Black Canary: Best of the Best Review

Dinah Laurel Lance, the Black Canary accepts a worldwide televised fight against the deadly assassin, Lady Shiva to find a cure for her ailing mother, the first Black Canary. If she makes it to the sixth round, and yield, Villain Vandal Savage will provide her mom with a cure for her cancer. However, Lady Shiva is the best hand-to-hand fighter in the world and getting to sixth round may not be an option for Black Canary. Will Dinah save her mother?

Ryan Sook’s handling of the art in this series was remarkable. Lady Shiva looked Asian. Black Canary Senior looked old. The younger Black Canary, as the saying goes, was still the most head-turning member of the Justice League. The fights were inspired by works from Alex Toth, Mike Grell, and even Neal Adams. That’s a good thing. While the choreography was clear, the description of the fight by the two hosts did get in the way of just telling the story with visuals. Tom King is verbose.

Former CIA agent and comic book writer Tom King has penned a six-part story revisiting the second Black Canary. He has written similar stories for Mr. Miracle, Supergirl, Batman, and even Marvel’s Vision. Tom King stories tend to scare some readers who perceive the author as deforming and destroying some characters, while paying attention to their histories, but with a twist.

There is a twist in this story as Black Canary’s almost confusing history as being her own mom but sent to another dimension as a kid was metaphorically called upon, as the younger heroine wanted to be her mom and took much from her, only to have the older mother oblige, with vengeance. At the same time, King establishes some back stories that were never apparent, but very much logical in Black Canary lore with Vandal Savage being a longtime opponent of both Black Canaries.

 

I have heard rumours that this story was not set in the main DC universe and thus is not canon. As the Golden Age Black Canary has died years ago, that would make sense. But at the same time, as the story of both heroines’ convoluted mother and daughter relationship has taken many different flavour over the years, this version by Tom King could very well stand for the main current continuity’s main take. In the past, the mother did not want the daughter to take after her. Now, she’s the one driving it. The cancer is a mainstay with the senior Black Canary, and so it the adulation of her daughter.

I liked the story, being an old-time Black Canary fan, but I did shudder at the wig gig from Lady Shiva. That was the most humiliating scene for Black Canary in this story, after having been spitted on, and beaten in every possible ways by the assassin. Yet, she got up and faced the odds.

I was surprised at the ending. Throughout the story, Lady Shiva was the best fighter. But there would be no story if Black Canary did not meet the challenge. Thus, the ending was surprising, and to this old comic reader, unexpected. It’s not a complaint, but it’s a typical Tom King ending, I suppose.