What do you think?
Rate this book
DC Black Label Originals
Harley Quinn & the Birds of Prey
THE FUTURE OF GOTHAM BEGINS WITH THEM!
In celebration of the feature film Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) comes HARLEY QUINN & THE BIRDS OF PREY! Meet the characters that inspired the film in six classic tales starring: Harley Quinn, Black Canary, Huntress, Renee Montoya, Cassandra Cain, and Black Mask.
In celebration of the feature film Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) comes HARLEY QUINN & THE BIRDS OF PREY! Meet the characters that inspired the film in six classic tales starring: Harley Quinn, Black Canary, Huntress, Renee Montoya, Cassandra Cain, and Black Mask.
144 pages, Paperback
First published December 17, 2019
11 people are currently reading
300 people want to read
About the author
Kelley Puckett
249 books38 followersKelley Puckett is a comic book writer. He is the creator of the character Cassandra Cain, the Batgirl who succeeded Barbara Gordon and who was succeeded herself by Stephanie Brown, as well as the second Green Arrow, Connor Hawke.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 53 reviews
June 2, 2023
What an extremely disappointing collection! Only the first story featuring Harley Quinn is good. The rest were all super confusing and made no sense. No idea what I just read.
January 14, 2020
Okay, this review’s gonna be slightly different just bear with me for a moment. So I’m currently reading some comics about these characters before the movie comes out. I know a lot of people don’t like the current DC cinematic universe which leads to a first tiny bit of this review...
Brief review of the DC cinematic universe:
Man of Steel- Meh.
Batman V Superman- Didn’t hate it but nothing great.
Suicide Squad- Leto’s Joker sucked and the dialogue was iffy but I mostly liked it. Fun action comedy.
Wonder Woman- Pretty good. A few minor issues but mostly good. Cool action and Gal Gadot is fantastic.
Justice League- Way more forgettable than it should be.
Aquaman- Haven’t watched yet.
SHAZAM- Loved it so damn much! 5-star film right there.
So yeah not great but I don’t hate it and BoP looks like it’s hopefully gonna be a fun little movie... but other than the basics I don’t know much about most of the characters which is as I said why I’m reading more about them. Here’s what I got from this comic and what I thought of the examples we were given of the characters.
Harley Quinn- I actually know more about her than some of the others in this. She seems like she could be interesting... but a lot of people fuck it up and basically make her a significantly less funny Deadpool. That being said she can still be kinda entertaining and this book’s example of the character is actually a pretty fun, better than I expected one-issue story.
Black Canary- The other character I already knew a fair bit about. She seems like she can be kinda cool. I enjoyed the example we see of her in this book.
Huntress- Knew only a little about her before and... yeah still only know a little honestly. For some reason the example we get is in the middle of some story arc of something so... yeah.
Renee Montoya- Knew nothing about her, now I know she’s a cop. Again it’s in the middle of a bigger story but at least I gathered some stuff about the character.
Cassandra Cain- Interesting, fast paced issue gave me a much better understanding of this character. I already knew a little about her but not much so she seems interesting.
Black Mask- Knew nothing about him before. Seems like a pretty cool villain from what I read here.
Overall:
Not a great collection, don’t expect an actual full story about these characters. Some of the picks were a good introduction, others not so much. I’d say if you’re particularly looking forward to the movie it’s worth looking at, otherwise why bother?
3/5
Brief review of the DC cinematic universe:
Man of Steel- Meh.
Batman V Superman- Didn’t hate it but nothing great.
Suicide Squad- Leto’s Joker sucked and the dialogue was iffy but I mostly liked it. Fun action comedy.
Wonder Woman- Pretty good. A few minor issues but mostly good. Cool action and Gal Gadot is fantastic.
Justice League- Way more forgettable than it should be.
Aquaman- Haven’t watched yet.
SHAZAM- Loved it so damn much! 5-star film right there.
So yeah not great but I don’t hate it and BoP looks like it’s hopefully gonna be a fun little movie... but other than the basics I don’t know much about most of the characters which is as I said why I’m reading more about them. Here’s what I got from this comic and what I thought of the examples we were given of the characters.
Harley Quinn- I actually know more about her than some of the others in this. She seems like she could be interesting... but a lot of people fuck it up and basically make her a significantly less funny Deadpool. That being said she can still be kinda entertaining and this book’s example of the character is actually a pretty fun, better than I expected one-issue story.
Black Canary- The other character I already knew a fair bit about. She seems like she can be kinda cool. I enjoyed the example we see of her in this book.
Huntress- Knew only a little about her before and... yeah still only know a little honestly. For some reason the example we get is in the middle of some story arc of something so... yeah.
Renee Montoya- Knew nothing about her, now I know she’s a cop. Again it’s in the middle of a bigger story but at least I gathered some stuff about the character.
Cassandra Cain- Interesting, fast paced issue gave me a much better understanding of this character. I already knew a little about her but not much so she seems interesting.
Black Mask- Knew nothing about him before. Seems like a pretty cool villain from what I read here.
Overall:
Not a great collection, don’t expect an actual full story about these characters. Some of the picks were a good introduction, others not so much. I’d say if you’re particularly looking forward to the movie it’s worth looking at, otherwise why bother?
3/5
February 11, 2020
Let's be honest i buy this comic for the cover.
It's not a story about the movie,It's just a way to introduce the characters to the people who want to see the movie.
There's six short story about each of the characters so here it goes.
Harley Quinn Story : 4/5 Stars.
Black Canary Story : 4/5 Stars.
Huntress Story : 1/5 Stars.
Renee Montoya Story : 3.5/5 Stars.
Cassandra Cain Story : 5/5 Stars.
Black Mask Story : 4/5 Stars.
It's not a story about the movie,It's just a way to introduce the characters to the people who want to see the movie.
There's six short story about each of the characters so here it goes.
Harley Quinn Story : 4/5 Stars.
Black Canary Story : 4/5 Stars.
Huntress Story : 1/5 Stars.
Renee Montoya Story : 3.5/5 Stars.
Cassandra Cain Story : 5/5 Stars.
Black Mask Story : 4/5 Stars.
January 12, 2020
This is a collection of comics about the characters who make up the Birds of Prey. These are previously released comics which give a short tale about each character.
Some of the comics give a complete story in the short comic. I really liked the comics about Harley Quinn and Black Canary, because these were complete stories. Some of the others were just part of an ongoing story, such as “Mark of Cain, Part One,” which gives an introduction to Cassandra Cain. That was the first part of a story about her, and it ended abruptly so I don’t know what happened in the rest of it.
I love Harley Quinn, so I especially liked the comic about her. It was part of the Detective Comics series, and I had never read it before. One little detail I liked was that Harley’s prisoner number was 381993, which is also the date of her first appearance in the comics, August 3, 1993.
This is a good introduction to the characters of Birds of Prey. I’m excited to watch the upcoming movie.
