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Birds of Prey? Do tell...
- Thread starter Mark
- Start date
Chun-tzu
First Post
mastermind said:
I am pretty sure DC Comics never had a comic called "Birds of Prey" before the current series. The parallel universe you are thinking of was the universe of "Earth-2" which was meant to cover the continuity of DC's golden age super-heroes. Since several golden age super-heroes were completely revamped into newer versions (e.g., Green Lantern, Flash, the Atom...), DC gave them separate universes to keep the continuities intact.
Earth-2 was the birthplace of the original Huntress, who was the daughter of Batman and a reformed Catwoman (as has already been mentioned above).
Don't think of this series as an adaption, because it's only loosely based on the Birds of Prey comic. The Birds of Prey comic is like any other non-super powered butt-kicking super-hero comic, with a focus on action and some good character development. The comic had much more globe-trotting than the show will. And the Huntress (a dark hero) is quite different from the comic Black Canary (former member of the Justice League).
Viking Bastard
Adventurer
I dunno, I've never read the thing.
I just know it existed.
I just know it existed.
Viking Bastard
Adventurer
No. But it might have been named something else.
It was in the old JSA universe. Batman was dead and his daughter had taken over the family business as Huntress. She, Batgirl (non-wheelchair-bound Barbara Gordon) and some third chick (I'm not sure if it's really that Dinah character or not) were a crime-fighting team in Gotham.
When I first read about that show being made over a year ago, they made referances to that comic.
It was in the old JSA universe. Batman was dead and his daughter had taken over the family business as Huntress. She, Batgirl (non-wheelchair-bound Barbara Gordon) and some third chick (I'm not sure if it's really that Dinah character or not) were a crime-fighting team in Gotham.
When I first read about that show being made over a year ago, they made referances to that comic.
Chun-tzu
First Post
mastermind said:
This sounds like a case of mainsteam media reporting inaccuracies because they didn't bother to check their facts. It happens all the time in stuff like this, because they figure, who cares, it's just a stupid comic book (or something along those lines). For one thing, there was no Batgirl on Earth-2; the Huntress was their version of Batgirl. Batgirl and the Huntress never teamed-up in any comic series, because they lived in different universes. The Huntress mostly hung out with Power Girl, who was Earth-2's Supergirl.
To straighten things out for anyone who's confused, the new series Birds of Prey is loosely based on the Birds of Prey comic by DC Comics. It takes one of the two main characters, Oracle, formerly known as Batgirl. The other character, an adult Black Canary with sonic powers, has essentially been replaced with a version of the Huntress.
The Huntress was first created in the Silver Age as the daughter of Batman and Catwoman. Like her parents, she had no powers, but she relied on bat-weapons and a crossbow. She was a member of the Justice Society of America, and later Infinity, Inc., and also appeared in JSA stories in Adventure comics. The creator of the TV show liked this character, and adapted her to the TV show, giving her Buffy/Dark Angel super powers instead of weapons. The Huntress still exists in the current DC Universe, but she is not the daughter of Batman and Catwoman (and she still has no super-powers in the comics).
Really, truly, the TV show takes nothing from the comics except some character concepts, and the name. It has some superficial similarities to the Birds of Prey comic, but that's it. Some might call this almost completely original, which others would say it's a total bastardization. It's leaning heavily on the Batman connection to try to get enough viewers to build an audience.
Villano
First Post
It's deja vu all over again...
Yeah, that does happen a lot. I remember when Frank Miller did that Sin City toy of the character in the electric chair. It was a bit controversial (at least on slow news days), and made some mainstream press.
A story aired on the local tv news, and the "reporter" talked about how the toy was based on the comic, Sim City, and got Frank Miller's name totally wrong.
Anyway, news of Birds Of Prey being made into a tv series (which I won't be able to watch since I have Direct TV, which doesn't carry WB or UPN, thank you very much), reminded me of a story from a few years back.
I read an article about The Flash (which aired on CBS back in '89 or '90) in which one of the people involved in the series talked about how The Flash almost wasn't made. It seems CBS was considering doing a different series which would follow the adventures of the children of today's superheroes in the far off year 2000 (I love when the far future is now the past. I was sorely disappointed when we didn't get those pet gorillas in 1990 that were promised in Conquest Of The Planet Of The Apes, btw
).
One character was the daughter of Batman and Catwoman. Obviously, in the comics, this was Huntress, but I think CBS was debating calling her "Batgirl" (the first Batman movie had just come out and they may have wanted to push the Batman connection).
Another one was the daughter of The Flash.
I'm not certain who the other two were. I think one was a new Green Arrow (the son or daughter of GA and Black Canary) and the last was something really weird. I'm pretty sure they went with someone from the Legion Of Super-Heroes (which is set in the 30th century). IIRC, it was a very, very strange choice, like Blok (a 7 foot tall stone alien). And, no, I have no idea how they would have worked that out.
