Monday, August 15, 2011

Birds of Prey #3 Cover Preview (Updated)

DC Comics has released the November 2011 cover previews for the Bat titles. Poison Ivy did not appear on the cover to Birds of Prey #2 but thankfully she graces cover #3 alongside the other players. I guess this makes it fairly obvious that Poison Ivy is acting as a member of the Prey and not a nemesis.


I'm still not completely sold on this new costume but it looks a bit better here - although the anatomy itself is a bit questionable. The positioning of the "crotch" on Poison Ivy is clearly off - there should be no "gap" there. Starling's waist is tragic.(Art credit goes to David Finch and Richard Friend.) Speaking of art, this looks a lot like the cover to #1 even down to the burgundy background color. I have a feeling that Birds of Prey #1 will be given a completely different cover than what we've seen and the original image was nothing more than a promotional piece. Why? Because each issue appears to be introducing the members as they decide to join the cause. Issue #2 deals with Katana joining ranks (with a cover to match) and #3 is where Poison Ivy signs up.

You know...looking at Poison Ivy with a "natural" complexion is still a bit jarring. Apparently I live in a world where it's strange to not see a woman with green skin. However, I've learned to accept this change, for now, because the flesh tone works for this costume.

I'll update this post once the full solicit is released. Stay tuned.

UPDATE (with solicit):

BIRDS OF PREY #3
Written by DUANE SWIERCZYNSKI
Art by JESUS SAIZ
Cover by DAVID FINCH and RICHARD FRIEND
On sale NOVEMBER 16 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T
Someone’s come up with a way to turn ordinary citizens of Gotham City into undetectable walking bombs…and only Black Canary (a.k.a. Dinah Laurel Lance), Starling (a.k.a. Ev Crawford) and new team member Katana (a.k.a. Tatsu Yamashiro) can stop them. But will Canary’s choice of a fourth team member, a notorious bioterrorist, tear them apart first?

Well it's now clear that Poison Ivy will retain her wicked nature (of sorts). I'm just hoping they don't limit her motivations to just the environment. I always found the eco-terrorist angle quite limiting and hollow.

Compare and contrast the difference between the "Batman: The Animated Series" interpretation of Poison Ivy and "The New Batman Adventures" version.

Poison Ivy became a lot more entertaining when they moved her past the psychotic "save the earth" story lines. Of course "The Batman" put Poison Ivy back into that box and her character often came across as laughable. You all know how I feel about the "Don't fool with Mother Nature!" stuff. (I hate it.) Catwoman is more than just a cat burgler and Poison Ivy is certainly more than just a tree hugger.

Though keep in mind the solicit used the term "bioterrorist". This may indicate an emphasis on her knowledge of poisons and toxins. I'm okay with that so long as we don't lose Poison Ivy's flair for diva antics. I like my villains a bit unhinged.

Thanks "Anonymous" for the heads up in the comments section.

4 comments:

AfroMonkey said...

I see what you mean about the crotch. It's like someone made her pelvis out of play-doh and slipped.

Anonymous said...

My fist thought was that this is a variant cover for #1, because like you said it looks very similar. Maybe it is and David Finch will be the cover artist for the series (it is also strange that, if it is the cover for #3 that it is another cover artist then #1 & #2). I like Seiz art, but Finch would work better as a cover artist, because his art is more detailed and dynamic.

As for Ivy's costume, I thought the black parts were just shadow, because I think it is stange that her arms and hands are covered...but maybe it are shadows and Finch just drew her after the cover of #1 thinking it was part of the costume?! Just a guess...
Would be nice if they would show her character sketch, like they did with other characters.

Anonymous said...

Full solicitation info:

BIRDS OF PREY #3
Written by DUANE SWIERCZYNSKI
Art by JESUS SAIZ
Cover by DAVID FINCH and RICHARD FRIEND
On sale NOVEMBER 16 * 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US * RATED T
Someone's come up with a way to turn ordinary citizens of Gotham City into undetectable walking bombs...and only Black Canary (a.k.a. Dinah Laurel Lance), Starling (a.k.a. Ev Crawford) and new team member Katana (a.k.a. Tatsu Yamashiro) can stop them. But will Canary's choice of a fourth team member, a notorious bioterrorist, tear them apart first?

The final part should further confirm Ivy as a team member...

Anonymous said...

I mentioned in the 'History Repeats Itself' post that this may be the issue where Ivy not only joins up with the Birds but also makes her debut in the series. Of course, this is pure speculation and I could very well be wrong but my theory is based on Justice League #1 featuring the entire team on its cover but only 3(4 if you count a cameo) characters actually making an appearance in the book. I think the cover artists for all the "team titles" of the New 52 were told to depict the entire roster eventually appearing in the series on the cover of the #1 issue irrespective of whether all the characters featured in that particular issue or not. That way DC gets the attention of each individual character's fanbase from the get go despite initially starting with only 2 or 3 characters and then slowly building up to a complete line-up.

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