Birds of Prey
Team Leader: Oracle
Active Members: Black Canary, The Huntress, Lady Blackhawk, Gypsy
Former Members: Lady Shiva, Power Girl
Known Enemies: Savant, The Calculator
Known Allies: Catwoman, Blue Beetle, Wildcat, Vixen, Green Arrow, Green Arrow
II, The JLA, The JSA, Nightwing, Batman, Robin, Spoiler
Birds of Prey is a comic book series of the DC Comics, which presents the
powerful team up of the strong, smart and sexy women as they deliver the goods
as a breezy, action series with an emphasis on buddy bonding and humor. They are
the superheroines based in Gotham City, and later Metropolis. The series was
conceptualized by Jordan Gorfinkle and originally written by Chuck Dixon. And in
the year 2006, Birds of Prey showcases the new creative team of writer Gail
Simone and artist Ed Benes and Joe Bennett which brought characters into a more
vivid life.
Actually the title of the series being “Birds of Prey” was unofficial and wasn’t
even mentioned until issue #86, in which Lady Blackhawk coined it. As of July
2006, the title has not been mentioned again in the series, though Oracle refers
to the group with that name in a conversation with the new Blue Beetle.
Birds of Prey History
The two of the hottest female superheroes in DC's universe, Black Canary and
Oracle together form Birds of Prey and that is simply how the team began. Later,
it was revealed that Black Canary was not the first agent recruited by Oracle.
Power Girl was her first freelance operative, before she took in Black Canary,
however this first partnership was doomed since Power Girl was unable to save a
shipload of people. It was her first mission in the Middle East; she was forced
to decide between the fates of one head of state and hundreds of people on a
boat. The people died, and Power Girl was traumatized; from then on, she was
unwilling to work with Oracle. Only once since then has she responded, in order
to save Black Canary's life.
Team Leader Oracle contacted Black Canary to go on a mission for her. Black
Canary is sassy, deadly, and fully capable of wiping the floor with the bad
guys. And Oracle on the other hand, was once Batman's protégé, Batgirl. She was
caught in the crossfire of the war between Batman and Joker, until the Joker's
violent trick confined her to a wheelchair. Now she fights crime in a different
way, a master of the cyber-realms, a mentor and trainer to heroes. The pair
spent some time working out at first, adjusting with each other. Some of those
first missions also involved Catwoman and the Huntress, but neither of those was
welcomed to stick around.
Black Canary was kidnapped and severely beaten by the man called Savant, but
Oracle still recruited Savant into her service, challenging him to clean up the
Gotham neighborhood. He succeeded, but has since disappeared. The case with
Savant also brought the most significant addition to the team, the Huntress. She
is half metahuman. Legend tells of a caped crusader, Batman and his one true
love, Catwoman. They had a daughter – The Huntress. Now that she has taken up
her father's mantel and under cover of the night, she fights to protect the
innocent and helpless, and teamed with the Birds of Prey.
Oracle recruited a fourth partner, Lady Blackhawk. She was also looking for a
change and gladly procured a state-of-the art plane known as Aerie One, which
could shuttle the Birds to and from their missions nationwide. It was also Lady
Blackhawk who at last coined the name for Oracle's operation: The Birds of Prey.
The tension never really subsided between the indifferences of Oracle and the
Huntress until Huntress was enraged, and quit the team. With her absence, Black
Canary called in some help from one of her own mentors, Wildcat. The Vixen has
also served undercover in one known case and most recently, the young heroine,
Gypsy, has joined the group.
After leaving Gotham, Oracle established a new headquarters in Metropolis,
Dalten Tower. She can now move her toes due to the side effects of the virus
that infected her from Brainiac. Blackhawk unveiled a new helicopter, the Aerie
Two, and handed out new jackets bearing a modified Blackhawk logo for the Birds
of Prey. Black Canary's continued exploration into the martial arts led her into
more direct contact with the world's master, Lady Shiva. She agreed to become
Shiva's pupil, in the secret hopes that she could turn the assassin away from
her murderous ways. Then she eventually went so far as to challenge Shiva to
trade lives with her. Each agreed to live the other's lives completely. After
the Crisis, Shiva joined on with the Birds as Jade Canary, and Black Canary
ventured to Shiva's homeland in Southeast Asia to undergo training with her
“Mother”. At this time, Oracle added Gypsy as a full-time operative.
While with the Birds, Shiva participated in a mission to save the Crime Doctor,
who agreed to reveal the Society's secrets to Oracle. Black Canary on the other
hand, found a brutal life in Asia but successfully completed Mother's trials.
