Review - Birds of Prey: Sensei & Student

Black Canary and master assassin Lady Shiva travel to Hong Kong to visit their ailing martial arts teacher. When he and his students are abruptly poisoned, the clues lead the pair to the venomous villain Cheshire. She claims she’s being framed by an American senator that she’s determined to eliminate, which prompts Canary and Shiva to investigate the veracity of her claims. Then, Oracle is seemingly kidnapped by government agents on charges of terrorism. With Canary out of the country, it’s up to Huntress to find and rescue Oracle.

Birds of Prey: Sensei & Student collects Birds of Prey #62-68, written by Gail Simone and illustrated by Ed Benes, Cliff Richards, Michael Golden, and Joe Bennett.

Sensei & Student is one of my all-time favourite comic book storylines and is one that I’ve re-read many times over. Writer Gail Simone and artist Ed Benes take us to the colourful streets of Hong Kong, where Black Canary and Lady Shiva form an unlikely alliance in order to locate Cheshire. Though they’re reluctant to believe that she’s innocent, they allow her to lead them towards the evidence that will allegedly absolve her of the crime. Meanwhile, Oracle is held captive by individuals claiming to be with the US government. She’s one of nine women they’ve kidnapped in an attempt to determine the true identity of Oracle. Without her usual partner to help her out, everyone’s favourite redheaded hacker has to rely on Huntress to save her. As with most of her work, Simone blends together seemingly disparate genres to craft an action-packed story that’s filled with intrigue and plenty of interesting twists. She’s gives us a bit of Hong Kong action cinema mixed with political thriller and a bit of film noir. It’s beautifully layered and quite brilliant.

As with Of Like Minds, there’s a dynamic energy to how Simone portrays her characters. She’s truly one of the best in the industry when it comes to character building and writing dialogue that sparks to life. I love the way her characters interact, especially in this arc. The relationship that Canary and Shiva has is absolutely riveting to me. They’re positioned in the story as seemingly two opposites –one is an apprentice and hero who cherishes life, the other is a master assassin who dishes out death like a grandma gives out Werther’s Originals. Despite this, they’ve managed to form a sort of kinship through their shared grief over the loss of their former mentor. It’s very poignant and helps the reader to see Shiva as a three-dimensional character, which is admirable since most other writers portray her as a stereotypical dragon lady. Shiva is actually my favourite character from this arc. I find it really neat that Simone is able to add a comic element to her character without actually making her funny and I’m obsessed with just how much of a boss she is overall. You really don’t want to mess with this woman. Of course, there’s no shortage of great women worth rooting for and laughing with. Oracle shows off just how resourceful she is, Huntress comes to the table with bravery and some fantastic quips, and Black Canary remains as clever as ever. We even get some cameos from Catwoman, Katana, and Cindy Reynolds. With that said, there’s some uncomfortable dialogue in issue 68. Oracle and Canary both make mean-spirited comments that come across as judgmental towards Huntress’ sexual activities. Though both characters later acknowledge that they’re being harsh and unfair, the fact that they use her penchant for casual sex as a weapon to chastise Huntress is not a good look for either character.

Ed Benes continues to excel as Simone’s partner in crime with this arc. He pencils the majority of the issues collected here, which contributes a lot of vitality to the story. It’s really neat to see how his compositions help affect the overall tone, especially when it comes to adding humour or heightening drama. There’s a sequence on an airplane that’s fairly memorable, as well as a bar brawl that takes place early on in the arc. Part of what makes these sequences so memorable is how he uses Shiva’s expressions and body language to both convey how badass she is, as well as get a little comedy out of it. Truthfully, I’m really fond of his Shiva. She’s very striking visually due to her sternness. Of course, it wouldn’t be Benes without a bit of cheesecake. There’s a rather gratuitous sequence where Canary and Cheshire duke it out in a pool while the latter is wearing a flimsy nightie. Its inclusion is odd and quite jarring. Benes is aided by Cliff Richards in some issues. Richards drew Oracle’s abduction and interrogation scenes. They’re pretty standard and don’t quite match the energy of Benes’ panels. Michael Golden provides the art for the flashback issue (66). Ordinarily I’d criticize the style, but it suits the tone of the issue. It’s set in the past and is stylized as if it were taken place sometime within the ‘40s or early ‘50s. It’s not quite as polished as the art in the other issues and has a slight muddy quality to it, but it really works in its favour. My one issue is that I wish that the scenes set in the present that bookend the issue had been done by Benes. The final issue in this collection is done by Joe Bennett. His style differs from Benes’, but still pairs well with the story. It’s an epilogue of sorts that deals with Huntress’ date with a parking attendant, as well as Canary sparring with Wonder Woman to work through her issues with Huntress joining the team and Oracle getting some advice from her father. It’s a quiet issue that requires Bennett to get creative with drawing the reader in via expressive character interactions and some low-stakes sparring. Overall, I quite like his style.

Birds of Prey: Sensei & Student is an absolute must-read. From its art to its punchy dialogue, it’s an engaging arc that challenges its characters on many levels. There’s some really intriguing interpersonal drama between the series’ heroines, which helps to show us that they’re far from perfect. Writer Gail Simone also engages with morality, particularly with whether murder is ever justified. Even on a superficial level of action, this arc delivers that in spades. Honestly, Sensei & Student perfectly illustrates why Birds of Prey is so frequently cited as a gateway comic. Gorgeous art? Check! Dynamic character interactions? Check! A twisty, turny plot? Check! Action galore? Check!

RATING: A+