias. This turns the story into somewhat of a detective style mystery where the Birds are constantly on the hunt for clues as to who this new villain could be. All in all, this makes for a fun story, as watching this mystery unfold ends up being pretty entertaining.

When this mystery actually does unfold, however, it is not at all worth the hype generated for it. Oracle is revealed to be a tech-savvy superfan of Barbara Gordon who took it upon himself to start the Oracle persona back up again. Good mysteries leave hints for who the “villain” might be in order to make the reveal that much more satisfying (the “Superman Reborn” storyline is a great example). Since the “villain” behind this mystery is a brand new character, the story doesn’t build up to his introduction at all. Although I actually like this new character and am interested in seeing what role he will play in this series, his introduction is a complete waste of what was actually turning out to be one of the better parts of this book.

The revelation behind the new Oracle is not the only disappointment from the finale, as the reveal of Huntress’s mother is arguably worse. The story of Huntress’s family being killed by a mob hit squad is told at around the halfway point of this book. Then, right before the book’s final issue, Huntress’s mother is reintroduced. This makes for a fantastic and unexpected twist to the story as Huntress learns her mother survived the assassination because she was partially responsible for it happening in the first place.

However, instead of exploring this twist and diving into the potential consequences, this entire plotline is wrapped up in one issue. Huntress confronts her mother, learns the truth, and is done with her. The speed in which this happens cheapens the entire emotional appeal of the incident and thus it loses any impact it should have had. Huntress was one of the characters to receive the most character development so this ending could have been fantastic if done correctly. Unfortunately it was not; hopefully this storyline comes back later in the series as it is a topic with plenty of potential.

Outside of the actual story of the series lies another positive/negative, the book’s humor. There are a lot of jokes and comedic moments in this series so far, meaning that they play a rather large part in the reading experience. Seeing as humor is a highly subjective matter, especially in comic books, this is something that will differ based on individual tastes. Personally, I liked some parts but thought that the humor was a little bit “too much” overall. Moments like Oracle declaring he knows that Batman is several different people and some of the location title jokes landed great with me. However, the witty banter between the heroines often feels more forced than comedic and comes across as being more stale.

(spoilers end here)

Art

The art in this collection is a little bit of a disappointment, mostly because it is great besides one major flaw. The scenery, backgrounds, and all inanimate objects look great and are wonderfully detailed. In addition, I really like that the characters are given actual muscles in this book. Too often, female characters are given more slender arms in order to make them look more “feminine,” despite it not making logical sense. So seeing female characters who actually look strong is just another small treat.

However, the glaring flaw in this artwork is that every character’s face looks simply awful. Nearly every character has a wacky and almost deformed looking face in nearly every appearance in this book. Though this is one of the art’s only real flaws, it is big enough to distract from all the good work here. This is something that heavily impacts the visual appeal of this book in a very negative way, leaving the art look below average, despite its positives.

Continuity

This is the first volume of the Batgirl and the Birds of Prey Rebirth series. Rebirth is not a continuity reset at all; it is more of just a good jumping on point for readers. This means that, although there are stories that come before this, an in depth knowledge of Batgirl and the Birds of Prey’s past is not really required to enjoy this series.

The story started here will continue in Batgirl and the Birds of Prey Vol. 2: Source Code (Review).

This volume also references and continues the stories from other comic books, all of which are detailed below:

• Batman: The Killing Joke plays a large part in Batgirl’s history and comes into play during this book.
• Parts of the Birds of Prey’s new continuity is mentioned in this book.
  • They got together in Birds of Prey Vol. 1: Trouble in Mind (Review). However, the events detailed in this book somewhat contradict what is presented here.
  • They broke up in Birds of Prey Vol. 6: Soul Crisis (Review).
• Black Canary’s band is mentioned a couple of times.
  • She joined the band in Batgirl Vol. 1: Batgirl of Burnside (Review).
  • She quit the band in Black Canary Vol. 2: New Killer Star (Review).
• Huntress talks about her time at Spyral, she leaves that group in Grayson Vol. 5: Spiral’s End (Review).