Birds of Prey: Manhunt #4 (Dec 1996)

Review: Birds of Prey: Manhunt #1.

Review: Birds of Prey: Manhunt #2.

Review: Birds of Prey: Manhunt #3.

What Happened Before…

• Black Canary was captured by master criminal Archer Braun and taken to his base of operations in Kazakstan.
• Canary's partner, Oracle, enlists the help of Huntress and Catwoman, both of whom were looking for Braun for their own reasons.
• Braun's base is a haven for terrorists, criminals, and assassins, including possibly the deadliest woman alive: Lady Shiva!

Birds of Prey: Manhunt #4 - "Ladies' Choice" was written by Chuck Dixon, but the art team changes yet again for this final issue.  This time, series penciller Matt Haley draws over Sal Buscema's layouts and Wade Von Grawbadger, the inker for issue #1, is back.  I don't know why Buscema was brought in but his inclusion isn't that noticeable.  This still looks and feels like Matt Haley's book.

We open with Dinah and Archer Braun being held at gunpoint by a group of mercenaries and thugs.  Apparently, Braun doesn't run the show at Katchik 9-9 as much as last issue suggested; the real power here seems to be a big man named Serge.  Serge is angry with Braun for failing to deliver a large score of American money in exchange for a percentage of Serge's Afghan heroin operation.

I don't know where any of this is coming from.  Serge here has never been mentioned before this scene.  We know that Braun did pull off a large robbery score, because that's what sent Black Canary and Huntress and Catwoman all after him in the first place.  We've never heard any clues about a bigger plan Braun might have.  Chuck Dixon's failure to establish Braun as a fully realized villain in the first three issues is put on display in this final chapter.  This opening scene sounds like it was written for a different series as what precious little we know of the villain seems completely flipped around.  What's more confounding is none of this is going to matter, because Serge, his plans, and everything he and Braun discuss in the first few pages is dropped and never again referred to later in the chapter.

The only part of the issue that is relevant is Lady Shiva.  She vetoes Serge's kill order, claiming she wants Black Canary alive.  To test her.  Braun intervenes, so Lady Shiva strikes, but her attack is easily deflected.  Braun's defense is beyond impressive--it's astonishing.  Oracle, who has been eavesdropping on Dinah's captivity, suspects that Braun may have a metahuman ability they didn't know about and does some digging online.

On the road leading to Katchik 9-9, Huntress and Catwoman's car breaks down.  Years ago, the city was exposed to a man-made virus that devours plastics, making the place uninhabitable to all but the most desperate and infamous of supercriminals (a "wretched hive of scum and villainy" basically).  The virus eats the ladies' engine, forcing them to proceed with their rescue on foot.

Back in the city, Dinah is taken to her holding cell in what passes for the local jail.  She rebuffs his advances, so he hits her, displaying an ability to predict not only her moves but her thoughts and words, as well.

Huntress and Catwoman have arrived and begin making their way across the rooftops.  Oracle gives them as much direction as she can based on the sounds she's overheard from Dinah's transmitter.  She also fills them in on the missing part of Braun's history, that he was subjected to KGB experiments and granted precognitive abilities which make him an expert combatant.

Huntress and Catwoman make it to Dinah's cell, but by then, Dinah has already freed herself and fled the jail.  The ladies aren't left alone, though, as Braun and Lady Shiva arrive at that moment.  As match ups go, our ladies are severely outmatched.

Catwoman has zero chance against Lady Shiva, and they both know it, but Selina Kyle may be the universe's ultimate opportunist.  She takes the fight outside where distance and environment may give her some leverage.

Huntress is left to fight Braun in the holding cell, which is now burning thanks to Catwoman's whip toppling over a kerosine lamp.  This is the fight Huntress--and we readers--have been waiting for, as once, long ago, Braun broke Helena's heart by being a lying douche bag.  It would be cathartic to get her revenge by pummeling him into unconsciousness.  The problem is, Braun's psychic ability makes him the superior fighter.

