Birds of Prey #113 with new writer Sean McKeever came out a few weeks ago to a variety of interesting reactions, especially regarding a certain confrontation with the man in blue.
So Super Duper really enjoyed the issue especially the confrontation scene:
The best part of the book? Well, I must say I just loved seeing the bitchy side of Superman. It’s nice to see our Big Blue Boy Scout get all snotty with the ladies. They deserved to be told off for their mistake, as it was a huge mistake (taking out whole city blocks - way to go ladies) and his verbal smack-down totally put the series back into its more familiar, grounded reality. The Birds work best when they aren’t dealing with giant robots and crazed-space-faring-villains, but with more Batman like, gun toting, human-ish bad guys. Not that the occasional mega-powerful villain battle isn’t welcome, but I have always much preferred the more gritty, espionage-y aspect of the series. This time around these gals were way in over their heads and their failure stung. Oracle really should have called in some big guns to save the day; perhaps our dear Oracle has gotten a tad cocky? Thankfully this mistake will only make the team stronger and better, as every team needs their moment to overcome and prove themselves anew.
Samantha of Neither Doormat Nor Prostitute really did not like it:
Also, Oracle has been shown to be respected by the League time and time again. For Superman to walk in and *scold* the Birds over a mistake (that they wouldn’t have made under a more competent writer, frankly) makes no sense, either character or plot wise.
Superman isn’t Batman. He doesn’t give stupid territorial speeches about “my city.”
At the end of this issue, I didn’t like anyone. Barbara and the Birds are inefficient, Superman is an asshole, and Misfit was kind of pointless.
David Brothers didn’t like it for a slightly different reason:
-The Birds of Prey, and specifically Misfit, pretty much murder a few hundred people in Metropolis and the only punishment they get is a stern talking to by Superman? Whaaat?
Do you know what happens if I am playing with a gun and I shoot someone in the face? Prison.
What happened to Sean McKeever? His DC work has been mediocre at best and this issue of BoP made them crazy unlikeable.
“He doesn’t know. He wasn’t there.” Psh, Misfit pressed a button and killed a few hundred people. What’s to know, other than “Don’t press buttons in giant murder machines?”
So what did you think?
January 5th, 2008 at 7:46 pm
Did it really kill people? Maybe the art didn’t get the point across that it didn’t kill people, and is no fault of the writer…I dunno, haven’t read the issue, but have liked his Marvel work.
January 5th, 2008 at 9:27 pm
I think Superman was justified. At the end of the day people died because an inexperienced person was in the field. A person who is Barbara’s responsibility. It’s not about respect, it’s not about Superman and it’s not about the Birds. It’s about all those people who were blown to oblivion.
Superman was perfect for the scene because 1. it was in Metropolis, 2. he is not Batman, Batman will get on you for every little thing but it has to be really big for Superman to scold.
Why is this even a problem? Heroes scold other heroes all the time. They make mistakes, usually very big ones and they make up for those mistakes. The Birds, or any hero for that matter, are not heroes because they never make mistakes, they are heroes because of how they deal with those mistakes.
And Ms Krause, Neither Doormat Nor Prostitute? Really? She’s the Yang to Rational Mad Man’s Yin.
January 5th, 2008 at 9:31 pm
ejulp
Some readers think that the blast might have teleported everything in it radius somewhere else.
January 5th, 2008 at 10:10 pm
Without comment on perceived comparison between the two, I’ll merely point out that I have also linked Rational Mad Man on this column.
January 5th, 2008 at 10:22 pm
Part of the reason why Melissa is good at this is because she’s willing to link anyone who has thoughts on a subject that can spark some good conversation.
I suppose that it’s possible that those people were teleported away, but it’s kind of a reach, I think. Even then– the Birds don’t know that, Superman doesn’t know that, and it’s just conjecture for us.
January 5th, 2008 at 10:42 pm
Fair and Balanced but not in the Fox News kind of way.
david brothers
Yep, it’s pure speculation but that’s half the fun.
January 5th, 2008 at 11:32 pm
Well, they definitely screwed up, and have some culpability in the matter and some atonement to attend to (which could make for potentially interesting story possibilities), but equating their failure in this case with murder and saying it’s the same as shooting someone in the face while “playing with a gun” is retarded non-logic.
Plus the whole “I hate this fictional character because of the death of other fictional characters who never even had screen time” is the type of non-reasoning that used to exasperate me so in the old Buffy fandom.
January 5th, 2008 at 11:39 pm
We’re not even entirely sure Misfit pushed the button. She talked like she was going to, but maybe the Chain Reaction o’ Doom started before she could.
There’s wiggle room here, which I think is for the best, because I don’t want to see her in a pointy metal outfit.
January 6th, 2008 at 8:50 am
I think the key point here is a writer that either doesn’t know the characters or is trying to take things in a different direction. The real fault lies with the editor who allowed so many things to be done wrong here. Editors are the true caretakers of the companies properties and when they screw up the writer takes the hit.
Or you could change things back by hitting a wall or saying its magic!
January 6th, 2008 at 9:57 am
Uh Barry, I don’t see what was done so terribly wrong here.
The Birds made a completely understandable mistake. Seriously, they had no reason to believe that anything was out of the ordinary at first, and when things started getting funky, they had no reason to believe that it was city-destroying funky.
As for Superman, he definitely overreacted, but that too was understandable. A hell of a lot of people in his adopted home were (seemingly) killed. Even Superman can only take so much.
It’s hardly character-assassination to write these people as being slightly less than irreproachable gods who never, ever make a mistake.
January 6th, 2008 at 3:28 pm
but equating their failure in this case with murder and saying it’s the same as shooting someone in the face while “playing with a gun” is retarded non-logic.
I think it’s a valid comparison. Misfit pressed a button, causing the robot to blow up and evaporate something around a city block. She made a mistake and caused someone else’s death. It’s perfectly logical. A (irresponsibility) leads to B (robot exploding) leads to C (people dying).
Also, the art doesn’t show her pressing the button, but it’s clear that she’s about to. Considering her history (in this issue alone) of going off half-cocked and doing exactly what she shouldn’t, the fact that she was doing the “What does THIS button do, it’s under glass, hmmmm” thing from Tiny Toons (or was it Animaniacs?), all signs point to her fault.
January 6th, 2008 at 3:52 pm
A lot of people died in a DC comic because the heroes weren’t good enough? I’m shocked, people, I am SHOCKED!
January 6th, 2008 at 6:14 pm
(that they wouldn’t have made under a more competent writer, frankly)
I find that very funny. YOU CAN’T WRITE MY CHARACTERS AS ANYTHING BUT PERFECT, YOU INCOMPETENT FOOL.
January 6th, 2008 at 6:48 pm
“She made a mistake and caused someone else’s death.”
The legal name for which is manslaughter, not murder, and murder is the word you used.
January 6th, 2008 at 7:24 pm
Oh, and the real female version of Rational Mad Man isn’t Doormat Nor Prostitute; it’s Karen Strang, at least when she writes about actor James Urbaniak.
January 6th, 2008 at 9:17 pm
Also, maybe you should have refused to read Spider Man all these years because of the way Peter “murdered” Uncle Ben back in Amazing Fantasy #15.
January 7th, 2008 at 1:49 am
You’re jumping to a lot of (incorrect) conclusions, man, and I don’t think you want to hear what I have to say regardless.
Thanks for reading, though.
January 7th, 2008 at 8:08 pm
Wow, three mentions in a thread I wasn’t even Included in?
Despite having a more interesting perspective than anyone else reviewing the issue?
I am that good!
http://madmanreviews.blogspot.com/2007/12/spread-for-december-19-2007.html