I did feel that the show got some things wrong about Helena Wayne, mostly in establishing that Bruce was never a part of her life, nor made any effort to be a part of her life which I feel is completely out of character for him. If he knows he has a daughter, Bruce is the kind of person who would  try to be a part of her life even if she may not be too receptive at first.

Another thing that they got wrong at the time was making Helena Wayne’s personality too similar to Helena Bertinelli’s in the comics, though that’s probably a moot point to make today. Other than that, I actually felt Ashley Scott was a great Huntress, and I especially loved Dina Meyer as Oracle. One of the reasons I wanted the show to succeed was largely for those two things alone. It featured Helena Wayne in a medium outside of the comics in a time where she was out of continuity (ironically enough Helena Bertinelli is also appearing in a show while out of continuity), and the fact that Barbara as Oracle was seen outside of the comics for the first time was especially significant because it was very well done. 

Unfortunately Black Canary is a character I wish they would have made more similar to the comic book version. I did like that we did get Dinah Drake as the first Black Canary (though I think she was renamed Carolyn for the show), but I do wish they would have made Dinah Lance an adult and Barbara’s best friend like in the comics. To date the only Black Canary I’ve seen on telly that was considerably faithful to the comic book version was the one that appeared on Smallville.

As for whether or not I prefer Ashley’s Scott’s Huntress to Jessica De Gouw’s Huntress, most definitely. The few things that the Birds of Prey show got wrong about Helena Wayne doesn’t even amount to how badly the creators for Arrow butchered Helena Bertinelli’s character for the sake of providing Oliver with conflict.

If anything, the Helena Wayne that appeared on Birds of Prey was a more faithful characterisation of Helena Bertinelli than the Helena Bertinelli that appeared on Arrow.

luiswar:

Helena: “Today can be your birthday, Make a wish”

Guy: “I wish for you to be happy, becasue that’s what you gave me”

Birds of Prey - Three Birds and a Baby

helenabertinellihuntress:

suzannalikescomics:

helenabertinellihuntress:

Just a few of Helena Bertinelli’s friends and allies that I miss and are currently, not in action. 

All of the friendships and alliances she formed are now gone, thanks to the unnecessary mess of a reboot. 

(In case you’re wondering why Black Canary is here, it’s because the current BC is Dinah Drake, not Dinah Lance. And as for Barbara, she’s currently around as Batgirl, but Oracle doesn’t exist. Well, at least not as a human being.)

…But Helena Bertinelli doesn’t even exist anymore. In the reboot Helena Bertinelli was secretly Helena Wayne the whole time. Which, I refuse to accept. Nope. The currently Black Canary isn’t Dinah Lance? I’m just going to go cry.

No, she does exist. In the first issue of World’s Finest it clearly states that Helena Bertinelli was alive and an actual person. That is until Paul Levitz decided to coldly kill her off.

It’s not known whether or not she was The Huntress in this universe, but she *does* exist.

And besides, I was referring to pre-reboot Helena and her friends and not Helena Bertinelli as she currently stands.

It was confirmed in Worlds’ Finest #9 that the Huntress of the New 52 mainstream universe has always been Helena Wayne and that the Huntress costume itself was specifically designed by Wayne.

When she became “Helena Bertinelli” has not yet been established (I assume this happened much later), but it was established that Helena Wayne became the Huntress the year after she arrived on Earth-1, making her roughly 17-years-old when she first took up the mantel. 

On to the main topic, this is a gorgeous photoset. I especially love the ones with Oracle and Renee Montoya, particularly for the texture in the latter’s case.

dcwomenkickingass:

DC announced this morning that Birds of Prey will be going in a new direction, so new that the writer they announced in December is already off the book. Indie writer Jim Zub had been announced as taking over the book with issue 17 from Duane Swierczynski. But with the solicits for April hitting this morning DC revealed to CBR that Christy Marx would instead be writing the book. Zub also told readers on his blog he was off the book.

