Black Canary
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Black Canary is a DC Comics superheroine character. Created by writer Robert Kanigher and artist Carmine Infantino, the character first appeared in Flash Comics #86 (August 1947). The combination of the Black Canary's sex appeal, accentuated by her trademark fishnet stockings, with her courage, fearlessness, and fighting prowess has resulted in her also being referred to as "The Blonde Bombshell."[[Citing sources citation needed]]
The 1986 maxi-series Crisis on Infinite Earths, which rewrites the history of the DC Universe, splits the character into two separate characters: Dinah Drake Lance, based on the character's Golden Age appearances, and her nearly identical daughter Dinah Laurel Lance, based on the more modern stories. Post-Crisis comics establish Dinah Drake Lance as a florist by day and a vigilante by night who is among the first generation of superheroes and a member of its all-star group the Justice Society of America. Dinah Laurel Lance grew up idolizing the her mother's superhero friends and took her mother’s mantle as a young adult, founding the Justice League and conducting espionage, counter-terrorism, and rescue missions with a group of female vigilantes. Dinah Laurel is also a longtime partner/romantic interest of Green Arrow and is further distinguished from her mother in that she possesses an earsplitting "canary cry."
Dinah Lance appears briefly in the television adaptations of Birds of Prey, and the Black Canary appears in a number of episodes of Justice League.
Golden and Silver Age history
Black Canary first appeared in Flash Comics #86 in 1947, as a character who initially interacted with (and eventually replaced in the comic) Johnny Thunder. Initially, she appeared to be a villainess; Johnny was instantly infatuated with her and was reproached for this by his Thunderbolt. In her secret identity, Dinah Drake was a black-haired florist whose romantic interest was Larry Lance. Her costume covered her hair with a blonde wig besides her trademark mesh stockings (it could be suggested that what she wore was not really fishnets but rather blue leggings with a black fishnet pattern), pirate boots, bathing-suit like garment, and her jacket, which is never buttoned. Initially, she also wore a variant of a domino mask.In Secret Origins #50, it was revealed that Dinah had been trained by her father, Detective Richard Drake, and intended to follow in his footsteps on the Gotham City police department. She was turned down by the force however and her disillusioned father died of heart failure shortly thereafter. Dinah was determined to honor his memory and fight crime and corruption by whatever method possible. This led to her debut as a costumed vigilante.
As the Black Canary, she frequently infiltrated criminal gangs to destroy them from within and it was in this capacity that she met Johnny Thunder. Black Canary soon joined the Justice Society of America as a heroine, not as a mole, but ceased being published along with the rest of the team by the early 1950s.
Black Canary was revived along with the other Golden Age characters during the 1960s, and was shown as existing on the parallel world of Earth-Two (the home of DC's Golden Age versions of its characters). It was also revealed that Dinah had married Larry Lance sometime during the 1950s. Dinah also took part in various annual team-ups between the Justice Society and Earth-One's Justice League of America.
In a 1969 JLA-JSA team-up against the rogue living star-creature Aquarius, Larry Lance was killed while trying to save Dinah's life from an attack. Out of grief, Black Canary decided to leave Earth-Two and move to Earth-One to create a fresh start. The Black Canary also joined the Justice League. Sometime afterwards, she began dating her JLA colleague Green Arrow, and discovered that she had somehow gained a powerful supersonic scream, eventually named the Canary Cry.
In Justice League of America #219 and #220, it was revealed (via a retcon) that Black Canary was actually the daughter of the original Black Canary. Sometime during the 1950s, Dinah and her husband Larry had had a child. The infant developed a canary cry (given to her by the Justice Society foe the Wizard) which proved uncontrollable and devastating. Dinah asked her old friend Johnny Thunder to summon his Thunderbolt in hopes of a cure but it was to no avail. The Thunderbolt kept the child in suspended animation (but aging all the while) in his native Thunderbolt dimension. It was the Lances' hope that a cure could be found for the child's power, or at least a way to control it. Seeing his friends in pain, the Thunderbolt decided to erase all knowledge from the three that he had done this, letting them think that the child had died somehow. He felt that this would be for the best. After the battle with Aquarius, Dinah realized she was dying from the radiation she was exposed to during the battle with the star creature. She discussed possible solutions with the Thunderbolt and Superman of Earth-1. The three arranged to transfer Dinah's memories into the body of her now-adult daughter, still held in suspended animation, while not letting Dinah believe anything unusual had happened to her. This retcon was written to deal with the fact that Dinah was originally much older than her romantic counterpart, Green Arrow, as well as the rest of the Justice League characters.
