The CW's "Crisis on Infinite Earths" may have come to an end months ago, but there stories spinning out of the massive television event that have still yet to be told. As bold and ambitious as the event was, it was still bound by the constraints of the television medium and wasn't able to delve into each of the infinite universes on hand. While various popular versions of characters were given a chance to stand in the spotlight, others were relegated to brief cameo appearances.
The 2002 Birds of Prey series, was one such series, sidelined and only briefly shown for a brief moment. However, one group of fans and creators, Matt Truex, EV Cantada and Nikki Powers, took matters into their own hands and created a fan comic giving the word of the short-lived series a more proper send-off.
The Birds of Prey series aired on The WB for one season in 2002. Based in a world where Batman has abandoned Gotham, the show followed the adventures of the eponymous team, which includes of Huntress, Black Canary, and Oracle as they fought to protect Gotham while dealing with the trauma of their pasts. The show followed its own continuity, drawing inspiration from many different sources while still striking out new territory and exploring new stories for the DC property. While the show was very procedural in its villain of the week format, Harley Quinn appeared featured as the recurring antagonist of the series and played a long psychological game with Huntress throughout the series' run.
By and large, the series was poorly critically received and garnered low ratings that led to the show's cancellation after just one season. However, the cult series -- namely Ashley Scott's Huntress, briefly appeared in the Arrowverse's "Crisis" event, only for the destruction of this universe and the deaths of this iteration of the Birds of Prey to be shown in a few fleeting moments.
To give that series and its world a more proper send-off, these fans created a Crisis fan comic set in the Birds of Prey continuity. The comic, Birds of Prey: Crisis on Earth-203, follows the characters 20 years after the end of the original series and opens with them experiencing the early effects of the Anti-Monitor's meddling. The story builds as the Crisis further wreaks havoc on the Birds of Prey's universe and ultimately reaches it's climax by recreating the brief sequence seen in Crisis.
Featuring new character designs for Huntress and Black Canary, these creators brought the supposed evolution of this universe to fruition, and they introduced a fan-favorite DC character into the show's world. Additionally, this comic offers a more fitting farewell to characters who were erased in a split-second death scene.
As Truex wrote in his introduction to the comic, "Seeing that quick 47 seconds of footage for the first time was a mix of nostalgic thrills and heartbreak that I still can’t articulate months later. So rather than processing those feelings like a normal nerd, I wrote this. My love letter to the show, the creators, the characters, and the fans."
Fan comics like this one have origins that go back decades, and -- in addition to bringing headcanons to life -- these types of projects tell the stories that official works can't, for one reason or another. With a compelling script and impressive artwork, the fan comic delivers on the infinite tragedies only suggested by "Crisis on Infinite Earths," which was ultimately constrained by its running time, budget and the logistics of a live-action production. Although the world of Birds of Prey may be gone, projects like this are a testament to how alive it still is in the minds of its fans.
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