DCU Comic Book Reviews

BIRDS OF PREY #116

Hidden Treasures

May 2008

Written by Sean McKeever

Pencils by Nicola Scott

Inks by Doug Hazelwood

Cover by Stephane Roux

Synopsis

Zinda Blake is in a drug-induced trance to believe that she is the Queen to King Shark.  Under this trance, Zinda beats up Huntress and then leads King Shark to an underground fortress.  Meanwhile, Misift’s jealous and anger at Black Alice causes the young magician to leave before Oracle can get a name of the person behind the attack in Metropolis.  However, Oracle is able to get a location:  Platinum Flats.  Meanwhile, Zinda fights over the drug-induced trance and with a little help from Huntress, they defeat king Shark.  In Platinum Flats, Manhunter’s attempt to learn more about the Metropolis attacks leads nowhere.  Elsewhere, an unidentified man yells at Arthur, a young man with the ability to bring inanimate objects to life, because capes are snooping around his town.

Review by Binkley (e-mail)

This was a very good transition issue that gets the team into position to resolve the major plot point from McKeever’s first story.  However, the pacing of this issue feels stretched out to make sure it ends where it ends.  The first part of the issue dragged a little bit; the extended scene between Black Alice and Misfit seemed more like filler than anything else.  It didn’t resolve anything or lead to anything new.  The fight just happened and then Alice fled. Yet, I can’t complain that much since I like McKeever’s handle on these characters and the dialogue.  Sometimes good writing can overcome poor pacing and this is certainly the case with this issue.

Last issue I complained about the dual storylines and McKeever obliges me by ending the King Shark segment just as the Metropolis attacks segment revs up for the ending.  Now, the King Shark story still feels like a tangent to the main storyline (and thus should’ve been saved for an issue or two on its own) but I am hoping that McKeever will find a way to tie everything together.  In fact, I am willing to bet that the Birds of Prey will use those coins Zinda and Huntress found to give it to the victims of the attack in Metropolis. 

Is Platinum Flats an actual location in the DC universe or did McKeever just make it up for this issue.  I can’t make up my mind if it is a stupid name or kinda cool given the description of it in this issue (you know, Platinum because of the Silicon Valley vibe to it; get it?). 

Wow, it has been a long times since Manhunter was see in the DC universe.  The Manhunter book is coming back soon, I hope; I miss that book. 

The cover features a really big gaffe:  credit goes to Gail Simone, who hasn’t written a Birds of Prey issue for several months, rather than actual writer Sean McKeever.  How the hell did that one manage to make it through editorial.  Heads are going to roll. 

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