I was looking forward to Zub’s take on the book but I can’t complain about his successor, Christy Marx, who has been doing good work on Sword of Sorcery’s Amethyst.

But it does give me another thing to put on the list of “what the heck is going on with DC editorial?”. The company also today announced Robert Vendetti was off Constantine to be replaced by Jeff Lemire and Ray Fawkes. Again can’t complain there (expecially as the team is writing Justice League Dark). And of course late last year DC removed Gail Simone off of Batgirl only to put her back on the book.

I trust Christy Marx will do a great on Birds, but I am sad to see Jim Zubkavich go before he had a chance to submit a script. :/

Let’s hope the direction DC is taking the Birds is a good one.

I am sad to see Duane Swierczynski go since I’ve been loving his take on this series and especially love Starling, but this interview with Jim Zubkavich with CBR makes me hopeful it’ll still be a good series:

Before we get into the specifics of your story, I wondered what impression you have of the “Birds” as a team and a franchise from the outside. We’re at the point now where the team has a lot of history under its belt as well as a few different incarnations. What’s the strongest hook for you in working on a (usually) all-female team in the DCU? Any previous runs that will influence what you do here?

I know I’m not a writer people would have expected to pick up the torch on “Birds of Prey,” but that’s part of what makes it such an exciting challenge. I know I have a lot to prove.

I read through the older “Birds of Prey” issues quite extensively as I was tightening up my pitch and what struck me most wasn’t a particular plotline as much as it was the quality of characterization that’s punctuated “Birds of Prey.” The series really sings when readers care about the cast and root for them, issue after issue.

Gail Simone and Chuck Dixon’s best “Birds of Prey” issues had a wonderful sense of personality and camaraderie that went hand-in-hand with top-notch action and drama. I’m not here to retread stories that have been told before and there are distinct differences between the past and this new incarnation of the team, but I‘m looking to keep that character/action balance at the core of the series because I feel that’s what makes it such a special series.

When it comes to the cast of the book, I’m sure there are a few things that are under wraps as Duane Swierczynski ties up the many threads of his run in the coming months. But I’m betting one assumption we can make is that Black Canary and Batgirl will play a central role in the series. Since Barbara and Dinah have formed the backbone of “Birds” since its inception, what’s your take on their relationship today, and how do they share a role in the book overall?

Black Canary and Batgirl are definitely a big part of my plans and character relationships as a whole are crucial to me in “Birds of Prey.” Before I started generating specific story threads for the series, I put together a character “matrix” for the cast – who they are, how they feel about each other and what could change as the story moves forward. Going through that process and digging into each character’s personality gave me a lot more confidence. It acts as a baseline to build from so that no matter what scenario I throw the team into I can gauge their reactions based on where things are in each character’s development.

Dinah’s an optimist who keeps ending up on the wrong side of conflict. She’s a fighter who doesn’t know how to stop even when, by all rights, she should give up. In the New 52 she’s the glue that holds the “Birds of Prey” together. That leadership role is at the core of Dinah’s personality, whether she wants it or not.

Batgirl in the New 52 wants to be a part of the Birds and support Dinah’s vision for a team that looks out for each other, but she’s quite used to “going it alone”, especially since she has her own solo series. Barbara will struggle with that “individual vs. team” dynamic and the choices she makes, especially after bringing Strix to the team, will affect everyone.

I hope Duane finds more work and Birds won’t be the last we’ll see of him. Nevertheless I am looking forward to Jim’s take on the Birds and am positive it’s going to be great. 

helenabertinellihuntress:

spacehelmetforacow:

Are you real?

Birds of Prey #91.

It’s nice that out of all of the Birds, Helena was the focus of this little retrospective that briefly details her history.

