Writer: Greg RuckaPlot: Schoolteacher Helena Bertinelli finds herself in Canada, where her role is reversed, as she becomes a student who receives a life-changing lesson, courtesy of Vic Sage and Richard Dragon.
After two back-to-back high-energy tales, Rucka slows things down a bit. Comics aren't all about fight scenes, folks; character development is arguably more important, and as Helena herself learned, she's gotta take a breather once in a while. Though a bit reluctant at first, she calms down enough to allow one of the top martial artists in the DCU to teach her how to live, instead of how to prevent herself from dying.
Just when you think she's about to bite the Question's faceless head off, she relents, realizing she's got nowhere else to go; these are people who want to help her. Vic genuinely seems to care about Helena, and Richard suggests that she might be Vic's polar opposite, one that he must come to terms with and can't live without.
Through Babs and Tim's detective work, we establish that Helena is presently 23 years old. A bit younger than many might've suspected, but retcons tend to do that.
The two-page tai chi splash of Richard and his new student is the nexus of Helena's lesson. It operates as an eye-opener, to teach Helena how she's been using her energy and emotion to work against her, allowing her memory to cloud her judgment. This scene is also a lesson to the reader, illustrating the necessity to slow down and appreciate life. So slow down and appreciate this comic book, because it's a remarkable piece of storytelling.
Helena's lessons do not end there. While Richard's fixing some good eats on page 17, another parallel between Helena and Bruce evolves, one that's becoming more apparent in the Bat-books as the months go by.
Just as there are three sides to Bruce Wayne - the foppish playboy, the no-nonsense vigilante, and the true man serving as the median between the two - so too, is there a triumvirate of identities that make up Helena Bertinelli. The first is the eight year-old girl, robbed of her childhood and her entire family, who cries out for vengeance, without listening to or caring about whoever gets in her way. The second identity is the embodiment of that spirit, the Huntress - the living avenger. And Helena finds herself caught in between, wanting to run away from the cries for blood, but knowing that it's her familial duty to achieve vengeance.
Schoolteachers have lives, too, as the Question realizes, and it's a great move on Rucka's part to have Vic take care of Helena's everyday worries in Gotham while she's away.
Though I'm delighted that Cry For Blood #3 takes place in Canada, I'd like to point out the first panel on page 21, with the Red Deer, Alberta sign. We went metric a long while back in the Great White North, folks, and that means we don't measure distances in miles anymore.
At the start of this mini-series, Helena had kilometres to go, as far as her character went, and after this issue, now that her path has been redirected, we could be seeing a slightly less temperamental Huntress in the coming months.
