Birds of Prey is many things: a girl power comic, an urban adventure, a soap opera and even a super-hero title. What it shouldn't be, at least in my opinion, is a farce, which is what Terry Moore is writing. Moore writes strong female characters, so he seemed a good choice for this book, but the mixture of melodrama and goofy humor doesn't really fit the book I want to read, and even Conner's artwork winds up seeming a little off as the comedy is emphasized. While there was reason to expect this book to change with the departure of its guiding force, writer Chuck Dixon, the complete and utter change in tone does not sit well with me.
Moore still keeps a certain element of action in the book, but the timing is subservient to his impulses for comedy and melodrama. Black Canary's escape from her captors, or Oracle's escape from hers, is an inconsequential part of the story, serving largely as a vehicle for overwrought narration about how good it is to have her legs back or a goofy gag about Black Canary having bad timing. The former is particularly off-putting to me, as I thought Barbara's overly composed thoughts like "Sailing in a cloud of diamonds, I want this moment to last forever..." sounded like high school poetry, not the kind of thing I've come to expect from the character.
When you get down to it, that's the failing of the book for me, and it is as much my expectations as any failure on Moore's part. Oracle suddenly getting up out of her wheelchair to fly around like Batman, with a convenient array of gadgets, just doesn't fit what I've come to know of her in the past 46 issues of this book, and while I respect a creator's ability to take things in a new direction, I'm disappointed that Moore has turned one of the more unique and strong female characters in the DC universe back into "Batman with boobs." The same goes for Black Canary, who has gone from a headstrong and capable heroine to a ditzy girl who doesn't know when to apply her skills. It's largely a question of tone, because the timing and characterization Moore is using is perfect for a slightly goofy action-adventure, but it doesn't fit what I expect, or what I want, from Birds of Prey.
My problems with the artwork come largely because of how well Conner and Palmiotti match the tone of the script. A lot of the humor comes from the exasperated expressions of Dinah, the joyous expressions of Barbara or the proliferation of gadgets during the opening sequence. Though the tone doesn't match what I have in mind for the book, I find myself liking the art nonetheless, just because Conner has such obvious skill with storytelling and some of the most expressive faces that I've seen in comics. The Pro was a high watermark for her art, as far as I'm concerned, but her work here is just as good if not better.
In the end, I can't be entirely certain that my opinion isn't a fairly isolated one. I have a long-standing fondness for these characters as written by their creator, and some residual dislike for Moore's writing after tiring of Strangers in Paradise, so it's entirely possible that, as they say, "it's just me." However, after returning to the Birds of Prey thanks to an exceptionally strong farewell arc from Dixon, I find myself once again considering dropping the title again.
