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Birds of Prey #40
Joel Jacobsen
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| Title: |
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Switchback |
| Cover Date: |
April 2002 |
| Story: |
Chuck Dixon |
| Pencils: |
Rick Leonardi |
| Inks: |
Jesse Delperdang |
| Colors and Separations: |
Wildstorm FX |
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Overall impression:
This issue is part of the current crossover
in the Batman universe, comprising Part Twelve
of the Bruce Wayne: Murderer? Storyline.
As with last month, there are some major
developments for that story, and again, the
story carries the art, but the art did noticeably
improve I felt. (See Technical Impressions).
Also like last month, it's not really a good
starting point, but the over all story revolving
around Black Canary and Spoiler could be
a stand-alone story. You just have to read
past the other plot hooks spliced throughout
the issue.
Technical impression:
Cover:  (4 of 5 cowls)
Phil Noto treats us to another
cover this
month. I really like his style
and actually
find myself wishing he were doing
the pencils
all the way through and not just
the covers.
Sigh.
Story: (3 of 5 cowls)
Chuck Dixon must have had a total
fixation
with Black Canary's lost Canary
Cry. I know
of at least a half dozen uses
since it's
return last fall. This is just
off the top
of my head and I don't really
want to know
how close I am on that count.
I fear I'm
counting low. It's used twice
in this issue.
It was used twice in January.
Yes, she has
it back. We know she has it back.
But she's
gotten along without it for how
long? Geesh.
She can kick tail and take names
with the
best of the best and she's relying
on her
newly regained meta-powers. And
why? In Issue
38, it made some sense and didn't
bother
me. But c'mon. Think the story
through a
little better next time and stop
leaning
on the super power button so
much, please.
Then there are some plot holes
in the story.
Little things like chasing off
Riddler and
Cluemaster without even trying
to apprehend
them. Did I miss a new rule that
says you
aren't supposed to arrest criminals
if you
see them in at home?
Art: (3 of 5 cowls)
Rick Leonardi has bought himself another
month before I make a final decision on his
penciling. There is noticeable - and needed
- improvement over last month's eyesore.
But I'm still not satisfied. Page 8 has the
best drawings of Dinah in the whole issue.
They're still not great, but I can live with
it if he can keep it at this level. Sadly,
he hasn't, yet. His character work in general
has improved, with the possible exception
of The Riddler. And the horrible 'overlaid'
plaid is back on Ted's shirt this issue.
The coloring isn't bad in this
issue. In
fact it seems a little brighter
than last
month. I like it over all and
have no real
complaints.
General Story overview:
Black Canary and Spoiler return from Vesper
Fairchild's apartment with the evidence they
found. It may have direct implicates on her
murder and who may have done it. While there,
Dinah finds out about Stephanie's delicate
home life with her father being the Cluemaster
and having The Riddler shacked up with him.
Ted informs Barbara about the results of
his doctor's appointment and finds a gift
in his Kordtronics office. Black Canary and
Spoiler set off to rid the Brown household
of deadbeats and criminals, with Canary doing
all the work (and short work at that) herself.
Barbara and Robin come to some realization
about the gun that Bruce Wayne bought and
probably why he did it to begin with. Ted
soon finds out that his gift isn't such a
light hearted or user friendly device and
suddenly has a very valid reason to go against
his doctor's orders of no strenuous physical
activity. And to complicate things in case
they weren't already complicated enough,
Bruce Wayne escapes from jail.
Full Story review (contains spoilers):
The story opens with Black Canary and Spoiler
returning from Vesper Fairchild's apartment
with the tapes and other things pertaining
to her investigation into the mysterious
Batman sightings. Spoiler seems to assume
that because she's there, she's "in"
on the mission. Canary seems to feel that
she can't well tell the girl to buzz off
so she tolerates her. Oracle determines it'll
take her hours to go through all of the evidence
and the issue of Stephanie's home situation
comes up. Dinah reluctantly goes along with
the girl to try and figure out what she can
do to help.
As they leave, Ted Kord calls
and informs
Barbara of his heart condition
and that he
won't be putting on the Blue
Beetle suit
again any time soon. He thanks
her for forcing
him to go to the doctor and figure
out what
has been going on. He also offers
to meet
up with her later over a cup
of decaf coffee,
no milk or sugar. While in his
office, he
finds a large package (the size
of a large
computer monitor box), and wonders
if Barbara
sent the large mechanical spider-thing
inside
as some sort of "get well"
gift.
We then cut to Dinah and Stephanie
speeding
down the road. Steph tells Dinah
that her
father is the notorious Cluemaster,
he knows
she runs around as Spoiler, the
Riddler has
shacked up with her dad, and
Batman isn't
anywhere to be found to try and
help. Stephanie
asks if Dinah knows where the
Dark Knight
is, and we get another indication
that two
and two are being put together
when Dinah
replies, "Not really. But
I have a few
ideas."
Meanwhile, Robin and Oracle are
going over
the Fairchild interview tapes
and begin to
piece together that she probably
knew who
Batman really was and that it
was Bruce.
They also surmise, which takes
little effort,
that if she knew Batman's secret
identity,
it was probably why she was murdered.
And
then the realization hits - if
someone hired
her to dig into this, which was
very possible,
then someone else may well know
everyone
else's identities.
Spoiler and Black Canary recon
the house.
They see Echo and Query and then
Riddler
and Cluemaster. The latter are
both going
over blueprints or schematics.
Dinah finally
realizes just how serious Stephanie's
home
situation is. Her dad's name
is on the mortgage,
her mother doesn't know her father
has threatened
to kill her and she's afraid
to even tell
her mom she's been doing the
vigilante deal.
She admits they just put up with
it because
there isn't much else they can
do. Wrong.
Dinah doesn't even wait. She
slides down
the snow-covered roof they were
on top of
and heads for the front door.
As soon as
the door opens she pulls out
the Canary Cry
and incapacitates the two female
thugs. The
Riddler (out of costume) pulls
what appears
to be a .38 special on Black
Canary (what?
A wheel gun? Is that all big
time crooks
can afford these days? Times
must be tough….).
She pulls out the stops and lets
loose a
second Cry. This one causes the
gun to vibrate
apart. She then delivers the
ultimatum. She's
the Black Canary. Get out and
don't come
back or the JLA will show up
and open up
a worse can of whoop-ass on them
than she
did. And that's that. They pack
their car
and take off.
Ted Kord gets a call from the
mysterious
Mr. Quam who is trying to effect
a "Hostile
takeover" of Kordtronics.
Little Charles,
the spider-mech-thingy is an
assassin-bot
and proceeds to try and dispatch
Ted, blasting
his desk to bits. So much for
lack of excitement
in his life.
We then see Robin and Oracle
discussing the
fact Bruce bought the gun himself.
That Barbara
has worked passed her fear of
guns after
being shot by Joker but maybe,
just maybe,
Bruce hasn't. And then they hear
word from
the news that Bruce Wayne has
escaped from
jail and is a fugitive of justice.
Barbara
calls Dick, as Robin leaves to
confront Bruce
directly. Dick heard the news
and is en route
to the Bat Cave. What happens
next, appears
in Batman 600.
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