The Birds of Prey have been on everyone's lips lately, as the trailer for the new WB show begins to show up on the Internet, and maybe that's why my interest is starting to rekindle a little. On the other hand, it might just be that this issue was one of the best in some time, focusing on the action-adventure and character interaction that once made it one of my favorite titles, shaving away some of the "Fugitive" story that never really belonged in the title and instead focusing on what the book does best. In the case of this issue, that happens to be Deathstroke, Connor Hawke and dinosaurs, with Black Canary and Oracle right in the middle of it.
This book was at its best when it was focusing on short arcs and adventures, with Oracle setting up the missions and Black Canary serving as the field operative. The slowly shifting focus to more soap opera, never-ending subplots and tie-ins with the street crime of Gotham has weakened the book, and I'm glad to see Dixon take it "back to basics" in his last arc. This story would be as at home on Mission: Impossible as it is in Birds of Prey, although Dixon has given it a DC Universe twist with the inclusion of characters from his other titles like Green Arrow as well as mercenary mainstay Deathstroke.
I very much enjoyed the multiple team approach that Dixon took, and how the various teams began to interact on the island. Dixon's sense of action pacing is as strong as ever, starting off with Dinah's skydive from a plane and moving right along into an encounter with dinosaurs, Deathstroke's attempted rescue and the attack on Hawke's sub. Those seeking an action-intensive story will not be disappointed with this issue.
Part of what made me appreciate this issue was the best artwork that the book has seen since the days before Greg Land and Butch Guice went to Crossgen. Dave Ross, DeCastro and Pepoy do a fantastic job on the artwork this issue, and Wildstorm FX serve up some beautiful colors to accentuate the work. I was particularly impressed with his splash pages, whether it was Dinah skydiving onto the island, the first appearance of the dinosaur or the half-page splash that is Deathstroke's entrance. Both the character detail and the background gets equal attention, and the staging really keeps the action moving.
Though the Birds of Prey TV show seems to be about urban crimefighters, the comic is at its best when it is more of a globe-trotting action or espionage book. This arc seems to be taking the book back to those roots in terms of tone and style, and though I had thought I might wait until Terry Moore's brief run on the book before giving it another try, I may in fact be jumping back on a little earlier to see how Dixon closes out his tenure on the title.
