Aves de rapiña

I was sorry to hear that this show was cancelled. I really felt this would be has good as Smallville. But I guess not. Despite silly dialogue. This show was great. It also had great female leads, especially the lovely Dina Meyer. The cartoon Batman Beyond started out good, but fell out of the top ten after two seasons. Note to the female leads in Birds of Prey. I'm sorry to hear about the show, and good luck on future projects.

The show had a good start. Some comic book fans are groaning because they strayed from the comic book storyline. Most are glad to see that the series exists.

Dina Meyer gave a strong performance as Barbara Gordon. She was a believable leader of the crime fighting trio. The other characters still need to settle in their new roles a bit. Ashley Scott has a good start with her Huntress metahuman abilities. She had decent fight scenes. Dinah (Rachel Skarsten) will probably draw in younger viewers to the show.

Harley Quinn is a character that should be used like in the Batman cartoon, otherwise this is a waste of a character. Mia Sara's portrayal is too sinister so far. It left me asking when the Harley Quinn we know and love will pop up. Possibly, this might happen when she sees the Joker? (I wonder what Kevin Smith thinks....)

Kudos for using Mark Hamill as the voice of the Joker.

I like that Batman is hidden in the shadows, because it builds up mystery for the dark knight. This is not the "Batman" show. Its about characters that have a connection to Batman and Gotham City.

I'm hoping Birds of Prey gets a chance this season to build up its storyline. This WB show probably has the ability to knock UPN's Buffy out in the same timeslot. Its is fresh and probably has a following started already. (Its also filling the void leftover from the cancellation of Witchblade).

I will be tuning in next week....

For those who don't follow the comic books:

1. Barbara's reason for being in a wheelchair was shown almost like it was in the tradepaper back "The Killing Joke". The Joker was trying to drive her father, Commissioner Gordon, mad not Batman.

2. In the Birds of Prey comic, Huntress is Helena Bertinelli. Her family was gunned down by a rival mob organization. The Batman/Catwoman story was used to pull in viewers who were not familiar with the charaters. (Its possible that this was mentioned in an alternate comic book timeline). They've tamed down her outfit (like the Xmen movie) to make it less "comical" and more "real world".

3. Dinah Lance was the Black Canary, who is the third member. The Dinah Lance in the tv series is a bit young. This will probably be explained in a future episode.....

4. Don't expect to see much of Batman, he's not a main player in the comic book series. He's more of a guest star.

If you want to know the real deal, get "Black Canary/Oracle/Huntress: Birds of Prey" Book 1 if you still can.....

I liked this show. It's too bad it didn't last very long. I liked the matrix-like action sequences, the dialog, the twists and turns that each episode took. It's a bummer that the last episode was such a cliffhanger (of course they usually are). It's true the meta-human thing was a bit unrealistic, but they had to play with things a little to make it so that it wasn't too much a copy of other Batman stories. I would have liked to see Dina's character more developed as she discovered her abilities. I would have liked to see Oracle get the use of her legs back if possible. It would have been neat to see if the Alfred character would develop further. Of course the Huntress character had a lot of development options. I wish they'd bring this show back. I don't care what all of the negative people might say, I liked it and miss it a lot. I wish somebody could do something to bring it back.

Hi there.

I'll admit, I watched Birds of Prey, since I like to give a comic book show a chance before writing it off. I did the same thing last year with the Smallville pilot, which didn't really impress me.

But this was fantastic! The guys that did this show, did an excellent job. It was like watching a spin-off of the Batman films. You know, the good ones. The passing glimpses of Batman were well done, Ian Abercrombie was a great Alfred, and the brief shots of Catwoman and Joker (voiced by Mark Hamill, how cool is that!?!) were all really well done. They used the movie Catwoman costume! Amazing!

I loved Dina Meyer as Batgirl/Oracle. She did a great job bringing Barbara to life, and I hope we get to see more of her in that kickass Batgril costume.

Huntress was great. I'll admit, when I saw Huntress in previews I was expecting to hate her, but she was really, really likeable. And her fight scenes were incredible.

Dinah LANCE (yes Lance, contrary to reports) was nice. She brought a good outsiders feel, and I can't wait to meet her mother, the Black Canary!

The shots through the city were great as well. The closing one with Oracle and Huntress on the rooftop, and the bat flying by the moon was so cool.

Bringing in Harleen Quinzel was a great idea and I can't wait to see where they go with this.

The rest of the cast was great, even that pretty boy, Shemar Moore.

I cannot heap enough praise on the pilot episode of Birds of Prey. They've done a great job. This is definitely on par with the animated series. It's not perfect, but it's a heck of a lot fun.

Thanks and have a good day then.

John Cage

There are those comix purists who will complain that BoP violates "continuity". If the truth be known, that which constitutes "continuity" is in the eye of the beholder (At last count, there are over five -- and counting --different Batman "continuities" [Movie Batman, "Batman: The Animated Series", "Batman Beyond", "Justice League", "The Dark Knight", etc.] ). At last count, Superman has over EIGHT different continuities (radio show, TV shows ["Superboy", "Smallville", etc.], and countless cartoon incarnations -- in addition to the comics). This is to say nothing of the pre- and post-"Crisis" versions of each of these characters.

There are so many different versions of Batman and Superman and different eras that trying to please each and every comic fan out there is a nightmare and an impossible task for a screenwriter. There are some people who want to see this version and some who want to see this era and if the writers mix them up then all hell breaks loose in Comix Fandom. To attempt to satisfy the whims of each individual fan is to ask for trouble.

While the critics are marking off their checklists and tabulating how well BoP adheres to its "source material", they're missing out on a fun show peopled with some quirky and interesting characters (The Huntress holds the singular honor of being TV's first superhero to see a therapist on a regular basis!).

"Birds of Prey" is best enjoyed when judged on its own merits. In my opinion, it's a fun show that deserves a chance to come out from under the shadow of its comic book origins.