Bopping with BoP

Birds of Prey 89
Wow, the build-up in this arc has been masterful. As usual, when Gail Simone is involved. The whole bit with Savant tortured, the parallels with when he tortured Dinah, and their very different reactions are wonderful bits of character development. There's an intriguing, dangerous undercurrent with Calculator and Oracle that holds much promise for the inevitable confrontation. On a smaller scale, the change in Babs's disability is being handled realistically and the scenes with her and her father were just perfect, as well as being long-overdue. I can't wait for next issue and the response to Batman's challenge, let alone what Slade is going to do.

Green Lantern 6
Finally. I'd forgotten half the setup for this. Nicely done. I loved the flashbacks and I can't say enough about the art. Each panel looked like a mini-painting. We get to see what Hal is really made of. And with all the dangerous, evil, and even psychotic villains in the DCU, none freak me out as much as Hector Hammond. Great job here all around.

Hawkman 47
I wanted to like this more than I did. Hawkman way back when was one of my favs and I've really enjoyed this new series, but this issue was pretty weak. In fact, this part of DC's Crisis-related stories has grown weaker with each installment. The Adam Strange mini was very good, the Rann-Thanagar War less so. And with this, even with a showdown with Blackfire on the horizon, the whole war arc comes down another notch. A lot happens but feels like not much. I didn't really feel the sense of struggle given this is a war situation still and the whole "Do you no longer recognize your own father?" bit was rather coincidental and had all the excitement of a yawn. Or the lecture it was. The art was weird, too. Nice renditions of the Hawks (Carter was nicely muscular), but all the battle panels looked alike to me, making it hard for me to distinguish between them. A letdown in the middle of an arc. Not a good sign.