Black Canary Appreciation Thread 2023

[Stanlos]

It seems to me that in the Batcraze of the 80s, all of Black Canary's legendary martial arts prowess got dropped. I remember being so happy when Gail had Dinah level up but looking at these old Denny Oneill books, even that is nowhere near what she was. Now the way Giffen and DeMatteis portrayed her makes sense. At that skill level, what WOULD she fear?

[MajorHoy]

It seems to me that in the Batcraze of the 80s, all of Black Canary's legendary martial arts prowess got dropped. I remember being so happy when Gail had Dinah level up but looking at these old Denny Oneill books, even that is nowhere near what she was. Now the way Giffen and DeMatteis portrayed her makes sense. At that skill level, what WOULD she fear?

Don't forget, around mid-1983, who "Black Canary" was changed drastically. She went from being an experienced crime fighter operating since the late 1940s to suddenly being the daughter of that same character. And Dinah Laurel's previous experiences also changed between pre-CoIE and post-CoIE. So some of that may have been reflected in how writers handled the character.

[Laser_Man]

Elias Chatzoudis art.

Attachment 135490

This is really bad. Presenting Dinah not as a genuine superhero, but as a piece of meat for the fans to drool over.

[John Venus]

I feel that O'Neill/Adams often did a good job showing her as a fighter.

I think Sarah Bym's 'New Wings' mini and the Dixon's BOP deserves credit for showing her as a top notch fighter. I still remember the scene where she takes out Cheshire and multiple fighters while underwater while Oracle talks about how dangerous they are. As good as a writer/artist that Mike Grell, his handling of BC in the title really did a number on her character.

The OG Canary was a detective first and a fighter second. She pretended to be a florist who solved her husbands cases and swooped in to save the day as the Black Canary. Then later when she left JSA to join the JLA and later the GA books, the focus shifted more and more towards her fighting ability. When the Canary on the JLA was finally made an entirely separate character who was the daughter of the original Canary, the fighter aspect become more and more pronounced to the point where other characters did the thinking while she did the hitting and was too dumb to even work on computers.

I wouldn't mind seeing a story where mother and daughter Canary teamed up and where we see the mother being a detective while the daughter was the fighter.

Canary is a rich character but lately it's just 'GA's hot girlfriend who punches real good'. Where are her uncles and aunts in the JSA? The mother/daughter relationship? Her own villains like Bonfire?

[Frontier]

I feel that O'Neill/Adams often did a good job showing her as a fighter.

I think Sarah Bym's 'New Wings' mini and the Dixon's BOP deserves credit for showing her as a top notch fighter. I still remember the scene where she takes out Cheshire and multiple fighters while underwater while Oracle talks about how dangerous they are. As good as a writer/artist that Mike Grell, his handling of BC in the title really did a number on her character.

The OG Canary was a detective first and a fighter second. She pretended to be a florist who solved her husbands cases and swooped in to save the day as the Black Canary. Then later when she left JSA to join the JLA and later the GA books, the focus shifted more and more towards her fighting ability. When the Canary on the JLA was finally made an entirely separate character who was the daughter of the original Canary, the fighter aspect become more and more pronounced to the point where other characters did the thinking while she did the hitting and was too dumb to even work on computers.

I wouldn't mind seeing a story where mother and daughter Canary teamed up and where we see the mother being a detective while the daughter was the fighter.

Canary is a rich character but lately it's just 'GA's hot girlfriend who punches real good'. Where are her uncles and aunts in the JSA? The mother/daughter relationship? Her own villains like Bonfire?

Well, she did just have a new legacy character, Red Canary, debut and she's headlining the new BoP.

[MajorHoy]

Canary is a rich character but lately it's just 'GA's hot girlfriend who punches real good'. Where are her uncles and aunts in the JSA? The mother/daughter relationship?

I don't know if DC is doing anything about restoring a "mother/daughter relationship" when it comes to the Canaries.
Can anybody cite a post-DC Universe: Rebirth (2016) story that definitely negates Dinah's New52 origin story (Orphan Trained In Dojo/member of Team 7)?

[Stanlos]

Don't forget, around mid-1983, who "Black Canary" was changed drastically. She went from being an experienced crime fighter operating since the late 1940s to suddenly being the daughter of that same character. And Dinah Laurel's previous experiences also changed between pre-CoIE and post-CoIE. So some of that may have been reflected in how writers handled the character.

Hmmmm! Did both versions of the Canary date Green Arrows? That description I was thinking about was in one of the GA GL teamups. Her and Katana have been woefully underserved.

[MajorHoy]

Hmmmm! Did both versions of the Canary date Green Arrows?

Now that's a tricky question.
Originally, Green Arrow dated the Golden Age Black Canary in the 1970s/very early 1980s.
But when it was retconned in 1983 that there was a daughter, and that the daughter was the one who had been the Black Canary who joined the Justice League, that meant Green Arrow had only dated the daughter (who had thought she was the original Black Canary and had ALL of the original Black Canary's memories).

[MajorHoy]

from Flash Comics #87 (September 1947)

[Will Evans]

Now that's a tricky question.
Originally, Green Arrow dated the Golden Age Black Canary in the 1970s/very early 1980s.
But when it was retconned in 1983 that there was a daughter, and that the daughter was the one who had been the Black Canary who joined the Justice League, that meant Green Arrow had only dated the daughter (who had thought she was the original Black Canary and had ALL of the original Black Canary's memories).

Yes because of course young Dinah had memories of boinking her own father.
At least this retcon only lasted 2 years. No one benefitted from Crisis on Infinite Earths more than Dinah, for gaining a simplified origin.

[MajorHoy]

Yes because of course young Dinah had memories of boinking her own father.
At least this retcon only lasted 2 years. No one benefitted from Crisis on Infinite Earths more than Dinah, for gaining a simplified origin.

Unfortunately, while they needed to have a reason why daughter Dinah had appeared to have all the thoughts / memories of her mother during that period between 1969 and 1983, I guess it never crossed anybody's mind at DC about that effect.
In hindsight, it would have been cleaner to wait until after CoIE to introduce the two Canaries concept, but back when they first started planning the introduction of daughter Dinah, how many people at DC knew just what would happen in the near future?
Hell, it seems like Roy was still in the dark about a bunch of things based on what he wrote in the stories for All-Star Squadron.

[Frontier]

from Flash Comics #87 (September 1947)

Ha ha! Oh Johnny .

[MajorHoy]

from the story "The Canary is a Bird of Prey"
in DC Special Series #10 ([April] 1978)

[Frontier]

from the story "The Canary is a Bird of Prey"
in DC Special Series #10 ([April] 1978)

And it became her team name .

[j9ac9k]

I feel that O'Neill/Adams often did a good job showing her as a fighter.

I'm not sure if they started this, but I liked that she was depicted as a master specifically of jiu jitsu, which is how she was able to take on men much larger than her. (using their size and strength against them)