chezkevin classics: Stupid Varlet!

I'm going through the archive and re-presenting some old posts that never saw much attention. It's been four years, so I think it's safe to say that you, my current readership, have not laid eyes on them. Today I'm looking at a unique character find from 2008: Misfit, from the Birds of Prey title. I think it's fun, and I hope you will too. This post was originally presented on July 9, 2008, and the link can be found here. New content will be up Wednesday and Friday, and another classic will be presented on Thursday.

Before you leave, don't forget to partake in this week's blogiversary giveaway: I'm giving away paperback copy of Grant Morrison and Dave McKean's Arkham Asylum. Click here for the deets!

You know the drill: new comics on Wednesday, so I of course planned on getting my new comics today.

I was hoping to get them after running an errand at my cousins', but then I got caught spending some quality time with them.

Oh, the horror.

Before I knew it, it was six PM, and my comic shop was closed! Dammit!

I am so sorry guys. I feel like crap, so, wallowing in my self-pity that I actually missed a new comics day, I took a bus to the nearest cliff, and contemplated how long I'd have to spend in an oven to -- oh wait!

What's this! It's --

Misfit's first appearance (kind of) as Batgirl!

Misfit originally thought she could be Batgirl. . .

But that brought up bad connotations for Barbara. . .

So now, she's your dark avenging Misfit! ssssssss!

Sorry again about the lateness, guys, and feel free to thank Misfit for saving the day! I know I will.
I'll get new comics tomorrow, so that's when they'll get on the blog.

Also, the bottom three scans are from Birds of Prey #98, and the top one is from issue #102.

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The menacing premiere of: the lil lizzies!

A new week means new comics! And what a week it is, bringing the return of Gail Simone with the Birds of Prey. It seems like only yesterday that Zinda Blake, Lady Blackhawk was showing us how to call a cab, and today she's showing us how to shoot terrorist kidnappers in Greenland.

Birds of Prey #1
by Gail Simone and Ed Benes


Gail writes the birds as they were meant to be written: head-on in the 11th gear, kickin' ass and makin' jokes. It's the perfect mix of action and humor that keeps me on my seat, and dude, in the middle of the issue, Huntress takes out a goon and then throws him at his pals approaching on motorcycles. Hardcore:

Which isn't to say that BoP was just an adrenalfest. The core birds, Oracle, Canary and Huntress have to deal with a mystery dude who apparently has files on all superheroes: where Oracle's dad goes to walk every morning, the addresses of every student that Huntress has ever taught in school. They ruminate over this before they're attacked by "the White Canary."

And that's not even the half of it! Gail for sure is making her money's worth, introducing Hawk -recently brought back from the dead in Blackest Night- and Dove, hinting at some character conflict there. With how they're working off the past, and bringing in new characters, I couldn't be happier that I got this big 'ol issue number one. It reads like a dream.

Amazing Spider-Man #631

by Zeb Wells and Chris Bachalo with fill-in pencilling by Emma Rios

Part number dos for "Shed," covering the return of the demon inside Curts Connors, THE LIZARD! It reads like every other return the Lizard's made, but with one exception: the stylish scribblings from Chris Bachalo. He is for sure an acquired taste; I disliked it at first, saying he made characters look way younger than they ought to, but it works, especially in the half-jokey, half-serious tone that overtakes Peter Parker and Spidey stories. Here, Bachalo blows the Lizard up as a giant bipedal croc with arms. I think he overdoes some panels of Lizzy's face, but check this out:

Yeah! That is one visceral, raw picture! I love it. I don't know if it was Zeb's idea, or Chris's, but they also introduce Lizzy's little iguana minions, "lil lizzies," who look totally menacing and adorable at the same time. Check it out, he's on top of the Lizard! Absolutely adorable.

AW YEAH LIZZY AND PALS!

