Birds of Prey #10: I’m here to remind you of the cross I bear that you gave to me

In this latest installment of DC’s premiere supergal pal book, Kelly Thompson and artist Robbi Rodriguez has the girls trapped in this pseudo 1950’s era fantasy world, that seems to be a fantasy construct by their new ally Cela, while Babs is trapped in another dimension with some otherworldly monster. Plus Barda’s become infected by some black gunk that came from some bat-like creature. Can Dinah and the rest of the Birds save Barda, and ride in like the Calvary to save Babs, who’s trapped in that other dimension with that creepy monster before it gets to her?

Kelly Thompson’s become one of my favorite authors since her much celebrated run on Marvel’s Captain Marvel book. Whether it’s the introduction of new villain Star, to the creation of Binary, one of Carol’s former identities, who somehow became a sentient entity all on her own, so when I found out that she’d be launching a new Birds of Prey book, I was over the moon excited. The first Birds book was a masterpiece in how to craft a book featuring just women as the leads, and make it stand on its own. That’s no small feat, especially considering that it was featured alongside a whole slew of Batbooks, it’s hard to carve out a niche in one of the biggest franchises in the comics medium.

Despite having some characters with superpowers, the book tended to be rather grounded, facing off with foes that were far more grounded. We’d see the Birds face off against the terrorist Cheshire, and her crew, or chasing the Joker’s operatives, who were trying to detonate an atomic bomb in the heart of Gotham. This crew…is something else. We’ve got the Birds jumping through dimensions, dealing with demons, brainwashed bohunks, and the most off the wall things that you could think of, and that’s part of what’s so fun about this book. It’s also one of the things that bugs me at the same time. I’m all for some off the wall stories from time to time, but this run feels like it’s trying to emulate Harley Quinn or Marvel’s Deadpool, rather than Birds of Prey.

Joining Kelly is Robbi Rodriguez, a name you should be familiar with if you’re a Spider-Gwen fan. His style is energetic, and bright. He tends to draw his characters in a very stylized manner, with a static environment. Thompson really plays up to Robbi’s strengths, and the final product is a decent outing for the Birds. Some of the backgrounds could be better rendered, but Jordie Bellaire’s colors mesh the art with the open space, making it a vital member of the group. The colors here really reminds me of the colors from the Into the Spider-Verse animated film, and I’m not mad at it. Not everything Robbi does here is a knockout, but his style hasn’t become a detriment to the book either.