Comic Review: Birds of Prey (2020) #1

Birds of Prey #1

DC Comics

Writer: Brian Azzarello

Artists: Emanuela Lupacchino

Birds of Prey #1 is the latest one-shot to come out of DC’s Black Label line. The story focuses on Black Canary, Huntress, and Harley Quinn as they deal with personal issues and a dangerous crime syndicate that has a knack for decapitating people. It’s written by Brian Azzarello with art by Emanuela Lupacchino.

Birds of Prey #1 is an oversized one-shot, and I mean that in the worst way possible. It’s a 90+ page story that overstays its welcome. The story is bland, the characters are poorly written, and there just isn’t much fun to be had in this long comic. The boring story manages to take a cool-looking crime organization and makes them feel hollow throughout. This issue feels like a boring, uninspired blockbuster that lacks any kind of heart. The script feels rushed and not fully fleshed out, making this issue fall into a pile of mediocre superhero stories.

Brian Azzarello doesn’t seem to have a grasp on the voices of these characters and instead resorts to edgy lines for dialogue. If it wasn’t for the art, these characters would be unrecognizable. The conversations are all generic and boring, and every character is full of cliche monologues. Each character is a skeleton of themselves, acting out the bare minimum traits that make them unique. It’s almost like Azzarello has never read a comic with these characters in it before. Fans of Birds of Prey will be completely disappointed in this story, making this comic appeal to almost no one.

Emanuela Lupacchino brings some gorgeous art to this book, and even that can’t save this disaster. Her art also comes with tons of flaws, and for every good looking character, there is an action sequence that just doesn’t flow well. The sequentials make the script feel even rockier and always leave too much or too little to the imagination when it comes to the action that takes place in between the panels. The coloring by Steve Wands is probably the highlight of the books. The panels are full of impressive lighting and vivid colors. Still, even if everything is pretty, it doesn’t stop the art from further holding the actual story back.

Unfortunately, the art is full of poses and compromising positions for the women in the comic. This issue feels like it was intended to please men, and it is a clear step backward for the characters. I’m also tired of seeing the cartel kind of characters, and every antagonist is this issue is a person of color. This issue feels like a relic of the 90s in many ways and its pretty disappointing following the feminist superhero films we have seen lately.

Birds of Prey is undoubtedly the weakest book to come out of DC’s Black Label. Azzarello has no grasp of the characters, and the way that women and people of color are treated is borderline offensive. There are much better comics to spend all of your money on.