Birds of Prey #24 Page 6 by Butch Guice

RIP Mr. Guice (1961-2025). I love Mr. Guice's art on the classic Birds of Prey series. Across 17 or so issues, he brought a grounded, exciting, and sexy sensibility to the Mission Impossible-style plots and whipcrack dialogue of the Chuck Dixon run.

This issue was part of a brilliantly written three-parter that involved a journey to Gorilla City to find a replacement heart for the ailing crime boss Blockbuster. Barbara Gordon/Oracle and Black Canary get into all kinds of trouble, including a run-in with Deathstroke.

I love the way Guice, in his realistic style, portrayed the super-intelligent gorillas. You buy every panel, every expression. None of it feels "hokey." There's menace here. And the inkwork harkens back to the best of the classic 20th century newspaper strip artists. Guice was one of those artists who, despite having a more "realistic" style, never drew anything in a static way. His art has a classic feel and retains the kinesis needed for great comic book art. His Birds of Prey issues are among my favorites.