BIRDS OF PREY #44
"Deadly Convergence"
Mildly Recommended (5/10)
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DC Comics
Writer: Chuck Dixon
Pencils: Dave Ross
Inks: Andrew Pepoy & Nelson DeCastro
Colors: Wildstorm FX
Letters: Albert T. DeGuzman
Editor: Matt Idelson
Price: $2.50 US/$4.25 CAN |
Dixon sends Black Canary and a variety of other DC Universe characters on a promosing adventure, but more importantly, I'm relieved to find that the links to the "Bruce Wayne: Fugitive" storyline have been set aside, at least for now. Despite those strengths, though, this is, at best, only an ordinary issue of Birds of Prey. The art is rather standard, one character is completely uninteresting, and the script isn't as accessible as it could be.
Black Canary prepares to parachute onto a mysterious island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean on behalf of S.T.A.R. Labs; scientists believe this island, which seems to exist outside of the natural flow of time, might be home to a powerful cureall. The problem is that other factions are headed for the island as well. The U.S. government sends agent Eddie Fyers, Connor Hawke (son of Green Arrow) and the female mercenary known as Camouflage, while a private-sector interest pays Deathstroke the Terminator to drop in on the island, which turns out to be home to World War II soldiers and dinosaurs.
Ross tells the story clearly, but that's about all. There's little in the art that stands out as distinctive, nothing that grabs you as being unique to a particular artist's style. Camouflage is as visually uninteresting as she is personality-wise as well. The colors strike me as being far too dark; though the adventure is played straight, it's hardly as dire and foreboding as the colors might indicate.
One of the things that I enjoy about Dixon's Birds of Prey is how he explores the richness of what the DC Universe has to offer. He puts this shared continuity to good use, serving as a treat for longtime DC readers like myself and exposing new readers to strong characters they might not have seen before.
Unfortunately, with that shared continuity comes a risk of inaccessibility, and that's certainly the case here. Even I'm at something of a loss here. I know little about Eddie Fyers, and I honestly can't remember if I've seen Camouflage in this title before or not. The general premise of the plot and the titl;e aren't entirely clear either, and given the huge spotlight that the upcoming Birds of Prey TV series has shone or will shine on this comic book, that greater degree of accessibility is important in order to sell new readers on the concept and characters.
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