This is one of my favourite stories as well. I also did appreciate that this page explicitly acknowledged that Helena Wayne existed even though it was also reinforcing the problem of erasing Wayne’s autonomy. 

askthemusicmeister:

Birds of Prey featuring Catwoman! by ~AweMe

I really like this one too…if only I could’ve been there for the real performance itself.

evillordzog:

helenawaynehuntress:

This was a show I wanted to like, but missed the mark in so many ways.

I did like Dina Meyer as Barbara Gordon and she as flawless as Oracle. But she was the only character in this show that was done right.

I felt “Dinah Redmond” should have been Dinah Laurel Lance and should have been depicted as an adult and an established Gotham crime-fighter. Being that Baby Dinah was already a legacy character who succeeded her mother in the Black Canary identity alone would’ve provided all the background she needed to lead this TV show. I also felt that Dinah should’ve been Barbara’s first operative from the get-go, and the first season should’ve focused on developing this friendship between Dinah and Babs as it was the very fuel of the comic. 

With regards to Huntress, in order to continue the “legacy character” streak, I can see why they went with Helena Wayne. However, given Wayne’s direct connection to Batman and Catwoman, I felt she should have been a character that was introduced later in order to avoid stealing the spotlight from Dinah and Barbara. At best, they could’ve have established Helena Wayne as a powerful Gotham attorney working for “Cranston, Grayson, and Wayne” but leave the rest of her character a mystery. Maybe even give the audience a few night glimpses of Huntress (looking like a Batman silhouette) keeping tabs on Dinah and Oracle from a distance, and leave it ambiguous as to whether she’s on the side of the Birds or not. At least this way, she could’ve been established as either a potential ally or a potential antagonist for the Birds.

Further down the road, they could’ve formally introduced the Huntress as a night-operating vigilante investigating the same case as Dinah and Barbara, but not necessarily on friendly terms with one another. This could have then led to Dinah and Barbara deciding to keep a close eye on her as well as on Helena Wayne who stands on middle ground. This could have then led to the gradual revelation that Huntress and Helena Wayne are one and the same, and go further into the history of the character and reveal that she is also a legacy heroine in the form of being Batman and Catwoman’s daughter.

Long story short, this show had soooooooo much potential to be something great but was poorly executed. :(

I know what you mean. If you’re going to have the mentorship as a key plotpoint — something I quite liked because it’s so damn rare — it would have made so much more sense for Helena to be the protoge of Barbara and Dinah. Of course, I suspect logic and narrative strength fell before the fear of showing what could be quite easily seen as lesbian parents so the option went with an arguably more sisterly arrangement.

It also would have been really easy to open with “Once there was a city named Gotham, a city home to the greatest hopes and darkest fears of the modern age. That city fell to cataclysm, claiming both heroes and villains. And just as it stands reborn as New Gotham, a new generation of heroes are rising to defend it from its demons. The Birds of Prey¹.”

Simple, elegant, references then recentish Bathistory, allows you to tap whatever part of the mythos you need without forcing you to keep what you don’t. Hell, you could even have Dinah/Babs/Helena read each phraseof that in turn, to even more strongly cement them as a trinity.

—-

1. Alternatively: “Emerging from the Shadow of the Bat, they are Birds of Prey.” though I guess that could be the series tagline.

I honestly don’t feel that Helena Wayne would work as well as a protege of Barbara and Dinah for the fact that she’s already the biological daughter of Bruce and Selina, who would’ve already taught her everything that she knows (especially if we go with my scenario which is more based on her pre-Crisis origin). She would honestly work best as an equal member of the team just like Huntress (Bertinelli) was in the comic.

I do think that Cassandra Cain and Stephanie Brown would have been great characters to bring into the show as proteges for the Birds since Barbara did train them both and became Batgirls at some point in the comics! Also, Lady Shiva was already used in the show, so there’s no reason they couldn’t have brought in Cass.

dcwomenkickingass:

The agony and the ecstasy that is the Birds of Prey live action drama is now available for watching online at the CW. 

