Birds of Prey 6
This is my new comic of the week. Most weeks I take a look at a comic series I’ve never touched before without research. It’s then evaluated both in quality and how easy it is for a new reader to understand.
This was fairly good. It was also a decent jumping on issue as all the basics were explained in the issue. Heck, at times it felt like an issue one. I remember that Gail Simone started this series yet Duane Swierczynski it. Not sure when the switch happened (won’t research for the purpose of this review) but he does a good job at easing new readers into this sleeper agent brainwashing plotline.
Apart from Batgirl and Poison Ivy (wonder why she’s working with heroes here,) I don’t recognize any of the other birds of prey. The only other bird that was actually named was Black Canary, whom the issue describes as being very skilled in martial arts and has a sonic scream ability. Don’t know who the other sirens are, but it doesn’t seem necessary to know for this issue.
The sirens spend the issue hunting after a man who was previously used as a brainwashed sleeper agent. It’s fun watching him chased by what seems like two villains, only to have Batgirl back them up. While there isn’t much action in this issue, and what is there is mostly to set up the next issue, the pacing was fast enough for the comic to stay interesting. The artwork is mostly simple, but in a good way. It’s clean, people look natural, and there are little details if you know where to look.
This was a decent read and I’m curious to find out what happens next. It’s a book where different DC superheroins, mostly from the Batman franchise as far as I can tell, form a team. If that sounds interesting, check it out.
Generation Hope 16
This is the second last issue for the series. Some people might like the sound of that, others will be disappointed. Why? Hope is possibly the most polarizing X-Men character right now. She looks a lot like Jean Grey, who has been dead in the main Marvel universe for nearly ten years now. She also might be the next avatar for the phoenix force, which Jean Grey is famous for. I can see the similarity, but that judgment might be a little unfair; I’m not here to debate though. I’m here to review one of the five lights rebelling against their leader.
This issue was awesome. Kinji, who is probably the most powerful of the five lights, begins his betrayal against the “mutant messiah.” While the other lights refuse to join him, some of the other mutants are perfectly willing to play along. This issue really spotlights how Hope is polarizing among the mutants on Utopia and not just comic readers.
The dialogue is what really makes this issue work though. I can’t say much without spoiling the issue, but it mostly goes back and forth between Hope and Kinji, and ends with Kinji beginning his rebellion. The artwork is good, the pacing is excellent. If a series has to be cancelled, this is the way to do it. As long as you find Hope tolerable, or want to see half of Utopia rebelling against her, check this issue out.
To understand who Hope is, you have to know the basics for the X-Men in the last few years. The House of M event resulted in all but 199 mutants being permanently de-powered. Also, no new mutants were showing up. Some mutants have been repowered since, but for the most part the mutants have been fighting a losing battle for survival. In 2008 the Messiah Complex event changed that with the birth of Hope. She was raised in the future by Cable and came back as a teenager. Since then, several “lights” have appeared. Everything else you need to know is on the recap page.
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