The First 10 Members of the Birds of Prey, Ranked by Power

The Birds of Prey was a hugely important team in DC Comics, and some of the most powerful female heroes in DC were early members of this iconic group. However, interestingly, it wasn’t originally a team at all, at least not like other teams of that era, like the Justice League and the Outsiders. Instead, the Birds of Prey began as a two-woman operation with Oracle (Barbara Gordon), working from her wheelchair in front of a giant computer terminal, and Black Canary on the streets as her field agent. What was meant to be a one-shot by Chuck Dixon, Gary Frank, and Jordan B. Gorfinkel ended up becoming a comic book series with many more members, and was even turned into a TV show in the 2000s and a movie in the DCEU more than a decade later.

From the original two-woman team to all the women who joined the group after their formation, here is a look at the first 10 members of the Birds of Prey, ranked by power.

10) Lady Blackhawk (Zinda Blake)

Lady Blackhawk holds a special place in the team’s history because she was the person who actually named the team the Birds of Prey. Interestingly, while it was the comic book title, the team never used this as a name within the comic book world until Birds of Prey #86 (2005) when Lady Blackhawk threw it out as an idea. Lady Blackhawk was the fourth official member of the Birds of Prey, joining the team in Birds of Prey #75 (2004) by Gail Simone and Ed Benes.

A time-displaced 1940s Blackhawks pilot, Zinda Blake has no superhuman powers, but she is one of the best human pilots in the DC world, and is an expert-level marksman with his two pistols. She can fly almost any aircraft made and is the go-to for the Birds of Prey when they need to get somewhere far away fast. She ranks last in power, though, since she is just a hero with two guns, although that in no way diminishes her value.

9) Judomaster (Sonia Sato)

Judomaster is Sonia Sato, the third person to use that code name in DC Comics. She made her debut in Birds of Prey #100 (2007) by Gail Simone and Nicola Scott. She was the seventh overall member to join the team, after Oracle recruited her for a prison-break mission in Mexico. This was the same mission that also brought on two other new recruits, Big Barda and Misfit.

Unlike Lady Blackhawk, Judomaster has metahuman powers, as she has an “aversion field,” which means any attack that is aimed at her simply misses her completely. This means she is almost impossible to hit, whether with targeted projectiles or even in hand-to-hand combat. However, this has its limitations, and she can be affected by things like explosions or untargeted projectiles that hit her from an unintended attack (like something that flies loose from an explosion). Add in her elite judo training, and she is one of the Birds of Prey’s best brawlers.

8) Manhunter (Kate Spencer)

Manhunter is Kate Spencer, a federal prosecutor who joined the Birds of Prey in issue #100 (2007) by Gail Simone and Nicola Scott, accepting Oracle’s invitation when Black Canary resigned from the team. She is the eighth member by lineup order and stayed on as a core agent until the book’s cancellation with #127 in 2009. Her powers are all thanks to the tech that she stole from the evidence room to use as a vigilante when she got tired of criminals walking free after being arrested.

She has a Darkstars exo-suit keyed to her bioelectric signature for enhanced strength and endurance, Azrael’s old Batman-era gauntlets, and a Mark Shaw power staff that fires force blasts. She even killed Copperhead, the most recent villain who escaped justice before Kate stole her tech. This made her role as a vigilante by night so strikingly different from her job as a prosecutor by day. She ranks higher than Judomaster in power thanks to her high-tech offensive weapons.

7) Misfit (Charlotte Gage-Radcliffe)

Charlie Gage–Radcliffe debuted in Birds of Prey #96 (2006) by Gail Simone and Paulo Siqueira. She showed up as the new Batgirl, a young woman with a big attitude, and it turned out that Charlie was a teenager who wanted to become a hero. The difference is that Charlie has superpowers, but she rarely used them as a teen since it made her mother uncomfortable. However, as a huge fan of Barbara Gordon’s Batgirl, she decided she wanted to become a superhero after her mother died in an apartment fire caused by the landlord’s negligence.

Now orphaned, she took on the role of Batgirl and approached the Birds of Prey. Barbara asked her not to be Batgirl, so she agreed and said she would become Misfit instead. When Barbara learned she was an unhoused teen, she took her in and let her join the team. Misfit’s powers are magic-based and involve “bouncing,” which is a form of teleportation. She also has accelerated healing and superhuman strength, once knocking out Gypsy with one punch.

6) Gypsy (Cindy Reynolds)

Gypsy originally debuted in Justice League of America Annual #2 (1984) by Gerry Conway and Chuck Patton, and she was part of the second-rate Justice League team known as JLA Detroit. Her time on the team ended when the team was dissolved after Professor Ivo killed Steel and Vibe. She next joined Booster Gold’s corporate-sponsored hero team, the Conglomerate, and then worked with Martian Manhunter in Justice League Task Force. She then joined the Birds of Prey in issue #93 by Gail Simone and Paulo Siqueira.

