Birds of Prey, #106

Gosh but I am enjoying this book. I admit it, I was a late-comer, never really understood what all the fuss was about, until I came across a pile of them in the dollar box at my beloved local comic book store. Matt (my equally beloved proprietor of said comic book store) said they were pretty good, and he was running a special, 4 for a buck. Woohoo!

He was right of course, he usually is. Which is why although I am delighted that Gail Simone is going to rescue Wonder Woman, I'm going to miss her on Birds of Prey.

But back to the latest issue. The Secret Six are outside the cottage where Huntress, Barda, Manhunter and Spysmasher are holed up along with Tora. The Birds are at a bit of a disadvantage, because the Six have taken Hawkgirl hostage.

Oracle is actually a bit flustered. Spysmasher is really starting to get to her I think, and she's been rocked out of her usual equanimity, which I find interesting. Naturally, the big fight breaks out, and it is as fun as you might expect. Barda vs. Knockout! Great pummelling AND witty banter. Spysmasher goes after Deadshot and even offers him a job as a government agent, but he turns her down. Manhunter vs Ragdoll is a hoot. Scandal vs Kendra. Then Misfit shows up and takes on Harley, which is just delightful. Finally Huntress gets into it with Catman. I don't think that they are REALLY all that interested in fighting one another, but they're kind of forced into it.

It's funny, because Thomas is pretty much handling Huntress with kid gloves, which of course comes back to haunt him, when she stabs him in the thigh with a couple of her arrows, after a little bit of heavy breathing and innuendo.

They are ALL in big trouble of course, because the main bad guy, that nasty old Russian dude is sending a bunch of old Rocket Reds after them with orders to torch the cottage, the village, the peasants, the Birds AND the Secret Six. All, just to get Tora back. In the meantime, Oracle is pleading with Creote to get Ice out of there, and he's trying to wake her up with a couple of slaps to the face.

Things are building to a climax, when Spysmasher taunts Deadshot and he fires a wild shot that accidentally hits Scandal. Considering that they were doing their level best to kill each other a second ago, Kendra immediately stops fighting and tries to help her wounded adversary. And this is when Tora finally comes out of her stupor...

...and she's VERY pissed. The wind kicks up, the snow storm increases, and there is sweet little Tora, creating a giant ice construct and generally being ticked off.

"Who among you? Which one of you soon-to-be dead bastards murdered me?!"

Wow! I guess that hanging out with Guy all those years finally rubbed off! Can't say that I really blame her for being a tad out of temper however. She was killed off by the Overmaster way back when in a lame battle with a lame villain, for no good reason that I can think of. Apparently, she's been encased in the old Rocket Red suit of armor for quite some time, and resurrected by some weird spell, and it is quite possible that she's being manipulated even now.
But it' rather enjoyable to see her cut loose for a change. I always thought that Tora had a lot of potential for power, she just never really used her powers up to her full potential...although she did get a bit more powerful just before she died.

Well, she's back now, and once again, I can hardly WAIT for the next issue. That BETTER NOT be her coffin on the cover for June's issue, or I'll be quite irate.