REVIEW: 'Batgirl And The Birds Of Prey' #9 by Julie Benson, Shawna Benson and Roge Antonio

★★★★☆ (4/5)

I've been praising 'Batgirl and the Birds of Prey' since the start and even when it's not perfect you won't find a more entertaining comic than this. With that said, Shawna and Julie Benson take Dinah undercover at Roulette's fight club and while tracking the mysterious Blackbird, Black Canary discovers something new about herself.

It's a very Black Canary-centric issue which is fine by me because she kicks major ass, especially in the fighting and training scenes. Roge Antonio lays out some very fluid fight sequences that accentuate Canary's strength and skill even without using her powers. This leads to some flashbacks of her youth as an orphan that develops this iteration of Black Canary and the tough upbringing she had. 

Canary's undercover work exposes the exploitation of "metas" to benefit Blackbird's own end. In the process, Canary realizes a power she didn't know she was capable of and just adds to her arsenal of talents. Meanwhile, Batgirl and the Huntress appear briefly and are on the search for Gemini. Two special superhero guests make an appearance that should delight fans and lead into the next issue. 

Even though the plotting might seem familiar, some of the Bensons strengths are dialogue and action which makes Black Canary, Batgirl, and the Huntress endlessly charming but tough. Having an issue virtually dedicated to Black Canary just reminds me how great her solo book was and miss. However, the awesome women on the page and those writing it still give me my money's worth. 

'Batgirl and the Birds of Prey' give way for Black Canary's undercover work which results in a hard-hitting and sneaky clandestine adventure with much more promised to come. It's the perfect set-up going forward and it's not to be missed.