tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6668210084848809730.post7820626576629690387..comments2024-03-26T03:48:49.258-04:00Comments on Flowers & Fishnets: BIRDS OF PREY #4 (New 52)Count Drunkulahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18130778855882160092noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6668210084848809730.post-56446630286261321272013-07-10T15:07:31.617-04:002013-07-10T15:07:31.617-04:00That's kind of where I come down on the situat...That's kind of where I come down on the situation, too. If you're going to make Babs be Batgirl, then the emphasis ought to be on GIRL. She should be young, adventurous, fun; not weighed down by all of the baggage that comes from her shooting/paralysis.<br /><br />Among the many, maaannnny frustrating elements of the New 52 is that a portion of the books are treated like fresh, young almost Year One type of adventures, while the other books have continued with their storied histories. Batgirl should have been the former. I with they were all given the same treatment, but that would have undone the stories Grant Morrison was doing in BATMAN and Geoff Johns was doing with GREEN LANTERN, and THAT wasn't going to happen. Instead, the timeline for everyone is a mess.Count Drunkulahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18130778855882160092noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6668210084848809730.post-38784488226307436932013-07-10T14:50:50.104-04:002013-07-10T14:50:50.104-04:00I wish the current Batgirl comic was a flashback t...I wish the current Batgirl comic was a flashback to when Babs first became her, back in the early Detective Comics days - her naiviete and clumsiness in Simone's writing isn't endearing at all.<br />I bought all her appearances in Batman Family back in the 70s and two years ago got the Showcase Batgirl compendium...now there was good writing. I would never have brought her back in the Nu-52 as a full-time hero, unless it was as a 'retro' book, and Babs was still Oracle.karlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07814365568280298681noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6668210084848809730.post-32015265486091065422013-07-09T23:37:28.114-04:002013-07-09T23:37:28.114-04:00It's strange; when I think of pre-New 52 Barba...It's strange; when I think of pre-New 52 Barbara Gordon/Oracle, I think of her as Babs. That's her. That feels right. But in the current BIRDS OF PREY series, I think of her as Barbara. It doesn't feel like we have (or she has) earned the name "Babs" yet. The characters don't have that kind of relationship. I haven't seen evidence that they're that close. Even in Gail's BATGIRL title, I think of her as Barbara Gordon. She's a different character now.<br /><br />The cliffhanger from issue #3 was great, but, yeah, too easily diffused in this issue.<br /><br />As for why the team split up to all sneak into the same location… Well, I think this issue had about 17 pages worth of story that they had to fluff up to 20.Count Drunkulahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18130778855882160092noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6668210084848809730.post-26313014710884124882013-07-09T15:21:08.191-04:002013-07-09T15:21:08.191-04:00It was a ... confusing issue, so many things unans...It was a ... confusing issue, so many things unanswered or seemingly written as if its blindingly obvious whats happened.<br />The cliffhanger from the previous issue is kinda wrapped up successfully [it was one of the best cliffhangers to a comic Ive ever seen and made me wonder how the hell they could get out of this one] but Starling's character dosent ring true; one moment she hates Ivy and tries to kill her, next moment she's her best friend after shes saved from a bomb.<br />So the team is finally established, from only two issues the writer gives us a new Bird every issue, we have a standard hero [Canary] a newly-invigorated hero [Batgirl] a sneaky lesbian-cum-thief [Starling] a possible maniac [Katana] and a murderous criminal [Ivy]. Bit top heavy for a team but plenty there to do lots with. One wonders if Oracle were around apart from Dinah would she have any of these dubious people in her team.<br />I agree 100% about Batgirl...I also want Babs to be the one and only [none of this Cassandra and Stephanie nonsense] but only as a FLASHBACK - despite the success of the current comic's Batgirl, I miss Oracle dreadfully and having Miss Bats here on the team is a misstep. We don't know the status of the team and if Oracle were still around it would at least go some way to explain why the Birds are together. Its also telling that in issue 5 Batgirl tells Canary she dosent want to be in the team so even the characters themselves are thinking it. At least Dinah and Babs [you can tell Im a old-time Batgirl fan from way back as I call her Babs not Barbara!] have a scene next ish to explain [slightly] their new set-up...but its not a patch on their original relationship.<br />Why did they split up to sneak into the building? To demonstrate their different skills and abilities, naturally. But then they all eventually converged on the scene together[!!] so that was a waste.<br />I couldn't quite work out how a simple nursery rhyme could trigger a bomb in someones head but its a neat trick, prob in the same vein as the 'don't think of pink elephants' trick.<br />One thing that absolutely bugged the hell out of me about this opening story were all the red noses...why did all the Birds have such red noses? I thought it was some sort of villains 'tell' to indicate who had a bomb in them. Either that or everyone had a bad cold.<br />The identity of who Choke is is becoming rather obvious now, considering the dearth of male roles so far.<br />The artwork still looks nice [despite the red noses] but the story is slipping a bit.karlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07814365568280298681noreply@blogger.com