Anybody who loved the Birds of Prey book . . or just it's theme even . . will love this book. It is, afterall, really just a variation of that book. Or . . maybe just the next step in it's evolution. With all of the problems going on in Gotham right now, Batgirl had the idea of pooling their resources. It's not going to help the city if they're falling all over each other because no one know what the others are doing. So, since Babs already has a system in place, why not use it to coordinate the efforts and maximize the resources. Plus, then she can direct all of the various participants to the situations in which they'll be the most effective. Afterall, they all have the same goal, and progress needs to be made . . asap! Right now the people Oracle is keeping track of include . . Nightwing, Robin, Black Canary, Huntress, Batgirl, Manhunter, Knight & Squire, Wildcat, Misfit, Lady Blackhawk, Man-Bat, Spoiler, El Gaucho and Grace. Not a bad group of soldiers to be in charge of . . if you ask me. This issue is spent fighting a test that's put together by Hugo Strange. "Professor Hugo Strange will test this new Dark Knight . . . and prove the usurper does not merit the mantle of the Bat!" And he hooks up with a rolling casino to make some money on the side while he's doing it. Basically, he's got 3 hostages holed up around town. Each has a different story, and a reason why they should or should not live. But Hugo is only willing to let them save one. So the bets are . . which one will they save. Well, with all these operatives at her command, and Oracle's hacking skills, they end up saving all 3, and . . they shut down the casino operations in the process. Also along the way we learn a couple of things. First, there's something wrong with Misfit. She's trying to hide it from Babs, but . . others are starting to notice. Secondly, Huntress is willing to kill one of the hostages in order to save the other 2. Batgirl and Babs both put a stop to her. But the temptation is there. "With Batman gone, this is our new reality. The Gotham underground is going to get more vicious . . more desperate. We're going to want to take the easy way out whenever possible . . but we can't. I understand why you acted the way you did, Huntress, but it was the easy way out. With or without a Batman, making the hard choices is what we do." And, Oracle has stirred up the ire of Hugo Strange. "Know that on this night you have made an enemy of Hugo Strange. I will find out who your are, where you work and how you operate. And I will systematically destroy you." Babs dismisses it as so much rambling, but . . I think this one may come back to bite her in the ass. I thought it was a great book. But . . I was always a big fan of the Birds of Prey series. And really, this one could've fit right in with that title. It'll be interesting to see if this group . . or idea, has a future. I really hope so. It was deftly written by Fabian Nicieza with art by Don Kramer & J Calafiore. Also that's a pretty cool cover by Ladroon. This Battle for the Cowl is only a 3 issue mini-series, but so far I've gotten 13 books out of all of this. Does that add up right?
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