|
Scanning through my old DC Who's Whos (first series) looking for a
victim this month I came upon a character that I'm a little surprised
I never tackled before. I guess it's because she has such a great look
that I didn't think any improvement was necessary. But, in recent
years, they've stripped Black Canary down to stripper-wear and it
kinda irks me.
Black Canary has an interesting history. Like Wonder Woman, she's one
of the few female characters to survive, in one version or another,
from the Golden Age. Unlike Wonder Woman, however, she made her
transition from the Golden Age to the Silver via a less ambiguous
route. See, there were three characters whose books survived the
collapse of the super-hero market in the late 1940s, Superman, Batman
and Wonder Woman. When the Silver Age began, it started with new
characters, like J'onn J'onzz, or re-imagined versions of Golden Age
characters, like the Flash and Green Lantern. There's a kind of fuzzy
area where Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman transitioned from the
Golden to the Silver ages, but at some point, each of them switched
from one age to the other. Or, in terms that became common following
the excellent "Flash of Two Worlds" story where Barry Allen met his
Golden Age counterpart living on a parallel Earth, dubbed Earth-2. The
titles went from chronicling the adventures of the Earth-2 characters,
and switched to Earth-1.
The interesting thing is, there was no Earth-1 Black Canary.
Black Canary is Dinah Drake, later Dinah Drake Lance, and was active
during the 1940s and 50s. When the Justice League of America began
crossing over with the Justice Society, their Earth-2 predecessors,
Black Canary was there, looking young as ever. But, during one of the
annual JLA/JSA crossovers, Black Canary moved from Earth-2 to Earth-1
to join the Justice League.
I'm a big fan of the old multiverse and I have made no secret that I
think it was a mistake to do away with it, and I think at least in
part, I have been vindicated by recent events in the DCU.
As time passed, they did a little rewrite on Black Canary's history,
to make her rather youthful appearance a bit more plausible. Instead
of the original Black Canary, the woman who joined the Justice League
was, in fact, the daughter of of the Golden Age heroine. I like that,
because I also like the idea of passing heroic legacies.
The Silver Age Canary became the paramour of the Green Arrow, and for
many years they were together. She's been a member of the Justice
League in many of its incarnations and also a member of the revived
Justice Society of America, more recently. Throughout most of this
history, she's worn a version of her mother's costume, though she did
make one disastrous foray into modern style which met a fiery end in
the Green Arrow comic of the 1980s. That's the second one in the pic,
there. First time I've ever drawn that suit. It's just awful.
For my version, I wanted to keep some of the elements that I like and
update them a bit. Much as I love the fishnets, they're about as
practical as high heels to a martial artist. I like jackets, because
they offer a bit of protection and a place to stash your stuff.
Pockets are seriously lacking in super-hero costumes, and especially
important when you're not gifted with a whole catalog of super powers.
Black Canary has made a few appearances outside the comics, a version
appearing in the short-lived Birds of Prey TV series and in the
Justice League Unlimited cartoon series. They did an excellent job
with Black Canary on JLU, with Morena Baccarin doing her voice. Still
wish that series hadn't been cancelled.
As always, thanks for reading and I hope you'll take a look at my web
comic, Ad Astra at:
www.adastracomic.com
Copyright © 2008 Joe Singleton
|
|
