Birds of Prey #111

Now THIS was a good book. I especially liked the title..."Nerds of Prey". That's the best title since Blue Beetle did "Total Eclipso the Heart". What can I say? I have a punnybone.

While I rather miss Nicola Scott, the art was nice, and the story by Tony Bedard was very well done. I'm rather fond of the Calculator anyway, he makes for an interesting villain, and it makes perfect sense that he is obsessed with Oracle, especially after the spanking he got a number of issues earlier.

He finagles his way into a massice Macroware seminar in order to retrieve a valuable piece of information that might lead him to Oracle. It's a piece of her old equipment that was salvaged after she had to blow up the clocktower back in Gotham, and she explains this very nicely to Misfit over the phone, since Misfit can't for the life of her, understand what Babs is doing off at a Nerd convention.

Needless to say, Babs and Noah Kuttler (the Calculator's real name) run into each other in person...although neither of them realize it. At first, Noah is just annoyed, but then she foils his first attempt to retrieve the information, although it is inadvertently, and they go off to have lunch together. And his icey geeky little heart melts when exposed to the Nerd magnificence that is Babs. I rather got the impression that Babs was a tiny bit charmed herself.

When Noah goes off to once again try and retrieve the information he's after, he's actually thinking about something OTHER than destroying Oracle. He's wondering if he shouldn't give "Sylvia" (Bab's fake name) something nice...like the treasury of Andorra or East Timor. Alas, his moment of lust is shortlived, when he hacks in, and finds out that someone else is after the same info.

There ensues a lovely computer battle, and you just can't help but root for both of them. Of course Oracle wins, but Babs makes the mistake of a lusty "Yes!" of triumph, and the Calculator realizes that his oponent is actually in the same room. Off he goes to investigate, and to his chagrin discovers "Sylvia". He's downcast, but it doesn't stop him from pumping her body full of lead. He discovers however, that he actually just shot a stuffed lion, and Barbara is underneath the console, where she promptly gives him a whack in the shin with her trusty stick things. She breaks his legs, and is about to break his face, when Calculator's trusty cohort shows up, namely Hellhound, who comments that she is one MEAN cripple!

Hellhound wants to kill her, but Calculator demurs, saving that she's their only link to Oracle. Hellhoud also thinks that this proves that Oracle is a man, since he only hires hot chicks. Meanwhile, Babs is crawling away, and manages to get a hold of the gun that Calculator had dropped when she whacked him. She's about to get her head handed to her regardless, when all the OTHER nerds at the convention show up . Turns out that Misfit had sent a message to everyone on their iphones and blackberries and stuff, and since apparently Oracle has become something of an urban legend, they are all just panting to be of service.

So, Barbara is saved, although Calculator and Hellhound do manage to get away in the confusion or something. That's alright, because I want Calculator alive and well, and being nefarious. The poor boy is STILL completely obsessed, but hey, at least it gives him a purpose in his life.

It wasn't Gail, but it was fun.