rashthedoctor's review against another edition
4.0
The events of this book are set sometime after "No Man's land" . No men's land was a fantastic story arc in many senses and it led to alienation of Huntress, who was never really a part of the Bat- family anyways , she after all was a killer and Batman used her to lure joker and further alienate her away from the family .
Talking of family, that's what this book is essentially about , the mafia family , that rules Gotham in the shadows of Batman , and Huntress 's family.
This book deals with a proper origin story for Huntress and plays out a mafia story in the viens of "The Godfather " in fact there are quite a few similar scenes in the two , this is garnished with a murder mystery that sees Huntress trying to clear her name from the murder .
The involvement of Batman is very minimal in this book , making this a pure Huntress book , and honestly with a clean , crisp art and the mafia storyline, it was definitely the best Huntress book I ever read , and i feel its an essential read for all bat-fans.
Quick edit : the only reason i dont give it a 5 star rating , is because at points the dialogues were way too corny , the involvement of 'The Question' felt unjustified and the book was marketed as a Batman/Huntress collab , where it barely featured Batman , so i felt cheated in that respect.
Another tiny edit : the comixology version i bought was so lagging when i flipped the pages . Ugh .
Talking of family, that's what this book is essentially about , the mafia family , that rules Gotham in the shadows of Batman , and Huntress 's family.
This book deals with a proper origin story for Huntress and plays out a mafia story in the viens of "The Godfather " in fact there are quite a few similar scenes in the two , this is garnished with a murder mystery that sees Huntress trying to clear her name from the murder .
The involvement of Batman is very minimal in this book , making this a pure Huntress book , and honestly with a clean , crisp art and the mafia storyline, it was definitely the best Huntress book I ever read , and i feel its an essential read for all bat-fans.
Quick edit : the only reason i dont give it a 5 star rating , is because at points the dialogues were way too corny , the involvement of 'The Question' felt unjustified and the book was marketed as a Batman/Huntress collab , where it barely featured Batman , so i felt cheated in that respect.
Another tiny edit : the comixology version i bought was so lagging when i flipped the pages . Ugh .
lberestecki's review
adventurous
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
haileeawrites's review
adventurous
emotional
lighthearted
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
rejena's review against another edition
5.0
One of the best female centric titles I've read all year.
bloodykanary's review against another edition
5.0
J’ai tout simplement adoré. C’est mon coup de cœur de la semaine au milieu de tout ce que j’ai lu. Cette mini-série retrace les origines et les débuts d’Helena Bertinelli dans le costume de Huntress. Que vous dire.
À l’image d’Helena, c’est violent sans être vraiment très sombre, et féministe. On ressent et on voit l’indépendance du personnage, que ce soit dans ses actes ou dans l’écriture. J’ai aussi trouvé bien que sa religion ne soit pas laissée de côté et soit vraiment intégrée à ce qu’elle est sans qu’il y ait spécifiquement une intrigue sur « comment concilier sa foi et le fait qu’elle tue » qui n’aurait pas tout à fait lieu d’être, si tôt dans sa vie. De la même façon, les éléments de culture italienne qui l’ont construite sont bien amenés. Même si c’est possiblement « la culture italienne pour les nuls », on s’en fiche parce que ça a du sens dans l’histoire et/ou la découverte d’Helena. On n’a pas cette sensation de « name-dropping » d’éléments italiens qu’on peut ressentir avec d’autres comics.
La bonne caractérisation de Batman et de Catwoman est d’autant plus agréable qu’ils ont un impact sur Helena et sa finalisation du personnage de Huntress. J’ai trouvé parfaite l’existence de ce lien de « parenté héroïque » avec cette version de Huntress.
Si Huntress vous intéresse ne serait-ce qu’un peu, ça me semble un must-read.
À l’image d’Helena, c’est violent sans être vraiment très sombre, et féministe. On ressent et on voit l’indépendance du personnage, que ce soit dans ses actes ou dans l’écriture. J’ai aussi trouvé bien que sa religion ne soit pas laissée de côté et soit vraiment intégrée à ce qu’elle est sans qu’il y ait spécifiquement une intrigue sur « comment concilier sa foi et le fait qu’elle tue » qui n’aurait pas tout à fait lieu d’être, si tôt dans sa vie. De la même façon, les éléments de culture italienne qui l’ont construite sont bien amenés. Même si c’est possiblement « la culture italienne pour les nuls », on s’en fiche parce que ça a du sens dans l’histoire et/ou la découverte d’Helena. On n’a pas cette sensation de « name-dropping » d’éléments italiens qu’on peut ressentir avec d’autres comics.
La bonne caractérisation de Batman et de Catwoman est d’autant plus agréable qu’ils ont un impact sur Helena et sa finalisation du personnage de Huntress. J’ai trouvé parfaite l’existence de ce lien de « parenté héroïque » avec cette version de Huntress.
Si Huntress vous intéresse ne serait-ce qu’un peu, ça me semble un must-read.
megankb's review against another edition
4.0
Helena Bertinelli, let me count the ways I love you.