Anyways, near the end of the issue, I think the Lizard eats his son, Billy Connors, who's been a plot point and a vestige of the Lizard's humanity ever since. . . Stan's run on Spidey, uh, thirty years ago. It's pretty ambiguous, but they seem to imply it with a really vague two-page spread that zooms in on the Liard's scales, then on the debris flying in the street. I definitely find it hard to swallow, so we'll just have to wait and see. All in all, the issue as a whole felt rushed and read too quickly. It doesn't help that Emma Rios pencils in some scenes, making the issue feel disjointed, and that she'll be doing some of next ish too.

Not as strong an issue as part one, but I think the Lizard's teeth have hooked me on this story. Bachalo's art is worth it, so I'll be finishing the arc.

Bye bye birdies, Hello Gotham

Ever since our girl Gail Simone left Birds of Prey at issue 108, it never was the same. Sure, Sean McKeever did a serviceable arc from 113-117, but I think it all went downhill with Tony Bedard.

All the way to issue 127. Sigh. The blog had a heck of a time with the title, and my favorite stuff included the Zinda Blake instructionals, and the Bird-watching stuff. But with Bedard, Birds just wasn't fun anymore, and it stopped being about the Birds, so I like to think that's why DC cancelled the series.

Also, Birds of Prey under McKeever's run gave us the spectacular running theme around here of Clark Bars.

Oh great. All this stupid reminiscing is, is getting me, um, teary-eyed. Let's just -sniff- get on with today's comic, which came out last week and is meant to follow up on the dismantling of the Birds and the present life of their leader, Barbara Gordon.

Just a lil' reminder: you can now click on the title for an image of its cover. Pretty snazzy.

Oracle: The Cure
by Kevin Vanhook and Julian Lopez and Fernando Pasarin

So the first part of this 3-issue mini is basically lots and lots of set-up. Barbara settles back in Gotham, meets up with her dad Gotham Commish Jim Gordon, gets acquainted with the current crime-war climate in Gotham and meets up with some haxxorz (computer slang for "hackers").

There are some really cute touches with Babs setting up her dumpy apartment (and a semi-gratuitous shower scene!), but I'm a little disappointed that the solicits have set up Calculator's motivation sooner than this 1st issue.

That said, a 1st issue is only ever meant for set-up these days, and The Cure manages to pass the bar. Hopefully the following two issues can bring this arc to a high.

Ah, put a sock in it!

I watched the last episode of Spider-Man: The New Animated Series (see post before last), and I gotta tell ya, boy is it one Debbie Downer! Spider-Man is manipulated into harming the woman with whom he's in a relationship (it's not MJ), so Peter has to deal with the fact that Spider-Man's put her in a coma. Subsequently, he stashes his costume in a suitcase, and throws it into the River. Spider-Man No More!

Speaking of last things, let's talk about the final issue for

Birds of Prey #127
by Tony Bedard and Claude St. Aubin
It's really, really. . . mediocre.

With 18 pages of story, the Silicon Syndicate gets taken down, while the All-New, All-Dangerous Calculator escapes. Then Barbara dismantles the birds, leaving Misfit in Huntress's care. Presumably, Barbara needs to leave to "find herself" and whatnot.

The "Origins and Omens" six-page back-up is vague, confusing foreshadowing, and I think it's a waste of space.

Two things:
1) Leaving Misfit, the spunky teenager, with Huntress, the angry teacher who cares a lot about her kids? Totally awesome move. I agree 100%.

2) The action here? A nice final hurrah for our birds. Zinda is awesome; Misfit is awesome; they all get their moments.

I just wish it didn't have to be such an agonizing story to tell. Bedard had the title for, what, 10 issues (118-127)? Simone could've told a thoroughly complex, but true-to-the-characters, story in six.

All in all, Bedard did a shoddy job on Birds, but still, I think I will check out Oracle's three-issue mini, The Cure. It's written by Kevin Vanhook, whom I know nothing about, but hey, we share the same first names, so how bad can it be?

wrappin' up the week:.

Birds of Prey #126
by Tony Bedard and Claude St. Aubin

This is the penultimate issue of Birds of Prey, and, strangely enough, it's about a villain.

