Broken Frontier

When Birds of Prey started in 1998, I’m sure that if you asked the comic reading public if they thought the title would last 100 issues, you wouldn’t get many positive responses. After all, it was a book featuring two female leads. Everyone knows that books starring women characters usually don’t sell too many copies. And the characters DC selected, Barbara Gordon, the former Batgirl now confined to a wheelchair as Oracle, and Black Canary, known most as Green Arrow’s girlfriend, weren’t exactly crying out for their own series, either.

The creative team was also not one to sell books just on name value alone. Chuck Dixon was a solid writer, but not a superstar the like of Moore, Gaiman or Morrison. And artist Greg Land was years away from becoming a marquee name, a right he earned on CrossGen’s Sojourn series in 2001 and his later work for Marvel. So, signs pointed to the series lasting maybe a year or two before becoming a fond memory to its fans.

But here it is, 8 years later and all those pundits have been proven wrong. Birds of Prey has proven that female-centric books do sell. Perhaps not in X-Men numbers, but well enough to last 100 issues (issue #98 sold a respectable 32,700 copies, landing it at number 65 on the Diamond Top 100). 

However, the book deserves to be celebrated for more than just it’s longevity in the face of adverse conditions. It deserves kudos for its inventive concept and for the quality and diversity of its writers.

Barbara Gordon was much beloved as Batgirl, but getting crippled by the Joker in Alan Moore’s The Killing Joke might have been the best thing to happen to her. She developed from just a female version of Batman to a fully fleshed-out character. As Oracle, she aided heroes in their fight against evil. Birds of Prey allowed her to take a more active part.

Black Canary also developed more weight and complexity over the series’ run. And soon she was joined by other female heroes such as Huntress, Vixen, Gypsy and Power Girl. The writing took these supporting characters and made them into something special.

Issue #100 is the 44th  issue of Birds of Prey written by current scribe Gail Simone, only two away from Dixon’s run of 46 on the title. And except for one fill-in issue by Jim Alexander, all of those issues were consecutive. This is a feat all on its own. Gail Simone’s stock in the comic field has grown during her tenure on BoP. She has become one of the most critically acclaimed writers in the field, and has become trusted enough by DC to be given the reigns of some very high-profile projects.

Dixon added depth and resonance to the characters and Simone has continued his work in such a way that she made a name for herself in the medium. But the two writers that came between them are what make this title so special. It gave an opportunity for two legendary authors, both known for their ability to write strong female characters, to shine in the mainstream spotlight.

Issues #47-49 were written by Terry Moore, the writer and artist of one of my favorite books, Strangers in Paradise. His three issues were followed by a seven-issue arc by Gilbert Hernandez, of Los Bros Hernandez fame, the brother team responsible for the historic cult book Love and Rockets. These two men, while probably unknown by much of the mainstream comic reading audience, will go down in history as two of the most important men in the shaping of latter-day comics. And their work is featured here. That is something that Birds of Prey should be celebrated for.

So, everyone, let’s salute Birds of Prey on its 100th issue. Here’s to 100 more!     

Also out this week:

• Samurai: Heaven and Earth Vol 2 #1: Were you one of those kids who loved all things to do with Japan? Were you into martial arts, ninjas and samurais? I know I was. Japanese culture resonates strongly with many people in almost every country, especially the samurai. With themes of honor and duty, tales of the samurai pique the interest of many readers.

If you were one of these types of readers, then you probably picked up Volume 1 of this series and were eagerly awaiting the arrival of this latest installment. Well, finally, it’s here! Both Ron Marz and Luke Ross return to detail the further adventures in the life of Shiro, as he follows his beloved Yoshiko from Paris to Spain to Egypt.  

• Astro City: The Dark Age - Book Two #1: Kurt Busiek, Alex Ross and Brent Anderson’s Astro City concept enters its second decade with this series, with a sequel to last year’s Book One. It focuses on a darker period in the Astro City universe, hence the title. The title comes as a boon to Astro City fans, making tomorrow a bright spot in their week.

One of the most positive qualities of mainstream concepts such as Superman, Fantastic Four and the other Marvel and DC heroes are the myriad of ways that they can be reinterpreted. It seems like every creator wants to work on these characters and, failing that, create their own versions of the concepts. Astro City is filled with veiled versions of these characters, but Busiek, Ross and Anderson instill a sense of homage, tribute and respect to their pastiches. And that is the main reason why it has been around for over 10 years. 

• Iron Man #13: The Civil War crossover has become the event of 2006. It is a fast and furious story where every issue contains at least one “Holy cow! I can’t believe they did that!” moment. But the one major criticism of the series is that characterization has been lost in all the action. Iron Man has become the ipso facto villain of the book, mainly because his motivations haven’t been properly explored.

That’s where this issue comes in. Shellhead’s own title finally enters the Civil War, hopefully fleshing out his viewpoint towards the conflict. His actions have been extreme. Perhaps if this series explains the reasons for them in a little more detail, he won’t be the bad guy in a lot of people minds for much longer. 

• The Scribbler: Picture this: you are a victim of multiple personality disorder. A new process called the Siamese Burn eliminates all unwanted personalities. It worked well so far for you. You are down to your last two personalities, you and one other, Yang to your Yin or vice versa. The machine is about to remove that last remaining unwanted personality. What happens when that personality is you?

Part futuristic science fiction, part psychological horror; The Scribbler seems like a book that relishes pushing the boundaries of the medium. It is a done-in-one, 96-page graphic novel written and drawn by Dan Schaffer. If you are into a challenging trip into the dark recesses of the human mind, and you have $7.99 to spare, you might want to give this issue a shot.

• Infiniteens #1: It’s a tale as old as time: David versus Goliath, the American Colonists versus the British Empire, Rocky Balboa versus Apollo Creed, the Boston Red Sox versus the New York Yankees. The story of the underdog facing off against overwhelming odds in the hopes of coming out triumphant has been the basis for many stories, real and imagined, that struck cords in the hearts of people everywhere.

Infiniteens appears to be the latest entry in this long tradition. Four teenage friends unite to save the world from the brink of extinction from an army of super powered freaks who destroy everything in their wake. The solicitation claims that it will be “a touching tale about human hearts and how the best in us can emerge in our darkest hour.” That sounds a lot like Rocky to me, only with more death and destruction… and super powers. 

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William Gatevackes is a professional writer living in Mamaroneck, NY with his wife Jennifer. He hopes that Jen, a rabid Yankees fan, will recognize that he was only trying to make the point that the Yankees are a far superior baseball team to the hated Red Sox and not trying to bring up bad memories of the year the Sox made it to the World Series. He hopes this explanation saves him from being punched. Bill also writes periodic comic reviews for PopMatters and writes title descriptions for Human Computing’s Comicbase collection management software.