Many Direct current Characters’ backstories have been altered by the company’s reboots and revamps. In fact, some characters have been erased from continuity entirely. Fortunately, one important relationship is being revived for the upcoming Black canary Series published by DC Black Label.
The six-part series, titled Black Canary: Best of the Best, is the brainchild of writer Tom King and artist Ryan Sook. In the story, Dinah Lance enters the battle of the millennium and puts her martial arts skills to the test against Lady Shiva. To emerge victorious (or at least survive) in a fight with the world’s deadliest assassin, Dinah must train. This leads her to seek advice from Batman, her mentor Wildcat, and her mother Dinah Drake, the original Black Canary.
The mention of Black Canary’s mother in the solicitation is notable, as the character’s status in the current timeline is uncertain overall. The modern version of Dinah Lance was a product of Gotham City’s foster care system and never knew her biological parents. Some comics made hints that the older Dinah Drake existed in some form. However, most modern comics make Dinah Lance’s status as a homeless orphan a major aspect of her backstory and personality. This change has displeased many fans of the character, especially since Black Canary represents one of the few mother-daughter legacies in American comics.
Black Canary has a complicated history
Despite her notoriety, the idea of Black Canary playing a mother-daughter role is relatively new. The character Dinah Laurel Lance, daughter of Dinah Drake, was introduced in 1983. This was after someone at DC Editorial noted that Dinah Drake was supposed to be in her 60s like the rest of the Justice Society of America, but looked much younger.
This led to a wild storyline in which it was revealed that Dinah Lance had been cursed with a sonic scream as a child. She was put in a state of suspended animation and later gained her mother’s memories after Dinah Drake was fatally wounded. This explained her superpowers and prevented the obvious scandal of Green Arrow dating an older woman.
Thankfully, this convoluted story was revamped into something simpler after Crisis on Infinite Earths. In the new timeline, Dinah Lance was a mutant with the power of a sonic scream. Against Dinah Drake’s wishes, she took over her mother’s role as Black Canary, aided by her uncles in the JSA.
Unfortunately, this story was retroactively changed once again by the 2011 New 52 reboot and further complicated by the 2015 Black Canary comic. It’s unclear whether the new DC Black Label book can be considered canon to the current timeline. In any case, most Black Canary fans will surely be happy to see mother and daughter together again, even if only briefly.
Black Canary: Best of the Best #1 hits all comic shops on November 27, 2024.
