Birds of Prey #9 (DC Comics)
Writer: Gail Simone; Artist: Inaki Miranda; Colorist: Nei Ruffino; Letterer: Dave Sharpe; Editor: Janelle Siegel
In this issue, we hit part 3 (of 4) of Simone’s “The Death of Oracle” arc. Not that I really expect it to be Oracle’s death at all. It is (yet again) a “stop bothering me” move to get the Calculator off Oracle’s bandwidth. I could rant a lot about the over-use of Calculator as an opponent for Oracle and the Birds, but I’ll try and go no further than that statement.
When last seen, Mortis had touched Black Canary and left her trapped in a mental loop of “regret.” It bugged me as a read for a number of reasons. Regret is generally a very mild emotion. Even when it is bitter regret, it is by nature a more objective and detached consideration of past events. It is not fear, it is not passion. And of all people in the DC Universe, Black Canary is one who has dealt with her regrets head on. So when she was made victim again (why is Canary always the one put through the wringer, disproportionally to the other Birds?) by this particular villain, I was not pleased. But … Simone turns it around, having Dinah start to throw off Mortis’ effect for just the reasons I cited.
I should point out here that there’s a slight lapse in what we are told about Mortis’ power. Up to this point we have been told that no one has ever gotten out of the brain-lock that Mortis puts them in. But when Dinah resists, Mortis goes into convulsions, and Calculator says it is because sometimes someone is strong enough to resist the state. Well, which is it?
While Dinah fights off Mortis in a mental landscape, Calculator has captured the other off-duty Birds. He intends to kill them off in order to draw Oracle out of her hiding spot. When a helicopter shows up and Oracle’s voice orders him to stand down, Calculator orders his henchling Current to zap the copter’s defensive field.
But the helicopter blows up.
And Calculator assumes that is the end of Oracle.
Oh, really? Tune in next issue.
(Is that a critique? The art is adequate, the story turns well on its points, and yeah, the part ends with a hook that makes me want to know what comes next. It’ll do.)
