Birds of Prey #16 introduces a new member to the squad in the form of Strix, yet another Talon that has broken free from the Court of Owls. The dynamic that writer Duane Swierczynski creates between Strix and the team is left relatively unexplored beyond an obligatory-but-brief "let's fight before we team-up" scene. In addition, Condor returns and essentially undergoes a similar arc as Strix in terms of being integrated into the team. However, Swierczynski jumps months ahead mid-issue, leaving the bonding experience between the team and its new members up to the imagination.
The time jump hurts the script in terms of characterization, as we don't get to see any of these relationships really gel at any point beyond some well-written banter. That said, the same time jump helps the script in that it's not padded out and drives towards Swierczynski's conclusion to his run; instead of having to tackle some menial B-plot in order to build the character relationships, we instead go full steam ahead into the primary conflict with Basilisk. Though we don't get to see the formation of these new relationships, the resulting team dynamic is a lot of fun to observe. Swierczynski seems to have paired off Condor with Black Canary and Starling with Strix; both combinations have intriguing dynamics that I hope stick around for a bit, even when Swierczynski leaves.
Continue reading…
No comments:
Post a Comment