[August 19th] There is a difference from bird of prey to bird of prey

Two days ago I finished reading Birds of Prey, volume 2. I'm a huge fan of Gail Simone and this is the sole DC series, I was able to follow without having to read multiple others. The first volume, which ran from 1999 to 2009 turned into my all time favorite series. The reason: an almost all female ensemble cast from the brawn to the brains to the designated driver. I love female super heroes and it has little to do with pubescent male wish fulfillment, but more with the strong ties in my childhood, when I was exposed to the Magic Girl anime sub-genre.

Since those days a woman in a costume fighting crime/evil supernatural menaces strikes a very deep, creative cord in me. Birds of Prey came to me as a refreshment in a testosterone filled spandex universe and fully embraced the concept of a female warrior. It works. The first volume under Simone did and the second volume under Simone did. Whenever the series was written by a man, it kinda did click with me much. Not say that men can't write female characters. Paul Dini did a fantastic job with Gotham City Sirens, although that title felt more sexual and naughty.

Now, with the DC Universe reboot or relaunch or whatever they are calling it these days, a writer other than Simone will be heading the series. I'm not familiar with Duane Swierczynski's work, but he sure ain't no Gail Simone. The worst offense the people at DC did was mess with the cardinal cast:

Oracle will no longer be Oracle, but a very mobile Batgirl. I'm not sure whether the series will survive without Oracle, because it was because of Oracle's mind games that each issue blew me away. The intricate cat and mouse games, the deception and infiltration and double crossing. Without Barbara Gordon as the mastermind behind this operation, the Birds of Prey will be just like any other superhero team. And that is sad.

There will be no Huntress, no Zinda... Only the Black Canary, who also got a costume redesign I'd not wish on my worst enemy. Can any one recognize Dinah? I sure, almost, couldn't. Then we have Katana, whom I care for none. A new character, who may be of some interest and then Poison Ivy. Poison Ivy suffers again from a superhero fashion faux pax, but I think that the change from a villain to a semi-hero would be interesting to see. Almost like a mirror version of what Huntress was, a hero tip toeing to the dark side from time to time.

Either way, it's a shame that the guys at DC didn't at the very least keep artist Stanley Lau, who produced all the beautiful covers for volume two:

Will I love volume three? Possibly not... The very least I can give it a chance and see whether Ivy might not make it bearable.

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I'm back on the editing train. I'm two days behind and by the looks of it, I will possibly miss my deadline. I've finished the chapters I'm happy with and will now write brand new ones, inserting the very menacing agent Thater. Ouch.

Project: Crimson Cacophony
Chapters Edited: 20
Words total: 37,303/90,000 (with 30,000 to add)
Chapters left: 16 (supposedly)