Huntress Year One review
I like the Year One and Origin comics because they let me get to know a character that I might not be familiar with. Since they literally start from the beginning there’s no need for prior knowledge. So Huntress Year One sounded great. I was pretty excited about the cover – an angry woman with a crossbow. But you know what they say about judging a book by its cover….*sigh*
What I found inside was a cliched mess. Little Helena Rose Bertinelli watches as her family is murdered. Of course, she is inexplicably left alive, I think we are supposed to assume it’s because she’s a little girl. But still, sloppy work assassins. Helena’s family isn’t just any Gotham family; her father was the Don of Gotham. Helena is sent to live and hide out with a family in Sicily where she dreams of revenge. Naturally.
What follows is the story of a woman bent on revenge and falling in love and losing that love and we’ve seen it all before. The artwork is flat, failing to convey any kind of emotion besides anger. Luckily, Helena is angry a lot. The dialogue is stilted, full of conversations like this:
Huntress: Everyone thinks they’re the good guy.
Batgirl: Sometimes there really are good guys.
Huntress: You settle for being good. I’m going to be the best.
There’s also the issue of feminism which, like Helena’s “take it when it works” approach to faith, is constantly brought up. Yet, it’s hard to get into girl power when all the women are caricatures. Helena’s cousin is crabby and petty and jealous. Well, of course, she is – she’s fat! You can tell Helena is “feisty” cause she is rude – I mean, speaks her mind. Batgirl is good, we know this because she’s bubbly and tries to make friends. Catwoman on the other hand is dark and edgy, just look at her cigarette.
I’m not quite sure what the point of this was. To remake the character, (who has apparently had several incantations)? To explain why in later Birds of Prey the Huntress hints at being a lesbian? Cause you know, nothing will turn you gay like the guy you love turning into a jerk over something you (sort of) did. It’s that easy ladies!!!
In conclusion: cool cover, weak delivery.
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