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Reviews
Birds of Prey, Vol. 6: The Battle Within by Gail Simone, Tom Derenick, Joe Bennett, Ed Benes
twowhoodles's review against another edition
4.0
Somehow this is the first BoP I've read, and I thoroughly enjoyed it! Great action, some cons, drama, and girls being pretty real. Lovely relationships.
mapatchli's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.5
wanderlustlover's review against another edition
3.0
Part of my massive Barbara Gordon Re-read which I had a glorious amazing time with. Birds of Prey, under the hands of Gail Simone, was a gorgeous thing and It made me super happy to have all my amazing women back together doing amazing things!
csquared85's review against another edition
3.0
Oddly enough, I think I prefer the scenes with the ladies out of costume. Their missions and mortal peril didn't really intrigue me as much as their friendships do. I love Black Canary and Huntress and Zinda is fun, but Oracle kinda fell flat for me a bit.
amck's review
adventurous
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
ladydewinter's review against another edition
5.0
Truth be told: most of my favorite fictional characters, whether in books, comics, tv or movies, are men. There are exceptions, of course, but very often in popular culture*, female characters are written in such a way that I find them either bland, annoying or stupid, most of which doesn't have to do with their gender than with the fact that a lot of writers don't seem to know what to do with women, or what they are like (and this, sadly, applies to female writers as much as to male writers). Sometimes I feel bad about this, because hello, I love women (in every way, as people who know me should know), and I want to get excited about female characters. But it's not always as easy as with "Birds of Prey", where I love all the women so much omg. Ahem.
Oracle, Black Canary, Huntress and Lady Blackhawk kick ass. They're on a mission, and sometimes they win, sometimes they don't. But what I love most about this team are the little moments where it's obvious they care about each other (even though it takes some of them a while). And their interaction feels feminine without being like a bad chick-flick. So if you're looking for a great book with interesting and likable female characters, this is it.
*That is to say, I'm talking about the kind of things I tend to get excited about, not the things I admire - it's usually a difference.
Oracle, Black Canary, Huntress and Lady Blackhawk kick ass. They're on a mission, and sometimes they win, sometimes they don't. But what I love most about this team are the little moments where it's obvious they care about each other (even though it takes some of them a while). And their interaction feels feminine without being like a bad chick-flick. So if you're looking for a great book with interesting and likable female characters, this is it.
*That is to say, I'm talking about the kind of things I tend to get excited about, not the things I admire - it's usually a difference.
birdmanseven's review against another edition
4.0
Not as fun as previous volumes, but still some good moments.
We talk about this classic run and the Birds of Prey in general on a special episode of the All the Books Show: https://soundcloud.com/allthebooks/episode-234-birds-of-prey
We talk about this classic run and the Birds of Prey in general on a special episode of the All the Books Show: https://soundcloud.com/allthebooks/episode-234-birds-of-prey
captwinghead's review against another edition
3.0
This was a pretty loaded volume. I double checked but it seemed to have twice the number of issues as the others which is odd. It went over a few different storylines.
The first is about a teenager with magic abilities to steal the powers of other magic users like Zatanna. Dinah and Helena rush to stop her from using her abilities to kill others.
The next was about a villain called Harvest who had the power to steal force from others. She was using them to kill murderers and heal sick children. Helena struggled to find a reason to believe Harvest wasn't doing more harm than good. I appreciated seeing her worry and get really protective over Dinah. Their relationship gives me life.
There's a story that was a bit hard for me to follow but Dinah travels to Singapore and goes undercover with a drug smuggling ring in efforts to help Helena with her ploy to stop mobsters in Gotham.
As this is happening, my favorite bits are (of course) the character work between the ladies. Helena is still struggling to feel like she belongs and apparently is (perpetually) on Batman's bad side. Dinah actually calls a meeting with Bats to pressure him into being nicer to her which was wonderful to see.
Babs' plans to manipulate Helena into making better decisions is discovered and Helena is heartbroken. She quits the team and refuses to ever work with Babs again.
Here's something interesting: we have Dinah asking Helena to forgive Babs. Dinah also yells at Babs and tells her its her job to fix this and get Helena back on the team. We then have Babs meeting with Helena to tell her its okay to be mad at Babs but not to take it out on Helena. So, this volume was a lot of Dinah and Babs trying to protect each other and fix their interpersonal relationships... behind each other's backs. Have I mentioned they're married?
Anyway, I liked seeing everyone come together to support Babs in the hospital. It was especially cute seeing Dinah camped out in the chair at her bedside. Again, my favorite parts of this series are the relationships between the ladies.
The first is about a teenager with magic abilities to steal the powers of other magic users like Zatanna. Dinah and Helena rush to stop her from using her abilities to kill others.
The next was about a villain called Harvest who had the power to steal force from others. She was using them to kill murderers and heal sick children. Helena struggled to find a reason to believe Harvest wasn't doing more harm than good. I appreciated seeing her worry and get really protective over Dinah. Their relationship gives me life.