Modern Age history
As an adjustment to the retcon revealed in Justice League of America #219-220, and as a result of the 1985 miniseries Crisis on Infinite Earths, Black Canary post-Crisis became two completely separate characters, Dinah Drake Lance and Dinah Laurel Lance.In post-Crisis continuity, the elder Dinah married her beau, private eye Larry Lance. In a Times Past-style story in Birds of Prey, Lance was an acquaintance of Jim Gordon, father to Barbara Gordon. A few years later, their daughter, named Dinah Laurel Lance, was born. Growing up, Dinah was surrounded by her mother's friends in the disbanded JSA and looked to them as uncles and aunts. Dinah wished to become a costumed heroine like her mother before her. Instead of encouraging the younger Dinah, her mother forbade it, thinking the world had grown into a darker, more dangerous place than when she herself fought crime. Dinah, however, was born with something her mother never had: a high pitched, ultrasonic scream that could shatter objects. It was discovered that Dinah was born with a metagene, and it was speculated that it might be a side effect of all the mystical energies the original Black Canary had been exposed to in the JSA for years.
With this weapon of sorts, the younger Dinah next sought out numerous fighters to help her hone her skills, including former JSA member Wildcat. Years of training and intense dedication paid off, and Dinah took on her mother's mantle, even though it was against the elder Dinah's wishes at first. Dinah's metagene power was dubbed her "Canary Cry". She took an active role in the 'Silver Age' of heroes, operating, like her mother before her, out of Gotham.
In an early issue of Birds of Prey, writer Chuck Dixon established that Dinah had married at a very young age briefly before divorcing. Her ex-husband showed up in a storyline needing her help. This early marriage and ex-husband has never been referred to again.
-->The second Black Canary was a founding member of the post-Crisis Justice League (retroactively replacing Wonder Woman in all Silver Age appearances with the team). Shortly into the League's history she met Green Arrow (Oliver Queen). While Dinah couldn't stand him at first, they later became involved despite an obvious age difference. Dinah remained part of the League for roughly six years before it was dissolved. It was during that time her mother died as a result of radiation poisoning, a result of a battle years earlier with the villain Aquarius. This affected her deeply and led to her accepting her time in the JLA was over.
She moved to Seattle with Green Arrow after the breakup of the Justice League. During this period, Black Canary took part in a failed operation to bust a drug ring. Kidnapped, Black Canary was tortured and sexually assaulted before being rescued by Green Arrow. The effects of this experience, both physical and mental, were severe. Dinah suffered not only the loss of her Canary Cry, but also her ability to have children, and required counselling before being able to engage in any form of sexual behavior again. She persevered nontheless, keeping a fairly active presence as a crime-fighter, while running "Sherwood Florist", a flower shop. Eventually, she and Green Arrow parted ways due to a romantic indiscretion on Green Arrow's part. Green Arrow attempted to renew their romance after his resurrection during Kevin Smith's run on the title, but Dinah remains single.
For some time after leaving Green Arrow, Black Canary felt as though she lacked a true sense of focus and purpose. This led to her being asked by Oracle (Barbara Gordon) to become an operative of sorts for her. Black Canary took to this role with great satisfaction, although in the beginning there were a number of disagreements between the two. On one adventure, Black Canary was seriously wounded and then was immersed in a Lazarus Pit. This revitalized her metahuman power, restoring her Canary Cry as well as her ability to have children that had been impaired several years earlier.
For a brief period of time Black Canary was a member of the newest incarnation of the JSA. In fact, she is one of the few heroes in the DC Universe to hold memberships in both the JSA and the JLA.
Working with Oracle, Black Canary cultivated a covert team of female operatives in the series Birds of Prey whose members include Huntress, Gypsy, and Zinda Blake, the original Lady Blackhawk.
Since they were both trained by the same sensei, Black Canary has fostered a friendship of sorts with Lady Shiva. Shiva, impressed by Black Canary's formidable martial arts prowess, offered to provide her with further training. Black Canary turned down the offer, thinking it would compromise her morality. Still, they kept an ongoing correspondence, with Shiva conveying recommendations to assist Canary in honing her skills.
In comics, Black Canary had her own four issue mini series titled "New Wings" as well as a twelve issue ongoing series, both written by Sarah Byam.
