DCU Comic Book Reviews

BIRDS OF PREY #105

Whitewater, Part Two:  Permafrost

June 2007

Written by Gail Simone

Pencils by Nicola Scott

Inks by Doug Hazelwood

Cover by Stephane Roux

Synopsis

Feodor Kerimov, a Russian drug lord looking to recapture Russia’s glorious past, kills businessman Mr. Razdin in the hopes that his ancestral blood spilled in a magical spell will help his cause.  Meanwhile, Kerimov’s hired mercenaries the Secret Six are on the hunt after the Birds of Prey who have taken the key to Kerimov’s plan:  a Rocket Red suit with Tora Olafsdotter (aka Ice) trapped inside.  Oracle orders the team to a new rendezvous point, but Spy Smasher overrides that order and sends the team to a remote safehouse where locals are there to help.  As Scandal of the Secret Six closes in on the Birds of Prey, Hawkgirl attacks her, but the odds go against her when the rest of the Secret Six show up.  At the safehouse, Huntress realizes one of the locals is a convicted murderer and believes Spy Smasher has set the team up.  When Spy Smasher arrives and threatens Huntress, Oracle orders Huntress to get of out of there.  Before anything can happen, the Secret Six arrive and demand Ice, or they will kill Hawkgirl.

Review by Binkley (e-mail)

It is amazing how much Gail Simone is able to pack into these issues and still maintain a level of readability with the plot and story.  Not only does she manage to include the Secret Six as possible opponent in the next big fight let alone the scuffle with Scandal, but she adds in the discovery of Ice being alive, Russian magic and history touched with a little bit of treachery, the ongoing feud with Spy Smasher, the newest sixth member of the Secret Six, and even a touch of Misfit.  All of these elements are deftly attuned to each other so that at no point did I feel overwhelmed by the scenes or feel like the issues has become cluttered.  While Simone’s writing is crisp and concise as it always is, I think I need to add that Nicola Scott and Doug Hazelwood have been doing a fantastic job with the art for the past couple of issues.

While all of this is good stuff, this issue feels as if I completely and utterly missed an issue.  The last page of the previous issue showed us Ice who must have “mostly dead” for the past however many years ago it was.  This issue seemingly forgets all about her.  I suppose the in-story plot suggests she is not well enough to tell her own story, so it is too soon to hear from her.  However, I was fully expecting to hear Ice’s story and instead got very little, other than she was “mostly dead” and is important in some ways. which doesn’t really explain what happened after she “died”.  Ice could have been an inanimate object and it would not have made a difference. 

Misfit’s cameo amused me to death since she just literally popped into the scene and remained in the background for the rest of the book.  Of course, I am beginning to think that Misfit’s ability to pop anywhere she damn well pleases will become the key to the end of the story as I am sure Oracle would not be remiss using the girl’s powers if it suited her. 

Comic Connection

In in Detective Comics, issue #831, Harley Quinn was allowed out of Arkham Asylum on parole based on the belief she had reformed her criminal ways.