It's pretty much been about the villains ever since Bedard introduced his ridiculous villains of Platinum Flats, California. Each person is gimmicked around an internet phenomenon (eBay, FaceBook, etc.), but the novelty ends there. We're just supposed to take the villains at face-value, and give them no more of a second thought. The problem is, the comic has been about these characters since he took over.

That's one disappointment of mine. Another is that Bedard is also missing out on some great story potential with our birds. I mean, Helena Bertillini is a teacher now! Do you have any idea of the story possibilities there? J. Michael Straczynski alone wrote a great number of issues with Peter Parker as a teacher in the '01's! There's no point in showing a lot of scans today, because it focuses so little on our Birds.

That said, Bedard has been disappointing me with his run on Birds, and this issue is no different. It is a "Faces of Evil" issue focused on the Calculator, and from that perspective, it's a pretty good issue. It focuses on the Calculator's ingenuity and is from his perspective, but this focus on the villain is not what Birds needs right now.

Bad timing, Bedard. Bad timing. With just one issue left, I have no idea how he can possibly quell the new threat of the Calculator, disband the Birds of Prey, and give them a fitting farewell at the same time.

Oh well; such is the plight of the serial! See you again in Birds of Prey #127, guys!

Cover to Cover: a little less bark, good chap

I am probably going to get sick from eating this year-old chocolate from last Christmas, so let's get this show on the road before I keel over in a fit of uncontrollable bowel-rage.

Birds of Prey #125
by Tony Bedard and Scott McDaniel

Scott McDaniel, your art is atrocious, and I find it appalling that Green Arrow let you draw it for forty+ issues. Appalled.

That said, this issue of Birds is supposed to be something of an anniversary issue, because it's two more issues to the end, and this is the last issue that ends in "5," and DC finally thought to use a stock cover from Frank freakin' Quitely.

Look at the cover. I'm showing the cover, so I have to show you as little Scott McDaniel art as is necessary. He does not know how to draw a human face. I don't think he understands that the human body has regular, normal proportions. It's sad.

You're tellin' me, Huntress.

I'm also showing you this cover, however, because it makes no sense, and Bedard tries his level best to shoehorn it into the comic. The header says "Black Canary and Oracle do Europe on 10 assassins a day" in insane font. The assassins, yes. Europe, no. They don't do Europe. They go to Las Vegas. They hijack an antique car, to thwart the "Collector," who's obsessed with collecting mint-condition everythings, and then finding like-minded people, and collecting them.

The villain may be the only original thing in this comic. The rest of it is a simple thwarting the villain. That's it. We don't get anything meaningful about the Birds as a team, and maybe one panel about the relationship between Black Canary and Oracle. It's as if the past issues -and past eras of Simone and Dixon- have done nothing to further their reliance on each other. I am severely disappointed in what should have been a good issue.

This was supposed to be more than the Birds stopping a psycho. This was supposed to be more than just two partners saying nothing important. There should've been more. This issue failed in every way. Sigh.

It may be the year-old candy, but your art still sucks, Scott McDaniel.


Secret Six #4
by Gail Simone and Nicola Scott

This storyarc is moving really slowly, but I can enjoy the ride, because hey - it's Gail Simone and Nicola Scott. I think I'll stop reading it by singles after this arc, though.

Basically, the beats here are 1) the team of mercenaries start distrusting each other, 2) we see how the main villain is a sociopath (no remorse for others, kills without reason), and then 3) the Six get apprehended. Cue cliffhanger, in which the Six are put in danger, but-not-really-because-we-all-know-that-they're-going-to-live-somehow-after-eating-that-poisoned-food.

It's a pretty standard Gail Simone issue, by which I mean there's some good action, with some gags here and there. The new villain's pretty dark (rips people's heads off), but pretty bland so far. Blander than this year-old candy at least.

I just wish I could get more bang for my buck here. I feel like this is all being written for the trade.

Cover to Cover: "A naked, grinning maw." deal-y.

