Black Canary is the name of two superheroines appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. As one of the earliest female superheroes in the DC Comics universe, the character has made numerous appearances in prominent team-up titles, including the Justice Society of America and Justice League of America. The Black Canary persona has been adopted by two individuals, portrayed as legacy heroes with a mother-daughter relationship between the two. Following DC's New 52 initiative, Black Canary was briefly amalgamated as a single character before the mother-and-daughter dynamic was restored to continuity.
Dinah Drake, the original Black Canary, was created by the writer-artist team of Robert Kanigher and Carmine Infantino, the character debuted in Flash Comics #86 on July 31, 1947 (cover dated August 1947) in the Golden Age of Comic Books. Strong, mysterious, gutsy and romantic, she has been called "the archetype of the new Film Noir era heroine." She is a prominent member of the Justice Society of America and gifted martial artist who engaged in crime-fighting exploits alongside her love interest and eventual husband, Larry Lance, a detective in Gotham City. Their union resulted in the birth of their daughter, Dinah Laurel Lance. In subsequent narratives following the Crisis on Infinite Earths event, her daughter succeeds her mother as the new Black Canary. Dinah Drake is typically depicted as a skilled hand-to-hand combatant without superhuman abilities compared to her daughter and successor.
The second Black Canary, Dinah Laurel Lance, was created by Dennis O'Neil and Dick Dillin, first appearing in Justice League of America #75 (November, 1969). The character is often depicted as the daughter of the original Dinah Drake, possessing metahuman abilities and being highly skilled in martial arts. She is prominently associated with the Justice League, Birds of Prey, and has had a significant relationship with Green Arrow alongside his allies. During Black Canary's brief period as a composite character in the New 52, she was known as Dinah Laurel Lance (née Drake).
Black Canary has been adapted into various media, including direct-to-video animated films, video games, and in live-action and animated television series. Dinah Laurel is portrayed by Rachel Skarsten in the TV series Birds of Prey, as well as in Smallville, portrayed by Alaina Huffman. Several versions appear in the TV show Arrow, with sisters Laurel and Sara Lance being portrayed by Katie Cassidy and Caity Lotz, along with Alex Kingston as their civilian mother Dinah, and Juliana Harkavy as Dinah Drake in later seasons. Dinah Lance made her cinematic debut in the DC Extended Universe film Birds of Prey, portrayed by Jurnee Smollett.
Creation Robert Kanigher and Carmine Infantino created the character in 1947 to be featured in Flash Comics as a supporting character. Appearing first as a clandestine crime-fighter who infiltrates criminal organizations to break them from the inside, the Black Canary was drawn with fishnet stockings and a black leather jacket to connote images of a sexualized yet strong female character. She appeared as a character in a back-up story featuring Johnny Thunder:
According to Amash and Nolen-Weathington (2010), Black Canary is "really" Carmine Infantino's "first character". According to the artist:When Kanigher gave me the script, I said, 'How do you want me to draw her?' He said, 'What's your fantasy of a good-looking girl? That's what I want.' Isn't that a great line? So that's what I did. I made her strong in character and sexy in form. The funny part is that years later, while in Korea on a National Cartoonists trip, I met a dancer who was the exact image of the Black Canary. And I went out with her for three years.Bob didn't ask me for a character sketch [for the Black Canary]. He had a lot of respect for me, I must say that. He always trusted my work... Bob loved my Black Canary design.
Golden Age bibliography During the Golden Age of Comic Books, Dinah Drake's adventures were featured in: Flash Comics #86-88, 90-104 (Aug 1947-Feb 1949) All Star Comics #38-57 (Jan 1948-March 1951) Comic Cavalcade #25 (Feb 1948)
Publication history At her Golden Age debut, the Black Canary was the alter ego of Dinah Drake and participated in crime-fighting adventures with her love interest (and eventual husband), Gotham City detective Larry Lance. Initially, the character was a hand-to-hand fighter without superpowers who often posed as a criminal to infiltrate criminal gangs. She first meets the Justice Society of America in All Star Comics #38 (December 1947-January 1948),Wallace "1940s" in Dolan, p. 57: "In a sign of the character's growing popularity, Black Canary made her first appearance outside of Flash Comics in a feature by writer Robert Kanigher and artist Alex Toth... By the story's end, Black Canary was considered for JSA membership but wouldn't officially join until All Star Comics #41." joining them in All Star Comics #41 (June–July 1948). Black Canary's foes included criminal circus act Carno and His Masked Riders, and the Sacred Order of the Crimson Crystal.
Black Canary was revived with the other Golden Age characters during the 1960s. In these stories, it is retroactively established she lives on the parallel world of Earth-2 (home of DC's Golden Age versions of its characters), in Ireland. Married to Larry Lance since the 1950s, Dinah participates in annual team-ups between the Justice Society and Earth-1's Justice League of America. This period also marks the moment in which the character is given her signature superpower: the "canary cry", a high-powered sonic scream which could shatter objects and incapacitate and even kill powerful foes. When DC Comics adjusted its continuity, the Black Canary was established as two separate entities: mother and daughter, Dinah Drake-Lance and Dinah Laurel Lance. Stories since the Silver Age focused on the younger Black Canary, ascribing her superhuman abilities to a genetic mutation.
