(I originally read these comics in mid-late September 2016)
It's hard to imagine a time now when the Huntress wasn't closely interwoven with DC's Bat-titles. However, that's the case in this series by Joey Cavalieri and Joe Staton, which reinvents the character in DC's Post-Crisis universe. No longer is she Helena Wayne, offspring of the Earth-2 Batman and Catwoman; instead she's Helena Bertinelli, daughter of a New York mafia don.
Her origin is recounted in the first issue as her family is targeted for assassination, with Helena being the sole survivor. Unlike real life where she'd spend years in therapy and as is the way with comics, this event prompts her to don a cape 'n' crossbow and seek vigilante justice. The first arc, up to issue # 6, has Helena avenging her family's murders. The second, from issues 7-12, has Helena come into possession of her dead father's ledger and it ending up in the hands of a Hannibal Lecter-like serial killer who then makes Helena his target. In subsequent issues, Helena finally gets around to visiting that psychotherapist while a new mob boss muscles in on her territory and her heroics spawn an imitator. Presumably as a last-ditch attempt to increase sales, Batman shows up in issues 17-19 as a drug dealer from Gotham unites warring New York street gangs and a casualty of the wars takes explosive revenge. Unfortunately cut short, the series' loose ends are satisfactorily tied up in 1991's Justice League International Special # 2.
This is a highly readable series of post-Miller crime stories and, based on it, writer Joey Cavalieri should be better known. Penciler Joe Staton turns in consistently fine work, staying just the right side of 'cartoony', his art embellished throughout with a distinctive duo shade look by inker Bob Smith that helps convey the gritty tone.