Aaaaand we're back to our semi-regular programming. Mind you, the blog is in provisional mode right now, so I won't be doing as many weekly reviews, but there's one comic that I always make sure to get:

Birds of Prey #124
by Tony Bedard and Claude St. Aubin

Well, willyalookit that! It's a new artist for Birds. Again. For the third time now.

Granted, Msr. St. Aubin is a slightly better version of Michael O'Hare -- but it's very unfortunate nonetheless that Birds is in such a state of flux at a crucial time in Barbara Gordon's life.

By which I mean: her first real meeting with the Joker after he crippled her in Killing Joke. With all the odds stacked against him though, Bedard does a stellar job. Barbara does to the Joker exactly what he did to her: Barbara cripples him back.

Specifically, she takes his smile away! What a perfectly appropriate form of retribution! I love, love, love it.

So I just wanna take this time to pimp out the cover. It is so rad. If you take the effort to click and look at it, it's the textbook definition of a great cover. The two, er, items, on Barbara's eskrima sticks signify what exactly goes in inside the comic, and the Joker's silhouette plays an antagonism for Barbara to rebound and get her due.

Basically: it's pretty awesome. Stephane Roux's been on Birds covers now for maybe 25 issues, and I really respect that kind of consistency and commitment in comic book covers.
Kinda turns me on, to be honest.

ANYWAYS: the rest of this issue is pretty much mindless fighting. It's a tedious enaction of the Silicon Syndicate being a bunch of evil losers, and the Birds being unable to stop 'em. We don't even get Lady Blackhawk saying anything cool either!

Well, at least Babs and Dinah team up together for the first time since Gail broke them up so Dinah could "head the JLA" or "spend time with her husband."

Rated G for: "Gosh, the internet is creepy!"

Cassie over at chibistomb put up this blog rating deal-y, so I thought I'd join the fun myself:

Let's get this out quickly: I really don't believe that this blog is G-rated. We have lego Batman, yes, but I'm pretty sure we've used some obscene terms here right? Like (whisper:)"s-e-x"? 
Regardless, that site is useful, because it tells you the basis on which it made the rating: I got a G-rating because the word "suck" was detected once (1x). The site doesn't say how deeply it went, but I guess that's what it detected.

On to comics! I didn't get too many this week. The latest issue of Guardians of the Galaxy came out some weeks ago (issue 6), but I don't know how much I care about it anymore, so I didn't get it. There's so much going on, that I don't really get to know anyone and, when you make Cosmo out as untrustworthy, you've already lost part of my attention. He's Cosmo, fer chrissakes!

So without further ado, let's review

Birds of Prey #123

by Tony Bedard and Michael O'Hare

Last issue hung on the cliff that Joker was about to approach Babs, but the follow-up here is a complete fake-out. Mr. J doesn't even recognize Barbara! It's not until the end of the issue that he remembers, and goes back to her for yet another cliffhanger.

A little needless if you ask me.

The rest of the issue is kind of what I've been waiting for this entire time: the buffing up of the Silicon Syndicate, because to me, they just seemed like a bunch of incredibly uninspired villains with really crappy codenames.

The idea is that each of them is the mastermind behind an internet phenomenon, which is a pretty cool concept, because the internet is very much ubiquitous these days right? An example would be the Caretaker, who controls "eBuy." He's obsessed with collecting Rare Stuff in Mint Condition, and he uses eBuy to find other like-minded people to forcefully place in his own little self-made neighborhood. And keep in mint condition.

It's really creepy. 

There's another creepy example with "Youspace," but this blog is apparently G-rated, so I'll stop there. For now, just know that everyone in the internet is trying to trick you. Except me, of course.

As for Michael O'Hare (the artist), well, I can't really endorse it. Sometimes the eyes are in the wrong position slightly, or something's in the wrong shape for the perspective.

Still waiting for something meaningful to happen, but by the end of this arc, I hope to be completely disillusioned about the usefulness and safety of the internet. 

That'd be so rad.

Zinda Blake shows us. . .

. . . How To Fight Like a Blackhawk -- And Win! (1st edition)

Got a particular bully who's constantly gunning you down in his fighter jet? Or maybe you have an assassin hunting you down, because you're in cohorts with the Oracle?

