Last episode of Stargirl ended with the sudden and unexpected appearance of the Ultra-Humanite, a very dangerous foe of the JSA for decades. Considering that, obvious raw power to one side, the Ultra-Hunanite has a few specialties that are very troubling, it makes me wonder about a few things. Actually, it incites the same level of paranoia as much of the Skrull presence in Secret Invasion.
The first season was a girl trying to become a hero. The second has been about a pervasive, brooding evil, at times more like a horror movie than a superhero action series. Now, Stargirl and her allies band together to try and end the malevolence of Eclipso as the Summer School series comes to an end with “Chapter 13.”
Later in the year, Marvel debuts it’s second movie with a female lead as we learn more (posthumously, sort of) about the Avenger Black Widow. DC will release a sequel to its smash hit Wonder Woman, with more adventures of the Amazonian Princess. But before we get to those, there’s a mixture of heroes and villains in Gotham City with Birds of Prey. Or Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey. Or Birds of Prey and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn.
With the movie coming out, a lot of people are interested in the Birds of Prey who might not be familiar with the original comic or characters. As is often the case, there’s a lot of difference between the movie and the comics. I’ll do my best to give a quick overview of both.
Comic book characters rarely have simple histories, and Huntress has been through several reboots and at least two Earths. So her story is a bit complicated. This is my attempt to make some degree of sense of her twists and turns. This traces the variations of the Bat-family Huntress, not various other characters who have used the name.
Birds of Prey is a long time favorite of mine. Chuck Dixon started the series, although it’s probably most associated with fan favorite Gail Simone. The Birds’ long history was wiped out when DC did their line-wide reboot, and the new book just wasn’t as good. I had every single appearance of the Birds until that point, and ended up dropping the “DCNU” version within three issues. But, the Birds are back, and the new book looks fantastic.
ComicBookClog 