Review: Batgirl and the Birds of Prey Vol. 3- Full Circle
Quick Summary
Pros: The opening story is a fun, temporary change of pace for the series. The second story is an entertaining celebrations of DC’s female characters that ends with a great message. The closing story does a solid job in wrapping up the individual team members’ personal journeys.
Cons: The first few chapters have strange dialogue in some places. The final story arc feels rushed, which takes away from its impact.
Overall: This is probably the best volume in this series but is still held back by a few unfortunate flaws. At its core, the adventures detailed here are very fun and give the characters great moments to stand out. The conclusion of the book also wraps things up nicely. However, problems with dialogue and pacing prevent the volume from living up to its full potential. If you’ve been enjoying this series thus far, you’ll probably enjoy this book too. However, this is not a good place for new readers to jump in.
Story
It unfortunate that Batgirl and the Birds of Prey Vol. 3: Full Circle, by Julie Benson and Shawna Benson, is the last volume in this series because it feels like this volume marks the point where this comic really started to hit its groove. Here, the action is entertaining, the characters’ journeys are compelling, and the entire adventure is accompanied by a pleasant mix of silliness and seriousness that makes it feel unique. However, there are still places where the writing feels a bit odd and, as the comic moves toward its conclusion, it seems like the series’ cancellation caused the final arc to be rushed. In the end, this book has some problems but is still worthwhile as a conclusion to this series.
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The first few chapters of Full Circle are some of the strongest stories in this series. The first chapter is a lighthearted and fun take on what the Birds do in between fighting more significant enemies. This not only works as a solid chapter by itself but it also works as a great transition between larger story arcs.
From here, the volume moves on to a multi-chapter story about a virus that threatens to kill all of the men in Gotham City. This creates an interesting premise that allows many of DC’s best female characters to step up and save the world. The entire ordeal is energetic, enjoyable, and ends with a great message about greater cooperation between the sexes.
Unfortunately, within these two story arcs, there are a number of small problems regarding dialogue and character portrayal. In some places, dialogue simply contradicts itself; such as when Poison Ivy goes from saying she prefers the men in Gotham over the women to saying that an all-female society sounds great. In other places, heroes simply act out of character; such as when Batman is making jokes while drowning and Catwoman seems to imply she’s alright with killing people. Inconsistencies like these damage an otherwise entertaining narrative.
It also doesn’t help that the transition into Full Circle‘s final arc sees even more problems enter the mix. The beginning of this arc immediately expedites the progression of various plot points in order to quickly push the story forward. This creates drama from each character that feels like it is coming out of nowhere, instead of being developed at a natural pace. The lackluster drama weakens the motivation behind the story and, thus, prevents it from living up to its full potential.
This is particularly bothersome because, otherwise, this final story arc is pretty solid. It works as a great way to tie up loose ends and bring a thematic conclusion to the individual members of the team’s arcs. This makes it feel as if these pacing issues come from the sudden cancellation of the series, rather than a deliberate decision from the comic’s creators.
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Art
The artwork in Full Circle is an improvement on previous volumes but still isn’t something to brag about. The majority of the volume is illustrated by Roge Antonio. These chapters are well structured and are more accurate in expressing emotion than the artwork seen in the previous two volumes. They also simply look clean and attractive in most places. However, like previous collections, there are still a few places where the level of detail drops at strange moments. It also hurts that Marcelo Maiolo’s faded color palate, which would look great in another comic, doesn’t exactly work well with Roge Antonio’s art. In the end, the artwork here makes the collection look good but not necessarily great.
Two chapters are also illustrated by Marcio Takara. Both of these chapter represent more lighthearted and lower-stakes adventures for the Birds of Prey, which the change in artwork is able to reflect. Takara’s chapters are heavily stylized and present the characters in a way that feels authentic to the action taking place. There are a few places where the pages feel messier than they should but, overall, they still look good and add to the quality of the collection.
Continuity
Batgirl and the Birds of Prey Vol. 3: Full Circle continues the story from Batgirl and the Birds of Prey Vol. 2: Source Code (Review).
The Batgirl and the Birds of Prey series ends with this volume and, as of now, does not directly continue in any specific comics.
This volume also references the stories from many other comics books, all of which are detailed below:
- Black Canary’s music career is referenced throughout this volume. This career is explained across Black Canary Vol. 1: Kicking and Screaming (Review) and Black Canary Vol. 2: New Killer Star (Review).
- Batman’s new team was formed back in Detective Comics Vol. 1: Rise of the Batmen (Review).
- Batwoman mentions that Spoiler recently caused problems when going out alone. This is likely a reference to Detective Comics #957 and the events surrounding it, detailed in Detective Comics Vol. 4: Deus Ex Machina (Review).
- Gotham Girl mentions the death of someone she knew. This death took place in Batman #5, collected in Batman Vol. 1: I Am Gotham (Review).
- In a flashback to 2016, the events of Batman: Night of the Monster Men (Review) (Reading Order) and Dark Nights: Metal (Review) (Reading Order) are shown.
- Poison Ivy’s role in the final arc of this volume takes place before Batman #41, collected in Batman Vol. 6: Bride or Burglar, and Damage #4, collected in Damage Vol. 1: Out of Control.
- Huntress’s past as a member of Spyral is mentioned a number of times. She was a part of this group until Grayson Vol. 5: Spiral’s End (Review). See the New 52 section of our Huntress Reading Order for more information.
- The final pages of this volume show Batgirl and Black Canary’s New 52 costumes. Batgirl began wearing her New 52 costume at the beginning of Batgirl Vol. 1: The Darkest Reflection (Review) and Black Canary began wearing her New 52 costume at the beginning of Birds of Prey Vol. 1: Trouble in Mind (Review).