Birds of Prey: Of Like Minds by Gail Simone, et al. (Birds of Prey reboot v. 1); graphic novel; 144 pagesI admit I had some trouble getting into this collection. The art just wasn't doing it for me, possibly because I'm not a guy. For a series that's touted as a feminist comic, I found the art overly gratuitous, but I'm hoping that will be fixed later in the series. As for the story, once I got past the art I found myself enjoying Simone's writing, and the arc outlined in this volume.
First, I have to say that I like Simone's version of Oracle and Black Canary much more than Chuck Dixon's. They're much more well-rounded, and she starts the story after they've already met, so there's none of the awkwardness present in the early Dixon volumes. The dialog is much snappier, and the whole feel of the book is less dated. We get to see a lot more techno-gadgets, and Oracle really puts her library skillz to use in a way she never did as Batgirl. She also spouts one of my favorite quotes here: "When it comes to research, never bet against a former librarian." Love it!
However, I'm starting to wonder if I should be reading Nightwing alongside this series; this volume was full of references to things that happened off stage, presumably over in Nightwing's title. Again, I'm hoping this is something that will lessen as this series goes on.
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