Story: "Birds of Prey" (38 Pages)

Credits:

Chuck Dixon (plot, script)
Greg Land (pencils)
Drew Geraci (inks)
Albert De Guzman (letters)
Gloria Vasquez (colors)
Android Images (color separations)
Jordan B. Gorfinkel (edits)

Feature Characters:

Black Canary II
Oracle (next in DCU Holiday Bash #2/8, then in Nightwing Vol. 2 #16, then in Nightwing Vol. 2 #18, then in Nightwing/Huntress #3, then in Batman: Shadow of the Bat #73, then in Batman #553, then in Batman: Blackgate - Isle of Men #1, then in Batman: Shadow of the Bat #74, then in Nightwing Vol. 2 #20, then in Detective Comics #721, then in Robin Vol. 2 #53, then in JLA: Secret Files #2/1, then in JLA #18-#19)

Supporting Character:

Shotgun Smith

Villains:

Spellbinder II (last in Detective Comics #692)
Blockbuster II

Other Character:

Chambers (first appearance; a police deputy)

Synopsis:

The Birds of Prey go swinging into action against the Mad Hatter, the team consisting of Black Canary and...Batgirl (?!). He has a scheme to release Arkham Asylum's deadliest villains, so the Birds head there, only to arrive too late, so that Batgirl is captured and threatened by the Joker. Black Canary reappears, and insists that the pair get in touch with Batman, asking how to find him. Batgirl gives her the information, and the scene dissolves, Barbara Gordon is now once again her usual self, and Black Canary turns into Spellbinder. This was all an illusion.

Spellbinder races off to the location 'Batgirl' gave her, and of course finds nothing there, and returns seeking revenge, only to be trounced by Barbara, who knows that the villainess is powerless if she cannot see her victim. She then begins to get slightly anxious, for someone obviously suspects that she is Oracle (and that someone is Blockbuster).