Pretty Bird: DETECTIVE COMICS #567

Previously in Detective Comics...

Detective Comics #567 starred Batman a story by renowned Harlan Ellison with art by Gene Colan, and one of my favorite Batman covers drawn by Klaus Janson.  Green Arrow and Black Canary teamed up in their final Detective Comics backup strip titled "The Face of Barricade" written by Joey Cavalieri and pencilled by Stan Woch.

The story begins with ohmygod!!!

Skeletor Barricade looms over Green Arrow, kicking him and tormenting him with vague clues about his real identity.  He recalls the story of how Green Arrow brought about the ruin of his life, revealing to readers that Barricade is actually Lars from Detective Comics #556-557.

Lars' loyal followers at the monastery restored the Book of Ages using some alchemical tricks; this brought Lars back to life... sort of.  Lars, despite looking like death, will live as long as he remains in physical contact with the book.  His humanity will be restored once he gets the Wisdom Key which is hidden in Onyx's tiara.

Onyx brandishes the tiara in front of Barricade so he'll leave Green Arrow alone, but her whip does nothing to keep the villain at bay.  He lifts up Onyx threatening to snap her neck.  Ollie, meanwhile, grabs his bow and arrow and takes aim.  He heard Barricade say he had to remain in contact with the book, so he fires at one of Barricade's leg cuffs, hoping that's where the book is secreted.  Sadly, he guesses wrong, so he fires at one of Barricade's wrist gauntlets.  That, too, proves futile.

Before Black Canary can get away with the tiara, Barricade slams a heavy fist into the wall, shaking the building's foundation and causing Black Canary to fall into the room.  Barricade tries to get the tiara from Dinah, but Ollie fires one more arrow that rips open the back of Barricade's costume, exposing the Book of Ages hidden at the small of his back.

As the book falls loose, Lars dies again.

As the heroes realize the Wisdom Key isn't with the tiara, they realize that Onyx has slipped away.  We find her again in the park meeting with Tommie, the friend she hurried out of the music store.  Only, Tommie isn't feeling very friendly at the moment.  She gave him the Wisdom Key and pushed him away to maybe keep him safe, but he sees it as making him a target for some nasty villain like Barricade.  The story ends with Onyx walking away unhappily.

Even though Crisis on Infinite Earths ended about a year before this issue came out, this story is considered Black Canary's last pre-Crisis appearance.  The next time we see her is in the fourth chapter of the Justice League reboot miniseries, Legends, which I'll be reviewing soon.  As a finale to her pre-Crisis period, though, this story is pretty anticlimactic.  I enjoyed seeing Onyx revisited and this two-parter was a nice follow-up to the Green Arrow and Onyx's side-adventure ten issues earlier, but I would have rather seen more out of the Steelclaw story and more development of Dinah's voice-based mind control powers that Joey Cavalieri built up over the past year.

Pretty Bird: DETECTIVE COMICS #554

Previously...

Last week I made the argument that the Green Arrow backup strip in Detective Comics #553 was--somewhat covertly--DC's first attempt to really differentiate between the current Black Canary and her Golden Age mother since Roy Thomas' retcon in Justice League of America #220.  Certain aspects of Dinah's inner monologue in today's chapter may support or refute that position.  I'm not entirely sure.  What is certain, though, is that 'Tec #554 debuts the first change to Black Canary's costume since she abandoned the domino mask way back in 1948.

Detective Comics #554 starred Batman in a story by Doug Moench with art by Klaus Janson, who also drew the cover.  Said cover features the newly adorned Black Canary bursting through a paper hoop held by Batman and Green Arrow as a direct homage to her first cover appearance in Flash Comics #92.  The bold text caption on the cover reads, "For the first time anywhere...The All-New Black Canary."

...but that's not exactly accurate.  This issue of 'Tec is cover dated September 1985, but thanks to Mike's Amazing World of Comics we know the issue hit the stands on June 27 of '85.  Six months earlier, though, the second issue of Who's Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe came out, clearly depicting Black Canary II in her "all-new" costume drawn by Terry Austin.  So Janson's cover here can hardly claim to be the first ever appearance of the all-new Black Canary.

What further complicates things is neither Austin nor Janson deserve credit for the all-new design.  My best friend, Rob Kelly, founder of The Aquaman Shrine, informs me that 'Mazing Man artist extraordinaire Stephen DeStafano created Black Canary's new look for the post-Crisis era, and the interior artist for this very issue corroborates this claim.