Some of the comics give a complete story in the short comic. I really liked the comics about Harley Quinn and Black Canary, because these were complete stories. Some of the others were just part of an ongoing story, such as “Mark of Cain, Part One,” which gives an introduction to Cassandra Cain. That was the first part of a story about her, and it ended abruptly so I don’t know what happened in the rest of it.
I love Harley Quinn, so I especially liked the comic about her. It was part of the Detective Comics series, and I had never read it before. One little detail I liked was that Harley’s prisoner number was 381993, which is also the date of her first appearance in the comics, August 3, 1993.
This is a good introduction to the characters of Birds of Prey. I’m excited to watch the upcoming movie.
August 22, 2021
literally no reason to purchase this unless you want to buy it for the cover like me. the issues they chose to put in this were all boring af to be completely honest. i know this was meant for people to read before watching the movie to get a little look into the characters but even then with the issues they chose it doesn’t give you much idk it’d make more sense to just read the characters comic runs thats ur interested in this was a waste of time
April 19, 2020
2.5/5
While the individual stories were alright (some better than the others, naturally), the overall combination of them felt very random and I wish the overall thing would have been a bit more cohesive
While the individual stories were alright (some better than the others, naturally), the overall combination of them felt very random and I wish the overall thing would have been a bit more cohesive
September 28, 2020
A nice collection of stories of the characters that inspired by Birds of Prey film, which were all previously published.
My only criticism is that some of the stories aren't single issues, which does leave you hanging (such as the one on Montoya). However, maybe that will inspire people to go and find those series, so it's not a heavy criticism.
I am curious if people will be confused about Casandra Cain, since they use her 90's origin (aka the original) which is vastly different from the one in the film. I probably would've been confused had I not watched YouTuber Linkara's Retrospective on her.
My only criticism is that some of the stories aren't single issues, which does leave you hanging (such as the one on Montoya). However, maybe that will inspire people to go and find those series, so it's not a heavy criticism.
I am curious if people will be confused about Casandra Cain, since they use her 90's origin (aka the original) which is vastly different from the one in the film. I probably would've been confused had I not watched YouTuber Linkara's Retrospective on her.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 8, 2020
It was old stories with the birds of prey to get you excited for the movie. It worked I enjoyed it and remembered why I love these woman.
January 26, 2020
Good primer for the characters in the movie Birds of Prey. For Harley Quinn fans- you only get one story featuring HQ, so womp womp.
May 16, 2020
I really enjoyed some of the stories. But some were slow.
February 27, 2025
Solid collection of six individual issues showing off the main characters of Harley Quinn and the Birds of Prey! I haven't seen the movie yet and I'm a bit hesitant to due to how badly they butchered Cassandra Cain in it (who's one of my top DC characters)--they should have used Steph if they were going to change her entire personality! That being said, I was surprised by how well these worked as standalones.
Harley's story shows her on her quest to redemption after her parole is denied at Arkham. It has the Peyton Riley take on the Ventriloquist, and also gives a really sweet moment between Harley and the original Ventriloquist (Arnold Wesker) during her first stay in Arkham. It sets the tone well for who Harley is in the movie, moving away from the Joker's influence.
Dinah's story also starred Lois Lane, which was a pleasant surprise, and saw her rescuing a group of immigrant workers being exploited for slave labor by a corrupt foreman. Babs is there as the Oracle, of course, and helps Dinah and Lois along the way. A very timely story considering the discussions around how immigrants and migrants are exploited for labor and underpaid and mistreated by their "employers" in the news lately. It also touched on Dinah's mixed feelings following Green Arrow's death.
Helena's story saw her and Dick trying to solve the murder of a policewoman who had gone undercover as a hooker and was murdered. I really liked the dynamic between the two of them, and it's always nice to see Helena respected as part of the Bat-Family. It got into her mafia backstory and had some solid tension between her and Dick, which made me want to hunt down the original comic it came from.
I actually skipped Renee Montoya's story in this since I have already read it in Gotham Central, but it's an excerpt from Gotham Central: Half a Life, wherein Montoya is blackmailed and kidnapped by Two-Face, who has deluded himself into thinking they're in love with each other when Renee is, in fact, a lesbian. I adore Renee Montoya, but I do wish that they'd gone with a snippet from her time as the Question instead, if only because the original Half a Life is so good that it's worth reading in full and shouldn't be condensed down to a single issue.
Cass's story is centered on an attempted assassination of Commissioner Gordon by David Cain--Cass's father. There are some really heartwarming bits where Babs is teaching Cass to talk, and seeing Cass beat the shit out of David is always a plus. Cassandra Cain will always be my #1 Batgirl.
The Black Mask story was actually more of a Catwoman story, being from one of her runs and centering on the kidnapping and torture of Selina's sister Maggie (who will go on to be an insane vigilante named Sister Zero once she's no longer catatonic) by Black Mask, and Selina's rescue of her with the aid of Holly Robinson, who goes on to be a future Catwoman. I always forget that Selina and Slam Bradley were a couple for a bit so the ending was sweet but surprising. Really not a Black Mask story except in the sense that it shows how depraved he is, but as a Stephanie Brown fan I already knew that and I can't wait to see him get the shit beat out of him by the Birds of Prey.
Harley's story shows her on her quest to redemption after her parole is denied at Arkham. It has the Peyton Riley take on the Ventriloquist, and also gives a really sweet moment between Harley and the original Ventriloquist (Arnold Wesker) during her first stay in Arkham. It sets the tone well for who Harley is in the movie, moving away from the Joker's influence.
Dinah's story also starred Lois Lane, which was a pleasant surprise, and saw her rescuing a group of immigrant workers being exploited for slave labor by a corrupt foreman. Babs is there as the Oracle, of course, and helps Dinah and Lois along the way. A very timely story considering the discussions around how immigrants and migrants are exploited for labor and underpaid and mistreated by their "employers" in the news lately. It also touched on Dinah's mixed feelings following Green Arrow's death.
Helena's story saw her and Dick trying to solve the murder of a policewoman who had gone undercover as a hooker and was murdered. I really liked the dynamic between the two of them, and it's always nice to see Helena respected as part of the Bat-Family. It got into her mafia backstory and had some solid tension between her and Dick, which made me want to hunt down the original comic it came from.
I actually skipped Renee Montoya's story in this since I have already read it in Gotham Central, but it's an excerpt from Gotham Central: Half a Life, wherein Montoya is blackmailed and kidnapped by Two-Face, who has deluded himself into thinking they're in love with each other when Renee is, in fact, a lesbian. I adore Renee Montoya, but I do wish that they'd gone with a snippet from her time as the Question instead, if only because the original Half a Life is so good that it's worth reading in full and shouldn't be condensed down to a single issue.