In the streets outside the jail, Lady Shiva stands ready to kill Catwoman when Black Canary returns.

Back in the blazing Bastille, Huntress is getting her ass handed to her by Braun.  Oracle tells Huntress that she cannot beat him because his precognition allows him to anticipate her attacks before she moves.  To overcome this, Huntress clears her mind and instinctively responds to Oracle's attack commands--in a sense, Oracle fights Braun using Huntress as a physical surrogate, negating his powers.

Okay, this does look like Sal Buscema.

As Huntress defeats Braun, the fire burns away enough of the building that it collapses.  Oracle orders her to save Braun, telling him that no matter what he has done, she cannot simply leave him to die.  But that's what happens.  Could Huntress have saved him?  The art makes it a little ambiguous, but it seems like she doesn't make the best effort to pull him out of the fire.

Huntress is a different type of vigilante thanOracle.  She doesn't have the same philosophy of crime fighting that Batman's family has, and that difference will continue to divide them for years to come.

As the jail burns, Dinah and Catwoman fight Lady Shiva to a standstill.  Even though it looked like there were dozens, if not hundreds, of mercenaries and killers in Katchik 9-9, they are nowhere to be found when things get hot.  Seriously, where is Serge?  Where is everybody?

Huntress reunites with Catwoman and Dinah, who recommends they make use of the destruction to escape without prolonging the fight with Lady Shiva.

The three women mount horses and ride off.  Dinah is finally verbally reunited with Oracle, who asks if this entire adventure was worth the pain and expense.  Dinah doesn't even have to think about it.

As a concluding chapter, this issue does a decent job of drawing the characters back together and bringing the action.  It's not perfect.  The threat of Lady Shiva is never fully realized, in part because she was introduced too late into the story, and in part because her status is quickly undercut by Braun's metahuman defense technique.  The obligatory conflict established in issue #1 is Huntress and Braun, and their fight is a satisfying climax.  Huntress relying on Oracle to command her end of the fight like a marionette in the hands of a puppeteer is exciting and smart.  It reminds me of the Star Wars novel The Last Command, where a blinded Mara Jade is mentally guided by Leia Organa-Solo during a lightsaber duel.

Overall, Birds of Prey: Manhunt was a superficial adventure story.  The plot was laughably thin from the onset--Dinah and Huntress are both gunning for a man who romantically toyed with them and sort of casually happened to be a criminal.  Archer Braun seems to get more dangerous with each chapter, but the mounting threats never feel organic, never feel like layers of his character are being pulled away.  Instead, it feels like Dixon is just throwing stuff at him, making it up on the fly as the situation calls for it.

What works in the series is the women, who all look good, talk tough, and act authentic, insofar as they stay true to their character established in previous stories.  But I don't believe anything was really achieved by this story.  I don't know that this event has built upon the Black Canary, Oracle, Huntress and Catwoman we've known before.  Despite getting top billing, Dinah and Oracle are limited for good chunks of time.  Dinah's a hostage for an issue and a half, and Oracle talks to nobody for about as long.  Huntress and Catwoman take most of the spotlight and the series feels crowded.  I think either one of them could have been cut from the story and it would have felt tighter, more personal, and more significant.

If this title is about Black Canary and Oracle, I'm not sure they're in any different place emotionally or personally than they were at the end of the Birds of Prey one-shot that brought them together.  But… as I said, though the story may not be deep or meaningful, it's a fun ride and any fan of Dinah or the Birds of Prey should give it a read!

Birds of Prey: Manhunt #2 (Oct 1996)

Previously on Birds of Prey: Manhunt…

Black Canary has a burning hatred for a master criminal named Archer Braun--not because he's a master criminal, but because the well-toned adonis toyed with her physically and emotionally and didn't tell her about being a master criminal.  With her new partner, Oracle, Mistress of the Information Super-Highway watching her back and whispering in her ear, Dinah launches an attack against Braun in the heavily-defended parking garage of his hotel.