Well you can stop tossing around in your bed at 3AM out of the worry that someone will send a squirrel to your bed exceptthesquirrelisactuallyamechanizedmini-atomicbombandyoublowup?

Worry no more! Here are some pointers for how you can take flight with the likes of Lady Blackhawk!

Pointer One: Insult your foe to lower his defenses!

Pointer Two: Anything can be a weapon! Be creative in the art of war! 

Pointer Three: Don't just throw your fists! Use your head in the thick of battle!

And above all, when you win, make sure to get in a --

So get out there, and do Zinda proud!

goshdarnit!

I'm in the middle of a dry period, and I apologize. The blog isn't in very good shape, but I have some backlog posts in here somewhere, so hopefully we'll get to those.

Oh, here's one:

This is from the "One Year Later" arc that the title underwent, in which Black Canary and Lady Shiva exchanged lives. Black Canary went to the training that Shiva was subjected to, while Lady Shiva was an official Bird of Prey!

I love this scene so much, because it foreshadows the relationship between Sin and Dinah, and it represents a HUGE change that'll happen to Dinah -- her adopting Sin!

ADDITIONALLY: Sin is cute.

Zinda Blake shows us. . .

. . . How To Deal With An Overpossessive Date!

DISCLAIMER: I'm sure that most of you probably realize that I'm not of the female persuasion, so it might not be exactly valid for me to talk about overpossessive dates.

TO WHICH I SAY: Look out behind you! It's. . . An Overpossessive Date!

Part of the male psyche is the need for territory. From watering holes in the past to go-carts in the near-present, to coffee mugs in the present-present, they have to own something, and it has to be theirs. (Hands off my blog!)

Unfortunately, this can apply to people as well, and us guys can get pretty possessive over our dates. In fact, we might even resort to out-n'-out violence:

How do you deal with this? You're not property for some random guy to just own, after all! You're your own person, not a coffee mug!

As it turns out, the solution to this is just as ancient as the habit itself. You can quell this hypermasculine behavior with a very simple gesture:

PUNCH THEM IN THE FACE.

Or you could just tell them they're being rude. It's all good.

Strangely enough, this post involved a topic that isn't completely comical. I don't know how I came off, if I came off as some hoity-toity lecturer, or some disingenous douchebag, but I would definitely like your feedback. This is new territory for me, so comment anonymously if you wish.

Cover to Cover: Cosmo - Skrull's best friend???

Well, I finally get to looking at the stuff I got this week. Hopefully future weeks are less hectic, hm?

Amazing Spider-Man #572

by Dan Slott and John Romita Jr.

Here's where Stormin' Norman Osborn implements his special tracking device to aim at Spidey. Wherever his goonies shoot, the bullets'll go after the emitter in Spider-Man's costume! Bullseye goes with some goonies, and they end up raiding the Coffee Bean, which gets Peter in costume. There's a fight scene, then Anti-Venom saves Spidey. Pretty standard stuff, except for the cliffhanger ending.

I did not see that coming! I'm definitely psyched for next ish, but still disappointed that MJ hasn't appeared.

Birds of Prey #122

by Tony Bedard and Michael O'Hare

This is structured really similarly to the title up top there. Basically a lot of fighting, until the cliffhanger ending.

Now that is a cliffhanger ending.

You can check out a better review over here at Chibistomb, but yeah, I don't have much to say about it.

Guardians of the Galaxy #5

by Dan Abnett, Andy Lanning and Paul Pelletier

Aw man, this is the Big Reveal. Apparently, Cosmo the telepathic russian astro-canine is in cohorts with the skrulls???? This must be misleading somehow. It's freakin' Cosmo! The only way I can cope with this is through denial: the skrulls must not be the world-conquering skrulls that I'm thinking about. Maybe they're refugees or something. 

Either way, I won't believe that Cosmo's been aiding the skrulls in the destruction of human civilization!