When she realized that transforming herself into a second Lady Shiva would
require her to fundamentally change who she was as a person, she decided to end
the training and return to the United States. She brought with her a little
girl, Sin, who herself had begun the harsh process of being groomed as Lady
Shiva's successor. Both decided to end their challenge simultaneously and
neither could assume the other's ideals.
Birds of Prey’s Alter Ego
Oracle: Barbara Gordon
Black Canary: Dinah Laurel Lance
The Huntress: Helena Rosa Bertinelli
Lady Blackhawk: Zinda Blake
Gypsy: Cindy Reynolds
Superpowers and Special Skills
Oracle
Despite her paraplegia, Oracle is a formidable hand-to-hand combatant, adept at
Escrima (the Philippine art of stick fighting), brown belt in Judo, background
in gymnastics and dance, and excellent general athletic abilities. She continues
to train regularly in acrobatics, martial arts, and swimming. She also has a
genius-level intellect, photographic memory, expert at research & analysis and a
lawyer.
Black Canary
Black Canary possesses a metahuman "Canary Cry," an extremely potent sonic force
emitted from her vocal chords. This cry can not only deafen, but flatten
everything in her immediate vicinity. She does not like to use the Cry except as
a last resort.
She also has excellent general athletic abilities. Black Canary has become one
of the world's very top martial artists, and continues to train under the
tutelage of the world's foremost martial artist, Lady Shiva. She is one of the
top seven martial artists in the DC Universe along with Lady Shiva, Batman,
Connor Hawke, Richard Dragon, Bronze Tiger, and Nightwing.
The Huntress
The Huntress has no metahuman powers, but is an above average hand-to-hand
combatant, an excellent martial artist and a skilled markswoman with the
crossbow.
Lady Blackhawk
Lady Blackhawk is an ace flyer, able to easily handle any type of aircraft. She
serves as the team's aviatrix and pilot of the Aerie One. She is a fine
markswoman, skilled in the use of a variety of weapons, and has superior
abilities in hand-to-hand combat.
Gypsy
Gypsy has illusion powers which primarily help her camouflage herself from view.
Occasionally, she has shown the ability to also project believable illusions
into the minds of others. It has been suggested that Gypsy's powers are still
evolving.
Other Media of the Birds of Prey
TV Series
The comic was also generally adapted to a television series, Birds of Prey. Set
in an alternate future of the DC Universe, the show starred Dina Meyer as Oracle
and Ashley Scott as Huntress.
Legend tells of a Caped-Crusader, Batman, guardian of New Gotham, and his one
true love, Catwoman, the Queen of the criminal underworld. Their passion left
behind something extraordinary - a daughter. Huntress. Half meta-human, she has
taken up her father's mantle and fights to protect the innocent and helpless.
Joining her in this struggle is Oracle, a master of the cyber realms. Together
they have taken in Dinah, a meta-human herself with powers that she is only
beginning to explore. These three are the protectors of New Gotham - The Birds
of Prey.
Legends of the Superheroes
This short lived, two episode series show, portrayed DC Comics heroes, in a
comedy/live-action way. The first episode was "The Challenge" in which the
heroes had to thwart the villain’s bomb. The last episode was "The Roast" in
which the heroes gathered around to discuss and appreciate the importance of
heroes. Some heroes that were included were: Batman (Adam West), The Flash (Rod
Haase), and Hawkman (Bill Nuckols). There were to heroines involved as well
which so happened to be Huntress (Barbara Joyce) and Black Canary (Danuta
Wesley). The two females were basically like there comic counterparts, with the
exception of Black Canary's "Canary Cry" in which instead of just omitting sonic
waves she was able to shout messages very loud.
Magazine Collections
Birds of Prey (2002) - Collects Black Canary/Oracle: Birds of Prey, Birds of
Prey: Manhunt (4 issues), Birds of Prey: Revolution and a story from Showcase
'96 #3.
Birds of Prey: Old Friends, New Enemies (2003) - Collects Birds of Prey: Wolves,
Bird of Prey: Batgirl and #1 - 5 of the series
Batman: Bruce Wayne - Murderer? - Includes material from #39 - 40.
Batman: Bruce Wayne - Fugitive - Includes #41 and 43.
Birds of Prey: Of Like Minds (2004) - Collects #56 - 61 of the series.
Birds of Prey: Sensei & Student (2005) - Collects #62 - 68 of the series.
Birds of Prey: Between Dark & Dawn (2006) - Collects #69 - 75 of the series.