Pretty Bird: DETECTIVE COMICS #564

Previously in Detective Comics...

Detective Comics #564 starred Batman and Robin in a story by Doug Moench with art by Gene Colan, who also drew the cover.  Green Arrow and Black Canary teamed up in a backup strip titled "This Masquerade" written by Joey Cavalieri and drawn by Jerome K. Moore.

After Green Arrow and Black Canary beat the information they need out of some Star City hoods, we jump to Mayor Bolt holding a press conference where he talks about the need to fight the city's rampant crime wave.  Marty Costa watches the press conference on television until he gets disgusted and orders his men to kidnap the mayor's son.

Across town, Ollie and Dinah are also watching the mayor's speech.  Dinah, too, feels disgust, knowing that the mayor is really the costumed criminal mastermind known as Steelclaw.  However corrupt Mayor Bolt may be, though, Dinah knows that his son is innocent and must be protected.

The heroes ride Black Canary's motorcycle to the mayor's mansion.  They split up and sneak onto the premises from different sides.  As Dinah creeps across the lawn, she thinks of how annoying Ollie's overprotectiveness is, and how she might be better off as a solo adventurer.  (This was sort of around the post-Crisis time when John Byrne was considered for a Black Canary solo book, but that fizzled out.  Instead of going solo, Dinah would soon join the new, international Justice League.)

Black Canary skulks around the outside of the mansion, observing its worn, almost decrepit state, while failing to notice the cloaked figure stalking up behind her.

Green Arrow gets inside the house and searches room to room for the mayor's son.  He witnesses Marty Costa's men arrive in a van outside and has to double-time his search.  Thinking he hears voices down the hall upstairs, he rushes to check one of the nearest closed doors.

Outside, Black Canary is unconscious from an anesthetic administered by Steelclaw when he snuck up on her.  Steelclaw ties her up, wondering why the former Justice League heroine would turn to a life of crime.  He wonders, but doesn't care all that much; he's just proud to be able to take her down and leave her bound for the police.  Then Steelclaw, too, is caught unawares as Marty Costa's hoods draw their guns on him.

Meanwhile, in another part of Star City, the kid named Tommie is cleaning up the back of the shop where he works when he discovers Onyx hiding in the back room.

The more I read of this storyline, the more I wish something had come of Black Canary's newfound superpower--that is her ability to persuade men into giving up information because of something in her voice.  I honestly like that a whole lot more for the character than her sonic scream.  Unfortunately, Cavalieri introduced it in this story arc, and I don't think anyone else ever picked it up later.  And within a couple of years, Mike Grell would take Dinah's sonic powers away completely in The Longbow Hunters.

Come back next Friday for the next part of Green Arrow and Black Canary's continuing adventures in Detective Comics...

Pretty Bird: DETECTIVE COMICS #560

Previously in Detective Comics...

Feeling the need for a change in attitude and appearance, Black Canary scrapped her old fishnets costume in favor of a new more tactical and '80s-looking tracksuit.

Detective Comics #560 starred Batman in a story by Doug Moench with art by Gene Colan, who also drew the cover.  Green Arrow and Black Canary teamed up in a backup strip titled "...Me A Bad Guy...?" written by Joey Cavalieri and drawn by Jerome K. Moore.  The story opens with Oliver Queen reading the newspaper over breakfast and Dinah Lance complaining that he's hogging all the croissants.

Other than the bizarre fact that Dinah thinks she can get "morning sickness" from chili and eggs, it's a nice, funny-ish scene.  In Dinah's defense, Black Canary used to get knocked unconscious every single issue, so a little memory loss or mild brain damage is forgivable.  She does dance around the subject of marriage and/or children, which is quite different than the attitude she'll have one year later in The Longbow Hunters.

Ollie recounts a story from the newspaper about a costumed vigilante known as Champion who appeared in the sky over Star City when a building fire endangered the lives of a crew of construction workers.  As firefighters risked life and limb to save the workers Champion flies right by them... and continues to fly past them.  He flies down to the street where he tackles a man carrying a briefcase.  Champion says the briefcase is very valuable; he was hired to retrieve it.

The reporter asks Champion if he thinks it's crass to be so close to people in desperate need of help and to ignore them.  He asks the reporter why she doesn't risk her life to help the people rather than leave the task to trained professionals like police and firefighters.  Apparently, Champion is only the defender of people willing to pay his fee.  As he walks off, he expresses the story's title by asking the reporter if that makes him a bad guy.

