The origin story for Black Canary presented in the DC Zoom title Black Canary: Ignite should become Dinah Lance’s background in the DC Comics universe at large. Not only does Ignite pay tribute to the history and legacy of the character like nothing else written for any medium within the past decade, but it also offers a clearer, more streamlined story than Dinah Lance’s current background in the DC Rebirth reality.
The first Black Canary, Dinah Drake, was a member of the Justice Society of America, whose daughter (with detective Larry Lance) was inflicted with a magical curse that made her crying destructive. With the aid of her JSA allies, Dinah placed her infant daughter in stasis in another dimension, intending to free her once old enough to control herself. Unfortunately, a fatal dose of radiation changed that plan, and Dinah had her memories implanted into the mind of her now-grown daughter, so that there would still be a Black Canary. Following Crisis On Infinite Earths, the two Canaries were given a more conventional relationship and background, with the younger Dinah growing up as an ordinary girl (albeit one with a host of superheroic uncles and a metahuman sonic scream) and going on to becoming a founding member of the Justice League, willingly following in her mother’s footsteps.
The New 52 revamp in 2011 changed this, giving Dinah Drake a confusing new background as a street urchin turned secret agent, who went on the run from the government after accidentally killing her husband and adopted the codename Black Canary as she formed a team of vigilantes known as the Birds of Prey. This history was further muddled by the Batgirl monthly comic and a short-lived Black Canary series, which saw Dinah start a new career as a rock-star, fronting a band called Black Canary, despite Dinah Drake still being a wanted woman. The Green Arrow: Rebirth series was able to rectify this somewhat, though it was still never clear just how famous “D.D. from Black Canary” was meant to be, with different stories treating her as the DC Universe’s equivalent of Lady Gaga or as a virtual unknown outside of the punk scene.
Black Canary: Ignite manages to embrace the rock underpinnings of the modern origin while still honoring the original mother/daughter superhero legacy that marked Black Canary as something unique in American comics. The story by Meg Cabot (of The Princess Diaries fame) places 13-year-old Dinah Lance in a house in the Gotham suburbs, with a florist mother and police detective father. Dinah dreams of being a cop like her father, but he refuses to entertain her joining the Gotham City Junior Police Academy and is equally skeptical of her other dream career; front-woman for a rock band. Despite this, he and his wife allow Dinah and her friends to practice at their house and they are pretty good for a tween garage band. If only they could only think of a good name for themselves…
It spoils little to reveal that Dinah runs afoul of her school’s principal, who keeps blaming her for all the random destruction and broken glass that keeps springing up around her school. This leads the elder Dinah to finally reveal the details of her superheroic past and the secret power that she and her daughter share. It also leads to extra after-school practices in combat and control with Dinah’s P.E. teacher, Coach Ted Grant, aka Wildcat, who taught Dinah Lance martial arts in the original comics.
With shojo manga-influenced art by Cara McGee and Caitlin Quirke on top of this engaging story, Black Canary: Ignite is sure to appeal to its target audience of middle-grade readers. Yet older fans of Black Canary will also enjoy this book, as it calls back to the classic Dinah Lance stories while still offering a strong new take on one of DC Comics’ most underrated heroes. Indeed, Black Canary: Ignite should serve as the basis for Dinah Lance’s origin the next time DC Comics decides to reset their universe.
Black Canary: Ignite arrives in stores and on Comixology on October 29th.
More: Why Birds Of Prey’s Trailer Ignores The Actual Team
