northern_mint's review
1.0
The plot is incomprehensible. Helena Bertinelli is trying to get revenge on the mafia members who killed her family. Helena several times early on in her crusade makes a very public display of what she intends to do and yet the people who witness this decide they're more scared of this 18-year-old nobody than the entire Italian Mafia and choose to say nothing. It's totally absurd.
There's a huge feminist angle but falls flat on its face. Why is it a laughable attempt at feminism? Let's start with the incredibly skin-tight costume that has seemingly no armor and giant heels. From there we can move to how Helena falls in love with a guy she'll be the first to admit that she knows nothing about other than he's hot, spoiled, uncontrolled, ignorant and his dad is a rapist. Now I'm not saying uncontrolled means the son is definitely a rapist like his father, just you would think all that would give her pause, but no, she's head over heels. And lastly, we get to the terrible scene where Helena is explaining in Italian how the words for actress and heroine in Italian are sexist. The scene ends with her friend who she's debating calling her the greatest hunter ever. She corrects him by saying she's a huntress. Is it supposed to be funny that she doesn’t care about feminism and it’s just a prop to her?
I could continue ranting about all the nonsense that happens in this story but there'd be no point.
The art also sucks. Many times characters will look like caricatures of themselves that a boardwalk artist has drawn.
There's a huge feminist angle but falls flat on its face. Why is it a laughable attempt at feminism? Let's start with the incredibly skin-tight costume that has seemingly no armor and giant heels. From there we can move to how Helena falls in love with a guy she'll be the first to admit that she knows nothing about other than he's hot, spoiled, uncontrolled, ignorant and his dad is a rapist. Now I'm not saying uncontrolled means the son is definitely a rapist like his father, just you would think all that would give her pause, but no, she's head over heels. And lastly, we get to the terrible scene where Helena is explaining in Italian how the words for actress and heroine in Italian are sexist. The scene ends with her friend who she's debating calling her the greatest hunter ever. She corrects him by saying she's a huntress. Is it supposed to be funny that she doesn’t care about feminism and it’s just a prop to her?
I could continue ranting about all the nonsense that happens in this story but there'd be no point.
The art also sucks. Many times characters will look like caricatures of themselves that a boardwalk artist has drawn.
dumblydore's review
3.0
The Huntress is one of my favourite characters out of the er, "very extended" Bat family. She's evolved very much since her first appearance on Earth-2 as Bruce Wayne and Selina Kyle's daughter. Sometimes I find that regrettable, as I like Helena Wayne too.
Now the only living member of the Bertinelli family, Helena witnessed the cold-blooded slaughter of her parents and brother by a hitman when she was a child, and she has been burning to avenge their deaths ever since.
I thought [b:Cry for Blood|107081|Batman & Huntress|Greg Rucka|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1171569207s/107081.jpg|103212] was excellent in giving us a brief background into Helena's origins in the underworld, but Madison's take on it is perhaps grittier and more energetic. Certainly she makes Helena's mafia connections complex and explores the internal struggle for familial loyalty and personal aspirations.
Huntress' first encounter with Batman is a turning point in the narrative. Clearly there is a great deal of antagonism between the two vigilantes, both with their own agenda in serving justice. Batgirl and Catwoman also make appearances, the latter especially acting as a kind of buffer between Huntress and Batman.
Now the only living member of the Bertinelli family, Helena witnessed the cold-blooded slaughter of her parents and brother by a hitman when she was a child, and she has been burning to avenge their deaths ever since.
I thought [b:Cry for Blood|107081|Batman & Huntress|Greg Rucka|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1171569207s/107081.jpg|103212] was excellent in giving us a brief background into Helena's origins in the underworld, but Madison's take on it is perhaps grittier and more energetic. Certainly she makes Helena's mafia connections complex and explores the internal struggle for familial loyalty and personal aspirations.
Huntress' first encounter with Batman is a turning point in the narrative. Clearly there is a great deal of antagonism between the two vigilantes, both with their own agenda in serving justice. Batgirl and Catwoman also make appearances, the latter especially acting as a kind of buffer between Huntress and Batman.
erutane's review
2.0
I couldn't decide between two or three stars at first. It had its good moments- the religious themes were interesting and the Huntress' journey of vengeance was not a bad read. But then there are moments where she expresses repetitive feminist sentiments to the point of sounding like a broken record. There's also an out-of-place romance thrown into mix and a muddled web of mafia nonsense.
birdmanseven's review
3.0
Huntress can be a good side character, but whenever she becomes the focus I find myself waiting for some member of the Bat family to show up and take back the spotlight. This was fine, but a little melodramatic.
We talk about Huntress and the Birds of Prey in general on a special episode of the All the Books Show: https://soundcloud.com/allthebooks/episode-234-birds-of-prey
We talk about Huntress and the Birds of Prey in general on a special episode of the All the Books Show: https://soundcloud.com/allthebooks/episode-234-birds-of-prey
captwinghead's review
4.0
I was often confused about the timeline of this book but I still enjoyed it. Helena is one of my favorite characters and her origin as Huntress was awesome to see.
It was more violent than I expected but, considering her backstory, it needed to be. I can totally see how a film about her would work. She is a very strong, independent character and she has many layers. Her motives here are understandable, even if I found her methods brutal.
All in all, this was a cool introduction to a character I love in Birds of Prey.
It was more violent than I expected but, considering her backstory, it needed to be. I can totally see how a film about her would work. She is a very strong, independent character and she has many layers. Her motives here are understandable, even if I found her methods brutal.
All in all, this was a cool introduction to a character I love in Birds of Prey.
enriquedcf's review
4.0
I love underused characters and Huntress must be one of the more underused characters in the extended Bat-Family. Year One does a pretty good job at establishing her origin and showing us how different she is from the rest of Batman's partners.
The art is pretty good, the themes are used in an interesting way and the overall plot is more progressive that I would have expected from a 10 year old comic. Though by the end the mafia plot gets too convoluted, it is still a great origin story for Helena and makes me wish she wasn't as second tier as she has been kept for a while.
The art is pretty good, the themes are used in an interesting way and the overall plot is more progressive that I would have expected from a 10 year old comic. Though by the end the mafia plot gets too convoluted, it is still a great origin story for Helena and makes me wish she wasn't as second tier as she has been kept for a while.
wensa's review
5.0
I have to admit to being skeptical when I picked this one up. I love Huntress, she is one of my favorites. The fact that she is the offspring of Catwoman (who is my number 1 favorite) and Batman has always been a great back story, in my humble opinion. Hearing that Huntress was getting a revamping of her backstory worried me a bit. She is no longer of the Kyle/Wayne clan but is now the daugter of the mob. Her family is killed in front of her at a young age (sound familiar?) and she is sent to live with a family of assassins who raise her as their own. From this a need for vengence forms. I was pleasantly surprised at the new life that has been breathed into the character without changing any of the attributes that I love. Huntress remains one of my favorites.
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