Finishing the article, Ollie talks about knocking Champion off his high horse.  Dinah redirects the conversation to herself and her superhero metamorphosis.  She changed costume because she was dissatisfied with her old look, but now she's leaning toward changing her whole modus operandi.  Despite dropping the look of the classic Black Canary, she entertains the idea of returning to the criminal underworld in which the Blonde Bombshell once operated.

By infiltrating criminals and earning a reputation as one of them, Black Canary could wage a war on crime from within.  She says it would give her more direction and make her more aggressive.  Ollie thinks it's a terrible idea because the severity of crime and criminals is much more severe than when the old Black Canary used to act this way.  He says her reputation as a crime fighter and Justice League member is too public, and she would tarnish her good name with the authorities and in her community.

Dinah continues to argue that she'd feel more productive if she infiltrated the underworld and asks if that makes her a bad guy.  Then there's a knock at the door and Dinah opens it to find her landlord, Mr. Panofsky.  He tells her that the cost of heating, utilities, basically everything has gone up and he's forced to raise the rent on her flower shop.  Dinah complains, but Panofsky explains that he's only doing what he must to pay his own expenses.  He asks if that makes him a bad guy, because apparently everyone has to ask that question in this story.

That night at the Star City dockyards, a gang anxiously awaits the arrival of shipment of illegal drugs while arguing over the cut they each deserve.  The conversation is interrupted by a metal gauntlet crashing through the wall.  A man in a hooded cloak enters the warehouse, calling himself Steelclaw and demanding his share of the money.  The hoods respond by drawing their weapons.

One of the crooks asks what will happen if they don't cut Steelclaw in on the action.  He lashes out with his metal hand and its claws, raking the man across the chest.  The man crumples to the floor but lives.  Steelclaw walks away, demanding not only part of the drug trade but the dealers' unwavering loyalty.  He asks, naturally, if that makes him a bad guy.

Four different people in this story ask if their actions make them a bad guy and yes, I think they all do except maybe for the landlord.  That Black Canary used to have a reputation as a criminal in her earliest appearances in Flash Comics is a great story thread that never saw much development after 1948.  It's great that Joey Cavalieri is delving into this area, exploring more of Dinah's character and using Ollie as a sounding board against her.

This issue also sees not one but two potential costumed enemies.  I always complain about Black Canary's lack of a rogues gallery, but Steelclaw and Champion can both be added to the list, even if Green Arrow is the titular lead of this backup strip.  Steelclaw has  a great look with the whole grim reaper visage and the claw hand.

Come back next Friday for the next part of Green Arrow and Black Canary's continuing adventures in Detective Comics...

Pretty Bird: DETECTIVE COMICS #559

You might know I'm fond of coordinating blog posts with celebratory events from DC's Super Calendar from 1976.  And according to that calendar, March 14th is the birthday of Selina Kyle, also known as Catwoman!  So today's installment of Pretty Bird Friday looks at a comic that not only showcases Black Canary working with her boyfriend, Green Arrow, but also guest stars Catwoman (and some guy named Batman, too).

Detective Comics #559: "It Takes Two Wings to Fly" is written by Doug Moench with art by Gene Colan and Bob Smith.  As you can see from the cover, Black Canary is dressed in her sweatsuit costume generally known as her Justice League International costume.  This look--which I've never preferred although I will admit it has grown on me over the years--designed by Klaus Janson, debuted in Detective #554.  After that, Dinah wore it in a couple issues of Green Lantern, but I'm fairly sure this was only the fourth or fifth published appearance of the costume.

The story opens with Batman chasing a suspect across the rooftops of Gotham City*.  The crook manages to escape the Dark Knight by leaping onto a train, and Batman's pursuit is disrupted by the intervention of Green Arrow.  The Emerald Archer tries to convince Batman that the crook, Curtis Sample, isn't such a bad guy, he's just fallen on hard times as a result of a broken and corrupted financial system.  Batman argues that's no reason to allow criminals to get away with committing crimes.  Green Arrow, of course, calls Batman a Nazi and that's when things are about to get punchy.

Green Arrow prevented Batman from stopping a potential murderer and claimed that the guy was a victim of circumstance?  I don't think he has much chance of swaying the Caped Crusader to his position.

