Written by Gail Simone
Art by Joe Bennett; Ruy Jose; Hi-Fi Design; & Jared K. Fletcher
Cover Art by Greg Land; Jay Leisten; & Justin Ponsor
SUMMARY:
Entitled “One Day, Well Chosen,” it was published by DC Comics for August 2004. Awkwardly clearing tensions with one another at a Gotham City park, the current Birds (Barbara “Oracle” Gordon, Dinah “Black Canary” Lance, and Helena “Huntress” Bertinelli) then take different approaches to a much-needed night off.
Barbara gladly takes some management advice from her dad over dinner. Gaining some valuable insight, Dinah spars with Wonder Woman at the Justice League Watchtower. She later compares notes with Barbara. Fulfilling an obligation, Helena takes her icky date, Josh, on a night out as Huntress. The cretin evidently sparks a much-needed personal epiphany. Barbara surprises Dinah and Helena.
REVIEW:
The visuals are excellent. Aside from actress Christina Applegate’s face obviously inspiring Black Canary (and evidently Huntress, too), cover artist Greg Land completes the high-quality artwork. Yet, writer Gail Simone’s kid-unfriendly story is sabotaged by far too much catty innuendo and slimy Josh’s come-on lines. It’s an odd contrast: on one side, there are stellar sequences (i.e. Barbara and her dad’s lunch and the Black Canary/Wonder Woman sparring) and an amusingly quick gem (i.e. Black Canary’s hot dog stand encounter), but then Simone inexplicably opts to degrade the Huntress.
Depicting a lousy date night is one thing, but to further imply a one-night tryst with this same creep is a gratuitous detail. Conjuring up a hilarious twist for Helena to ditch Josh would have made far more sense rather than insulting the character’s dignity. It’s the worst instance in Birds of Prey # 68 where Simone’s script piles on tawdry sexual inferences instead of her usual classiness. Unfortunately, great artwork only makes up so much of the difference.
ADDITIONAL CONTENT:
An unidentified ‘mole’ pens the DC in Demand column. The cover reveals include: Birds of Prey # 69; Challengers of the Unknown # 1; Superman/Batman # 11; and Outsiders # 13.
BRIAN’S ODD MOON RATING: 6 Stars