Cass's story is centered on an attempted assassination of Commissioner Gordon by David Cain--Cass's father. There are some really heartwarming bits where Babs is teaching Cass to talk, and seeing Cass beat the shit out of David is always a plus. Cassandra Cain will always be my #1 Batgirl.
The Black Mask story was actually more of a Catwoman story, being from one of her runs and centering on the kidnapping and torture of Selina's sister Maggie (who will go on to be an insane vigilante named Sister Zero once she's no longer catatonic) by Black Mask, and Selina's rescue of her with the aid of Holly Robinson, who goes on to be a future Catwoman. I always forget that Selina and Slam Bradley were a couple for a bit so the ending was sweet but surprising. Really not a Black Mask story except in the sense that it shows how depraved he is, but as a Stephanie Brown fan I already knew that and I can't wait to see him get the shit beat out of him by the Birds of Prey.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 16, 2024
This honestly just isn’t what I was expected. It’s mostly promo for the movie. Each bird gets a snippet from one of their previous comments. However, none of the stories work together and a lot of them require context the reader doesn’t have (because it’s a piece of a full series run). I’m not mad I read it, but I would never recommend.
February 28, 2020
It was okay but some of the stories weren’t finished and that was kind of a let down. The Montoya story was boring; I hope that’s not the best story she has. I was miffed on the Huntress one. They couldn’t find one shots that had an ending? I did enjoy the Loos and Black Canary story.
October 3, 2025
This really could have used some context - why were these arcs picked? How did the characters as portrayed in these comics influence the movie characters, given how different they are? I really wanted notes on each of the stories that were more specific than the bios at the end. Without that, this feels like a really random and honestly pretty lazy collection. Love the cover, though.
July 10, 2021
The comics were kinda thrown together in a bundle and individually, they're not bad, but together, they're thematically confusing. I enjoyed the majority of the comics though and their art styles were distinctive and awesome!
January 23, 2020
If you're excited for the new Birds of Prey movie but, like me, you're not totally up to speed on all the characters, then this is the book for you! With an excerpt and profile about each character, it introduces us to the stars of the new movie!
I love Harley Quinn and Black Canary, but I'll admit after seeing the Birds of Prey trailer I was like…who are the others? So when I got this comic, I was thrilled!
There are six excerpts, and each features one of the characters - Harley Quinn, Black Canary, Renee Montoya, Huntress, Cassandra Cain's Batgirl and Black Mask. They're all from different comics and most have a short but concluded story. This made it easy to dive in and out, just reading one story at a time and I loved that! It gave me a short but sweet look into the adventures of each of the characters and their personalities.
Harley Quinn is trying to get parole from jail, and finally sees her opportunity when she's approached by the villain Scarface - accompanied by an imposter where she thought to see her friend. This comic tells us a lot about who Harley is as a person - she's actually very caring, willing to defend those who have helped and cared for her, and of course she's tricksy, perhaps not to be trusted.
Black Canary teams up with Lois Lane to save innocents enslaved by a heartless, greedy villain. We're given an insight into one of Dinah Lance's many adventures, and conversation with Lois tells us about her past, and how her relationship with Green Arrow and his death affected her. I've read an origin comic for Black Canary but this one was a great story of her as an adult and who she's become.
Renee Montoya is a cop in the GCPD, and she's investigating a robbery whilst navigating her own life. I've never met Renee before but just from this short comic I can tell I am going to LOVE her! Of all the excerpts the editor of this collection could have chosen, they chose one that clearly shows Renee likes girls, and we know how much I love sapphic rep. I'm very excited to meet live-action Renee, because she's badass and beautiful.
Huntress is working with Nightwing to bring down the Mafia bosses she so hates, but they're struggling to work as a team. I LOVE HUNTRESS, officially, as of now. She's so gosh darn awesome and I loved how this comic introduced us to how ruthless she is, but also her fear of commitment and her need to be alone.
Cassandra Cain is training with the Oracle to be the next Batgirl, but when a figure from her past resurfaces it's up to her to take him down. I love Batgirl, but I'd never read a Cassandra Cain comic before! I'm so glad I did because I really love her. She's younger than the rest of the Birds of Prey, but she has just as many scars.
Each excerpt is a great introduction to the characters of Birds of Prey, illustrated stunningly by all different artists, and I'm really glad I read this before seeing the movie- which I am so excited for!
I love Harley Quinn and Black Canary, but I'll admit after seeing the Birds of Prey trailer I was like…who are the others? So when I got this comic, I was thrilled!
There are six excerpts, and each features one of the characters - Harley Quinn, Black Canary, Renee Montoya, Huntress, Cassandra Cain's Batgirl and Black Mask. They're all from different comics and most have a short but concluded story. This made it easy to dive in and out, just reading one story at a time and I loved that! It gave me a short but sweet look into the adventures of each of the characters and their personalities.
Harley Quinn is trying to get parole from jail, and finally sees her opportunity when she's approached by the villain Scarface - accompanied by an imposter where she thought to see her friend. This comic tells us a lot about who Harley is as a person - she's actually very caring, willing to defend those who have helped and cared for her, and of course she's tricksy, perhaps not to be trusted.
Black Canary teams up with Lois Lane to save innocents enslaved by a heartless, greedy villain. We're given an insight into one of Dinah Lance's many adventures, and conversation with Lois tells us about her past, and how her relationship with Green Arrow and his death affected her. I've read an origin comic for Black Canary but this one was a great story of her as an adult and who she's become.
Renee Montoya is a cop in the GCPD, and she's investigating a robbery whilst navigating her own life. I've never met Renee before but just from this short comic I can tell I am going to LOVE her! Of all the excerpts the editor of this collection could have chosen, they chose one that clearly shows Renee likes girls, and we know how much I love sapphic rep. I'm very excited to meet live-action Renee, because she's badass and beautiful.
Huntress is working with Nightwing to bring down the Mafia bosses she so hates, but they're struggling to work as a team. I LOVE HUNTRESS, officially, as of now. She's so gosh darn awesome and I loved how this comic introduced us to how ruthless she is, but also her fear of commitment and her need to be alone.
Cassandra Cain is training with the Oracle to be the next Batgirl, but when a figure from her past resurfaces it's up to her to take him down. I love Batgirl, but I'd never read a Cassandra Cain comic before! I'm so glad I did because I really love her. She's younger than the rest of the Birds of Prey, but she has just as many scars.
Each excerpt is a great introduction to the characters of Birds of Prey, illustrated stunningly by all different artists, and I'm really glad I read this before seeing the movie- which I am so excited for!
December 2, 2020
I gave it a two rating, which says, It was ok. But the reality is, it WAS NOT OK.
I'm sorry, but much like yesterday's review of the Dream Daddy graphic novel, this book was just another cash grab by a publisher with little or no interest or effort put into what they were releasing simply to have something out there to tie into their more important projects.