Dinah and Oracle aren't the only women looking to settle the score with Braun, though.  The Huntress is gunning for Braun because he seduced her and didn't call the next day (which is a worthy offense for a costumed superhero's time, I think), and Catwoman--herself a firm-bodied master criminal--wants Braun taken down for reasons yet to be told.  All of that brings us to…

Birds of Prey: Manhunt #2: "Girl Crazy" is written by Chuck Dixon and pencilled by Matt Haley, with inks by Wade Von Grawbadger and John Lowe.  It's cover-dated October 1996.

Catwoman quickly explains her connection Archer Braun; she helped him pull of a bank job, but when she came to collect her share of the take, he skipped out.  Dinah attacks Catwoman's reason for taking Braun down just to get her money back, while Catwoman scoffs at her and Huntress for reacting like a couple of jilted lovers.  She argues that regardless of motive, they all want the same thing and so should work together.

Oracle urges Dinah not to work with Catwoman, but the timely arrival of Gotham City Police cruisers brings an abrupt end to the discussion.  Catwoman is a criminal and needs to run, and Huntress' status is hardly any better.  Not seeing another viable option, Dinah agrees to join them in their pursuit of Braun.

Dinah feels uncomfortable with Catwoman's cavalier attitude toward, well, everything.  And Oracle's voice--ringing in her ears, via the comms devices in her earings, like the Internet's own Jiminy Cricket--compounds Dinah's dilemma about working with this pair of purple-clad, raven-haired beauties.  At last Dinah ignores her "cyber-conscience" and removes her earrings, slipping them into Catwoman's hands to silence Oracle's growing objections.

The ladies chase Braun's cherry red sports car to Gotham Airport.  As soon as Black Canary ditches her metaphorical conscience, common sense goes out the window, too.  Not unlike Dinah, herself.

It's nice of Catwoman to show some concern for Black Canary as the other is clinging to the roof of a car, trying to wrangle control of the steering wheel.  Before Catwoman and Huntress can help, however, their own ride is blown off the tarmac by Braun's bazooka-wielding henchmen.  Luckily, the vigilantes are thrown from the explosion, while at the same time, Dinah is flung from Braun's car and knocked unconscious.

Braun and his goons carry Dinah aboard his aircraft, along with presumably the stolen money or jewels or weapons or whatever it was he was stealing.  Huntress and Catwoman can only watch the villain escape with their sort-of partner.  Even the sudden--very sudden--arrival of the Batmobile seems to late to save Black Canary.

Catwoman and Huntress exfiltrate the airfield and break into a hotel suite to reassess the situation.  Huntress' goal has switched from punishing Braun to rescuing Canary.  Catwoman, however, still just wants her her money back.  Different ends, same means: get Braun.  And Catwoman thinks she knows how to find him through a criminal fence named Solomon Cadiz.

The two sneak onto Cadiz' estate and split up after Catwoman leaves Huntress with some beef jerky to bribe or thwart the guard dogs.

Meanwhile, Oracle is tracking Braun's aircraft when she loses its location.  Even Batman and Robin--who appears to be doing his homework in the car--are no help in catching Braun and rescuing Oracle's "field operative".

Catwoman confronts a bed-ridden Cadiz, demanding Braun's whereabouts, only to be ambushed by Cadiz' nurse/bodyguard.  Outside, Huntress is cornered by attack dogs and armed guards.  And when things seem most desperate for Oracle, she hears from Dinah.

The only problem is, without the communicator earrings Dinah can't hear back.  The issue ends with Black Canary captured, mostly-incommunicado, and at the mercy of a master criminal with a great ass who is not Catwoman.

The second issue of Manhunt treats its reader to the same levels of action and intrigue and sexiness as the first issue.  But the superficial plot and lack of depth are also front and center in this chapter.  This is "popcorn movie" entertainment, a lot of glitz and glamor with no heart.  The dialogue is smart (at times) and funny (at times) and genuine enough to ensure that Dixon has a solid grasp of the characters.  After the first page, which is horrible, Haley's art looks great.  He infuses the right amounts of style and emotion to make every scene feel tight and necessary, even when they aren't.