As for her power level, Gypsy has an illusion-casting power, which she uses in different ways. She can change backgrounds without destroying the illusion and can camouflage herself and anyone standing close to her to keep them safe. She can also use this power to cast illusions to terrify the minds of other people, using limited telepathy to learn what they fear the most. Add in advanced hand-to-hand combat training she learned from Bronze Tiger and Shiva, and Gypsy is a very formidable hero.

5) Huntress (Helena Bertinelli)

Huntress joined the Birds of Prey in issue #57 (2003), and Oracle made her a full-time agent in Birds of Prey #68. This made her the third overall member of the team, as before this, it was only Oracle and Black Canary. When Black Canary left the team in issue #99, Huntress took her place as the main field commander for the team, which would expand dramatically two issues later.

Huntress has no superhuman powers, but she is an expert martial artist and has more experience in hand-to-hand combat than anyone on the team, other than three of the members ranked higher than her. She was trained in Sicily and then later by Richard Dragon, and she is a master of kung fu, muay thai, boxing, and karate. She also uses a crossbow, and she has expert-level marksmanship. While she doesn’t have superpowers like Misfit or Gypsy, she outranks both of them in pure in-combat experience, one of DC’s deadliest fighters.

4) Oracle (Barbara Gordon)

Oracle is the former Batgirl, and she had no powers and was confined to working out of a wheelchair. However, Barbara Gordon’s power levels have nothing to do with superpowered abilities or fighting skills. Oracle is one of the most powerful members of the Birds of Prey, and one of Gotham City’s most powerful characters in general, because of her skills behind a computer, her tactical brilliance, and her ability to find a weakness in any known villain.

While Black Canary and later Huntress were the field agents, Oracle was the brains behind the operation and the Birds of Prey’s real leader. She possesses a genius-level intellect, photographic memory, graduate training in library sciences, and the ability to penetrate the CIA, FBI, NSA, and Interpol networks. She is so skilled that she is also the primary information broker for the Justice League. She can still fight when needed from her wheelchair, showing she still has Batgirl’s tenacity and skill.

3) Black Canary (Dinah Lance)

Black Canary was one of two founders of the Birds of Prey. While Oracle worked behind-the-scenes and called the shots, Black Canary was the field operative and did all the fighting on the streets. This is Dinah Lance, and she made her debut in the one-shot Birds of Prey comic that was later turned into a full series. She remained with the team before leaving it in Birds of Prey #99 (2006), although she returned four years later.

Black Canary is one of the most skilled fighters on the team, but unlike Huntress, she has superpowers as well. Her metahuman power is the Canary Cry, a sonic scream that DC describes as capable of destroying a building, rendering a person unconscious, or killing in its rawest form. While Oracle is the most powerful when it comes to tactical planning, Black Canary has always been superior in the field, even when Barbara was still Batgirl.

2) Lady Shiva

Lady Shiva is one of the deadliest fighters in DC Comics, and few heroes or villains come close to matching her skills. After a storyline where she helped train Cassandra Cain, Shiva seemingly died, but survived thanks to a Lazarus pit. This then led to her joining the Birds of Prey, but in a devious manner. She switched places with Black Canary because Dinah hoped it could possibly soften Shiva somewhat and help her find a more heroic outlook.

She went by the name of the Jade Canary during this time, and Oracle took her in, although she believed that Shiva was sociopathic. As for her power levels, there isn’t a person on the team, especially in the first 10 members, who was as deadly a fighter as Shiva. Lady Shiva is a master martial artist and has mastered every martial art known to man, including many that have already been forgotten. Prometheus called her the third most skilled fighter alive on Earth.

1) Big Barda

Big Barda is another Birds of Prey member who joined in Birds of Prey #100. This was a huge member to join the team, and the most powerful in this new batch of heroes, which included Manhunter, Judomaster, and Misfit. What makes her so powerful is that she is not human, and is instead a New God of Apokolips.

Big Barda possesses enhanced strength, speed, agility, and stamina at Wonder Woman’s class. DC explicitly lists her as one of the strongest women in the DCU. She uses the Mega-Rod, an Apokoliptian weapon that fires concussive bolts, manipulates gravity, and can boom-tube teleport her and others across vast distances. As a literal New God and someone who is in Wonder Woman’s strength tier, there is no one on the team who can match her in a fight. Her Mega-Rod can also level mountains, showing she has a fallback if she does start to get overwhelmed in battle.

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