Storywise, THIS IS NOT an adaptation of the movie. The movie I consider a genuine masterpiece. Your mileage may vary, but I tend to view the movies as separate beasts from the comics and I judge them on their own merits. That said, the collection of stories in this book were neither well curated or any kind of good example by way of introduction to the characters. That said, let's dive in, and you'll see why this female led book at least merited slightly higher than those gay daddies.
Let's begin with the first story in the collection, Kind of like family, which introduces us to Harley Quinn. The art for it is not anything super spectacular. It's good, solid art, if you'll forgive a few of the character expressions and how dopey Harley looks in her original outfit. It resembles nothing to the one on the cover, which is what she wears in the film. Some of the art in the panels is a bit wonky too, so it's hard to make out what's happening without thinking about it and that takes you out of the story a bit. But the story is genius, and why wouldn't it be? It was written by the character's creator, Paul Dini. Paul Dini is a brilliant writer, which is what makes this one of the more delightful stories in the book. This story gets 4.5 stars, including the art.
Next we have Birds of a feather, which appeared in Showcase '96. That's a story that's 24 years old now. I'll just leave that there and let you all decide whether if a) DC Comics has no idea what to do with its female characters like Black Canary b) DC Comics has too many characters that it can't adequately use them c) Black Canary is a boring character or d) a & b. I'm going with d, myself.
The cover to Birds of a feather is by Gary Frank, so of course. the faces look weird. The interior artwork is Stan Woch and Jennifer Graves whose work at the time was not so polished as Frank's competent but still amateurish in places and not as realistic or good as Frank. That said, the story itself is some all female hero story with Lois Lane, Dinah Lance, and Oracle. While the idea itself is good, the execution is not. The story is boring, and suffers from too many characters and too much contrivance to be taken seriously. But it's worse sin in the addition of this anthology is that it doesn't do much to showcase Black Canary. For the art alone, it gets 2 stars.
Next we have a Devin Grayson penned, Greg Land and Bill Sienkiewicz drawn piece highlighting Huntress. Here again, the character does not have any resemblance to the movie character. She teams up with Nightwing, tries romancing him, and they find they don't work well together, or do they? By the end I honestly didn't care. This story was clearly a part of a longer storyline and as such it suffers, and it doesn't do anything to make me hate or like Huntress. Given what I know about Greg Land I'm going to give most of the artistic credit to Mr. Sienkiewicz and I will give this a 2.5 stars, because Nightwing was here and I love him.
Half a life is a good story beat, and not surprising as it was written by Greg Rucka. I am neutral as far as Michael Lark's art is concerned. It's very stylized but I love the noir look and feel of it, it just isn't my favorite but I can understand how it works for the type of book series this is. That said, like the story before it, Renee Montoya's story suffers from being not it's own story but a part of a larger story. So it appears like a day in the life story of Montoya and then drops a big cliffie at the end of it. This story gets 3 stars, though it deserves more for the writing but it fails in the context of this anthology.
Mark of Cain introduces us to Cassandra Cain, who we see as Batgirl. So that is the farthest that character is from the movie adaptation. It introduces us to her father, and lands us in the middle of No Man's Land, a major Gotham storyline from back in the day. It's a good and interesting story, but it tells us next to nothing about Cassandra except that she's Batgirl and she can't talk. The art by Damion Scott is awesome. He was coming into his own and his street graffiti art style but it isn't quite there yet. This one too suffers from good, but not great like the other stories in this anthology. I give it 2.5 stars.
Relentless is the fifth part of a Catwoman storyline. Yes, a Catwoman story. It's inclusion in this book genuinely surprised me until midway through the story I realized that the villain was Black Mask and that was why this was even in the anthology. The artwork is by Cameron Stewart doing his best Darwyn Cooke or J Bone impression, on a story by Ed Brubaker. Here YET AGAIN, the story suffers not from being a bad story, or the artwork being mediocre or anything of the sort but rather that this is the fifth part of a Catwoman story that just happens to have Black Mask in it. -sighs- It gets 3 stars because it's awesome, but for this anthology it would get 5 stars.
Some conclusions I have come up with. For a collection that featured a lot of female characters it had very few if any actual female creators. Devyn Grayson being the only writer and Jennifer Graves doing some layouts. Wow, DC Comics, hows about you hire more women to create content? Seriously. No. Seriously. I also got that in every story that was supposed to showcase a female character they had to have back up. Harley had Batman in the first story. Black Canary has Lois Lane and Oracle. Huntress had Nightwing, Cassandra had Oracle. Honestly, Montoya was the only one who actually had a partner but being a police officer that was the only instance were it made any sense. Not to be sexist either, Black Mask was not alone in his story either, necessitating the help of Catwoman's nemesis.
The overall ruling is that while in some instances the stories were part of greater stories in no instance were the individual issues useful in showcasing the individual characters, nor where they anything like the versions of themselves in the movie, nor were any of these stories actually published in the past century, though I can't be sure of that, it would be a bet I'd take. This Frankenstein of an anthology was a last minute cash grab, slapped with a shiny new cover to tie it into the movie.
Rather than using newer stories, for God's sake Harley has had multiple series of her own along with appearing in Suicide Squad in the past twenty years. Rather than using new female helmed stories of these characters. Rather than trying harder at helping this comic tie into their movie, DC Comics simply pulled old crap from their VERY LARGE, VERY INTERESTING IP library and yanked whatever they could dust off with these characters as the leads. Zero for effort DC Comics. As to the creators, your works are good and a lot of them stand up to the test of time, but here they are just the haggard pieces of a monstrous construct rather than the beautiful pieces of the stories they were original a part of.
So this sorry attempt at an anthology gets a 2 star rating. Don't buy it, unless you really love these characters or older stories, or because the book is cheap. But understand this is more of a tease to better older stories which may or may not be collected or still in print.
I'm sorry, but much like yesterday's review of the Dream Daddy graphic novel, this book was just another cash grab by a publisher with little or no interest or effort put into what they were releasing simply to have something out there to tie into their more important projects.
Storywise, THIS IS NOT an adaptation of the movie. The movie I consider a genuine masterpiece. Your mileage may vary, but I tend to view the movies as separate beasts from the comics and I judge them on their own merits. That said, the collection of stories in this book were neither well curated or any kind of good example by way of introduction to the characters. That said, let's dive in, and you'll see why this female led book at least merited slightly higher than those gay daddies.
Let's begin with the first story in the collection, Kind of like family, which introduces us to Harley Quinn. The art for it is not anything super spectacular. It's good, solid art, if you'll forgive a few of the character expressions and how dopey Harley looks in her original outfit. It resembles nothing to the one on the cover, which is what she wears in the film. Some of the art in the panels is a bit wonky too, so it's hard to make out what's happening without thinking about it and that takes you out of the story a bit. But the story is genius, and why wouldn't it be? It was written by the character's creator, Paul Dini. Paul Dini is a brilliant writer, which is what makes this one of the more delightful stories in the book. This story gets 4.5 stars, including the art.
