Birds of Prey #12 – Kelly Thompson, Writer; Javier Pina, Sophie Campbell, Gavin Guidry, Artists; Jordie Bellaire, Colorist
Ray – 9.5/10
Ray: This series has been going in more and more strange directions as it turned from a cosmic heist adventure on Themyscira to a multiversal rescue mission. Each issue has found the Birds of Prey traveling to another world that reflects the inner world of one of their members – all culminating in this unique jam issue. With the help of the last survivor of a band of magical demigod sisters – who is being pursued by her evil sister Maia, the murderer of the others – the Birds prepare for their jump to a new dimension. They ask Sin to create something less dangerous for them, with no dinosaurs – and Sin responds by taking them into a world of cartoons, where everyone is rendered chibi-style. Not only does this allow Kelly Thompson, the creator of Jeff the Land Shark and other offbeat fan favorites, to go nuts, but guest artist Sophie Campbell is clearly having a ton of fun bringing it to life.
Most of the Birds are annoyed to be stuck here – but Barda is panicked. You see, cartoons are the most violent place in the universe. Anvils fall out of nowhere. Coyotes are packing bombs. This is another example of the great comic dynamic between Cass and Barda that makes this series work so well, but this issue also advances the plot quite a bit in the middle of the chaos. The Birds find Barbara this issue, bringing the team back together – but there’s another big wrinkle in how to get home, complicated by Barbara’s suggestion for how to resolve it not going over well at all with their ally. The end of the issue brings in another fan favorite character recently introduced in the DCU, as we rocket towards a conclusion. I don’t know that I’ve ever seen a series so determined to experiment and reinvent itself every issue, and that continues to make this one of my favorite current DC titles.
To find reviews of all the DC issues, visit DC This Week.
GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