Eventually, CBS passed on this in favor of The Flash due to the cost.
I do wonder how that series would have played out, though. It could have either been great or a total train wreck (when you have an "out there" concept, there really isn't a middle ground). If the same people from The Flash had been involved in the production, I think it could have been a great series
Anyway, I just thought it was weird that there was almost another series with a Huntress/Black Canary connection.
Chun-tzu said:
Yeah, that does happen a lot. I remember when Frank Miller did that Sin City toy of the character in the electric chair. It was a bit controversial (at least on slow news days), and made some mainstream press.
A story aired on the local tv news, and the "reporter" talked about how the toy was based on the comic, Sim City, and got Frank Miller's name totally wrong.
Anyway, news of Birds Of Prey being made into a tv series (which I won't be able to watch since I have Direct TV, which doesn't carry WB or UPN, thank you very much), reminded me of a story from a few years back.
I read an article about The Flash (which aired on CBS back in '89 or '90) in which one of the people involved in the series talked about how The Flash almost wasn't made. It seems CBS was considering doing a different series which would follow the adventures of the children of today's superheroes in the far off year 2000 (I love when the far future is now the past. I was sorely disappointed when we didn't get those pet gorillas in 1990 that were promised in Conquest Of The Planet Of The Apes, btw
).One character was the daughter of Batman and Catwoman. Obviously, in the comics, this was Huntress, but I think CBS was debating calling her "Batgirl" (the first Batman movie had just come out and they may have wanted to push the Batman connection).
Another one was the daughter of The Flash.
I'm not certain who the other two were. I think one was a new Green Arrow (the son or daughter of GA and Black Canary) and the last was something really weird. I'm pretty sure they went with someone from the Legion Of Super-Heroes (which is set in the 30th century). IIRC, it was a very, very strange choice, like Blok (a 7 foot tall stone alien). And, no, I have no idea how they would have worked that out.
Eventually, CBS passed on this in favor of The Flash due to the cost.
I do wonder how that series would have played out, though. It could have either been great or a total train wreck (when you have an "out there" concept, there really isn't a middle ground). If the same people from The Flash had been involved in the production, I think it could have been a great series
Anyway, I just thought it was weird that there was almost another series with a Huntress/Black Canary connection.
Klaus
First Post
Just to make it clear, there IS a Black Canary in the Birds of Prey TV series, but instead of being a 34-ish martial artist with sonic scream, it's a teenager girl-lost-in-big-city with precognition powers.
In the comics, Oracle (Barbara Gordon, former Batgirl) is much closer to Black Canary than to the Huntress (martial artist daughter of a mafia don). Sometimes she also emplyed Power Girl (superstrong/invulnerable/flying descendant of the Atlantean wizard Arion).
In the TV series, Oracle (Barbara Gordon, former Batgirl) is trying to train Huntress (superstrong/super-agile daughter of Batman and Catwoman) into being a hero like Batman (no killing and all). She takes under her wing (no pun intended) a young precog who comes to be called Black Canary.
The pre-1986 Huntress (daughter of the Golden Age Batman and Catwoman) was erased from existence along with the Golden Age Robin (who was then in his forties) in the mega-series Crisis on Infinite Earths. For continuity purposes, she never existed. The Modern Age Huntress is Helena Bertinelli, a slightly-bloodthirsty daughter of a mafia don who fights crime in ways that Batman isn't too keen about. At one time she tried to win his trust by secretly becoming a new Batgirl, but she botched that. She also botched her chance at the Justice League by trying to murder super-smart psycho Prometheus (who was already defeated).
In the comics, Oracle (Barbara Gordon, former Batgirl) is much closer to Black Canary than to the Huntress (martial artist daughter of a mafia don). Sometimes she also emplyed Power Girl (superstrong/invulnerable/flying descendant of the Atlantean wizard Arion).
In the TV series, Oracle (Barbara Gordon, former Batgirl) is trying to train Huntress (superstrong/super-agile daughter of Batman and Catwoman) into being a hero like Batman (no killing and all). She takes under her wing (no pun intended) a young precog who comes to be called Black Canary.
The pre-1986 Huntress (daughter of the Golden Age Batman and Catwoman) was erased from existence along with the Golden Age Robin (who was then in his forties) in the mega-series Crisis on Infinite Earths. For continuity purposes, she never existed. The Modern Age Huntress is Helena Bertinelli, a slightly-bloodthirsty daughter of a mafia don who fights crime in ways that Batman isn't too keen about. At one time she tried to win his trust by secretly becoming a new Batgirl, but she botched that. She also botched her chance at the Justice League by trying to murder super-smart psycho Prometheus (who was already defeated).