Next we have Birds of a feather, which appeared in Showcase '96. That's a story that's 24 years old now. I'll just leave that there and let you all decide whether if a) DC Comics has no idea what to do with its female characters like Black Canary b) DC Comics has too many characters that it can't adequately use them c) Black Canary is a boring character or d) a & b. I'm going with d, myself.
The cover to Birds of a feather is by Gary Frank, so of course. the faces look weird. The interior artwork is Stan Woch and Jennifer Graves whose work at the time was not so polished as Frank's competent but still amateurish in places and not as realistic or good as Frank. That said, the story itself is some all female hero story with Lois Lane, Dinah Lance, and Oracle. While the idea itself is good, the execution is not. The story is boring, and suffers from too many characters and too much contrivance to be taken seriously. But it's worse sin in the addition of this anthology is that it doesn't do much to showcase Black Canary. For the art alone, it gets 2 stars.
Next we have a Devin Grayson penned, Greg Land and Bill Sienkiewicz drawn piece highlighting Huntress. Here again, the character does not have any resemblance to the movie character. She teams up with Nightwing, tries romancing him, and they find they don't work well together, or do they? By the end I honestly didn't care. This story was clearly a part of a longer storyline and as such it suffers, and it doesn't do anything to make me hate or like Huntress. Given what I know about Greg Land I'm going to give most of the artistic credit to Mr. Sienkiewicz and I will give this a 2.5 stars, because Nightwing was here and I love him.
Half a life is a good story beat, and not surprising as it was written by Greg Rucka. I am neutral as far as Michael Lark's art is concerned. It's very stylized but I love the noir look and feel of it, it just isn't my favorite but I can understand how it works for the type of book series this is. That said, like the story before it, Renee Montoya's story suffers from being not it's own story but a part of a larger story. So it appears like a day in the life story of Montoya and then drops a big cliffie at the end of it. This story gets 3 stars, though it deserves more for the writing but it fails in the context of this anthology.
Mark of Cain introduces us to Cassandra Cain, who we see as Batgirl. So that is the farthest that character is from the movie adaptation. It introduces us to her father, and lands us in the middle of No Man's Land, a major Gotham storyline from back in the day. It's a good and interesting story, but it tells us next to nothing about Cassandra except that she's Batgirl and she can't talk. The art by Damion Scott is awesome. He was coming into his own and his street graffiti art style but it isn't quite there yet. This one too suffers from good, but not great like the other stories in this anthology. I give it 2.5 stars.
Relentless is the fifth part of a Catwoman storyline. Yes, a Catwoman story. It's inclusion in this book genuinely surprised me until midway through the story I realized that the villain was Black Mask and that was why this was even in the anthology. The artwork is by Cameron Stewart doing his best Darwyn Cooke or J Bone impression, on a story by Ed Brubaker. Here YET AGAIN, the story suffers not from being a bad story, or the artwork being mediocre or anything of the sort but rather that this is the fifth part of a Catwoman story that just happens to have Black Mask in it. -sighs- It gets 3 stars because it's awesome, but for this anthology it would get 5 stars.
Some conclusions I have come up with. For a collection that featured a lot of female characters it had very few if any actual female creators. Devyn Grayson being the only writer and Jennifer Graves doing some layouts. Wow, DC Comics, hows about you hire more women to create content? Seriously. No. Seriously. I also got that in every story that was supposed to showcase a female character they had to have back up. Harley had Batman in the first story. Black Canary has Lois Lane and Oracle. Huntress had Nightwing, Cassandra had Oracle. Honestly, Montoya was the only one who actually had a partner but being a police officer that was the only instance were it made any sense. Not to be sexist either, Black Mask was not alone in his story either, necessitating the help of Catwoman's nemesis.
The overall ruling is that while in some instances the stories were part of greater stories in no instance were the individual issues useful in showcasing the individual characters, nor where they anything like the versions of themselves in the movie, nor were any of these stories actually published in the past century, though I can't be sure of that, it would be a bet I'd take. This Frankenstein of an anthology was a last minute cash grab, slapped with a shiny new cover to tie it into the movie.
Rather than using newer stories, for God's sake Harley has had multiple series of her own along with appearing in Suicide Squad in the past twenty years. Rather than using new female helmed stories of these characters. Rather than trying harder at helping this comic tie into their movie, DC Comics simply pulled old crap from their VERY LARGE, VERY INTERESTING IP library and yanked whatever they could dust off with these characters as the leads. Zero for effort DC Comics. As to the creators, your works are good and a lot of them stand up to the test of time, but here they are just the haggard pieces of a monstrous construct rather than the beautiful pieces of the stories they were original a part of.
So this sorry attempt at an anthology gets a 2 star rating. Don't buy it, unless you really love these characters or older stories, or because the book is cheap. But understand this is more of a tease to better older stories which may or may not be collected or still in print.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 5, 2020
This book was a complete waste of time. Promoted as a tie in with the new movie featuring Harley Quinn and the Birds of Prey I was expecting a prequel type book about what the players were up to before they met up. That book probably would have been better. Instead, we're given a mash-up of stories involving the characters randomly taken from the archives of DC. None of the stories connect in any way or help to define any character. There is also no direct connection to the movie. We get a Harley Quinn story were she is still dressed in her Harlequinn outfit and the Huntress is decked out in her purple people eater suit. I Don't expect to see either in the upcoming movie. Whether the stories are good or bad I can't tell since they are snippets of larger stories some dating back over 20 years ago. This book is a waste of time and DC should be ashamed about putting it out.
May 17, 2021
I was disappointed with this collection. I thought it was one cohesive story that would unite the characters, but instead it was separate tales that didn’t connect in anyway except that they will one day become the Birds of Prey. The stories were also not standalone stories so if I want to find out more about Huntress and Nightwing I have to find their comic series to find out what happened before that comic and what will happen after. It was just frustrating to be thrown in a middle of a plot with no context.
January 20, 2021
omg the end of renee’s one shot ill pass away
May 16, 2020
Harley Quinn & the Birds of Prey is an anthology trade paperback that collects six stories, each of them focusing on one of the following characters: Harley Quinn, Black Canary, Huntress, Renee Montoya, Cassandra Cain, and Black Mask, which introduces the characters to the film Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn).
This new title collects Detective Comics #831 (Harley Quinn), Nightwing/Huntress #2 (Huntress), Gotham Central #6 (Renee Montoya), Batman #567 (Cassandra Cain – first appearance), Catwoman (Vol. 3) #16 (Black Mask – apparent death) and a story from Showcase '96 #3 (Black Canary).
