DC Reveals New Birds of Prey Roster

The pages of DC Comics have made way for some pretty epic teams over the years, ranging from massive ensembles like the Justice League and the Legion of Super-Heroes to smaller ensembles. The Birds of Prey have become a significant cornerstone among them, with a largely-female-fronted ensemble of DC heroes and antiheroes. Over the years, the Birds of Prey have hosted some unexpected lineups — and this week’s Batman: Urban Legends #14 introduced one of the most unique yet. Spoilers for the Birds of Prey story in Batman: Urban Legends #14, from Che Grayson, Serg Acuna, Ivan Plascencia, and Josh Reed below! Only look if you want to know!

The story sees Lady Shiva assembling a new ensemble of characters, in hopes of them all joining forces to track down a metahuman with dangerous abilities. Over the course of the story, that team begins to take shape — first, there’s Katana, who initially believes that Shiva’s mission is at the behest of Batman. Ghost, the new vigilante who debuted within the pages of Legends of the Dark Knight, also answers the call to join the team, followed by Miracle Molly, the cyberpunk-inspired vigilante who Shiva helped break out of prison.

Shiva explains the mission to the team — particularly, helping track down Noah Grove, an escaped Arkham Asylum detainee who was the ability to weaponize other people’s memories. Miracle Molly operates as the tech wizard of the team, Ghost gathers information on the street, and Katana is brought on as Shiva’s backup. Interestingly, the team do not call themselves the “Birds of Prey” at all over the course of the story, which ends on a cliffhanger of them tracking down Noah Grove.

This proves to be a unique foundation to build the Birds of Prey on, especially as it’s the first time any version of the team have come together since the beginning of the Infinite Frontier publishing initiative. That initiative established that the vast majority of DC characters remembered their experiences in past timelines, which would feasibly mean that Shiva and Katana, both of whom were past members of the Birds, would have some memory of being on the team, something that was teased in Infinite Frontier #0. Shiva first teamed up with Black Canary and the Birds across an arc in Gail Simone’s Birds of Prey run, and eventually joined the team during the “One Year Later” storyline, after she and Dinah swapped status quos and mantles. Katana, meanwhile, joined the Birds of Prey early on in the New 52. With several more installments left to go in this new Birds of Prey story arc, it will be interesting to see how the team further establishes itself, and whether or not it pays homage to the previous incarnations of the team.

What do you think of DC’s newest Birds of Prey team? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!