Batgirl and the Birds of Prey #7 Review – Hot Listings in Gotham
After the hunt for the Faux-racle arc concluded last issue, I was a bit worried how this team-up would proceed. Sure, they agreed to stick together, and now we have to know what Gus is really up to, but how would this all play out? It was one thing when they had a common goal, but now that they’re just a team? How will that work, especially with Huntress’ lone wolf personality?
Also, when are we going to have an awkward cameo with Dick Grayson? These are the real questions we need answered.
I don’t know the answer to the latter, but thanks to this issue, I realize I didn’t need to worry about the future of this team.
Very early on in the series, Babs and Dinah noticed that Babs’ realtors were trying to break in. That was never really explained, and it always stuck out in my mind as strange. The realtors actually never stopped trying to break in to the Clock Tower, and Babs has finally had enough. She sends Dinah and Helena to go undercover as prospective buyers and find out what their angle is.
This sting operation is hilarious for multiple reasons. For one, Dinah loves making Helena as uncomfortable as possible throughout the entire real estate experience. Secondly, it’s amazing how these realtors only show properties that were victims of Gotham’s criminal activities. An entire wall is missing from one property due to Batman evicting the prior tenant, The Riddler, and the agents spin it as a fixer-upper. An apartment still has a chalk outline from a murder on the floor, but since the crime was a targeted hit, the neighbor’s safety rating remains intact. It goes on and on, and I snickered at every showing.
These realtors Gotham historical savants, and they pride themselves upon knowing all of the ins and outs of Gotham’s real estate history to move their properties. Their vast knowledge was the clue as to why they kept sniffing around the Clock Tower Babs purchased. It used to be a criminal hideout, and no one ever found the payload supposedly hidden there. It’s a must read to learn how Barbara handles this.
For the romantics out there, it’s a must-read for why Canary keeps ignoring phone calls from Oliver Queen.
The writing was so perfect throughout, and yet the art occasionally fell short. Most of the time it was fabulous, but then with other panels, it appeared as though the artists had difficulty with faces. Primary examples are below.
These few panels didn’t mar the story at all, but it was jarring, especially Helena’s fingers in the panel above. Despite these panels, Batgirls and the Birds of Prey continues to be one of the best DC Comics as well as one of the best superhero comics on the market right now.
Our Rating: YUS
Authors: Julie Benson and Shawna Benson
Artists: Claire Roe and Allen Passalaqua
Publisher: DC Comics
Publish Date: 02/08/2017
Acquired via Purchase