Catwoman is undeniably the star of this issue, and if you look back at the descriptors used for this issue, the same words could be applied to her.  In many ways, she hijacks the story as joyously as she lures the heroines in the chase for Braun.  Oracle, the series' voice of reason, is shut out--dumped for Catwoman and Huntress.  As such, Oracle doesn't get to do much this issue but worry futilely.

The closest this story comes to a deep, emotional conflict is Dinah's decision to ditch the computer geek and go along with the cool, mean girls.  And in after-school special manner, she recklessly throws herself into danger and gets captured, becoming a plot device for much of the rest of the miniseries.

Speaking of plot devices, we don't really learn much more about our villain, Archer Braun, other than it wasn't an art mistake last issue--he really is wearing that atrocious uniform.  C'mon, he's an international criminal thief, not an X-Men villain from the Marc Silvestri-era.  Put him in simple civilian clothes.  Nothing about him feels interesting or original (yet), and his personal connections to Dinah and Huntress are all-but forgotten this time.  He's not the villain; he's the MacGuffin.

A few other notes of interest

At this point in the series, Oracle's real identity is still a mystery to Dinah.  From the context of their one scene in this issue, it's not clear if Batman even knows she's Barbara Gordon yet, and I can't remember when he learns that.

Catwoman calls Black Canary "Pretty Bird", and Black Canary… doesn't like it.  It sounds like an offhand remark from Catwoman, but it strikes the right nerve.  That nickname, of course, is what Green Arrow used to call her.  The name would stir mixed emotions in Dinah as Green Arrow was killed a year earlier in Green Arrow #101 (written by Chuck Dixon), coupled with the rather turbulent nature of their relationship in the years preceding his death.  This brief exchange and the volatility Haley brings to the scene is the highlight of the issue.

Come back next weekend for a review of Part 3!

Birds of Prey: Manhunt #1 (Sept 1996)

Black Canary first partnered with the high priestess of cyberspace, Oracle, in Black Canary/Oracle: Birds of Prey.  Spinning out of that one-shot special, comes the Birds of Prey: Manhunt four-issue limited series.  The leading ladies are back, and this time there are twice as many x-chromosomes to kick ass and look good!

Chuck Dixon returns to scribe the tale, but Gary Frank only provides cover art this time.  Matt Haley supplies the interior pencils with inks from Wade Von Grawbadger.  The combination is close enough to Gary Frank's style to not seem jarring or lacking.  Birds of Prey: Manhunt #1: "Where Revenge Delights" premiered in September 1996 and cost $1.95 U.S.

Not wasting time with anything silly like a prologue that establishes atmosphere or threat, the story dives headfirst into action as Black Canary barges into an underground parking garage looking for a man to beat down.  This opening, with Dinah behind the wheel, is a subtle nod to the Birds one-shot, which ended with Dinah driving off in her new ride.  Manhunt doesn't pick up directly after the last story--she's not even driving the same car--but it's a nice, fun continuation.  Alas, Dinah is again wearing the Gary Frank-designed costume that I don't care for, but the art team make her look good wearing it, and that helps.   

Black Canary races through the parking complex of a Gotham City high-rise, hunting for a man named Braun.  Chances are it's not Major League Baseball player and accused performance enhancing drug popper Ryan Braun, but maybe, we'll see where the story goes.  Serving as communications and technology coordinator, Oracle, feeds Black Canary intel on the building's security systems and Braun's armed security forces.  Unbeknownst to either Canary and Oracle, a third female operator--the dark and mysterious Huntress--is sneaking into the tower.  We don't know what either of the women are there for yet, or who Braun is, but his men have machine guns, so it's probably not Ryan Braun, the baseball player.