Infinite Crisis
The events of the Infinite Crisis led to a re-creation of Earth with a new timeline. After the Crisis, Alexander Luthor, Jr. reveals that Wonder Woman is once more a founding member of the Justice League; what this means for Black Canary's founding member status has yet to be explained.During the publication of the Infinite Crisis limited series, the majority of DC Universe comic books skipped forward one year in their narratives. Following the "One Year Later" jump, Dinah trades life experiences with Lady Shiva in hopes of softening the warrior, undertaking a harsh training regimen in an unidentified Vietnamese bidonville. The regimen replicates Shiva's early life and training; Shiva, meanwhile, assumes Dinah's role in Oracle's group and demands that her associates call her the "Jade Canary". When Dinah realizes that following Lady Shiva's path will require her to fundamentally change who she is as a person, she ends the training and returns to the United States. She brings with her a little girl, Sin, who also had begun the harsh grooming process to be Lady Shiva's successor. Dinah hopes to balance her duties as a superhero with the responsibilities of being a surrogate mother to the child.
Elseworlds and Alternate Versions
In , Black Canary leads the Outsiders. She forms the team after Oliver Queen is crippled at the hands of Amazo. However, they break up after Queen admits to feeling like the team's mascot. It is also revealed that in a prior battle Canary's sonic scream, coupled with Black Lightning's blasts, vapourised Brainiac.In the DC Elseworlds comic Kingdom Come, Black Canary sides with Batman and acts as one of his generals. In this future world, Dinah and Oliver Queen have a daughter, Olivia Queen, who possesses her father's archery skills and her mother's sonic canary cry.
In All-Star Batman and Robin #3, written by Frank Miller and drawn by Jim Lee, the Black Canary's name is derived from the seedy bar she works in; the clothes she wears while tending the bar comprise her costume. The male patrons of the bar relentlessly harrass her verbally. Deciding that she has finally had enough, Black Canary beats up all of the male patrons in the bar. When her boss asks her what got into her, she simply replies "Batman," and then leaves the scene on a motorcycle stolen from one of the men she has just battered.
Amalgam Comics
In the Amalgam Comics title JLX #1, Black Canary and Mockingbird are merged together as Canary.Black Canary in Other Media
In 1979, the character appeared in two television specials Legends of the Superheroes, where she was portrayed by Danuta Wesley.
A modified version of Dinah Laurel Lance, named Carolyn Lance made an appearance on the 2002 WB television series Birds of Prey, where she was played by Lori Loughlin. The character was depicted as a former member of the team and the mother of Dinah Redmond Lance, a teenager with psychic abilities who has been taken in by Oracle/Barbara Gordon. This version of Black Canary appears to be killed off at the end of the episode, though the writers left her fate ambiguous in order to allow a possible return later. When Birds of Prey was first announced, the producers indicated that the teenaged Dinah Redmond Lance would be a retconned Black Canary, but outcry from fans led to the character being modified. In fact, the character was repeatedly modified with changes in name, history, and powers as writers struggled to define her.
On the Justice League episode Legends, the League team up with the Justice Guild of America in an alternate universe. JGA member Black Siren is based on the Golden Age Black Canary, Dinah Drake. The JGA Black Siren's name is given as Donna Vance on her tombstone.
On the animated series Justice League Unlimited, Black Canary is voiced by Morena Baccarin. She is first seen in a small cameo at the end of "Initiation", where her looks are enough to convince Green Arrow to stay in the League. However, her traditional costume is animated sans fishnets, because when the animators switched to CGI, constraints were found in the technological abilities of the animation of fishnets (which is why animated Zatanna does not have her trademark fishnets either). Later, in The Cat and the Canary, we are truly introduced to her as a fearsome physical fighter (as well as sporting her sonic cry). She is vexed because her old mentor, Wildcat, has been obsessively engaging in underground fighting tournaments, and she convinces Arrow to help her find him and get him out of there. The two start a relationship after that as seen in "Double Date", thereby paying homage to their famed romance in the comics. In the recent JLU episode, "Grudge Match," she finds herself and several other female members of the League forced to do battle with each other in underground tournaments run by the same promoter (the villain Roulette) who had earlier exploited Wildcat. The final challenge pits the team of Black Canary, Huntress, Vixen and Hawkgirl against Wonder Woman.
She can also be seen briefly at the party Bruce Wayne is attending in the Catch Me short from the Mystery of the Batwoman DVD.
External links
- [Canary Noir]
- [Black Canary JLResource.com entry]
- [JSA member profile]
- [The Black Canary at Toonopedia]
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