Polite Dissent

Birds of Prey #80 “Hero Hunters, finale: The Cold Light of Day”
Gail Simone, writer
Ed Benes, art

I’ve been waiting for this particular issue of Birds of Prey for several months.

Why?

Because of the opening surgery scene.

Several months ago Gail Simone e-mailed asking for a little advice on an appropriate injury for Thorn and some suggestions for good operating room chatter. I was happy to oblige and provided her with a few suggestions and pointers. (As it happens, Gail is one of my favorite writers, but I would probably provide any writer with assistance – even ones I dislike – in the interest of good medicine.)

In all honesty, it’s an excellent operating room scene. The dialogue is convincing and the medicine is sound. The extent of the injury is suggested without hitting the reader over the head with it. Of course, it could be that I’m not entirely objective here.

Still, it’s an well done scene, and I’m glad others have noticed.

(In the interest of fairness, I could make a few nit-picks, but they’re art related. I haven’t seen an artist yet who can portray sterile technique correctly (though Benes is better than most). I blame ER, they can never get it right on that show either. Surgical patients, particularly trauma patient, have their clothing removed (hmmm…Birds of Prey: Girls Gone Wild! Dibs!) Also, patients are not just put to sleep but also paralyzed for the duration of surgery. Because of this, a mask doesn’t provide enough air and they need to be intubated (a breathing tube placed down their trachea) to breathe.)

Finally, did anyone else notice that with Rose now short-haired and blonde, we’ve returned to the status-quo (hair related, at least) of the original 1970s Rose and Thorn?