Greg Rucka nearly hits out of the park with this one. While it isn't even close to my favorite of his DC books, this mini-series is almost single-handedly responsible for turning me from a Huntress-doubter to a big, big fan. While at its most basic story level, the mafia murder mystery isn't that interesting, Rucka is doing far more than that. The story is about Helena discovering who she really is, not just in finding out who her biological father really is, but in learning what she would do to avenge her family and to help herself. Her relationship with guest star Vic Sage, aka The Question, is the highlight of the series and very sentimental knowing how close she'll become with his successor, Renee Montoya. I loved the gradual unfolding of Helena's origin story and seeing her interact with the members of the Gotham Mafia as her civilian identity. Rick Burchett's art is fine here - it especially shines in each of the dramatic opening pages and the backstory sequences - but the action scenes feel stiff and boring. Tatjana Wood's color palette excellently captures the mood of the story. Overall, while this isn't the most original story ever, it holds a special place in my heart for all it did for Helena's character.
northern_mint's review against another edition
2.0
I read this as a standalone and my review will be written from that point of view.
This is the third story I have read by Rucka and the third story to have a tough-as-nails but emotionally disturbed female detective as its protagonist. I guess he has a comfort zone that he doesn't like to stray from.
This story focuses on the Huntress finally getting to the bottom of the mystery surrounding her origin namely the murder of her parents. As such it acts as both an origin story and the pinnacle arc of the character. This story was retold by Ivory Madison in Huntress: Year One. And I can say confidently that while neither story is perfect Cry For Blood is the far superior book. Though they both fail when it viewing the stories through a feminist lens. You might expect from a character like Huntress that this would be a story of female empowerment. It is not. Men are constantly solving her problems throughout this story. I would say this is the most disappointing part of the story. If you're looking for female empowerment, I would probably pick a different character, but if it has to be Huntress go read Crossbow at the Crossroads.
One of the men constantly solving her problems is Batman. Rucka portrays Batman as a holier than thou brat who's bad at his job. So if you're not okay with the character assassination of Batman or his Bat-Family I would suggest you stay far away from this.
The other man who's always inserting himself into Huntress's life is The Question. The real issue with The Question is the problem he comes to solve isn't convincingly portrayed in this comic. And so as a standalone it fails in that respect.
The story has quite a bit of filler but does tell a compelling and coherent story with an exciting beginning and conclusion.
2.5 stars
This is the third story I have read by Rucka and the third story to have a tough-as-nails but emotionally disturbed female detective as its protagonist. I guess he has a comfort zone that he doesn't like to stray from.
This story focuses on the Huntress finally getting to the bottom of the mystery surrounding her origin namely the murder of her parents. As such it acts as both an origin story and the pinnacle arc of the character. This story was retold by Ivory Madison in Huntress: Year One. And I can say confidently that while neither story is perfect Cry For Blood is the far superior book. Though they both fail when it viewing the stories through a feminist lens. You might expect from a character like Huntress that this would be a story of female empowerment. It is not. Men are constantly solving her problems throughout this story. I would say this is the most disappointing part of the story. If you're looking for female empowerment, I would probably pick a different character, but if it has to be Huntress go read Crossbow at the Crossroads.
One of the men constantly solving her problems is Batman. Rucka portrays Batman as a holier than thou brat who's bad at his job. So if you're not okay with the character assassination of Batman or his Bat-Family I would suggest you stay far away from this.
The other man who's always inserting himself into Huntress's life is The Question. The real issue with The Question is the problem he comes to solve isn't convincingly portrayed in this comic.
Spoiler
He comes to solve Huntress's reckless thirst for blood but we really aren't shown a Huntress who is reckless or bloodthirsty.The story has quite a bit of filler but does tell a compelling and coherent story with an exciting beginning and conclusion.
2.5 stars
dumblydore's review against another edition
5.0
EDIT 18/10/09—YAY I MET RUCKA TODAY AND IT WAS EFFING AWESOME! *COUGH* That is all.
I loved this since Rucka really explores Helena's past (although I do lament the Earth-2 version of her) as a child within an underworld family, the effect of witnessing her parents' and brother's death, and the consequences of such relations years later. The twist at the end is rather satisfying. However, the ironic thing is Batman isn't really involved in this plot so much as Question (made more appealing to me by the reminder of his fantastic cross-medium counterpart in Justice League Unlimited), who seems to understand Helena a lot more than most others care to. It's too bad things don't work out in the end.
I loved this since Rucka really explores Helena's past (although I do lament the Earth-2 version of her) as a child within an underworld family, the effect of witnessing her parents' and brother's death, and the consequences of such relations years later. The twist at the end is rather satisfying. However, the ironic thing is Batman isn't really involved in this plot so much as Question (made more appealing to me by the reminder of his fantastic cross-medium counterpart in Justice League Unlimited), who seems to understand Helena a lot more than most others care to. It's too bad things don't work out in the end.
ladylunabee's review against another edition
5.0
She was probably my least favorite from the movie, but this comic collection was on point. Absolutely enjoyed!