FANGIRL! Birds of Prey

Hi, kids–

Quick Friday note. I’ve rediscovered comics, and I’ve been following DC’s Birds of Prey (one of a few series I follow).

Under the guidance of writer Duane Swierczynski, the Birds are kicking butt and taking names. Barbara Gordon, who some of you probably know as Oracle in earlier incarnations of the Birds is busy as Batgirl under Gail Simone’s writing chops. So Swierczynski paired Black Canary with a BRAND NEW character (is my understanding), and she had me at “hello” in the New 52’s version of Birds.

Starling (AKA Ev Crawford) is a mixture of streetwise and world-weary; cocky, assured, fun-loving and brash. From my reading of her, she’s got some issues under the surface (an ex-girlfriend [????] who makes an appearance in #5), but it’s still too soon to tell. She’s the hellraiser of the Birds bunch, balanced by Black Canary’s more pragmatic and steely side, along with the enigmatic Katana and the unpredictable Poison Ivy (who Starling refers to as “crazy plant lady” or “crazy salad lady”). I’m really digging Swierczynski’s work on this, creating a team of unlike but wholy likable characters (even crazy plant lady has some cool aspects) who manage to work together to kick some serious ass.

Starling already has a cult following. You can find her on Tumblr like here, here, here, and here and she gets lots of luuuv from fangirls and fanboys over there.

At any rate, I’m totally enjoying this series and it’s pretty much because of the Starling character. So if you like kick-ass women like that and you’re a comic geek, maybe give Birds a try.

source (re-sized here)