This comic has quite a few glaring flaws - in its artistic freedom and story department - which I'm sure have nothing to do with me not having read any other 'Birds of Prey' works beforehand. But by the screaming canaries was the volume a lot of fun to read. Fast-paced action, great characters who’re each given panel time - and for some even whole chapters - to develop, a dark tone, and progressions and twists to the plot that are well balanced and flow evenly.
As it turns out, Gail Simone can write not just one or two believable and relatable female characters in one comic volume. She can write several in one solid issue. The whole flock (apologies for the bad pun) of the Birds of Prey are memorable and engaging in their own way.
But the star of 'Birds of Prey, Vol. 1: End Run' is Black Canary, aka Dinah Lance. She's one of the best martial arts experts in the world, and she can sound a building-shattering banshee shriek (try saying that ten times over). She even once defeated twelve born-and-bred assassins. Black Canary is resoundingly cool, with a sympathetic side brought up by a past involving a broken superhero family, an ex-mayor husband in jail, and a missing foster daughter. So her outstanding resilience in nearly every dangerous situation imaginable is not overblown to make her look awesome for the sake of it. Rather, it is to show how strong she is; coping despite all the terrible things happening around her, like all the information on her friends and family being leaked online, leaving them wide open to deadly assassins. This heroine is not invulnerable; she’s just experienced enough to endure these things as a superhero with a misguided and violent past. Black Canary is implied to be harbouring a death wish as well as a vow of not using senseless violence, but she refuses to give up where there is hope. Then there's her friends, the Birds of Prey. Everything about this lady screams high-octane, and I love it.
The one who brings the Birds together is Barbara Gordon, aka The Oracle, aka the former Batgirl before being rendered handicapped. This computer genius and hacker is as wonderfully-written as she is in Gail Simone's other comic, 'Batgirl, Vol. 1: The Darkest Reflection', even if she is a little too trusting and forgiving in this one. But even at her worst disadvantage she never caves over; Babs always uses her head and takes everything at face value, with a heart striving to understand better. She is the one who inspired Black Canary’s resolve not to kill or grievously injure others again.
Other Birds of Prey include:
Lady Blackhawk, aka Zinder: a confident, sweet-talking, legendary fighter pilot who I sometimes got confused with Black Canary because they both have blonde hair of the exact same style (they even wear black leather), but their personalities and dialect are different at least.
Huntress, aka Helena Bertinelli: another heroine I knew very little about before reading this volume, and she doesn't get a lot of development until the last quarter. But like the other Birds she can kick arse and take names like nobody's business. She is an impulsive, act-now-think-later type of person, but she clearly loves her fellow Birds of Prey dearly. I love her sisterly relationship with Black Canary, whose life she would literally die to save.
There is also the saintly, more feminine Bird: the peacekeeper Dove, aka Dawn Granger, whose only main characteristic is that she’s non-violent and angelic to the point of childlike naivety. She hasn’t any strong development or much panel time here – do superhero writers struggle with “pacifist” heroes, I wonder? - but she gets her moment of awesome when she punches the Penguin in the face, so I’m happy. And there’s Dove’s partner (and lover?) Hawk, aka Hank Hall, the only male Bird of Prey. He's a soldier on his second life - literally - and is Dove's more violent, polar opposite. Even he gets much more development than the little blue and white Bird. (=sigh= Maybe “happy” isn’t the word I’m looking for after all.)
I like how Gail Simone writes these characters so that, even to a novice like myself, I really felt their connection and understood their relationships with one another – formed through many years of fighting crime and social injustice. Despite the team's time apart prior to 'End Run', the friendship they share - especially between Oracle, Black Canary and Huntress – is authentic, and not without effort. Their interactions and witty dialogue exchanges show not only how much they care for each other, but how human these superhumans are. Sometimes being part of a team of understanding friends is better than fighting solo – both externally and internally.
Now for the downsides.
'Birds of Prey, Vol. 1: End Run' has its share of silliness, there is no denying that. Like the scene with Penguin's blood-loss-induced, perverted fantasies that practically paint "Fanservice" on every panel they're in. I ask, what is the point of this scene? I hope Penguin being included in the comic at all wasn’t so that the fanservice could go all-out, even if it is only for a couple pages (I am suspicious because his role could have been filled by any villain).
Towards the end, it seems Black Canary has met her match with the assassin, White Canary. She clearly states in narration boxes that her next mission must be her last and she'll never return to Gotham City. However this, plus the build-up towards fighting the “world number one martial arts expert” Shiva to the death, has no real payoff. Black Canary barely even gets a chance to do anything. The “final fight” results in an anticlimax in the last few pages of the volume. Maybe more will be explained in the next volume, but I was still expecting a better wrap-up. On the bright side, it does keep the friendship-and-sacrifice theme intact.
Now let's talk about the artwork. The comic is drawn crisply and cleanly, with lines and shadows that brilliantly convey a dark atmosphere befitting the story. There is overall impressive detail on every page.
Maybe too much detail, especially with the anatomy of the female characters. There is an abundance of adult female characters in 'End Run', and only two-or-three of them actually wear pants. A few or more wear fishnet stockings. And all of them have, uh, very healthy-sized breasts. Also, expect the artist to draw tightly-clothed butt-shots at any opportunity. I won't fault Gail Simone on this since I'm sure she hadn’t much input when it came to the art, but the fanservice contrasts greatly to how well she writes her female characters as human beings and not sexualised models for the male gaze (I'm sure I remember at least some the Birds of Prey wearing high heels during chase scenes and their run from the law too. How amateurish). It is for this reason that I am reluctant to label this comic as "feminist" or "feminist-friendly".
But still, the fanservice isn't too excessive, thank goodness, and it didn't distract me too much. It could have been a whole lot worse. I still liked all the characters in all their flawed and repentant glory.
'Birds of Prey, Vol. 1: End Run' - not perfect by any stretch, but it's fast-paced, action-packed, exciting, intelligently-written (for the most part), and accessible to anyone just getting into comic books. The artwork may be off-putting in some places, but Gail Simone's character-writing and ability to up the stakes in an already intense storyline is impeccable. It can get cheesy, but it's a guilty-pleasure flavour of cheese; similar to 'The Expendables', only with a female cast and stronger emotional resonance and character development.
I enjoyed this first outing into the 'Birds of Prey' world. Really, why isn't Hollywood making concrete plans to make a movie about these awesome ladies? They have the potential to be the next Avengers or Guardians of the Galaxy. With the various announcements of female-driven superhero movies being made and released in the coming years (finally!), 'Birds of Prey' shouldn't be passed up. As long as the movie's writer(s) can write women, of course.
Final Score: 3.5/5
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