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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?

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