The three costumed crime fighters go for coffee--yes, they go sit down at a table in a coffee shop.  Batman and Green Arrow call each other names but Black Canary tries to keep the peace and tells Batman what they're doing in Gotham.

Curtis Sample's father worked for Kemson Corp for twenty years handling hazardous waste.  When dad died of cancer, Sample tried to sue Kemson Corp for their dangerously negligent practices concerning toxic waste and such.  Oliver Queen wrote articles in the Star City newspaper to help Sample's crusade against the environmental polluters, but it amounted to nothing.  Sample lost his case.  And Kemson retaliated against Sample.

Green Arrow and Black Canary explain to Batman that Sample's scheme is to rob Kemson's Gotham division of enough money that he can front as a representative from an international chemical conglomerate, lure Kemson into a deal for some illegal product, and prove in court that they're dirty.  Ollie and Dinah are allowing him to go along with this overly complicated scheme while watching over him to make sure he stays safe.

Batman can hardly believe what he hears.  They continue to bicker...in a restaurant surrounded by night owls drinking coffee.  Batman makes it about pride and territory, that they didn't inform him they were coming to operate in Gotham.  Green Arrow makes it about left-wing/right-wing politics.  Black Canary, for her part, makes it about innocent people being poisoned by this company, and that's enough to settle the argument.

However, as the altruistic trio make their way outside, one of the coffee shop's patrons follows them out with a gun.

Black Canary kicks and punches the would-be shooter, Batman disarms him with a batarang, and Green Arrow pins him to the wall with an arrow through the man's jacket.  Ollie questions the guy who claims to be hired muscle from Kemson Corp paid to follow Sample.  There are others who stayed on his trail while this guy went after the heroes.

Black Canary worries that Sample is in grave danger while they've been fighting amongst themselves.  Green Arrow and Batman blame each other for that.

Batman meets Commissioner Gordon at the hospital where Curtis Sample was admitted after taking a serious beating from the Kemson hoods.  Outside the hospital, Catwoman approaches Batman, who introduces her to the others.

Batman vows to continue with Sample's plan to entrap the Kemson Corp in an illegal sale of hazardous chemicals.  Green Arrow refuses to go along with it because he doesn't want to admit Batman's plan makes sense.

So Bruce Wayne gets Lucius Fox to set up the deal through a subsidiary and uses Selina Kyle as the front for the deal with Kemson.  Selina goes to the Kemson plant in Star City to inspect the plant, but when she gives them the money, the Kemson officials betray her.  One of the men is the hood who ambushed Batman and the others outside the coffee shop.  He was bailed out of jail and told his superiors about Batman's plan.  Before Kemson hurts Catwoman, however, the Dark Knight makes his dramatic entrance.

One of the hoods threatens to shoot Selina, but he's struck by an arrow.  A green arrow.

Batman, Catwoman, Green Arrow, and Black Canary work together to stop Kemson, retrieve the money, and put down all of his hired guns.  Batman thanks Ollie and Dinah for showing up to lend a hand, and then Dinah and Selina go get some coffee to gossip about their men.

So as a birthday tribute to Catwoman, this isn't the greatest example, but I already reviewed Birds of Prey: Manhunt.  She doesn't do a whole lot in this story; it's really about Batman and Green Arrow bickering about their approaches to society's evils, calling each other stupid names, and generally being childish brats.

On the other hand, Catwoman and Black Canary are the only characters who come out of this issue not looking like idiots.  Dinah is able to keep Batman and Green Arrow from physically brawling and she's able to keep them focused on the only thing that really matters in their line of work: protecting innocent people.  Her level-headedness is what makes this team-up work both for the characters and for the reader.

As for the art, I am and will always be a huge Gene Colan fan.  He's one of my all-time favorite artists in the business.  Now I don't think this issue was one of his better outings, but it's not bad, and once again, I think Black Canary comes out on top.  Colan has drawn a better, darker, more striking Batman, but I don't know if Black Canary ever looked better in her blue sweatsuit costume than she did in this issue.

* The first part of this story is supposed to be set in Gotham City.  But on the first page, there is a sign on one of the buildings that says "I Love the Big Apple" with a heart standing in for the word love and an actual apple for the word apple.  Is this a sign for New York City in Gotham?  Was Colan referencing actual buildings and drew the sign forgetting that in the DC Universe, the cities aren't actual representations of real life cities?