WARNING! Potential Spoilers for Black Canary: Best of the Best #2The most formidable fighter in the DC Universe,Black Canary, is entering the ring in a new series that has modified her backstory for a modern audience. Although Dinah Lance has been fighting crime for years, some newer readers may not be as familiar with how she became the unstoppable fighter she is today. With award-winning writer Tom King at the helm, Black Canary’s classic origin has officially been re-imagined with a vital change.
Black Canary: Best of the Bestby Tom King and Ryan Sook is a DC Black Label miniseries that centers on Dinah Lance as she faces off against Lady Shiva in a battle to decideDC’s greatest fighteronce and for all. To adapt the character for new readers, King has consolidated decades of lore to create a revamped backstory for Black Canary, and he details his thought process in an interview withCBR.
What I clung to was, what I think is the essential part of her, which is the legacy aspect, which is, you know, obviously at the heart of all DC things. And you know, the idea that her mother was a Golden Age hero who fought in Gotham and those old Kanigher stories, that those are in continuity, and that Dinah is a superhero who inherited that and joined the Justice League. That was the aspect I thought seemed the most solid and the most compelling to me.
King’s take on Black Canary emphasizes her status as alegacy hero, ensuring that the frequently overlooked hero she inherited her mantle from is given the recognition she deserves.
Black Canary’s Origin Undergoes a Modern Update In Her New DC Series
Tom King’s Version of Black Canary Is Trained by Her Mother in a Major Change
Dinah Lance may be DC’s most well-known Black Canary, but she isn’t the first hero to operate under that name. Her mother, Dinah Drake, originated the Black Canary persona inFlash Comics#86 by Robert Kanigher and Carmine Infantino. The original Canary served as a member of theJustice Society of America, and Dinah Lance inherited ties to the JSA from her mother. In many iterations of her lore, she was trained by Wildcat to become theJustice League’s best fighter. However,Tom King has now changed her status quo by revealing that Black Canary’s mother trained her in his updated continuity.
Black Canary’s New Story Ties DC Comics to Rocky and Yes, the Choice Was Very Intentional
DC’s Black Canary: Best of the Best doesn’t just put the metahuman hero in the spotlight, it gives the DC Universe its very own ‘Rocky’ story.
Rewriting Black Canary’s origin so that her mothertaught her to fightin Ted Grant’s place marks a massive upheaval in DC lore. It makes sense, though, as it grounds Dinah more firmly in the legacy she’s taken on and enhances her relationship with the former Black Canary. Having Dinah Lance train under Wildcat, while a fascinating way to tie her into the Justice Society and her mantle’s roots by extension, ultimately sidelines her mother as a result.In this story, on the other hand, Dinah Drake has much more involvement in her daughter’s story as she molds her into a superhero.
DC’s Original Black Canary Now Plays a Bigger Role in Her Successor’s Story
Dinah Lance’s Mother Is Integral to Her Development as a Fighter and a Daughter
King discusses in his interview how he uses the Black Canaries' training sequences as a metaphor for parental dynamics, citing how they differ from other mentor-student duos - such asBatman and Nightwing- because Dinah Drake raised her daughter from birth. She subjects her daughter to intense training so she can live up to her potential, while Dinah Lance balances wanting to emulate her mother and wanting to be her own person. By havingBlack Canarybe trained by her mother, King taps into new layers of their relationship that would otherwise go unexplored, proving that his new origin for the character might be her best yet.
Black Canary: Best of the Best#1-2are available now from DC Comics.