Other than that, Starhawk becomes a girl for some reason, then disappears into the time stream, and then Drax goes insane and figures that if he blows up the entire place and kills everyone, he won't have to worry who's a skrull or not. Makes sense if you're psychotic, I guess.

I didn't really like last issue, but this one was pretty strong.

an inside look at a goony gathering

You know who they are. Goons. Henchmen. Cronies. Lackeys. Minions. Shills. Henchmen. Thugs.

. . . okay, I'll stop now, but you know who they are. No villain is complete without them, but they need to make a living like any other human being.

And they need to form labor unions too! Gail Simone gives us some insight on their meetings:

A productive bunch, aren't they? You can see more for yourself in Birds of Prey #72 or the third volume of Gail's Birds of Prey: "Between Dark and Dawn."

fut fut fut

Yayyyy, it's "I post random scans from my comics" day! 

I'm going through my long box, and trying to get up som

e stuff before I move out for college et cetera.

From Birds of Prey issue number I forgot:

This was during that whole "One Year Later" deal-y in the DC Universe. The Crime Doctor got tired of working for the Secret Society of Supervillains (or whatever they were called), and wanted to leave it.

Except for the last issue of the storyarc, it had some wonderful art by Paulo Siquiera, and it's one of Gail's strongest storiess in my opinion.

Zinda Blake shows us. . .

. . . How To Call a Cab!

Step One: Stumble drunkenly from your local bar. The nighttime is prime cab-calling time for you, and it's preferable to have a bottle of beer in one hand. If you don't have a local bar, then any Petsmart will do, so long as you stumble drunkenly. Some random utterances might help you as well.

Step Two: PUNCH THE TAXI.

Did you take notes? If not, you can find out for yourself in Birds of Prey #112, by Tony Bedard and David Cole. It's one of my favorite single issues in the title.

Cover to Cover: KNEECAP!

Aw geez, why did I get so many comics last week?

This is the last two, but I also got another one. It's the second issue of Bloodrayne: Tokyo Rogue, but it was justinfo-dump info-dump info-dump CLIFFHANGER, so I guess I'll only do it for the next issue.

Superman/Batman #51
by Michael Green, Mike Johnson and Rafael Albuquerque

This issue is perfect. I mean, I don't even think I need to review it, and that's not because I'm just really lazy.

The details in each little panel are wonderful, and I love the idea of a kid-friendly Superman/Batman. Just check out these scans, and learn their origins!

Red Arrow even uses little plunger arrows! And look, Mr. Freeze has an ice cream gun!

What a delightful comic.

Birds of Prey #121
by Tony Bedard and Michael O'Hare

I have mixed feelings about this one.

There are two parts to this: the Joker makes little kittens out of the Silicon Syndicate, and then Misfit commits every hollywood high cliche there is.

The Silicon Syndicate sounds ridiculous to me the more I hear it. Everyone's codename is just so. . . lame.

I mean, that outfit is just ridiculous, but at least the Joker really does a job on these guys, and that was the good part here.

What I loved about the issue is that Huntress and Misfit go to the same high school! Aaaah!

That was a very natural progression of the story, and I can't believe I didn't see that.

Looking forward to next issue, but hoping that the Silicon Syndicate is less lame.

Cover to Cover: "He's pointing at Arcturus! Go way back!"

Ah, do you smell that?

It smells like. . . new comics.

Don't get too much of a whiff now, though. You're gonna need your effort to go through some of these with me today, not the least of which is. . .

Marvel Adventures: The Avengers #26
by Jeff Parker and Ig Guara

Jeff Parker's second issue in his four-issue return to MA:TA is here!

And yes, the cover art is true: The Avengers play in a game of baseball against Galactus and the Silver Surfer.

Speaking of whom, it appears that the cosmic two are getting a lot of page time. They just wrapped up a three-issue arc in Nova, after all!

But baseball isn't all that happens here. In the regular Marvel Universe, the ultimate nullifier was the only weapon that could instill fear in Galactus, but its function was never really stated. Parker here makes a healthy retcon, and says that the ultimate nullifier nullifies quantum reality and reshapes it according to its user's wishes, which leads to all sorts of craziness besides baseball!

