I'm quite pleased that Simone and Benes's first issue on this title was so well received, as it should ensure there will be plenty more where that came from in the coming months (and perhaps even years). Simone only touches lightly on the privacy issues she brought up last month, and instead, focuses more on characterization, and notably a dark moment from one character's past and how it impacts her thinking today. Plot-wise, not much happens here, but it makes plenty of room for some strong, grounded writing.
The Black Canary finds herself the prisoner of a brilliant criminal by the name of Savant, one who's smart enough to get his bulky henchmen to eliminate the threat of her ultrasonic canary cry powers. It's not the Canary that Savant is after, though; it's Oracle and her rumored limitless resources. Oracle, desperate for an ally to help her save her friend, contacts the Huntress, the outcast member of the Batman family who has a critical mission of her own to deal with first.
Benes's art treads a fine line between standard super-hero artwork and cheesecake, but he never crosses it, fortunately. And one can't blame him for the new Midriff Huntress look; that's Jim Lee's handiwork from Batman a few months ago. Benes captures the tender side of the Huntress quite well, as well as Dinah's frantic concern tempered with determination and focus.
Years ago, Mike Grell turned some heads by presenting the controversial notion of a female super-hero as the victim of rape in Green Arrow: The Longbow Hunters, and here, that dark moment from the Black Canary's past returns. It's an important aspect of the character to explore, but Simone is careful not to let it define the character. I have a qualm about how that idea was introduced here. Simone kind of dances around the rape, never referring to it directly as such. That makes sense when it comes to the sensitive nature of the trauma, but then again, it doesn't allow her to directly fill new readers in on the more than decade-old reference. Despite that accessibility concern, it's a powerful element that I don't think has been explored in this series before now.
As always, Simone's sense of humor shines, and it's thanks to her well-crafted dialogue. The strongest moment in the script for me was the surprising exploration of the Huntress's maternal side. Her comments rang true, and the scene helped to calm the personality conflict between her and Oracle.