There's a story that was a bit hard for me to follow but Dinah travels to Singapore and goes undercover with a drug smuggling ring in efforts to help Helena with her ploy to stop mobsters in Gotham.
As this is happening, my favorite bits are (of course) the character work between the ladies. Helena is still struggling to feel like she belongs and apparently is (perpetually) on Batman's bad side. Dinah actually calls a meeting with Bats to pressure him into being nicer to her which was wonderful to see.
Babs' plans to manipulate Helena into making better decisions is discovered and Helena is heartbroken. She quits the team and refuses to ever work with Babs again.
Here's something interesting: we have Dinah asking Helena to forgive Babs. Dinah also yells at Babs and tells her its her job to fix this and get Helena back on the team. We then have Babs meeting with Helena to tell her its okay to be mad at Babs but not to take it out on Helena. So, this volume was a lot of Dinah and Babs trying to protect each other and fix their interpersonal relationships... behind each other's backs. Have I mentioned they're married?
Anyway, I liked seeing everyone come together to support Babs in the hospital. It was especially cute seeing Dinah camped out in the chair at her bedside. Again, my favorite parts of this series are the relationships between the ladies.
ari_odinson's review against another edition
4.0
Without a doubt, Birds of Prey is one of my favorite series especially when Simone is the main writer. This is another great installment in the series. It introduces Black Alice who will later become an incredible character who will be missed. Yet my highlight of this collection involves a villain named Harvest.
Birds of Prey: The Battle starts off strong returning to the daily lives of the girls as The Huntress does her best to help a girl named Alice who recently lost her mother. The relationships between all the women in this series is always the best. Gail Simone does an excellent job at crafting friendships in this series. Black Alice's struggle to fit in is no different. She is truly a pariah and as they help her the more interesting she becomes. It's a shame the series couldn't spend more time after her but soon after Alice, Harvest is introduced.
The action packed collection involves one villain after another yet none of them are quite villainous until the drug dealers introduced in the very end. After Alice, there is Harvest and Thorne. My favorite would have to be Harvest who is called upon when somebody has sinned. Somebody writes down a name and she kills them. Yet Harvest has a few secrets of her own. As the mystery unfolds, Black Canary's and Huntress's pasts also become even more fascinating. Yet the questions that revolve around Harvest are not answered until later creating an addicting read. I couldn't put any of the issues down during this arc. In addition, Harvest is the one who remains with me.
While I mainly reflect on Harvest, the way Black Canary and Huntress react to Thorne is memorable, too. I find it impossible to hate any villain for what they do. I want to support all of them. There is so much pain and no justice for so many of them. Apart of me doesn't want the Birds of Prey around to stop them.
It isn't until the end when Black Canary and Wild Cat go to Singapore that the story starts to slow down and looses its interesting points. While there are moments especially with Oracle's and Huntress's involvements, most of the story falls a little flat. It's a shame. I think the reason is because the chemistry is thrown off by introducing Wild Cat as Black Canary's partner instead of the actual members of Birds of Prey. Therefore, it is a bit of a struggle to pull through these parts and to the end. Still, this arc is almost as strong as the others. All it lacks is the dynamics and friendship between all the women of Birds of Prey yet there are valid reasons for them being seperated.
Birds of Prey: The Battle starts off strong returning to the daily lives of the girls as The Huntress does her best to help a girl named Alice who recently lost her mother. The relationships between all the women in this series is always the best. Gail Simone does an excellent job at crafting friendships in this series. Black Alice's struggle to fit in is no different. She is truly a pariah and as they help her the more interesting she becomes. It's a shame the series couldn't spend more time after her but soon after Alice, Harvest is introduced.
The action packed collection involves one villain after another yet none of them are quite villainous until the drug dealers introduced in the very end. After Alice, there is Harvest and Thorne. My favorite would have to be Harvest who is called upon when somebody has sinned. Somebody writes down a name and she kills them. Yet Harvest has a few secrets of her own. As the mystery unfolds, Black Canary's and Huntress's pasts also become even more fascinating. Yet the questions that revolve around Harvest are not answered until later creating an addicting read. I couldn't put any of the issues down during this arc. In addition, Harvest is the one who remains with me.
While I mainly reflect on Harvest, the way Black Canary and Huntress react to Thorne is memorable, too. I find it impossible to hate any villain for what they do. I want to support all of them. There is so much pain and no justice for so many of them. Apart of me doesn't want the Birds of Prey around to stop them.
It isn't until the end when Black Canary and Wild Cat go to Singapore that the story starts to slow down and looses its interesting points. While there are moments especially with Oracle's and Huntress's involvements, most of the story falls a little flat. It's a shame. I think the reason is because the chemistry is thrown off by introducing Wild Cat as Black Canary's partner instead of the actual members of Birds of Prey. Therefore, it is a bit of a struggle to pull through these parts and to the end. Still, this arc is almost as strong as the others. All it lacks is the dynamics and friendship between all the women of Birds of Prey yet there are valid reasons for them being seperated.