Overview: Calculator is ruthlessly searching for Oracle and doesn’t care who gets hurt in the process. Can Batgirl and the Birds stop him before it is too late?
Synopsis (spoilers ahead): Calculator is trying to figure out who Oracle is and has kidnapped Huntress’ mother, Maria Bertinelli/Fenice, to help him find out. Maria refuses to help him, but Calculator has Blackbird hypnotize her and finds out that Huntress is her daughter, Helena.
The Birds are in the Clocktower discussing the difficult situation they are in. Huntress believes that her mother betrayed her, despite what she thought was their growing bond, when she escaped from Arkham. Black Canary heads out with Green Arrow to find Blackbird, who they hope will lead them to Calculator. They go to Blackbird’s dojo but it is empty. Dinah realizes that Fenice will likely try to go to Helena’s apartment so the two try there.
Barbara and Helena are trying to figure out what the key that Gus gave Babs is for. Suddenly Helena’s home alarm is set off, Burnrate is at her apartment. The rooms are booby-trapped, one explodes and Burnrate gets thrown out the apartment window to the street below. Ollie and Dinah watch the dangerous robot fall from the building. Burnrate survives and tries to run away. Black Canary is afraid to use her Canary Cry because she is scared of its power, so Burnrate gets away.
Hostages are being taken by mobsters all over Gotham. Green Arrow and Black Canary head to one of the scenes – City Hall. Calculator is using the mob family activity to bring Oracle out into the open. Canary tells one of the thugs to relay a message to Calculator – they will surrender Oracle to him at dawn.
The next morning the Birds confront Calculator, Fenice, and Blackbird. They tell him that Gus was Oracle, but he doesn’t believe them. He has Burnrate attack the Birds but they have brought backup – Poison Ivy and Catwoman. Fighting commences. Blackbird morphs into Black Canary and the doppelgangers battle. Blackbird hypnotizes Huntress to come with her and Calculator. Black Canary uses her cry to trash Burnrate. It works, but the whole team of good guys is hurt by the sonic blast. Blackbird continues to hypnotize Huntress who is about to tell them who Oracle is. Until next month.
Analysis: Writers Julie and Shawna Benson’s story is, on one level, a solid action tale. The more interesting dimension of the plot is the relationship between Huntress and her mother. It is made pretty clear that Maria is not on board with the manipulation and attack on her daughter but for one reason or another is being forced to go along with it. Huntress, not knowing the situation, feels betrayed. This part of the story successfully raises the stakes and the tension.
The almost indestructible robot, Burnrate, as the main antagonist isn’t the most interesting foil for the Birds. The character design, with the inexplicable flames coming out of the guts of the cy-bot, seems to be put together because it looks cool, rather than for any logical reason. The story repeatedly refers to Burnrate as a ‘she’ which is an interesting twist.
The art is by Roge Antonio, colors by Marcelo Maiolo, and the letters are by Saida Temofonte. Characters have a cute kind of chipmunk look about them. It is a clean, simple design, though can make some of the players look a little young. Overall, the book has a nice palette, full of color changes to give different scenes their own unique look which keeps things moving along. There are some particularly good pages/panels. When Black Canary screeches at Burnrate, the full page panel shows the sonic boom as an almost gauzy light wave. It looks very cool. Also, the page where Ivy, Catwoman, and Green Arrow are attacking Burnrate is well put together with a strong yellowish green hue in the background and the heroes and robot dark in front of it in stark relief. On the same page, there are three horizontal panels that show the tension leading up to the attack. It is good visual storytelling.
However, there are also a few areas where the word balloons might be pointing to the wrong character. I wasn’t able to sort out who was supposed to be saying what, and in the end, it didn’t affect the story, but it was confusing and took me out of the flow. Be warned, your mileage may vary.
Final Thoughts: This is a well-told story that is at its best when it deals with the relationship between Huntress and her mother. The bad guys and the main conflict are solid enough to keep things moving. Also, Poison Ivy and Catwoman pay a welcome visit.
[wp-review id=”46895″]