Skip to main content

Birds of Prey (The New 52!) # 9 (Night of Owls)

By Mark Rodriguez

The Court of Owls have released their army of Talons all over the city. As Talons storm Wayne Manor and Batman tries to fight them off, Alfred send a call to everyone in the Bat Family to help out. The call even extends to Black Canary, Katana and Poison Ivy, the Birds of Prey!

"Night of the Owls- Gangland Style" opens with a flashback to Gotham 1847 as the streets are full of gangs trying to kill each other. The narrator tells us there's a stronger group than the gangs, and that is The Court, as a Talon wipes out the entire crazed crowd.



In Gotham modern day, Katana and Black Canary are busy fighting one of the Talons. Canary wonders if Poison Ivy is dead but Katana's sword (possessing the soul of her husband) tells her she is alive. The Talon was been stabbed by Soul Stealer a few times, but the Talon has no soul for Katana's sword to steal. The Talon tackles both women down and Canary lets out her Canary Cry, but to her surprise, it did nothing to him when it would have normally shattered a man's skull.



The Talon tells us his name is Henry Ballard, and nothing in Gotham's streets has changed when it comes to the vermin and the crime. The people just dress different. Canary also monologues to herself that she was sparring with Katana when they got the call from Batgirl that Batman himself needed their help when the Court of Owls attacked the entire city. They said the Talons seems to know everything about them since it got to Poison Ivy first.

The women are forced to fall back, no matter what kind of grievous injuries they give it, the Owl keeps coming at them. They run into the Church of St. Francis since Canary knows all the tactical angles from there. Canary says she knows Canary is holding back and shouldn't because the Talon isn't human anymore. Canary says she knows but all of this making her relive the night of her husband's murder and it's driving her crazy.

The Talon approaches the church but the women hear a familiar sound behind them. Starling arrives and drives her car into the Talon saying he should go meet his maker, who in his case might be Tim Burton. She smashes the Talon right through the church walls. Starling steps out and reaches out for the Talon's mask, joking that with her luck it might be Johnny Depp.



Canary and Katana warn Starling but she had already removed the Talon's mask, getting close enough for him to grab her by the neck. He holds onto her as Starling tries to shoot him, hoping to draw the other women near so he can kill them all at the same time. As the girls come to help her, the Talon grabs Katana and is ready to snap her neck. Just then a rope wraps around his throat and he is sent flying up as he's hung against the the top of the church by Batgirl.



Batgirl explains the Talons can't be killed but Batman figured out how to stop them. They want to know what happened to Poison Ivy but the Talon isn't talking. The rope snaps and the Owl is back on the ground. The women run to lure him away. Batgirl leads the girls to the train station and tells them to find her a meat locker. The Talons follows them inside the train station but loses sight of them. Batgirl swings from behind and kicks him onto one of the train cars. The boxcar is used for shipping meat and they try to lock him inside, but the Talon busts out, not wanting to be frozen before serving the court.

The girl try to hold the Talon back and they want Black Canary to hit him with a Canary Cry at point blank range, even if it might kill the Birds of Prey as well. Just then Poison Ivy shows up, saying she is not finished with the Talon. She uses her vines to trap the Talon and tells the rest to push them both into the boxcar. Ivy tells them plants can withstand the extreme cold, but remember to thaw her out afterwards.


The Birds of Prey reluctantly seal both Ivy and the Talon into the boxcar and make sure it stays locked down. Katana asks Starling where she's been and she tells them she was visiting an old friend but they can talk about it later. Canary says that she made a promise to Ivy months ago. Starling asks what she means. Canary says they're going to need some machetes and a plane.

My Opinions

It was cool to see the Birds of Prey in action, though I have to say, I have never heard of Starling before. I am curious how they get along with Ivy and how long she lasted as a trusted ally. Especially Batgirl. I mean, she can tolerate Poison Ivy's crazy schemes but not Jason?

The art was interesting, though in most of it everyone was drawn very... inky looking, mostly during the fighting. Some of the larger pin up type panels don't have this effect though, which was kinda weird. I wonder if the rest of their series had this art style.

I also liked the irony, which just has to be on purpose, of having Starling namedrop both Tim Burton and Johnny Depp, mostly cause Tim Burton, while being known for making creepy and weird movies, he also directed the Micheal Keaton Batman films.

One interesting detail was how the Talon saw everyone as 1847 versions of themselves, to the point that when Starling was driving his car at him, he saw as a woman pulling a stagecoach his way. I wonder if the other Talons that came from the 40's or other such eras see the world through those old time lenses.

Such a weird way to end the story, with Ivy grabbing the Talon so both of them can freeze in the boxcar. I suppose Poison Ivy was his main target? But why did he let her get away? It's like we're almost missing an entire story of how Ivy ended up even fighting the Talon to begin with.

Also what's this with Black Canary's husband being dead? Oliver Queen is dead in the New 52?

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Dragonball- It's time to go beyond Z or end it

 By Mark Rodriguez So while the Dragonball Super anime has ended for a few years now, and the Dragonball Super Broly movie is over a year old as well, the Dragonball Super manga has actually continued past the Tournament of Power and  Super Broly movie. As this new arc, nicknamed the Moro Arc after its main villain is coming to a close, the question is where do they do from here? Also before you get into this article, I really hope you know your DBZ because there are just waaaaaay too many characters to take the time out to explain who everyone is one by one. Dragonball and Dragonball Z is one of the longest running anime and manga series since the 80's and while it seemed it was put to pasture after Dragonball GT ended in 1997, the only thing left was for the American dubs to catch up. Despite this the love and nostalgia for the series lived on with videogames and the occasional special here and there that would bring back the characters (like the Yo, Son Goku and his Friends Retu

Arachna# 1 Review *Spoilers*

 By Mark Rodriguez Here's another awesome comic from independent artists that opened up an Indiegogo to get it started. I usually don't chip in unless it looks real good, like you just know they're gonna hit their goal. Arachna, a sexy superheroine with a split personality and an amazing art syle, sure looked like a good pick for me.  With lots of clever marketing in advance, even getting a person to dress as Arachna herself to bring the character to life, they hit their goal the same day they actually opened the Indiegogo for donations. I chipped in for the comic and the shirt, and here is my review on the latest superheroine that's bringing sexy back to comics, Arachna! Also note, while I'll try to keep my language as tame as I can, this book deals with way more adult stuff than I usually discuss on this blog. The Adventure Begins The issue opens with Jennie lying in bed naked in her apartment, a noticeable pile of sketches lying on the floor. She awakens to a voi

Batman/TMNT Adventures # 2

 By Mark Rodriguez Batman was on the hunt for Two-Face who told him he went to another world. The Turtles discover Kraang portals and run into Clayface. As Batman discovers that Two-Face was telling the truth, the Joker and Harley find themselves in New York facing off against the Foot! This issue opens one week early as Harley is being brought into Arkham by security along a soapy floor. Harley 'slips' and takes advantage of this to take out the guards. She sets the Joker free and hands over his trademark outfit while she slips into her own. Joker complains that this break out was boring and lacks the flair he's used to. They both then see the shining Kraang portals. Joker gets and idea and drags the guards around to form a smile (with the portals being eyes) as they make their escape.  The Joker explains this to Shredder as he and Harley makes fun of his name. Shredder already lost his patience and he tells Bebop and Rocksteady to get rid of them. Joker offers to show the