So many tie-ins this month and all because of Zero Year. I mean, Zero Year has been mostly successful with one or two hiccups along the way, but dang it, there’s just so many to review! Here’s another one, Birds of Prey, a title that I stopped reading a while ago because it was dull. However, will it have a new lease on life with this issue? Is it good?
Birds of Prey #25 (DC Comics)
We open with a young Dinah Drake running a dojo in a gang ridden area of Gotham, having taken it over after her mentor and dear friend passed away. She is then caught up in the chaos and assassination of an important man during the blackout. Oh what a crazy night she is in for.
Especially when you add a dash of ninja to the recipe.
Like Red Hood #25 and Nightwing before it, this issue was just okay. Nothing wrong or bad with it, but nothing particularly amazing or spectacular either.
The backstory about Dinah and the connection to her old master is rather effective and the highlight of the book, adding emotional charge to the story. The rest of material is just fine and helps put Dinah on the path to her eventual destination of Team 7, but not much happens otherwise. The writing by Christy Marx is perfectly acceptable, the pacing and flow are decent, the dialogue does its job, and the issue works well enough as Zero Year tie-in (even though there are better tie-ins out there).
The artwork, unlike the writing, is worth mentioning. There are three different artists on this book whose styles are markedly divergent — that is to say, their styles don’t flow together very naturally or compliment one another. One artist has a very scratchy and line heavy kind of style (sort of reminiscent of Jim Lee) and another has a smoother and rounded look that makes the action look nice. It’s very apparent with the shift and while the styles would suit the book just fine, they just don’t go well together.
Dinah looks pretty young in this page though. How old is she again?
6.5
- The flashbacks are nicely done.
- Writing is perfectly passable by Christy Marx.
- The art styles seen here look decent enough.
- That said, the styles just do not mix well.
- Not particularly special or memorable.
Is It Good?
Birds of Prey #25 is an acceptable comic book overall, but not something to be rushing out to get if you need a Zero Year fix. There are better books you could be reading and if you truly wanted to check this out, it would probably be best to wait until a special collection comes out that has all the Zero Year tie-ins (it’ll happen, just like Batman: Night of the Owls (The New 52) and Death of the Family).
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