Last updated on February 3rd, 2017 at 03:28 am
DC Rebirth Reviews-Batgirl and the Birds of Prey: Rebirth #1 (2016)
Welcome to our first guest blogger,
Robert Lee of Sha La La La Productions!
Robert is a top-notch videographer, but almost more importantly, he’s a true comics fan and geek.
First off, it’s an honor and a privilege to be asked to write a comic review for Everybody’s Hometown Geek.
Especially during a time when it’s great to be a geek and/or nerd with all the comic book movies and TV shows (especially the JSA (Justice Society of America) appearance coming soon on Legends of Tomorrow) exploding left and right, so Thank you Deborah and the gang at Everybody’s Hometown Geek!!!
If you haven’t read it, stop here and buy the comic
.
Beware – Possible Spoilers Ahead!
Let’s take a look at the DC Rebirth of Batgirl and the Bird of Prey:
Credits:
Writers: Julie Benson and Shawna Benson
Artist: Claire Roe
Colors: Allen Passalaqua
Letters: Steve Wands
Cover: Yanick Paquette and Nathan Fairbairn
Variant Cover: Ben Caldwell
With all first issues, there’s not a lot of heavy action going on, but a lot of setting up of what’s to come in future issues. This is to be expected since it’s focus on the RE-birth aspect of re-establishing the back story of the characters and show how they’re getting the band back together again. (band in this case is The Birds of Prey)
I’m a bit torn, I’m a fan of Barbara Gordon/Batgirl (yes, growing up I had a superhero crush on the late Yvonne Craig’s portrayal of Batgirl in 1960s Batman series
) and was devastated by the treatment of her character (especially how The Joker extremely “roughed her up” in Batman: The Killing Joke
) so [I’m not sure how I feel] to see how it was [almost too] concisely explained how she recovered from a devastating crippling injury. I’m glad they didn’t get so gruesome in the details (again from The Killing Joke) and still was able to portray her as a tough-as-nails hero in her desire to continue to be a hero, especially in protecting the honor and name of Oracle. I do find it interesting how they address the age difference (or teased about it) between Barbara and Dinah Lance/Black Canary. I was curious in that Barbara’s age was close to Dinah Lance Pre-New 52, so to see Barbara younger now is an interesting dynamic.
I haven’t followed Black Canary or Huntress as closely as before (i.e. a classic case of life gets in the way. 😉 ) but I’m glad for folks like me that they offer a brief summary of what each character has been up to. I’m glad they have established how Barbara and Dinah have a history of working together prior to this DC Rebirth issue.
I’ll have to admit how the Huntress will be re-admitted to the Birds of Prey fold will be interesting since her involvement in The New 52 had been confined to the Grayson series
. At the very least, reintroducing her family back story of the Bertinelli clan is a great start.
Black Canary (Dinah Lance) The Huntress (Helena Bertinelli)
For those looking for a lot of action in the first issue you may be disappointed, however the plot is promising and I do love how Benson & Benson set the table for the first case/caper for the Birds of Prey to tackle and look forward to issue #2.
MORE TO COME…
We’re going to continue to review the best DC Rebirth issues and are looking for other guest bloggers and geeks to join the team! Let us know if you’d like to submit a post at EverybodysHometownGeek@gmail.com
Additionally, Robert has produced a music documentary that has aired on several public access channels across Massachusetts and featured short films at local independent film festivals. The short “Searching for a friend won Best Short film in the Brockton Shoe City Screen Festival where he served as Director of Photography. He was also featured on the internet radio program alongside television host and E! Network television personality Todd Newton on Sy Yules UR Business Network podcast program. The past year his company’s Doctors Express Waltham promotional video earned them the Silver Creative Excellence Award in the category of Best Interactive Online Video by NEDMA, the New England Direct Marketing Association, They have also produce a series of videos for the Newton Needham Chamber of Commerce to promote their Shop Local Series.
In his free time, Robert can be found at Fenway or TD Garden rooting on the Celts and working out at CrossFit, as well as Geeking out with his friends at Everybody’s Hometown Geek. He also enjoys looking for and dining out at unique restaurants in New England.