So Barbara Gordon still hates the Joker for paralyzing her?  I guess I can understand why she'd hold a grudge about that.  From the sound of things, Dinah still doesn't know Oracle's secret identity, but does care for her enough to hate the Joker by proxy.

Black Canary takes on Braun's security forces in the garage, showing off her impressive hand-to-hand combat skills.  But right after, we get a scene showing her lack of familiarity with submachine guns.

It's a great little scene that delivers humor and characterization for both women.  Oracle, naturally, has a strong aversion to firearms, but still knows plenty about them, what with being the daughter of a cop and all (though Dinah's dad was a cop, too, so there goes that explanation).  Barbara also worries that Dinah is going to use the gun to kill Braun's security and warns her that she refuses to work with "that kind of vigilante".  Dinah, of course, had no intention of using lethal force.  Could the same be said, though, for Huntress upstairs in the penthouse?

The blonde in the sports car is Archer Braun, apparently, and he escapes from the parking garage when Dinah decides not to pursue in her bullet-riddled Range Rover.  Then Huntress drops down the elevator shaft and she and Black Canary recognize immediately that they were here for the same man/reason.

Dinah is pretty cavalier about dropping her real name to costumed strangers.  Huntress, on the other hand, is a bit more guarded, although she does reveal in a flashback that she is Helena Bertinelli.  The same flashback also provides us with the much-needed exposition.

Helena met Archer Braun at an opera, which should have been her first clue that something wasn't right about him.  Everything he told her was a lie, including his family, his history, even his name--all crap seemingly tailored to her specific tastes.  The only genuine thing about Helena's perfect beau was a part of his anatomy that we'll return to later.  Anyway, she falls for him, sleeps with him, and waits for him to call the next day.  And waits.  And waits.

Meanwhile, Braun was working a different but no less custom-tailored seduction on Dinah.  Eventually, and more than a little embarrassingly for the characters--and fans--both women discover their lover's criminal nature when they recognize his ass in security camera footage from a crime scene.

Black Canary and Huntress figure they could let the police take Braun, but this is personal.  He slept with them under false presences, dammit, and now they're going to shove their stiletto heels up his oh-so-recognizable rear.

Speaking of memorable asses, this one shows up at the end!

That's right--Black Canary, Oracle, Huntress, and Catwoman are all going after this evil bastard who may have committed some kind of robberies between nailing all of the hottest women in Gotham City.  What will Catwoman add to the mix?  Or, more appropriately for her, what is she planning on taking away?  We'll find out in the next issue, which hopefully I'll review next weekend.

The Verdict

Birds of Prey: Manhunt #1 is a bit of a different beast than the original BoP special, although some of that is to be expected given the different format.  This isn't a self-contained story, but merely the first act of a miniseries.  Still, Dixon may be letting the cables slip a little too much for an opening chapter.  There's plenty of great action to kick off the story, but the exposition comes awkwardly packed on top of itself all in a rush at the end.  The one-shot felt tight, efficient and economical in its storytelling.  This issue feels more like Dixon's making it up as he goes along.

The threat in this issue is its biggest problem.  We really don't know why Archer Braun is worth super heroine/vigilante's time, other than the fact that he slept with her and didn't call her back.  Besides being awkward and embarrassing, that's just kind of… petty.  It doesn't make Black Canary or Huntress seem like strong women.  In fact, Huntress is shown to be easily lured and pining away for her boyfriend, literally waiting for him to call.  This is the master villain of the series?  His Who's Who in the DC Universe entry would list his occupation as: douche bag.  Hopefully, the stakes will be raised quite a bit in issue #2.

All that aside, it's still a very fun read.  Having spent fifty-or-so pages with Dinah and Oracle last time around, it's nice to see Huntress added to the mix, even though we don't get much chemistry from her or Catwoman this time around.  Knowing that Helena will become a fully integrated third of this partnership five years later makes it all the more special to see how the characters respond to each other on first meeting.