![]() ![]() Sure, they have a decent enough understanding of Barbara and Dinah’s relationship, though I might argue that their iteration of Helena is nothing like the character we saw in Grayson, but the conversations held between all of them are brutally forced, loaded with exposition, and written as if it’s pitched to the absolutely lowest common denominator. The issues with dialogue underline just how much difficulty the Bensons have had with adapting to these characters. Huntress: “The only reason I’m letting you live is because Grayson trusted you” Batgirl: “Dick Grayson?” Huntress: “Good, you remember him.”Īnd it goes on and on, including a run-down of Huntress’ tragic backstory as she’s assaulting a gangster and a play on words regarding Dinah’s canary cry that falls flatter than a pancake. Huntress: “Stay away from me or I expose you both, Barbara Gordon and Dinah Lance!” Kyle: Really, the best way I can summarize my issues with the groan-worthy (and did I ever groan out loud often) dialogue is to bring up specific examples that just drove me up the wall: Batgirl: “I need him alive!” Huntress: “And I want him dead!” I know you are certainly not big on the dialogue in general here, Kyle. It may seem like a nitpicky critique, but when this sort of problem crops up every other page it makes the reading experience feel like much more of a slog. This panel would have read in exactly the same way without this text– at the very least without the bits about Oracle being “different” for Babs. This is personal for her.” The captions are placed over a panel showing Batgirl lashing out, gritting her teeth and yelling that they need to do something. At one point, Dinah says “Babs has never been the type to let her emotions run roughshod over her restraint. I don’t think the Bensons are close to being the only writers who load up on caption boxes, but it’s particularly egregious here given how often Dinah’s words are redundant when juxtaposed with the dialogue and art on the page. For one thing, Dinah’s narration is way too overdone. That said, there are a lot of problems with the way this story was crafted. If you had never read a story featuring these characters, you would at least be able to follow the book along. Even Huntress’ motivations are understandable through the clunky dialogue of this book. Barbara’s need to salvage her previous identity as Oracle makes sense for her character. Dinah’s relationship with Barbara is sometimes strained but always supportive. On a basic level, I think writers Julie Benson and Shawna Benson do have a decent understanding of the various members of the Birds of Prey and do their best to highlight the similarities and differences between them. However, I think it’s worth giving credit where credit is due, first. I think there was a great deal wrong with it both narratively and visually. I’ll be frank and say I did not like Batgirl and the Birds of Prey #1 either. ![]() Alex, maybe you’ll hold a different opinion and shock the hell out of me.Īlex Lu: Well…I think we share the same opinion with a different level of severity. I just can’t imagine ever wanting to pick this comic up again, I was that turned off by it. I’m not sure if this is the worst Rebirth issue I’ve read yet, but it’s very close. I had to stop every few pages and question why I was reading it and putting myself through the displeasure. I found that choking down the contents of this issue was akin to trying to swallow a really disgusting pill without the benefit of water. From an overwrought opening that presents atrocious dialogue between this new iteration of the team, to clumsily plotted scenes that attempt to highlight how important the Oracle name is to Barbara, to hideously severe art from Claire Roe, to an unbelievably terrible fight between Asp and the three leads of this comic I struggled to get through this. This first issue is, to put it bluntly, god awful. I was excited about where this was headed. It was an issue that bridged the gap between the DC You eras of Batgirl and Black Canary (and even a little bit of Grayson ) to coagulate into something that seemed like it was going to pay homage to Chuck Dixon’s classic team. I recognized there were a little bit of “new to comics” moments from Julie and Shawna Benson, but I ended up getting the sense that the title was potentially headed to a fun place. Kyle Pinion: When reviewing Batgirl and the Birds of Prey: Rebirth, I was generally pretty positive on the experience.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |