52 Catch Up is a series devoted to looking at issues from DC’s New 52 and seeing how they’re faring now that they’re underway, why they’re worth reading (or not), and places we hope they will go in time.

Concept:

 
Huntress travels to Italy to stop a sex trafficking ring but learns there’s a lot more at stake.

SPOILERS BELOW

Previously on Huntress: Covering the entire miniseries, Issues #1-#6

Helena arrives in Napels, Italy, and targets the sex trafficking operations of an Italian gangster named Moretti.  She discovers he is smuggling not just girls, but guns and drugs into the country.  She stops several shipments, saving the girls and blowing up the drugs and guns she finds.  While conducting her investigation, she learns that Moretti’s goods are coming from the nation Kufra and its corrupt Chairman Hassan.  A bit of espionage reveals that Hassan has made these deals because he is being driven out of his country and is seeking asylum in Italy, and Moretti has enough law enforcement and government officials in his pocket to make it happen.

Ironing out the deal before his father’s arrival is Ibn Hassan.  While having a meeting with Moretti, Ibn Hassan’s bodyguard, the Lion of Kufra, discovers Helena spying on them and attacks.  The fight ends in a draw, but the Lion manages to prevent her from tailing Moretti and Ibn Hassan.  A bit of information gathering leads Helena to Moretti’s boat anyway, where she takes out his guards and leaves Moretti at the hands of the women he abused.  Shortly after Chairman Hassan arrives in the country, Huntress breaks into Amalfi fortress where he is being kept, taking out cops and guards alike, including the Lion.  She then kills Hassan to end his corrupt dealings.

Ibn Hassan places a billion Euro bounty on her head.  Helena breaks into yet another fortress to see him, just to prove that she can get to him at any time, any where.  She strikes a deal with him that he will donate 2 Billion Euros to women’s shelters if no one manages to catch her for a year.  Once back in the States, the authorities immediately try to grab her.  She is backed into a corner when Supergirl arrives and flies her out of harm’s way.

High Points

Italy: Setting the series in Italy was a nice nod to Huntress’ heritage as a Bertinelli.  It was also refreshing to have a story set outside the United States.  The Italian culture and locales vary the standard look of superhero settings quite a bit, even if the problems are the same.

Helena Superspy: Huntress is reminiscent of some of the espionage missions from Birds of Prey. Helena relies a lot more on intelligence and trickery to avoid a fight, rather than a straight out brawl (though she does well in those circumstances, too).

Low Points

Another Damn Fortress: Seriously, if Helena talked about breaking into another “fortress,” I was going to start rooting for the goons to catch her.  Overall, that has to be the biggest letdown of the miniseries is the repetition.  It could have made a solid 2-3 issue run on its own but there wasn’t enough to fill 6 issues.

Two-Dimensional Characters: I would have liked to have seen more of Helena.  There was enough of an emphasis on the bad guys that all readers learn of Helena is that she trying to help people and likes sweets.  It would have been nice for her to be a more well-rounded character, as she was in the hands of Gail Simone.  Likewise, the reporters Allesandro and Christina were completely unnecessary.  The help and friendship they offered to Helena never felt genuine because of how little they were present in the series.

Looking Ahead

Billion Euro Bounty: Helena’s decision to play with Ibn Hassan and leave the bounty on her head is bound to cause issues.  When she returns in World’s Finest, it’ll be interesting to see how the rest of the team deals with Helena’s wanted status.

Birds of Prey?: Since Barbara Gordon and Black Canary are back with the team, it’s inevitable that Helena will make an appearance at some point.  It’d be nice to have the trio of strong women back together again and the chance for a Batgirl/Huntress team-up is pretty tempting, too.

Moral Lines: Where does the DCnU Huntress stand on the not kill rule imposed by many heroes?  She goes out her way to use a variety of crossbow bolts to subdue enemies but then leaves them to their death sometimes.  She is never shown killing someone on panel but the situation with Hassan strongly implied she pulled the trigger on him herself.