Birds of Prey #13 – Kelly Thompson, Writer; Gavin Guidry, Artist; Jordie Bellaire, Colorist
Ray – 9.5/10
Ray: The conclusion of this wild multiverse arc brings things back down to Earth – in a sense – as the evil Maia Lockhart has been tracked down by her surviving sister Cela and the Birds to a familiar location – the Spirit World. This strange dimension of ghosts was explored in Alyssa Wond and Haining’s excellent Cassandra Cain series that introduced us to Xanthe Zhou, and the characters from there make a key return in this issue as the conduit that allows the Birds to travel back and forth. This means more of the back-and-forth banter between Xanthe and Constantine that stole the show in that series – but it also means that Kelly Thompson can explore more of Cassandra’s unique connection to the realm of the dead. Cass might be the youngest member of the Birds besides Sin, but she’s been through some unique and harrowing experiences that make her much more mature than you’d expect on issues of mortality.
This leads to some very emotional scenes with Cela – as well as a great horror-influenced scene when Maia is confronted with the literal ghosts of her past. This arc is even more big-scale and out-there than the first arc, but it doesn’t lose its connection with the characters during that. Everyone gets some great moments, and I’m hoping Xanthe continues to go in and out of this title – they’re an incredibly entertaining character. The ending, while not as neat as one might expect, was pretty satisfying and there’s no real time for a break before the next crisis emerges. With Cass getting her own title soon, I’m wondering if she’s going to take a break from the title. I hope not, because the team dynamic here is one of the best in the entire DCU. This book jumps genres with almost every arc, but it’s always consistent as one of the most enjoyable titles DC is putting out right now. Just needs more King Shark (and maybe his adorable kid).
To find reviews of all the DC issues, visit DC This Week.
GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
