The plot: Blockbuster and his squad of goons closes in on Oracle.
This is only the second issue of Birds of Prey I've picked up, and it's the middle of a continuing story, but I found it to be solidly entertaining. The catastrophic shooting of Barbara Gordon in the 1980s (courtesy of Alan Moore) has unexpectedly led to one of the best comics creations of the 1990s: the former Batgirl-turned-Oracle wouldn't really have been possible in the pre-Internet years. But as the near-omniscient Oracle, Ms. Gordon turns a disability into one of the most believable super-gigs in comics.
Oracle's partnership with Black Canary in this title is one of the best-realized relationships in comics. They're both beautiful, smart and confident, and their friendship is a joy to behold. In this issue, the Canary tries to hold off Blockbuster's thugs while Oracle tries to avoid engaging them. After all, she may be brilliant, but without the use of her legs she is at a distinct disadvantage in hand-to-hand combat with super-powered baddies.
Guice is really doing the best work of his career, here. There's a definite Neal Adams influence to his dynamic layout, but his depictions of Dinah and Barbara mark them as true individuals who you could pick out even in black and white. Both Guice and Dixon present these women as mature, compelling characters, not as tarted-up nymphets designed to appeal to horny teenage boys. That's not to say they aren't sexy; they absolutely are. It's just that their sexuality is presented as believable and subtle, rather than overt and (literally) in-your-face.
Nightwing and Nite-Wing have a brief cameo here leading into the next part of this story, which takes place in the next issue of Dick Grayson's solo title. I haven't been reading that and am not very pleased to see that an important development in Oracle's story may take place there, but the cliffhangers here may prove too compelling for me to ignore. In any event, this storyline is ultimately slated to conclude in next month's Birds of Prey, and the cover preview on this issue's letters page has me anxious to see where Dixon and Guice plan to take Oracle next. Their work in this issue is too good not to take another look next month.
