You picked the winners to the first round of our Fantasy Battle Tournament and your getting the chance again in round two; past winners are pitted against each other, you vote on who wins, and we write out the story. Check out all the polls and the bracket in the full article and try and guess who we’ve picked is behind all this…
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Stepping into the ring today is the genetically engineered gladiator from the Mojoverse versus the deadly killer from the League of Assassins. The fans have been polled. Their votes have been recorded. Let the battle begin.
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I presume as a pun on the song from the musical Chess “One Night in Bangkok,” Birds of Prey 5 is titled “Two Nights in Bangkok.” While it’s not billed as part of the four part arc that started the title’s relaunch, it starts immediately afterwards, as Babs is still on the dam with Savant and Creote. Possibly as a measure of her apology to them, or maybe as a sign of how shaken she is by what’s gone on, she actually has Creote help her into her chair, which is a rare thing for Babs. Savant and Creote share a moment after Creote’s love for his boss has been revealed while Babs checks in on the team, getting a report of injuries, status, and the like. Dinah announces her need to get to Bangkok, and Huntress nearly kills Penguin, talked down at the last minute by Oracle’s promise to take him down legally later.
Canary announces she’s quitting without explanation to her team, so she can accompany White Canary in going after Shiva. Dinah leaves, Huntress works out her frustrations on some thugs, and Babs shows us the new BOP headquarters- a gleaming new building called Kord Tower, no doubt in honor of their fallen friend Ted Kord, formerly Blue Beetle II. We hear more than see a lot about this new base, and Babs hires Savant and Creote to be her information specialist and bodyguard, respectively. Among other things, she can keep a closer eye on them this way. She also makes mention of something ominous about making the two forget where the Batcave is. My money is on a Zatanna mind wipe, but we’ll see. I keep being wrong on this series, I admit.
Canary leaves on a private jet with WC, and we check in on the team in the hospital. Hawk has a meeting with the spirit of his dead brother before finally waking up, still unsettled from his recent resurrection. Zinda also wakes up, and she and Huntress decide to go to Bangkok in pursuit of Dinah. Huntress and Zinda get picked up by some thugs on arrival and get into a massive fight. Considering these are students of a highly skilled martial arts master, the ladies do better than they really have a right to, especially Zinda. The issue ends with the reveal that the “Mistress” these thugs work for is… Dinah, dressed as White Canary, who states “You were not invited, and you are not welcome here.”
What I liked and what I didn’t:
Gail’s writing continues to be superb overall. She really makes you care about these folks, and they come off fairly convincingly real. The peek at the new HQ, and the name of the building, are both very nice. It’s good to see that someone besides Booster Gold remembers Ted. Babs hiring Savant and Creote, as well as offering Savant specialized therapy, is a great tactic, and what you’d expect from someone both brilliant and compassionate. The loyalty, especially among the longer serving members of the team, is a recurring theme that rings true- these ladies care about each other.
What I didn’t like: Last issue ended with the preview of one word “SHIVA!” who never even appears or gets mentioned in this issue. Dinah seems a bit too willing to abandon her home and friends to go off with this madwoman she barely knows who is a confessed murderer and recent near lethal adversary. I presume we’ll hear either “Shiva must be stopped” or “I was protecting you guys” as a justification, but still… I think Zinda is fighting out of her league here. Even Huntress comments that Zinda is a great bar room brawler, but she is holding her own way too well. Dinah doesn’t actually threaten her friends, but the costume change is just a bit disturbing to me. I wonder if she’s just sort of in emotional shock between her marriage ending, Roy’s maiming, and her ID being made public. And we STILL have no explanation about the whole “Avatars of War and Peace” bit for Hawk and Dove.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| great writing, good follow ups, Kord Tower | Dinah leaving so easily and trusting WC, no Shiva as advertised, ongoing oddness about Hawk and Dove |
| Rating |