Story selection is paramount for an anthology like this and it was mediocrity done. The editors could have found better one-shot storylines for each six characters as only the story for Harley Quinn and Black Canary are single-issue contained sorties and even Black Canary's story is a short one. Furthermore, the stories for Cassandra Cain and Black Mask are not the featured characters of their issues and at best be called supporting characters. However, despite the poor story selection, this trade paperback does fulfill their task – to introduce the characters that inspired their film’s counterparts.
Paul Dini (Detective Comics #831), Devin Grayson (Nightwing/Huntress #2), Greg Rucka (Gotham Central #6), Kelley Puckett (Batman #567), Ed Brubaker (Catwoman #16), and Jordan B. Gorfinkel (Showcase '96 #3) penned the entire series. For the most part, each individual story is written rather well, but since most of the stories are either a first or mid-chapter story in a storyline, the narrative is rather wanting and unfulfilling.
Don Kramer (Detective Comics #831), Greg Land (Nightwing/Huntress #2), Michael Lark (Gotham Central #6), Damion Scott (Batman #567), Cameron Stewart (Catwoman #16), and Jennifer Graves (Showcase '96 #3) penciled the trade paperback. For the most part, the pencilers didn't complement each other well, which made the artistic flow rather jarring. Individually, each penciller has their strengths and weaknesses, but together it's a tad too chaotic for my taste.
All in all, Harley Quinn & the Birds of Prey is a mediocre collection of stories, which introduce the characters that influenced their film counterparts in Harley Quinn, Black Canary, Huntress, Renee Montoya, Cassandra Cain, and Black Mask.
This new title collects Detective Comics #831 (Harley Quinn), Nightwing/Huntress #2 (Huntress), Gotham Central #6 (Renee Montoya), Batman #567 (Cassandra Cain – first appearance), Catwoman (Vol. 3) #16 (Black Mask – apparent death) and a story from Showcase '96 #3 (Black Canary).
Story selection is paramount for an anthology like this and it was mediocrity done. The editors could have found better one-shot storylines for each six characters as only the story for Harley Quinn and Black Canary are single-issue contained sorties and even Black Canary's story is a short one. Furthermore, the stories for Cassandra Cain and Black Mask are not the featured characters of their issues and at best be called supporting characters. However, despite the poor story selection, this trade paperback does fulfill their task – to introduce the characters that inspired their film’s counterparts.
Paul Dini (Detective Comics #831), Devin Grayson (Nightwing/Huntress #2), Greg Rucka (Gotham Central #6), Kelley Puckett (Batman #567), Ed Brubaker (Catwoman #16), and Jordan B. Gorfinkel (Showcase '96 #3) penned the entire series. For the most part, each individual story is written rather well, but since most of the stories are either a first or mid-chapter story in a storyline, the narrative is rather wanting and unfulfilling.
Don Kramer (Detective Comics #831), Greg Land (Nightwing/Huntress #2), Michael Lark (Gotham Central #6), Damion Scott (Batman #567), Cameron Stewart (Catwoman #16), and Jennifer Graves (Showcase '96 #3) penciled the trade paperback. For the most part, the pencilers didn't complement each other well, which made the artistic flow rather jarring. Individually, each penciller has their strengths and weaknesses, but together it's a tad too chaotic for my taste.
All in all, Harley Quinn & the Birds of Prey is a mediocre collection of stories, which introduce the characters that influenced their film counterparts in Harley Quinn, Black Canary, Huntress, Renee Montoya, Cassandra Cain, and Black Mask.
July 21, 2021
This is a collection of reprints, featuring characters associated with the Birds of Prey (and in particular, characters featured in the movie version of Birds of Prey) in solo action.
Harley (from Detective Comics #831, published in 2007) takes on the new version of the Ventriloquist and Scarface, and more importantly takes on the Arkham Asylum parole board (with Bruce Wayne as one of the members deciding her fate).
Black Canary, guided by Oracle, teams up with Lois Lane to break up an illegal sweatshop and it's psionic-powered foreman (From Showcase '96 #3, published in 1996).
Huntress teams up with Nightwing to investigate the mafia murder of an undercover cop (from Nightwing/Huntress #2, published in 1998).
Renee Montoya deals with harassment from a previous case where the perpetrator walked (from Gotham Central #6, published in 2003).
Cassandra Cain faces off against her father, assassin David Cain, during the epic No Man's Land event (from Batman #567, published in 1999).
Last up, Catwoman takes on Black Mask and Sylvia Sinclair, who have taken Selina's friend Holly and Selina's sister Maggie hostage (From Catwoman #16, published in 2003.
The opening Harley Quinn story and the Lance/Lane team-up were both good, especially the interaction between Lois and Dinah, which was loads of fun in spite of a pretty generic plot.
From there, the book seemed to run out of one-shot stories and just gave us pieces of longer storylines that felt unsatisfying, and in some cases, didn't even focus enough on the featured character. There was a lot more Nightwing than Huntress in the segment from their team-up, and the Gotham Central storyline had a lot of subplots going on, and not much in the way of develop or resolution for Renee Montoya.
In spite me not being a big fan of Cassandta Cain, her origin story from No Man's Land had visually powerful moments. But again, it's a piece of a massive long-term storyline.
The Catwoman story with Black Mask felt more complete than it really had the right to thanks to a lot of recapping in the narration.
Overall, the result of this collection of fragments is a collection that has some great individual moments and some beautiful artwork, but feels thrown together, and is not as effective as it could be at introducing readers to the lineup of characters for the Birds of Prey film.
Harley (from Detective Comics #831, published in 2007) takes on the new version of the Ventriloquist and Scarface, and more importantly takes on the Arkham Asylum parole board (with Bruce Wayne as one of the members deciding her fate).
Black Canary, guided by Oracle, teams up with Lois Lane to break up an illegal sweatshop and it's psionic-powered foreman (From Showcase '96 #3, published in 1996).
Huntress teams up with Nightwing to investigate the mafia murder of an undercover cop (from Nightwing/Huntress #2, published in 1998).
Renee Montoya deals with harassment from a previous case where the perpetrator walked (from Gotham Central #6, published in 2003).
Cassandra Cain faces off against her father, assassin David Cain, during the epic No Man's Land event (from Batman #567, published in 1999).
Last up, Catwoman takes on Black Mask and Sylvia Sinclair, who have taken Selina's friend Holly and Selina's sister Maggie hostage (From Catwoman #16, published in 2003.
The opening Harley Quinn story and the Lance/Lane team-up were both good, especially the interaction between Lois and Dinah, which was loads of fun in spite of a pretty generic plot.
From there, the book seemed to run out of one-shot stories and just gave us pieces of longer storylines that felt unsatisfying, and in some cases, didn't even focus enough on the featured character. There was a lot more Nightwing than Huntress in the segment from their team-up, and the Gotham Central storyline had a lot of subplots going on, and not much in the way of develop or resolution for Renee Montoya.
