It's almost like a book of two halves. On one hand, Gail Simone writes strong, physically and mentally imposing women with emotional lives that don't revolve around men. On the other hand, there's the art that goes beyond what I consider the normal standard of sexually exploitative for female superheroes. I've seen this sort of thing before in superhero comics starring strong women. Almost like editorial is petrified that that readers won't pick up a comic about female superheroes unless they se...

Oracle and Black Canary track down a "normal" supervillain who has combat skills on par with Batman. It leads to complications.Along the way the two of them decide upon whether to trust Huntress.Great artwork and the females are deliciously drawn to the point of being distracting to the stories. I doubt Gail Simone would have completely approved. OVERALL GRADE: B.

I'm starting to think Gail Simone will make any series I read atleast interesting. Lucky for me, Birds of Prey is GREAT. So we have Oracle lead a team of badass woman who kick some ass. Honestly though, deeper down, it's about a sisterhood all trying to respect and work with each other by taking on very dangerous missions. This one is kind of great as we have a main enemy, not only for Black Canary, but also for Oracle herself in terms of computer smarts. Savant is our main baddie here and he's

After reading a slew of comics written by male writers, one almost forgets what it's like when women are written well.So, I actually hadn't read this volume of Simone's run. Anytime I come across the trades in comic book stores, I buy as many as I can find because they're virtually impossible to locate. I hope they release an omnibus someday! Gail's run is my all time favorite!She just gets how to write women - you know, for pretty obvious reasons. Dinah, Babs and Helena are all very different w...

*long dramatic sigh* Someone once said to me that the 90’s didn’t truly end until about 2004, and when it comes to comics, I’m inclined to agree.The story itself is good (it’s Gail Simone, of course it’s good), but the art…First are the Super Muscular Men who are always a mild sneeze away from busting out of their shirts. Then there are the impractically dressed lady heroes (Huntress’s entire stomach is exposed! “Seven hundred sit-ups a day” or not, it is not ideal when fighting criminals with a...

Nice rapport between Black Canary and Oracle. The cooperation is effective, but the have fun too. Speaking of effective, ending pages as Canary is in danger while Oracle is reminded of past losses makes its point well.

From the first conversation between Oracle and Black Canary, you can instantly tell this was written by a woman. It just sounds like how two women who are close friends would talk to one another. She quickly works on strengthening the bonds between the two characters. The villain of this arc, Savant, is a good foil for the two of them. He feels dangerous and something of a sociopath. The weird juxtaposition of the book is that even though you have a woman writing the book, Ed Benes's art, while

Let's face it, the comic-book industry has often unkind to the fairer sex. Some stories were undeniably sexist (like when Sue Storm was actually referred to as the "weakest" member of the Fantastic Four), and others were outright misogynistic (Barbara Gordon's disgusting treatment in "The Killing Joke" comes to mind). But here is a comic book starring women and written by a woman where the ladies finally get the respectful treatment they so richly deserve! Gail Simone is a master at characteriza...

As a kid I always liked strong female characters. I preferred reading Nancy Drew and the Dana Twins to the Hardy Boys. When I started reading comic books, I liked Supergirl and Batgirl, amongst other super heros. Leap forward many years, I liked Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Xena and when the TV series came out, Birds of Prey. Strong, intelligent, beautiful women.. what's not to like.So after enjoying the TV series, I did try some of the comics (graphic novels) featuring them as well. Birds of Prey,...

I'm...puzzled. From everything I've read, Simone is lauded for rich believable characters. From what I'm seeing here in early chapters, there's a tendency to use three-syllable words when something shorter would do - which makes the characters seem a little theatrical rather than believable. And I'm also talking about the beefy villains, who unless I'm missing something are just typical muscle and not Rhodes scholars with a hormonal imbalance.This tendency isn't consistent - in fact, the charact...

After one volume I'm sure that I will love this series. The ladies are super kick ass, smart, and really hot; all three have been affected by the fucked-up shit they've endured at the hands of Gotham's usual cast of dudes, but they've all found ways to move on and be heroes on their own terms. Also, Oracle used to be a librarian!!!

I loved everything about this except for the art. The three were drawn so sexualized. Very cringe.

Would've given it a 3 if the art involved less ridiculous T&A shots.

Birds of Prey makes a quantum leap in characterization and wit when Gail Simone comes on board.

Birds of Prey: Of Like Minds collects six issues (Birds of Prey #56–61) of the 2003 on-going series and covers two stories: "Of Like Minds" and "Feeding the Game"."Of Like Minds" is a four-issue storyline with the finale (Birds of Prey #56–59) that has Dinah Lance as Black Canary is kidnapped by Brian Durlin as Savant and Aleksandr Creote as Creote and tortured for information about the identity of Batman. Eventually, she is saved by Barbara Gordon as Oracle sending Helena Bertinelli as Huntress...

3 stars for the characters and some fun writing. A lot of the plot was just OK, but the thing that nearly ruined the volume for me was the art. Ed Benes shows a lot of skill and creates some nice work here, but man did I loathe the exploitative way he drew the female characters, particularly Huntress (though Barbara and Canary had their moments). I am encouraged to read reviews and see that I am not the only one who found it disgusting and beyond normal levels of "superheroes are a fantasy, not

"I'm being followed, Canary . . . You make the call. Evade or confront?" -- Huntress"Ummm . . . Evade?" -- Black Canary, substituting for Oracle (who is on a 'pasta break')"Confront it is." -- Huntress After reading Of Like Minds I can't wait to tear into the rest of this series. It's the perfect collision of three things -- (1) a trio of great characters (Black Canary is my favorite DC heroine, though Barbara 'Babs' Gordon - whether she's Batgirl or Oracle - is also on the short list; and then

What I really enjoyed from reading this trade paperback was not the excellent art by Ed Benes or his very impressive action scenes, but the well thought-out and deep relationship between Black Canary and Barbara Gordon.The subtle conflict between the styles of the two main characters: Barbara's pragmatism and the desire to do whatever necessary (quite Batman-esque if you ask me) versus the idealism of Black Canary, and her role as Barbara Gordon's moral compass as they try to fight crime in Goth...

3.5, really? Perfectly good jumping on point for the whole Birds of Prey idea. Might be some of Simone's strongest writing. Its un-convoluted, clear, and pretty linear, with strong art. Ed Benes is one of those artists, I recognise, but its not until I see his work, I forget how terrific he is. This is back when DC was still working under the continuity of The Killing Joke, by Alan Moore. But you needn't read that to enjoy this. (The Killing Joke is well worth reading, and if you haven't you sho...

I'm catching up on Gail Simone's Birds of Prey series, as I've only read some of the trades to date. This is the start of her run, and it is also where she introduces two of my favorite characters from her run Savant and Creote. Creote is in love with Savant, and Savant 1) doesn't know it and 2) doesn't realize his hulking and intelligent underling is Gay (in a very understated and well done way). Simone shows of her strengths here when the characters are talking, and she plays with how little s...