A great issue that's kid-friendly and done-in-one. It's really a shame that most people take kid's comics for granted.


Birds of Prey #120
by Tony Bedard and Nico--Michael O'Hare????

Solicits, you're breaking my heart.

This is the third time that you've lied to me. Over here, you say that Nicola Scott would continue as artist, but that's not the case when I picked up Birds today. I'd bring up the other two instances, but it would just be too painful now. I mean, I knew that Nicola would be leaving sometime to join Gail for a Secret Six ongoing, but I didn't know it'd be this soon!

. . . Do you hear that? Of course you do. That's the sound of my tears hitting the keyboard.

Anyways, new artist Michael O'Hare doesn't do a half-bad job, but he certainly doesn't stand up to Nicola Scott yet. The feet on everyone just looks wrong, and the eyes occasionally look too big. The faces on Oracle and Manhunter and Infinity are consistent, but Black Canary just looks too scrawny, and it makes her look too young, which makes no sense at all.

Away from the art, there's also, um, the story, which left me a little cold. Oracle and Canary meet up again, but the reunion is kind of cold, and the two continue to be secretive around each other, which is bad =(.

There's also a scene where the Joker gets angry at people for stealing his Joker gas when he was on the Hell Planet (as per the miniseries Salvation Run), but that wasn't too strong.

Mostly build-up this issue, so hopefully next ish is better.

Stupid Varlet!: The pulse-pounding debut of Misfit

You know the drill: new comics on Wednesday, so I of course planned on getting my new comics today.

I was hoping to get 'em after running an errand at my cousins', but then I got caught spending some quality time with them.

Oh, the horror.

Before I knew it, it was six PM, and my comic shop was closed! Dammit!

I am so sorry guys. I feel like crap, so, wallowing in my self-pity that I actually missed a new comics day, I took a bus to the nearest cliff, and contemplated how long I'd have to spend in an oven to -- oh wait!

What's this! It's --

Misfit's first appearance (kind of) as Batgirl!



Misfit originally thought she could be Batgirl. . .



But that brought up bad connotations for Barbara. . .



So now, she's your dark avenging Misfit! ssssssss!

Sorry again about the lateness, guys, and feel free to thank Misfit for saving the day! I know I will.
I'll get new comics tomorrow, so that's when they'll get on the blog.

Also, the bottom three scans are from Birds of Prey #98, and the top one is from issue #102.

3 words about Birds of Prey #119:

It was awesome.

What, you want more? Fine. You sure are picky.

THING ONE:

The place is Platinum Flats, California, and the Birds make their own settlement there. Aside from some interesting ideas about superheroes attracting supervillains, Oracle sets her mind on opening a business. And what does she call it?

Clocktower systems! This is in reference to Oracle's legendary and original stronghold in Gotham City, the Clock Tower!

THING TWO:

Carface.

That's really all I need to say.

THING THREE:

Ollie and Dinah together. . . and happy! Bedard's version of Green Arrow/Black Canary is delivering so much better than Winick's eight issues. Winick knows character neglect something fierce.

Ollie's expression rocks as well.

Some other stuff that I couldn't exactly scan include Lady Blackhawk, the awesomest Bird ever, or, at the very least, my favorite. She gets some panel time here, and any comic with Blackhawk panel time is a winner in my book. Zinda uses said time to give us some closure over the Killer Shark arc, and it is just so admirable how she shrugs it off. Zinda, you're such a trooper. I love you!

Enough swooning, though. A lot of this issue was spent actually on build-up and catch-up, from Oracle's alliance with the Calculator, to who the "Visionary" is and the evil secrets behind the "Findster" corporation, as well as the Birds setting up their new home and some build-up to the fight between Manhunter and Black Canary.

I really don't see the point behind making them fight, but if it keeps Dinah in Birds for one more issue, I'm all for it. Bedard feels like he knows what he's doing, who he's handling, and what he wants to do with our Birds.

Can you really argue with that?

(hint: buy the issue and find out!)