BoP was on the WB (now part of CW) network’s 2002 schedule and was one of the highest rated debuts for the network until that time. The show was loosely based on the DC Comic retaining only one character from the cast - Barbara Gordon as Oracle. The remaining part of the trio are Earth 2 Huntress, the daughter of Batman and Catwoman and now a metahuman, and another metahuman named “Dinah” who will be revealed to the daughter of Black Canary. (By the end of the run you will begin to dread the word “metahuman”, trust me.) Harley Quinn is the show’s principal villain and cast is rounded of with Shemar Moore as part of the “New Gotham” PD and Alfred Pennyworth the show’s opening narrator and in his natural role as all around king of buttling.

Once you get over the liberties taken with the comic, the pilot is pretty good showcasing the best part of the show - Dina Meyer who is pretty close to perfect as Barbara. There’s also some nice camaraderie among the female characters. 

And for those of you who own a pair of slash goggles, let’s just say that this TV show offers plenty of viewing. 

The show was developed, produced and the pilot written by Laeta Kalogridis who in addition to working regularly in Hollywood has a familiarity with comics (she also wrote one of the many passed on scripts for a Wonder Woman movie.) Melissa Rosenberg, most recently developing a pilot for AKA Jessica Jones co- wrote the finale. But sadly the show never again reached the heights of the pilot quality or ratings wise. The money that WB poured into the pilot began to disappear and the sets, scripts and effects got cheesier and cheesier. The network interfered over and over again on plot lines and character development according to executive product Hans Tobeason there was  ”considerable resistance” from the network “to Oracle being wheelchair-bound” and the show was moving to “Huntress centric.” Something to keep in mind as the CW develops a Wonder Woman show.

Despite all this, as someone who both owns the DVD and has watched it numerous times I am willing to handwave the quality. 

Of the 13 shows that were produced, here are the ones I’ll suggest you to watch.

Read More

This was a show I wanted to like, but missed the mark in so many ways.

I did like Dina Meyer as Barbara Gordon and she as flawless as Oracle. But she was the only character in this show that was done right.

I felt “Dinah Redmond” should have been Dinah Laurel Lance and should have been depicted as an adult and an established Gotham crime-fighter. Being that Baby Dinah was already a legacy character who succeeded her mother in the Black Canary identity alone would’ve provided all the background she needed to lead this TV show. I also felt that Dinah should’ve been Barbara’s first operative from the get-go, and the first season should’ve focused on developing this friendship between Dinah and Babs as it was the very fuel of the comic. 

With regards to Huntress, in order to continue the “legacy character” streak, I can see why they went with Helena Wayne. However, given Wayne’s direct connection to Batman and Catwoman, I felt she should have been a character that was introduced later in order to avoid stealing the spotlight from Dinah and Barbara. At best, they could’ve have established Helena Wayne as a powerful Gotham attorney working for “Cranston, Grayson, and Wayne” but leave the rest of her character a mystery. Maybe even give the audience a few night glimpses of Huntress (looking like a Batman silhouette) keeping tabs on Dinah and Oracle from a distance, and leave it ambiguous as to whether she’s on the side of the Birds or not. At least this way, she could’ve been established as either a potential ally or a potential antagonist for the Birds.

Further down the road, they could’ve formally introduced the Huntress as a night-operating vigilante investigating the same case as Dinah and Barbara, but not necessarily on friendly terms with one another. This could have then led to Dinah and Barbara deciding to keep a close eye on her as well as on Helena Wayne who stands on middle ground. This could have then led to the gradual revelation that Huntress and Helena Wayne are one and the same, and go further into the history of the character and reveal that she is also a legacy heroine in the form of being Batman and Catwoman’s daughter.

Long story short, this show had soooooooo much potential to be something great but was poorly executed. :(

Another character sketch, this time by Jesus Saiz, and with blonde hair.

(I wonder if this further proves my theory about Ev being based on the Zinda Blake character. I mean, she pretty much does the exact same role as Zinda to a T!)