Post by jakefury on Jun 27, 2011 18:27:28 GMT -5
Written by Gail Simone
Art by Jesus Saiz (issue #12) & Diego Olmos (issue #13)
The Birds of Prey team up with Renee Montoya (The Question) in this arc to take down a mysterious crime boss who's turned up in Gotham. The villain in question is Ragdoll's sister, Alex Merkel who's also known as Junior.
You may remember her from the Secret Six arc involving the get out of hell free card. She's noted for her brutal strategy and almost prodigy like combat skills. She's also noted for her ritualistic killing of victims and running the entire West Coast crime syndicate using only a notepad and old school telephone.
The story has the BoP going undercover at Alex Merkel's hq but they're soon discovered. This leads to Lady Blackhawk battling her lieutenant and Hawk taking on a couple of her bodyguards. Black Canary and Dove are caught in the basement and alone in combat against Merkel.
Oracle manages to get some helpful intel from Catman that helps the 2 survive against Alex. Huntress and Question lend a helping hand and Oracle promises to take down Merkel's criminal empire.
Thoughts:
This is a 2 part story arc and it felt kind of rushed. The first issue is mostly setup and the second issue is pretty action packed. It's not a great story and some of Merkel's feats are rather troublesome at the level Simone writes her. She has nearly no problem taking down Dove & Black Canary before they get the tip on her weakness from Catman. She survives a full power Canary cry and is undamaged seconds later. The action is decent throughout but I can't honestly recommend this unless you're a diehard BoP fan.
5/10
