Siskoid welcomes Ashford Wright of the Feathers and Foes Birds of Prey Podcast to talk about the Prestige-format Birds of Prey: Batgirl/Catwoman (2003), a story that takes Barbara Gordon back to her early career as a cowled crusader and her first team-up with the Jo Duffy/Jim Balent Catwoman! Come with us to Gotham, a few years before the current day…
Listen to the Team-Up below, or subscribe to FW Team-Up on iTunes!
Relevant images and further credits at: FW Team-Up Supplemental
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I had no idea this book existed, which is odd, because I followed BoP from the beginning way up into the 2000s. I was always a sucker for flashback Batgirl stories as well. Hmmm….
Val Lewton? Someone is a fan of classic horror/suspense films of the 40s!
Ashford definitely deserves a nomination for The Howard Simpson Award for Most Enthusiastic Synopsis Reading by a Podcast Guest at the next STEAM Awards!
Chris
I didn’t pick that up despite having watched all his old RKO horror films last October!
Let’s get Ashford that Steamer. I’m pushing for it! (cough)
I was waiting for you to mention it. Funnily enough, Final Destination also had a character named Valerie Lewton.
Still on films, wasn’t Selina said to be based not on Rita Hayworth, but Hedy Lamar?
I don’t remember this micro-series either, it must have been marketed very poorly. The Cat and the Bat in Batman Confidential, though, was wonderful.
I thought you were going to talk about the overtly titillating Maguire run.
Did score a mention, but that doesn’t actually count as a team-up as per the show’s rules.
You know, I find it very interesting that whenever someone mentions Batgirl on Batman 66 they always mention how they didn’t know that she was in the episode until her motorcycle drove across the screen. Has everyone forgotten the fact that she swings in on a bat-rope and kicks a goon in the face? That was always my indication that it was a Batgirl episode.
True. And how long did it take folks to realize Batgirl is on her prototype Batgirl-Cycle when she rides by in animated form? It’s the much cooler, less goofy, non-lacy version seen in the original Batgirl presentation reel where she helps the Dynamic Duo against the very-twitchy Killer Moth!
Yeah, it doesn’t even have the same color scheme. Not to mention it looks like she’s running a stop sign. Who just bolts out of a side street when there’s a car coming?
Oh, that’s right, the bicyclists in my town. 😉
You’re thinking of pre-Crisis Batman ’66. We were strictly speaking of post-Zero Hour, since that’s when the comic came out. 😉
I guess Chris and I must both be from Earth Two, since we can remember that.
Another great podcast episode! Ashford did a great job making the review extra special with his energetic delivery. He’s becoming a breakout pod-guest. Sort of like the Fonzie to your Ritchie. Can he become a regular 2nd host?
If you like our dynamic (and Doctor Who), I urge you to check out Straight Outta Gallifrey where I’m on about half the episodes with him.
I enjoyed the show, guys. I think I must be older than all of y’all. Like you, I first discovered Batgirl, and superheroes in general, via reruns of the Batman TV series. My love of the show led me into comics, and I started buying them (well, ok, my mom bought them for me) in the fall of 1976. Batman Family 9 was one of my earliest comics, so I grew up with Barbara as Batgirl and that is how I prefer her. Even though that was during my “girls are icky” period, Batgirl always had a spot in Batman Family and then Detective through a lot of my youth. In fact, Batgirl was still in Detective when I started to like girls, and I think my disdain for Green Arrow started when he “stole” her back-up spot. (Just kidding there. I really didn’t like him even before that.)
As for the issue, I was always glad to see a flashback that showed Barbara in costume. I really wasn’t that crazy about this issue, though, because Catwoman seemed to outwit Barbara at every turn and we didn’t get a fun back-and-forth between the two. Really, a lot of the Batgirl flashbacks weren’t entertaining for me, because DC seemed to try to make her look bad as Batgirl so modern readers would think Barbara was cooler as Oracle.
Well Oracle was hella cool, regardless of Batgirl’s characterization.
I think we’re probably around the same age. I started reading comics in ’74 as well, but it was French Eurocomics. I could only get into Americans proper when I got an allowance, which was around 1982. Ashford is a bit younger, but we both watched Batman 66 as kids.