I don't think I'm liking McKeever on BoP aka Babs is a huge bitch

[DarkCrisis]

I love McKeevers writing but yipes whats with the last 2 issues?

The BoP totally fail and end up killing lots of innocent people. WTH?!?!

Latest issue: Babs is being a totaly bitch to Misfit and is basicly torturing her. She even breaks her ankle just because she knows Misfit can heal it back instantly despite Misfit saying the stuff still hurts. WTH?!?!

I hope this is leading somewhere cause right now im not likeing the character trashing.

[Linkara]

Yeah, I've got to admit - I'm not loving Mckeever's work so far on the DCU. I'm staying with Teen Titans out of loyalty, but I fear I'm only giving Birds of Prey another issue or two before I drop it. This was better, but it seemed off.

[Kyuubi]

I think McKeever is going somewhere with this.


I'm sticking around.

[Night Swordsman]

I am not sure i want to. The last issue with the robot was so awful i could barely read it once. Was hoping it was a one time off,but it appears not.

Sigh. Another DC comic off my list. :(

[snarkbunny]

The Babs/Misfit scenes - so did not like or want but I tend to agree with Kyuubi - I think McKeever is going somewhere with this, so I'm sticking around for the time being. .

I loved the Helena/Zinda bar stuff and Zinda/Killer Shark , though.

[Black Atom]

Didn't you know?

She's the goddamn Babs-man.

[Michael P]

I think McKeever is going somewhere with this.


I'm sticking around.

Of course he's going somewhere with it. He's hit the characters with a serious emotional event, and now he's showing how they deal with it. Right now, the wound is raw, so they're not at their best. Hence Babs pouring herself into her work, and her intense, dare-I-say Batman-esque training of Charlie.

Incidentally, I'm getting signs there's a link between the two. Babs was obviously testing Charlie's powers, formulating or testing a hypothesis. Combine that with the physics gobbledygook, and it looks like she's investigating just what went wrong last issue. I've got my own thoughts about that, and where it's going. Regardless, I'm interested in seeing where it goes, and how everybody pulls out of it.

[bfrank]

No Canery, No Simone, not even a Dixon (the only book I've ever liked that he's done) = No BOP.....

[Pink Bat Maxine]

The Misfit/Black Alice pairing has potental.....

But yeah, regardless of circumstance, Babs breaking Misfit's ankle just came off as..... well, torture, in the literal sense.

[jerrymcl89]

I'm okay with it. Despite Babs having issues at times with Batman, I think she also has a bit of tendency to be like him, which I think is what McKeever is exploring. I'll be unhappy if she's still like this by the end of the arc, but I don't think she will be.

[Alexx1]

I didn't have a problem with Babs attiude because I expected it after she and her team royally screwed the last mission. What I thought was a joke was the idea of Misfit punishment being made to wash dishes. Give me a break. A lot of people died because of her disobendience. My biggest beef with this latest issue is too much focus/energy is placed on writing for Misfit right now and it doesn't feel like it's going to let up with then next issue being about Black Alice and Misfit going at it. I feel like Babs is running a daycare and not a sophisticated operation. I thought Misfit opening narration about her observation of Babs behavior and Tabby's last moments were strong and enough for this particular issue. Why not have the source of contention be between Babs and Helena? Helena is the lead field agent. It would have been stronger and more effective if Sean had pick back up their conversation from the last issue when they were about to go at it before being interrupted by Superman. And where the hell was Huntress in this issue? Oh yeah she had a couple of pages at a bar. Give me a freaking break. I don't want to see Huntress take a back seat to characters like Misfit or any other character. It would seem to me more focus should have been paid on how she was dealing with the aftermath and how playing by the rules didn't help make the prior mission a success. It had to have effected her in some capacity. It should have affected her and Babs relationship. Not damaged it, just affected it in some way. What's with the soliciatation Zinda and Helena hashing out their difference? They weren't at odss about anything. I did enjoyed their dynamic. Zinda got really interesting in this issue.

The issue in general was just too up and down for me. It had strong moments followed by useless dialog. Then strong moments followed up by something weak. By the end of it I was ready to return it to my comic book store. I'll hang in there a few more issues. But I won't stick around and watch Huntress being relegated to a third/fourth wheel character. She's paid her dues as a character and especially in the BoP title thanks in large part to Gail's writing of the character. I want to see more focus placed on her character and her relationship with Babs and some kick ass jobs. This book needs to get back to Babs being in charged of grown ass women not teen titans.

ETA: I would like to say, Nicola's art was terrific. I love all the emotions: denial, frustration, furry, anger, weariness that Babs emoted. The one panel where Misfit is talking about Tabby, the emotions on her face were really well drawn. All the panels with Zinda and Killer Shark wer awesome. Great surprise seeing Manhunter at the beginning. Good Stuff from Nicola.

[DarkCrisis]

Despite what Misfit did doesn't mean Babs (of all people) should be causing her physical pain just because.

Doing dishes is okay. Training herhard is okay. Breaking her ankle (of a "child") is not okay and seems way out there for Babs.

[Alexx1]

Despite what Misfit did doesn't mean Babs (of all people) should be causing her physical pain just because.

Doing dishes is okay. Training herhard is okay. Breaking her ankle (of a "child") is not okay and seems way out there for Babs.