Following the universe-altering events of Crisis on Infinite Earths (concluding in March 1986), the Black Canary's history was revised again. The mind-transplant story of 1983 was discarded; in this version of the story, the present-day Black Canary is Dinah Laurel Lance, who inherits the identity from her mother, Dinah Drake-Lance. Although some references (for example, those in James Robinson's Starman series) tried to distinguish between the two Canaries by calling the first "Diana", recent accounts have confirmed Dinah as the mother's given name.
The two Canaries' origin stories were told in full in Secret Origins (vol. 2) #50 (August 1990). In this story, Dinah Drake is trained by her father, detective Richard Drake, intending to follow him on the Gotham City police force. When she is turned down, her disillusioned father dies shortly afterwards. Determined to honor his memory, Dinah fights crime and corruption by any possible means. She becomes a costumed vigilante, using her inheritance to open a flower shop as her day job. Dinah marries her lover, private eye Larry Lance, and several years later their daughter, Dinah Laurel Lance, is born (Birds of Prey #66 (June 2004) would establish that they took the name "Laurel" from a librarian Dinah befriended during a case).
A Black Canary miniseries by writer Greg Weisman and artist Mike Sekowsky was planned in 1984. Although its first issue was pencilled, the project was shelved due to the character's use in writer-artist Mike Grell's high-profile Green Arrow: The Longbow Hunters series. Elements of the project were used in Weisman's short film, DC Showcase: Green Arrow.
The New 52 version and beyond During DC's The New 52 era which began in 2011, Black Canary was portrayed as a single character with a metahuman Canary Cry resulting from government experiments on an alien child named Ditto. This version of Black Canary founded the Birds of Prey on her own, and led the super-team Team 7 alongside her husband Kurt Lance, before later becoming lead singer in a rock band called Black Canary. After five years, DC later began to row back on controversial New 52 continuity changes with its DC Rebirth initiative, with the narrator of Geoff Johns' DC Rebirth #1, Wally West, lamenting, from outside the universe, on how Black Canary and Green Arrow hardly know each other anymore, when they should be husband and wife, as a result of sinister alterations to the timeline. The comic shows the pair briefly meeting, by chance, and then separately staying up at night, contemplating what is missing from their lives. They meet again in Green Arrow Rebirth #1, and instantly hit it off. As part of Rebirth, Black Canary also re-establishes the traditional Birds of Prey line up with Batgirl and Huntress, and also joins the Justice League of America.
Following subsequent continuity-restoring events in Doomsday Clock and Dark Nights: Death Metal, the current Black Canary is re-established as being the daughter of her Golden Age predecessor, fully reversing the controversial New 52 changes and bringing an end to the distinctive New 52 version of the character. The largely erased New 52 versions of the DC heroes were established as residing on Earth-52 in the comic book miniseries Doomsday Clock."Discouraged of Man", Doomsday Clock #12, Geoff Johns, Gary Frank, Brad Anderson, December 18, 2019
During the DC Rebirth era, Black Canary is handpicked by Batman to become a member of the Justice League of America to fight against a group of Extremists along with Vixen, Lobo, Killer Frost, Ray, and Atom.
In the Dawn of DC era, Black Canary leads an all-new team of Birds of Prey. Some of the members are Harley Quinn, Big Barda and Zealot.
In 2024, Black Canary received a solo series, Black Canary: Best of the Best, where she battles Lady Shiva for the title of the world's most skilled martial artist.
Character overview A recurring theme within the Black Canary characters is the striking similarities they possess, both in terms of their personalities and fighting styles, even though they were trained by different masters or had different upbringings.
Reputation Both iterations of Black Canary are recognized as legacy heroes who have achieved renown for their exceptional skills as world-class detectives and martial artists. Despite operating in different time periods, both characters have earned a reputation as being among the best in the world in their respective fields. The martial arts skills of the second Black Canary are consistently portrayed as highly formidable and widely regarded among the best in the world. Within her publication history, she has faced notable opponents within the DC Universe, including Bronze Tiger, Cheshire, Lady Shiva, and Rabbit of the Twelve Brothers in Silk, who are considered to be nearly on par with Shiva. Additionally, Oracle holds the belief that Black Canary has the potential to defeat Batman in combat.
Fictional character biography
Dinah Drake
Dinah Drake made her debut in Flash Comics #86 (August 1947) as a supporting character in the "Johnny Thunder" feature, written by Robert Kanigher and drawn by Carmine Infantino. She initially appeared as a villain. Johnny is instantly infatuated with her, and is reproached by his Thunderbolt. Dinah is later revealed to have been infiltrating a criminal gang.
In Flash Comics #92 (February 1948) she has her own anthology feature, "Black Canary", replacing "Johnny Thunder". The new series fleshed out Black Canary's backstory: Dinah Drake was a black-haired florist in love with Larry Lance, a Gotham City Police Department detective. She first meets the Justice Society of America in All Star Comics #38 (December 1947-January 1948), joining them in All Star Comics #41 (June–July 1948). Black Canary's foes include criminal circus act Carno and His Masked Riders, and the Sacred Order of the Crimson Crystal.