‘Birds of Prey’ #3 is a Harley Quinn book in disguise

‘Birds of Prey’ certainly has its appeal. I just don’t know if it was ever meant to appeal to ‘Birds’ fans.

November 7, 2023

When Kelly Thompson first revealed her Birds of Prey lineup, there was a lot of promise even despite the immense disappointment at the lack of Oracle and Huntress. The one downside? Harley Quinn. The minute Harley Quinn was announced was on this team, it felt like every Birds of Prey fan collectively shuddered. The first two issues of Thompson’s Birds certainly didn’t feel like the Birds of Prey, but the third issue feels more like a Harley Quinn book than anything.

Harley Quinn has been a plague following this series for years now. First, they replaced Oracle with Harley in the films and used HQ’s star power and fanbase to garner views and secure a launchpad for the Birds. Since then, we have not been able to shake her. Her presence in the Birds of Prey is like this recurring nightmare we can’t wake up from and just as much as Harley Quinn took over the Birds cinematic debut, it feels like she swallows the entirety of Birds of Prey #3.

Listen to the latest episode of our weekly comics podcast!

It feels like almost every page of this issue features Harley Quinn being obnoxious and even the good parts of the issue like Dinah reuniting with Sin are washed over with something relating back to Harley. On their way to rescue Sin she thinks about what kind of role model Harley would be for Sin –she genuinely ruins every single good moment in this book. Maybe I’ve just never understood the enjoyment of characters who exist to annoy everyone around them and it’s just humor I can’t get into, but it’s also just not the kind of book Birds of Prey is, which makes this entire thing more taxing.

DC Comics

For me, Harley has always worked best in books that embraced her mischievous side and let her wreak a little chaos. The original Sirens is one of my favorite series and when I think about the best Harley content ever I think about Batman: The Animated Series and how she had an entire episode where she and Ivy committed crimes around town. When I think of the Birds of Prey, I think about a book where the women in it are best friends and constantly work to help each other be better people and more effective heroes. Their relationship and the lengths they’d go to for one another are at the forefront of this series and that’s just not something I get from this.

It’s disappointing as a Birds book so far for that reason, but it’s also disappointing as a Kelly Thompson book. Thompson is one of the best writers in the modern era, she brings such a fresh voice and authentic storytelling to her characters, especially when those characters are women.

Birds of Prey so far certainly is a book that has its appeal. I just don’t know if it was ever meant to appeal to Birds fans.

This was yet another time where I read this book thinking, “If it was named anything else, maybe this could work.” The book is still forming its Themyscira plot so it’s hard to say too much on the story overall, but as a standalone, issue #3 is certainly the weakest of the bunch. I still want to see where this goes — I still want to be wrong and maybe Thompson’s choices will make sense soon and make the book feel organic. Romero’s pencils are once again the stars of this book, providing gorgeous artwork from open to close of this title. The coloring is flatter than the previous two issues, however, which doesn’t always do the book justice.

I understand the appeal of a series like this especially for people who have never read Birds of Prey before and to those fans, I hope they’re having a good time with this title. But as a Birds of Prey fan I’d rather see Sin reunite with Helena and Oracle than wonder what kind of role model Harley Quinn is to her. I’d rather see the Birds growing together as people and challenging each other, eating takeout at night and talking about their lives. I’d rather see a book about friendship between coworkers who love and respect each other.

‘Birds of Prey’ #3 is a Harley Quinn book in disguise

Birds of Prey #3

I understand the appeal of a series like this especially for people who have never read Birds of Prey before and to those fans, I hope they're having a good time with this title. But as a Birds of Prey fan I'd rather see Sin reunite with Helena and Oracle than wonder what kind of role model Harley Quinn is to her. I'd rather see the Birds growing together as people and challenging each other, eating takeout at night and talking about their lives. I'd rather see a book about friendship between coworkers who love and respect each other.

Reader Rating0 Votes

Romero's pencils are gorgeous

Dinah reuniting with Sin was sweet

Harley Quinn saps incredible amounts of enjoyment out of this premise and story with every passing issue

This does not feel like a Birds of Prey book still

6.5

Good

Buy Now

Amazon