I saw that situation as a grey area. The situation between Babs and Misfit was twofold. Babs was testing the limits of Misfits powers or at the very least trying to get to the bottom of what Misfits powers entail. To Babs the ends justified the means. Misfit was able to heal herself so I guess I don't really see the problem the way you do. But yes I would agree for argument sake Babs shouldn't be trying to intentionally her hurt or anyone but I didn't happen to view it that way. In addition to understanding Misfits powers she was also trying to toughing Misfit up. And Misfit needs to toughing up. She wants to be a member of the team. What exactly does that mean to her? She certainly didn't want any part of Babs. These women put themselves in vulnerable and potentially dangerous situations, to be harmed, captured, etc. This isn't a walk in the park or a joke job. It has deadly consquences if you're not prepared. Even if one thinks Babs took it too far, she proved Misfit isn't ready, mentally or physically.

[Major Comma]

Patience is a virtue.

[LewisH]

Or were none of you around for the earlier stories where the Birds messed up big time back when Power Girl was still on the team? The writers had Barbara act similarly after that arc. In fact I think Gail is the only person who has written Barbara Gordon, since she became Oracle, without her going into Queen Bitch mode for a while at some point. So it's more or less an established character trait by now.

As far as her training of Misfit. I don't think we've ever seen her try to train someone before. The only models she has for the training of young superheroes is the one that Bruce used for Dick and Tim. It's kept them alive and relatively successful so there's no reason for her not to use a similar regimen. I think Sean is telling a reasonable story with the characters behavior fitting reasonably well with what previous writers established and with actions following events in a logical enough fashion.

[Corrina]

Well, it does more or less throw away Babara's emotional development over Gail's run. She learned to be more open, to trust her team more, and especially developed something much tighter with Helena.

I don't see her going fully back into Bat-dick mode. I could see her trying to enlist Helena and Zinda to help train Misfit. Or asking Helena for help. Many writers seem to only remember Huntress as the ass-kicker but she's also really good with children and teens---plus, she'd identify where Misfit is coming from.

Babs basically shutting down to Helena and Zinda and shutting them out is a big step backward emotionally for her.

[Alexx1]

Well, it does more or less throw away Babara's emotional development over Gail's run. She learned to be more open, to trust her team more, and especially developed something much tighter with Helena.

I don't see her going fully back into Bat-dick mode. I could see her trying to enlist Helena and Zinda to help train Misfit. Or asking Helena for help. Many writers seem to only remember Huntress as the ass-kicker but she's also really good with children and teens---plus, she'd identify where Misfit is coming from.

Babs basically shutting down to Helena and Zinda and shutting them out is a big step backward emotionally for her.


Yeah I agree with your assessment. I know Helena isn't Dinah and you can't substitute or replace her relationship with Babs but I sure thought Babs and Helena had come a long ways and was looking forward to them furthering their personal friendship inaddition to their work relationship. For me as and invested BoP fan, the dynamics in Babs and Helena's personal relationship is just as important to me as the dynamics and nuances in their professional one. It's still early. Like the other poster mentioned patience is a virtue. I just hope the pay off is worth it.

[Night Swordsman]

I am going to give the book a few more issues before i sign off on it,but if this is the tone of the book for the next six months,it will lose a reader.

[drnorge]

The art continues to be top notch. I really liked the version of Superman presented in 113.

I actually like the feel of transition on the team at the moment. Big run was just completed and Babs and Co are in a good spot where they seem to be finding themselves as well. I agree with some of the previous posts that it feels like McKeever is building to something. I feel like I need a good arc to get a feel for the status quo. I am loving his work on Titans so am anxious to see where he is going with this.

[MartinRedmond]

What are you guys talking about? Birds of Prey was cancelled. Those subsequent issues don't even exist.

[Major Comma]

i mentioned patience in my earlier post because i believe mckeever has a plan for Babs, we just dont know what it is just yet.
I look forward to finding out .

[MartinRedmond]

That's a bunch of bull. Reading entertainment isn't an investment. If you're not entertained by the final product it's because the artist (be it writer, director or w/e) sucks at doing his job.

[sabongero]

Come on man. Babs can be a bitch sometimes. So what ? When you're team leader, you have to be a bitch, you can't be a nice likeable person all the time. Plus when Gail Simone initially started writing Birds of Prey wasn't Babs a beautiful individial that causes hard-ons ? Especially towards Helena...remember.

[Corrina]

Um...what?

[snarkbunny]

Well, it does more or less throw away Babara's emotional development over Gail's run. She learned to be more open, to trust her team more, and especially developed something much tighter with Helena.

I don't see her going fully back into Bat-dick mode. I could see her trying to enlist Helena and Zinda to help train Misfit. Or asking Helena for help. Many writers seem to only remember Huntress as the ass-kicker but she's also really good with children and teens---plus, she'd identify where Misfit is coming from.

Babs basically shutting down to Helena and Zinda and shutting them out is a big step backward emotionally for her.

Well, yes - but it is also natural to revert under stressful circumstances to earlier behaviour patterns. Still, this is clearly the setup for the arc, so if we have Babs at this point at the end of the arc, I'll be unhappy.

So reserving judgement and I'll see how the story plays out.

[Pink Bat Maxine]

The only models she has for the training of young superheroes is the one that Bruce used for Dick and Tim. It's kept them alive and relatively successful so there's no reason for her not to use a similar regimen.

Of course, it also gave us this:

http://www.geocities.com/jokercdi/jkrart11.gif

....which ought to make one critique his methods.