Comments on: 8/10 - Curious Cat Asks...

By: David B

David B — Sun, 12 Aug 2007 17:01:09 +0000

I like Simone's run better, because the characterization was really extraordinary. I felt like I really got a sense of what made them tick...

By: Anthony Strand

Anthony Strand — Sat, 11 Aug 2007 17:21:34 +0000

I gotta say Simone, specifically because of all the "girl talk". Dixon's book was great, but it was all action starring two women who were not that close to one another. By the time Gail took over, it made sense that Babs and Dinah had become genuine best friends. And I like that dynamic a lot more.

By: Tobey Cook

Tobey Cook — Sat, 11 Aug 2007 06:13:19 +0000

Gail simply because of how kickass and important she made the Birds of Prey and especially Black Canary to the DCU. Plus, she brought in Lady Blackhawk, and as a fellow Blackhawk fan I can thank Gail for that.

By: Birmy

Birmy — Sat, 11 Aug 2007 04:55:59 +0000

I'm gonna say Dixon, who remains a severely underrated (and, at least the last few years, underutilized) writer. People forget that BoP, Nightwing, and even Robin were far from sure-fire concepts for solo series, and he built those from the ground up (I'd go so far as to say subsequent writers of Nightwing and Robin didn't even come close). I liked Simone's stuff just fine, but by the time her run was hitting its stride I had been burned by some lousy stories by people who should have done better (I mean, Terry Moore! Who knew?), and my affection for the concept had sort of waned. Wish I'd stuck around, though.

By: Michael

Michael — Sat, 11 Aug 2007 01:29:50 +0000

I've never really read Dixon's run. All I know of it is that wonderfully lesboerotic scene where Barbara and Dinah finally meet.

Like Simone's stuff, though. Excellent example of character-driven adventure fiction.

By: Andrew Collins

Andrew Collins — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 23:39:07 +0000

I troed Dixon's BoP when it first started and couldn't really get into it. I tried Simone's BoP a couple years back and just loved it. I enjoyed her writing and handling of the characters more. I especially liked her run over the last year with Nicola Scott on pencils. I'm sorry to see her go, though anxious to see what McKeever can do with Barbara, Huntress, Misfit, Lady Blackhawk, and the others.

By: lauren

lauren — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 22:57:18 +0000

I have to agree with the analysis that taking Canary away from the book , cost it something. I don't see why she couldn't be in both books. Was DC worried that people would get tired of seeing Black Canary? Weren't the big 7 all in their own books as well as JLA?

Anyways kudos to both writers, dixon for starting the party and showing how fun it could be and Simone for keeping it going even with a few slow moments.

In other words i like both equally.

By: Seamus Gentz

Seamus Gentz — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 20:39:42 +0000

I far preferred Gail's run, excessive Ed Benes T&A aside. I'm not that sorry to see her go on to other things, though. Dinah being yanked away for JLA removed half of the lead cast, and really ripped the heart out of the book. Simone seemed to lose interest with her carefully constructed character dynamics yanked away, slipping another Secret Six story in under the radar - not that that's a bad thing. Her affection for characters such as Ragdoll or Catman really shown through, but I just didn't get the same vibe off of, say, Judomaster, Manhunter, or Hawkgirl. So I look forward to Simone moving on to more fertile ground. I just hope I won't have to have read Amazon's Attack to follow it. Pfeifer, you know I love you, but I truly loathe those warrior women who still find time to invent healing rays and invisible planes.

By: Apodaca

Apodaca — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 19:08:48 +0000

"Sex and the City" would be a prime example of pseudofeminist. Promoted as being for the benefit and empowerment of women, while actually enforcing cliches and prejudices.

By: Matt D

Matt D — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 18:35:08 +0000

I think I liked Dixon's a bit more.

Nothing Gail did had the kick of the Power Girl issue or the Dick/Babs one.

Though what Gail did with Black Canary is tremendously impressive.

By: Krod

Krod — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 17:37:27 +0000

Dixon's, definitely. The pseudo feminist thing is a factor in there. It also had too much awkward girl-talk that didn't fit the kick-butt action I had come to expect from BoP. I ended up dropping BoP a few times, and never came back for One Year Later.

And pseudo feminist was already defined: Too much â€œchick flickâ€ empowerment moments for me at times, especially with Black Canaryâ€™s narration captions, in the few issues I read. Or â€œcutesyâ€ stuff with Sin.

By: Michael Craven

Michael Craven — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 16:49:11 +0000

Anyone care to define â€œpseudofeminist?â€ I mean, if the stories are feminist (and written by a woman no less), what makes it pseudo?

Simone all the way.

By: Jason Edwards

Jason Edwards — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 16:41:11 +0000

Dixon's. I think the "pseudofeminist" vibe, as mentioned above, is what did in Gail's run for me. Also, I always liked Dixon's entire "Batman Family" thing he had going for a while in the 90's.

By: suedenim

suedenim — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 16:39:43 +0000

I loved both runs, myself.

By: Tom Fitzpatrick

Tom Fitzpatrick — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 16:26:09 +0000

I've never read Birds of Prey, so I can safely say neither.

By: stealthwise

stealthwise — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 16:23:08 +0000

Simone's. Like a lot of his work, Dixon's BoP stuff felt fairly generic throughout, at least, from what I read of it.

By: yo go re

yo go re — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 16:22:11 +0000

I read Dixon's BoP because I liked the characters - it was the only real place to see Oracle doing her thing for more than one page a month, and once I'd gotten hooked, it was the only source for Black Canary.

However, when gail took over, I was reading it for the stories, too - the characters were still there, and even got turned up a notch, but now I was really into the plots, too...

By: T.

T. — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 16:21:47 +0000

Dixon's. By far. Too much "chick flick" empowerment moments for me at times, especially with Black Canary's narration captions, in the few issues I read. Or "cutesy" stuff with Sin. It had this weird pseudofeminist vibe that just kind of annoyed me. With Dixon I felt like they were just strong kick-ass people who just happened to be women. With Simone, it sort of felt like it was making too big a deal about the fact that they were women.

By: Greg Geren

Greg Geren — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 15:53:19 +0000

I liked the action aspect of Dixon's run, and the character development (especially Canary) on Simone's.

Overall- which fruit salad to prefer when the apples are better over here and the oranges over there? Tough call.

By: Jeff Albertson

Jeff Albertson — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 15:08:16 +0000

I very much enjoyed Dixon's run, and no one I can think of beats him when it comes to a good, well-told action story, but Simone's edges him out by virtue of the fact that her characterization of the three main leads and of significant supporting cast members was so good. Like Rebis, I'm sorry that we didn't get a longer run with Gail and Nicola.