Birds of Prey: Trouble in Mind

{{DC Database:Storyline Template
 * Title                  = Trouble in Mind
 * Image                  = Birds of Prey Trouble in Mind.jpg
 * ImageText              =
 * OfficialName           = Trouble in Mind
 * Aliases                =


 * Universe               = Prime Earth
 * Locations              = Gotham City


 * Heroes                 = Batgirl, Black Canary, Katana, Poison Ivy, Starling
 * Villains               = Choke, Cleaners, Trevor Cahill
 * Others                 =


 * Origin                 =
 * Titles                 = Birds of Prey
 * Collected              = Birds of Prey: Trouble in Mind
 * Creators               = Duane Swierczynski; Jesus Saiz; Javier Pina
 * First                  = Birds of Prey Vol 3 #1
 * Last                   = Birds of Prey Vol 3 #7


 * HistoryText            = Trouble in Mind is a Birds of Prey storyline published as part of The New 52. Following the timeline reboot in Flashpoint, it establishes the team's continuity in the DCnU. Their entire history is erased, and this story presents a new origin for them. It's the debut arc of Duane Swierczynski and Jesus Saiz on their Birds of Prey volume. It leads directly into the Night of the Owls crossover and is followed by the storyline Your Kiss Might Kill.

Synopsis
Black Canary and her friend Starling form a black-ops team called the Birds of Prey while they're running from the law, with Starling on government watch-lists and Canary wanted for a murder she didn't commit. Barbara Gordon is asked to join the team as Batgirl, but declines and suggests Katana instead. They track down a Gotham Gazette reporter named Charlie Keen who's been investigating them, in the hopes of finding his informant. This leads to a massive shoot-out against assassins known as the Cleaners in a church, although Keen later spontaneously explodes while they're putting him onto a secure plane. Katana joins the team, although they believe she is mentally unstable because she takes advice from her sword. Their investigation of Keen's death leads them to an experimental drug research facility at the suggestion of scientist Trevor Cahill, where they're ambushed by a group of Cleaners again. They slaughter these men and take one alive for questioning. Poison Ivy arrives to announce that she has accepted Canary's invitation to the team. Ivy is reluctantly accepted and interrogates their prisoner, although he blows himself up after revealing their hideout. It's explained that the Cleaners are agents of a man named Choke using a drug to trigger explosives in minds of his targets, activated by a nursery rhyme. The Birds realize that the next target are a judge and his aide, although their train-mounted rescue operation fails when Canary is revealed to have been infected. They determine that the drug is not just used to kill people, but also enables mind control and surveillance. Batgirl agrees to help the team for such a wide-scale mission, and they infiltrate the Cleaners' Gotham City headquarters. After being greeted by Choke's telepathic voice in their minds, they wake up outside with their memories erased. Batgirl is missing, and the Birds struggle to account for this time-skip. They meet together again when Canary figures out that the Cleaners are helpless sleeper agents, although Batgirl still does not remember their last team-up. Starling is tricked into attending the wrong meeting place, where she is shot at on sight by a group of mercenaries. They begin drawing Cleaners into the open and deactivating them with the help of Cahill, forcing Choke to launch a massive attack and reveal himself. Trevor Cahill is revealed to have been Choke all along, and they take him to a room for private interrogation after defeating his agents. His telepathic hold on the group is too strong for them to resist, so Katana neatly decapitates him. The team goes home rattled, and Black Canary finally reconnects with Batgirl as her friend. Katana anxiously calls Canary and reveals that Cahill was not the real Choke, having received this message from her husband's spirit inside her sword.


 * Issues                 =


 * Vehicles               =
 * Items                  =
 * Weapons                =
 * Soultaker Sword

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 * Notes                  =
 * Pandora makes a cameo appearance to witness the events of this storyline, as she does all #1 issues published as part of The New 52. She can be seen standing outside when Charlie Keen watches Black Canary meet Barbara Gordon. This is directly following her first appearance in the pages of Flashpoint.
 * Trivia                 =
 * RecommendedReading     =
 * Links                  =
 * Trouble in Mind review by Rab Townsend