"Sensei & Student" is the story arc that marks where I stopped liking Simone's Birds of Prey and started loving it. The story in this trade is an action-packed story that featured Oracle at the mercy of a black ops government facility, Black Canary teamed up with two of the most dangerous female assassins in the world and the Huntress pulled into the Birds of Prey family much more tightly. As a bonus, it also featured a terrific flashback to the original Black Canary with art by the legendary Michael Golden and an emotionally-charged epilogue that showed that Simone's gift for characterization is as strong as her gift for strong action-oriented plotting. I wasn't as crazy about the art throughout, most of which is by Ed Benes and Alex Lei, but I did warm to it as the story went on, and it's certainly got both the necessary storytelling chops that I look for along with the hyper-sexualized unrealistic women that draws in most male readers.
While this book has always been about a partnership, I confess that my larger interest in Birds of Prey has always been with Oracle more than with Black Canary. Not that I didn't like both characters, but Oracle had more innate appeal to me. That changed in "Sensei & Student," and it wasn't the only re-evaluation of character that Simone caused. Suddenly Lady Shiva seems like not just a dangerous psycho opponent but a more well-rounded character, and the odd mentor/nemesis role she plays throughout the story is one of its biggest selling points. Check out the "Shiva-ized" Black Canary in a short dream sequence and you'll see all you need to know about the temptations of power and prowess that Shiva offered, or watch the grudging "buddy movie" respect that develops between Shiva and Black Canary throughout, and you'll see that the strength in Oracle-Canary dynamic that Simone brings to the book is not isolated to those two characters.
Simone also brings in a couple other notable female players in the DC Universe. Most notably, of course, is that Huntress returns after a guest stint in the first book, and Simone explores her as more than just a foil for Oracle or whatever other hero. She makes Huntress human without losing her more ruthless edge, shows her true heroism while maintaining her dangerous vigilante style and does an excellent job of bringing her smoothly into the team without completely ignoring the friction that would result in having her join. Then there's Cheshire, who is played up not just as a methodical and dangerous chemical weapons expert but as someone with twisted family ties (of a sort) to Black Canary, which adds another bit of spice to the Canary-Shiva partnership early on.
It's clear in reading the first trade of Simone's Birds of Prey that she was laying down foundation for a long road. Some of that culminates in this issue, including a confrontation with corrupt Senator Pullman and a surprising change of fortunes for bad guy Savant, and some of it simply simmers, waiting to be explored in the next set of stories. While Simone has skills in characterization and humor, she's also very adept at plotting, and I love the complex (but not too complex) interweaving of a murdered sensei, a corrupt senator and even a serial killer from the past all coming together in this story.
Which brings me to the flashback, and one of my favorite episodes in this trade. A tale of the original Black Canary hunting a serial killer in a '50s-'60s era seemed at first to be out of place in this tale, but it turns out to have a key role, and it also plays nicely into the female empowerment themes of Birds of Prey. Simone really brings the original Black Canary to life, playing up her similarities to her daughter in terms of their unconventional, aggressive attitude but also playing up the differences, especially the happy marriage that the original Dinah Lance had. Throw in a really good mystery that ties into the main story in an unexpected way, a strong period element and gorgeous artwork by Michael Golden, and it's easy to forgive the diversion into the past and away from the main story for an issue.
Which seems like the best place to transition into talking about the art on Birds of Prey. Honestly, I've never been a huge fan of Ed Bene's work on this book and the cheesecake tone he brings to the whole thing. The fight between Canary and Cheshire in a hotel pool, with Cheshire dressed in a nightgown, is the most egregious example in this book, and also a good place to check out the ridiculously unreal-looking version of the female body that Benes draws. It's all too cartoony and exaggerated to even be sexy, it just looks comical. However, Benes also makes noticeable improvement throughout this story, and by the time we reached the end, I was perfectly happy with his artwork for the most part. The propensity for boob and butt shots seems almost gone, and his work on faces and backgrounds has gained a considerable amount of detail. And his storytelling chops, whether it's an action packed break-in to the federal holding facility or just little details like the trophies on Canary's belt in her dream sequence, are never in doubt. Joe Bennett and Cliff Richards provide artwork for the final issue in the collection that I like slightly better than the usual Benes/Lei outing, but which maintains a stylistic similarity, and the same proclivities for cheesecake. Overall, with a different artist I probably would have liked the book a touch better, but it's certainly not marred by bad art... just art that's not ideal for my tastes.
While I was still missing some of the elements of Dixon's Birds of Prey at this point, including the guest stars from around the DC Universe and the more globe-trotting feel, Simone's take on the characters definitely won me over. She even included the former at the close of this book and the latter makes a return in the next set of stories, leaving me with little to complain about. Certainly those who think of Simone as someone who only writes funny books are in for a surprise when they take in one of the better action-adventure books (with an estrogen twist) to be found on the stands. 9/10
