An undercover mission brings two new Birds into the fold. But what about the one undercover? Your Major Spoilers review of Birds of Prey #14 from DC Comics awaits!
BIRDS OF PREY #14
Writer: Kelly Thompson
Artist: Sami Basri
Colorist: Adriano Lucas
Letterer: Clayton Cowles
Editor: Jessica Berbey
Publisher: DC Comics
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: October 2, 2024
Previously in Birds of Prey: The Birds of Prey are back to business as they infiltrate The Ninth Day, a mysterious corporation the Birds believe has kidnapped people, including Amazons that have gone missing. When their spy on the inside, an undercover Cassandra Cain, breaks contact, it’ll be up to Oracle, Black Canary, Big Barda, Megaera, and newcomers Grace Choi and Onyx to bust her out.
THE NINTH DAY
After last issue ended with a mysterious call for help, Birds of Prey #14 opens in media res, as a woman named Shen arrives for a scheduled meeting with potential employers. The whole thing turns out to be an ambush, but the heavily armed thugs are easily and completely beaten by Shen… because she is, in fact, Batgirl Cassandra Cain. With the Small Bat undercover, the rest of the Birds of Prey team is preparing for the next phase of their mission, one which requires some very specific recruits. That SOS last time was Queen Nubia of Themyscira, requesting help to find three of her missing sisters. The Bana-Mighdall Amazons have also reported two of their number missing, which is how half-Amazon Grace Choi has been brought in. Along with her is Onyx, once an assassin for the League of Shadows, both of whom are very tough customers. Not as tough as Big Barda, as the New God brutally shows them in these pages, but tough nonetheless. While Oracle worries about her fellow Batgirl, “Ms. Shen” is brought into the fold of the Ninth Day Corporation, who have already begun experimenting on the kidnapped Amazons.
WHY KIDNAP AMAZONS?
There are a couple of things about this issue that I’m not sure I understand just yet, such as why Grace and Onyx joining the Birds of Prey means that they have to take a beatdown from Barda. It makes for some good action stuff in the issue, and Black Canary actually calls it out as something that they could easily sell tickets for, but it doesn’t feel 100% motivated. The other has to do with the mysterious Ninth Day, whose upper-echelon members are clearly not on the same page, but that’s obviously something yet to come. Ms. Shen is the focus character this time, which makes the real star the art of Sami Basri. The costuming of “Shen” is just perfect, as is the depiction of her martial arts prowess, and even if I wondered about the battle between New God, Amazon, and repentant assassin, I have to say it looked pretty awesome as well. Speaking of excellent designs, the third member of the Ninth Day administrative team (whose name isn’t in the issue, as far as I can tell) is a barefoot blonde with a man-bun and a flowing tunic, and I don’t even need to know his name to want to see him get punched in the face.
BOTTOM LINE: A GOOD FIRST CHAPTER
From the first page, Birds of Prey #14 caught my attention and held it, with lovely art combined with a script full of menace, foreshadowing, and some ritual combat, setting up a mystery, letting Cass Cain go undercover, and rounding up to 4 out of 5 stars overall. The fact that this fun, lore-ridden team book gets so little attention has long puzzled me, but this issue would be a great place for any new readers to pick it up and become a fan.
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BIRDS OF PREY #14
A call for help from the Queen of the Amazons leads the Birds of Prey into new territory, bringing in two neglected members of the DCU and putting Cass Cain undercover, which makes for some epic moments.
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Writing7
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Art8
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Coloring8
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