Birds of Prey volume 1 by Chuck Dixon

ISBN: 9781563894848

In the beginning there was Black Canary and Oracle. One is fresh out of a break up with Green Arrow (that Green Arrow, yes) with a passion for kicking evil butt and a somewhat short attention span. The other is wheelchair-bound, hopeful and determined to find a way to still save the world from her clock tower. Oracle might be a Charlie, but Black Canary is not an Angel.

I really enjoyed this book. Really. Black Canary is sassy without being annoying, strong without being obnoxious. She’s on the right side of confident. There’s a strong sense that she’s trying to not just take back her life, but also take back crime fighting for herself, instead of fighting to support someone else.

Oracle struggles with the same. She’s lucky enough to have big Bat brothers watching out for her, but she’s tired of being coddled. They, for all their differences and arguing, find a friendship together, while also fighting tyrants, terrorists, and… soda reps?

These characters have certainly been around a while, but you don’t need to be a die-hard fan to enjoy this book. It’s a great place to start if you want less super powered, more secret agent style comic tales. With only a butt joke here or there it’s a great place for young teens to start too. Highly recommended.