In spite me not being a big fan of Cassandta Cain, her origin story from No Man's Land had visually powerful moments. But again, it's a piece of a massive long-term storyline.
The Catwoman story with Black Mask felt more complete than it really had the right to thanks to a lot of recapping in the narration.
Overall, the result of this collection of fragments is a collection that has some great individual moments and some beautiful artwork, but feels thrown together, and is not as effective as it could be at introducing readers to the lineup of characters for the Birds of Prey film.
May 11, 2020
...Personajes conocidos y otros que no siempre obtienen el protagonismo que claramente merecen...
*3.35 ⭐* esa es mi puntuación, considero que al ser un compendio de cómics es muy entretenido de leer y que te ayuda a distraerte, este compendio diseñado con el objetivo de dar más promoción a la película que lleva un título similar es claro que en el encontraremos historias relacionadas con los personajes involucrados en el filme.
"Algo así como familia"...
Es una de las muchas apariciones de Harley Quinn, pero está me pareció una historia de una Harley que no se ve tan a menudo y que demuestra el lado más humano y no tan villano de un personaje icónico.
Me ha gustado gratamente y el dibujo en este cómic es muy bueno.
"Aves del mismo plumaje"...
Black Canary es protagonista es éste y me ha parecido un cómic en el que se ven temas importantes y por eso que mi favorito en todo el compendio.
"Más espeso que la sangre "
El cómic donde veremos a Huntress y también a Nigthwing.
A pesar de que no conocí tanto como hubiera querido de Huntress, si es verdad que me permitió ver un aspecto que no sabía que existía de Nigthwing y me ha gustado.
"Media vida "...
Renee Montoya es un punto fuerte en esta historia, una detective de crímenes mayores en la DPGC de ciudad gótica que sin haberlo querido todo el crimen que investiga se ve envuelto en ella; y es interesante conocer el otro lado de la moneda pero aún así me ha parecido aburrido.
"La marca de cain"...
Su punto fuerte es Cassandra Cain ó mejor conocido como batwoman, el cómic en el todo es más visual y con menos diálogo en todo el compendio que termina en un punto interesante pero hasta ahí.
Y por último está "Implacable "...
La historia en la que black mask debería ser un punto fuerte termina siendo el menos importante y pasado a segundo plano sin haber aportado nada y es sin duda la historia que menos me ha gustado.
...
Hay historia buenas tanto como aburridas y una que sin penas ni gloria han pasado pero es entretenido más no memorable y esa es mi opinión.
*3.35 ⭐* esa es mi puntuación, considero que al ser un compendio de cómics es muy entretenido de leer y que te ayuda a distraerte, este compendio diseñado con el objetivo de dar más promoción a la película que lleva un título similar es claro que en el encontraremos historias relacionadas con los personajes involucrados en el filme.
"Algo así como familia"...
Es una de las muchas apariciones de Harley Quinn, pero está me pareció una historia de una Harley que no se ve tan a menudo y que demuestra el lado más humano y no tan villano de un personaje icónico.
Me ha gustado gratamente y el dibujo en este cómic es muy bueno.
"Aves del mismo plumaje"...
Black Canary es protagonista es éste y me ha parecido un cómic en el que se ven temas importantes y por eso que mi favorito en todo el compendio.
"Más espeso que la sangre "
El cómic donde veremos a Huntress y también a Nigthwing.
A pesar de que no conocí tanto como hubiera querido de Huntress, si es verdad que me permitió ver un aspecto que no sabía que existía de Nigthwing y me ha gustado.
"Media vida "...
Renee Montoya es un punto fuerte en esta historia, una detective de crímenes mayores en la DPGC de ciudad gótica que sin haberlo querido todo el crimen que investiga se ve envuelto en ella; y es interesante conocer el otro lado de la moneda pero aún así me ha parecido aburrido.
"La marca de cain"...
Su punto fuerte es Cassandra Cain ó mejor conocido como batwoman, el cómic en el todo es más visual y con menos diálogo en todo el compendio que termina en un punto interesante pero hasta ahí.
Y por último está "Implacable "...
La historia en la que black mask debería ser un punto fuerte termina siendo el menos importante y pasado a segundo plano sin haber aportado nada y es sin duda la historia que menos me ha gustado.
...
Hay historia buenas tanto como aburridas y una que sin penas ni gloria han pasado pero es entretenido más no memorable y esa es mi opinión.
May 15, 2022
Harleen Quinzell wants to go straight. No, really. She’s been away from the Joker, her darling, her sweetheart, her partner in crime, her Puddin’, for a while now. She just wants to get out of Arkham and go straight. But somehow her prison hearings never go well. She suspects it’s got something to do with that Bruce Wayne character. He’s got it in for her, for some reason…
But we see that she’s sincere when she’s kidnapped out of Arkham Asylum. So already we’re given a twist in the usual break-out-of-prison format. A truly repentant Harley Quinn is a refreshing breath of fresh air. How she comports herself out of Arkham and deals with someone stepping into Arnold Wesker’s shoes and handling his dummy Scarface make for an interesting variation on her typical hijinks. We get to see more of Harleen’s character, the gifted psychiatrist who wanted nothing more than to help Arkham’s inmates until she fell under the sway of the charismatic Joker.
It’s Harleen’s story we’re getting here. It’s her insight and her desire to provide care for the mentally troubled that manifests itself. It makes for a fun, colorful, vibrant story, one that made her likable and multi-faceted and proves that she’s more than the Joker’s moll and sidekick.
The story between Nightwing and Huntress was more problematic. While it appeared to be a simple story of mafia hit men, murder and gun shipments, the dynamic between the two vigilantes was so complicated, it got in the way of the storyline for me. Nightwing opts for less violence while Huntress isn’t above viciousness when it’s needed. She actually enjoys it which may curdle some people’s stomachs.
On the whole, this comic anthology is highly distaff oriented and that will appeal to people who want more women in their comic stories. The ladies are as varied as their stories, individual, unique and each struggling with their own personal problems. Whether you like your women salty or sweet, sugary or gritty, take a dip into this anthology and see if you find a favorite.
But we see that she’s sincere when she’s kidnapped out of Arkham Asylum. So already we’re given a twist in the usual break-out-of-prison format. A truly repentant Harley Quinn is a refreshing breath of fresh air. How she comports herself out of Arkham and deals with someone stepping into Arnold Wesker’s shoes and handling his dummy Scarface make for an interesting variation on her typical hijinks. We get to see more of Harleen’s character, the gifted psychiatrist who wanted nothing more than to help Arkham’s inmates until she fell under the sway of the charismatic Joker.
It’s Harleen’s story we’re getting here. It’s her insight and her desire to provide care for the mentally troubled that manifests itself. It makes for a fun, colorful, vibrant story, one that made her likable and multi-faceted and proves that she’s more than the Joker’s moll and sidekick.
