DCU Comic Book Reviews

BIRDS OF PREY #124

Smile For The Birdie

January 2009

Written by Tony Bedard

Pencils by Claude St. Abin

Inks by John Floyd

Cover by Stephane Roux

Synopsis

Oracle and the Birds of Prey originally thought they were bringing Calculator to Platinum Flats to help them defeat the Syndicate, but they so learn that Calculator has betrayed them.  The Syndicate arrives in full force to attack, but the tide turns when Black Canary, Green Arrow, Speedy and Manhutner arrive to help out the Birds.  The battle shifts and the Syndicate runs away, but not before Gizmo zaps Calculator with his ray gun.  At Clocktower Systems, Oracle is watching the fight unfold when suddenly the Joker appears, looking for her.  Oracle goes to meet him, refusing to back down.  The Joker tries to kill her, but she fights back, smashing his teeth, destroying his smile.  This angers the Joker and he shoves her down the stair.  When Misfit teleports in, the Joker runs away, thinking he killed Oracle.  Elsewhere, the Syndicate meets once more.  Gizmo reverses his ray gun, restoring Calculator, who is then given a seat at the Syndicate table.  Days later, Oracle tells the birds that it is time to leave Platinum Flats, but not before they end the Syndicate permanently.  

Review by Binkley (e-mail)

This wasn’t a bad issue, but neither did I really enjoy what I was reading.  Essentially, the Syndicate part devolves into a big and loud fight among super powered people, which seems rather odd given how the Syndicate was supposed to be quiet and in the shadows.  I realize it might be difficult to capture, but I think the scenario should’ve been Oracle using her computer know-how to flush out the syndicate and then trap them into revealing who they are and what they do.  Instead we get a long fight that actually didn’t really resolve anything as both sides retreated back to their respective corners.  Ultimately, it seems like a bunch of filler. 

On the other side of the coin, we have the Joker-Oracle meeting.  I think Bedard painted himself into a corner and frankly, I don’t think there are many writers who successfully navigate their way out of that corner.  I am talking about the conflict between the Joker and Barbra Gordon.  There is a reason why no writer had tackled a confrontation between these days.  In a normal situation it would be a scene of forgiveness and contrition, but when dealing with the Joker, where those two characteristics don’t exist, all you really get is another chance to kill her.  And that doesn’t do much in terms of writing a good story.  Bedard doesn’t do a bad job and I like the idea of Barbara smashing his smile, but it still feels lacking.  I am not looking for closure, but at the same time there needed to be more than just a fight between the two.  But when dealing with the Joker, options are limited on what can be done.  Ultimately, Bedard tried and I suppose did the best he could with it, but it wasn’t quite the fireworks anyone might have been expecting.

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