The story between Nightwing and Huntress was more problematic. While it appeared to be a simple story of mafia hit men, murder and gun shipments, the dynamic between the two vigilantes was so complicated, it got in the way of the storyline for me. Nightwing opts for less violence while Huntress isn’t above viciousness when it’s needed. She actually enjoys it which may curdle some people’s stomachs.
On the whole, this comic anthology is highly distaff oriented and that will appeal to people who want more women in their comic stories. The ladies are as varied as their stories, individual, unique and each struggling with their own personal problems. Whether you like your women salty or sweet, sugary or gritty, take a dip into this anthology and see if you find a favorite.
March 28, 2020
An excellent collection of solo adventures originally published between 1996 and 2007, a boom period for female DC characters as well as creators like Greg Rucka and Ed Brubaker, who remain well-respected in the medium to this day. I have yet to see Birds of Prey, but it’s a testament to the film that the collection was put together in this manner. When Harley Quinn first showed up in trailers for Suicide Squad, a lot of viewers expected an irreverent punk like Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool, a perspective that persisted into trailers for Birds of Prey. But even Suicide Squad turned out to be far more interested in character-based drama than mindless theatrics. Audiences have responded accordingly for both of Harley’s film appearances. The dissonance between perception and reality keeps getting in the way. She’s a weird character, but she also represents a weird phenomenon, an attempt to claim personal freedom through the apparent abandonment of all social restraint, even while her choices are dominated between the bad impulses that initially drive her (the Joker) and the good ones that keep redeeming her (the Squad, the Birds of Prey). So again, this collection emphasizes that she’s got a lot more substance than she seems, and better instincts. She keeps making excellent friends. And DC has the material to prove it. Eventually audiences will need to decide if they like the flash (perception) or the bang (reality). And not to be crass about it, but Harley’s favorite weapon is a giant hammer, okay?
May 3, 2020
This was exactly what I expected it to be. While on a road trip to Michigan, I visited a local comic book store where I found this volume on sale. Birds of Prey was a fantastic movie and I will happily own any Birds of Prey specific merch. This novel combines stories with all six characters: Huntress, Cassandra Cain, Harley Quinn, Renee Montoya, Black Canary, and Black Mask. I personally enjoyed reading this and I do recommend this for any newer comics fan to get a feel for the characters in Birds of Prey.
Instead of going into every single story, I'm going to rate each story down below.
Harley Quinn: 3/5 Harley and Batman team-up..??? Interesting.
Black Canary: 4/5 I appreciated the appearance of Lois Lane. I didn't know they interacted much in the comics.
Huntress: 5/5 I'm biased because I love Nightwing as a character. Huntress and Nightwing take on the mob in this short story. I like Huntress's outfit design in this story.
Renee Montoya: 2/5 I hate how she's blackmailed/outed toward the end of this story.
Cassandra Cain: 3/5 Also biased because I like Oracle's appearance as a character.
Black Mask 5/5 I forgot how brutal Black Mask is in the comics. Black Mask goes after Catwoman's loved ones and it doesn't end well for him.
I highly enjoyed this, but I understand why many readers rated it way lower.
Instead of going into every single story, I'm going to rate each story down below.
Harley Quinn: 3/5 Harley and Batman team-up..??? Interesting.
Black Canary: 4/5 I appreciated the appearance of Lois Lane. I didn't know they interacted much in the comics.
Huntress: 5/5 I'm biased because I love Nightwing as a character. Huntress and Nightwing take on the mob in this short story. I like Huntress's outfit design in this story.
Renee Montoya: 2/5 I hate how she's blackmailed/outed toward the end of this story.
Cassandra Cain: 3/5 Also biased because I like Oracle's appearance as a character.
Black Mask 5/5 I forgot how brutal Black Mask is in the comics. Black Mask goes after Catwoman's loved ones and it doesn't end well for him.
I highly enjoyed this, but I understand why many readers rated it way lower.
July 25, 2020
I tagged it as a graphic novel but it's really an anthology of some stories about the characters who appear in the Harley Quinn movie. I hadn't run into any of the stories before; I enjoyed all of them. The first two stories were fairly self-contained, and the story which pairs Lois Lane and Black Canary fighting against a sweatshop villain is a particular standout. (In particular, the anger that Black Canary feels, as apparently the Green Arrow had recently been killed saving the city). The final story, in which Catwoman deals with an old companion and has family complications also has some pathos and is standalone. The focus is not on Black Mask, whom I gather is the movie character it was intended to highlight.
The incomplete stories are much less satisfying, because they are comic book serial stories: they have no satisfactory ending on their own (these are all ones introducing arcs). But they make the characters seem interesting (I have never spent time with either Renee Montoya or the Cassandra Cain character).
The incomplete stories are much less satisfying, because they are comic book serial stories: they have no satisfactory ending on their own (these are all ones introducing arcs). But they make the characters seem interesting (I have never spent time with either Renee Montoya or the Cassandra Cain character).
August 1, 2020
I'm not sure if this book is a companion graphic novel to go with the movie Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey or not, but it missed the mark for me.
The stories gave the briefest introduction to the characters and at the end of the novel, there was a short introduction to some of the characters in the novel. The stories themselves feel anticlimactic, likely due to the shortness of them, and incomplete.
Overall, I was quite disappointed with this read. I expected it to be more engaging than it was.
The stories gave the briefest introduction to the characters and at the end of the novel, there was a short introduction to some of the characters in the novel. The stories themselves feel anticlimactic, likely due to the shortness of them, and incomplete.
Overall, I was quite disappointed with this read. I expected it to be more engaging than it was.
December 23, 2020
This was a compendium of odds and ends of different stories from different eras of the DCU so as such it was the sum of its parts.
Individual stories did stand out... ...basically any of the stories that were written by Greg Rucka. However, even these were incomplete as they did not contain the whole narrative, just a single issue which apart from The Catwoman/Black Mask story did not give a sense of closure.
All in all, it was average, but then again it also came free with my Birds of Prey Blu-Ray so sometimes you get what you pay for
Individual stories did stand out... ...basically any of the stories that were written by Greg Rucka. However, even these were incomplete as they did not contain the whole narrative, just a single issue which apart from The Catwoman/Black Mask story did not give a sense of closure.
All in all, it was average, but then again it also came free with my Birds of Prey Blu-Ray so sometimes you get what you pay for
May 19, 2022
I mostly bought this for the cover art. It's a nice collection of stories that profile these 6 characters. Harley's, Montoya's, and Huntress' issues are great for summing up their personalities. Canary's was good too, but a bit too focused on a bigger plot and less about her identity. Cassandra Cain's is great, but not for the movie version of her. They're too different and it just shows how much cooler she is in the comics. Lastly, Black Mask's was good for his villainous persona, but Catwoman steals the spotlight, since it's from her series.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 53 reviews