"Crazy from the Heat II: The Past is Prologue" is written by Joey Cavalieri with art by Jerome Moore and Bruce Patterson.  Black Canary gets top billing over Green Arrow at the top of their first page, and she's advertised as "the NEW" Black Canary.

Picking up where the last issue left off, Dinah Lance is in bed recovering from a nearly disastrous encounter with a female arsonist named Bonfire.  She combs through her mother's old scrapbook, wondering if the original Black Canary ever had a bad day like this one.  She's awestruck to find an article Dinah Drake had saved recounting the case of another female arsonist named Pyra.

The original Black Canary confesses, in her journal, to choking when it came to collaring Pyra.  She describes being pinned down and nearly burned alive... and all she could do was scream.   Hmm, sounds exactly like what Bonfire did to the younger Dinah earlier that day.

Dinah II thinks the reason she froze when fighting Bonfire was because her mother's spirit lives on in her, and she psychically relived the same calamitous bout with Pyra when trapped in the blazing building last issue.  Now she understands why she failed and she's more determined than ever to redeem herself.  That means severing the residual psychic connection to her mother.  That means not following directly in her mother's footsteps.  That means a brand new look for Black Canary.

That night, Dinah suits up in her all-new Black Canary costume and returns to the Star City slums that Bonfire has been torching lately.  She feels guilty over not bringing Green Arrow along with her, but she recognizes that this is a conflict she must face on her own.  If she is to truly break away from her mother's past demons, she must overcome her fear and take down Bonfire.

She slips into a condemned building that ought to be abandoned, but she notices an old derelict sleeping in one of the rooms.  The man has a hat pulled down low and a fake-looking beard covering half his face; of course, Dinah realizes, it's a disguised Green Arrow doing some undercover surveillance of the area.  Dinah doesn't wake him, but she is relieved to know she'll have backup later if she needs it.

And as it happens, Bonfire shows up just as Black Canary's walking down the stairs.  Bonfire torches the landing and the stairs around Black Canary, though she doesn't recognize the superhero for her new costume.  Black Canary lets her know "the plumage has changed, but the name is the same."

Thanks to her new fireproof costume, Black Canary stalks Bonfire back to the room with the sleeping "derelict".  Using the man for a hostage, Bonfire sets fire to an empty mattress and throws it at Black Canary.  The doorway goes up right around Dinah, who might not have to fear burning alive with her new duds, but she's still in danger of asphyxiation from the smoke.

Bonfire is dazed but staggers to her feet.  Then, out of nowhere, an arrow launches a rope around the arsonist, capturing her.  Green Arrow stands in the doorway in all his emerald archer glory and tells Dinah that he took care of the fire downstairs.

Dinah is shocked.  She thought Ollie was dressed up as Bonfire's homeless hostage; she thought she was rescuing him.  Well, it turns out the derelict was someone else undercover: the Star City Fire Chief that Ollie accused of corruption the day before.  The chief calls the police to take Bonfire away as Black Canary and Green Arrow walk away.

Okay, first I have to say that I never used to like this Black Canary costume.  I thought it looked too dated, too much like a tracksuit or something from the movie Flashdance.  The thing about that is, my exposure to this costume was mostly from the pages of Justice League International drawn by Kevin Maguire.  For all the strengths of that series and for Maguire's art, I never liked how he drew Dinah (or any other women, honestly).  I thought the costume looked too soft, it took away her edge.

Seeing how Moore depicts Dinah in the costume, though, is a whole 'nother matter.  She looks fluid, graceful, birdlike.  And plenty tough.  This Black Canary looks like an avenging warrior of the night. She could partner with Nightwing and clean up the streets of Gotham and Bludhaven.  It's definitely more of a superhero costume and it's not bad.  (I don't even mind the absurd white boots--I love 'em.  They remind me of Green Lantern's white gloves!)  However, I still prefer the classic black leather and fishnets Black Canary.

I love that Dinah II is reliving moments of her mother's tragedy and triumph, and struggling to exorcize that ghost.  She wants to live her own life, out of her mother's shadow, so she forces a separation by changing her identity.  It's a very natural occurrence for a daughter rebelling against her mother.  This two-part story delivers some great art and characterization for Dinah(s), but maybe my favorite part is that it gave her and her mother some villains.  Black Canary has a pretty pathetic rogues gallery, and I don't think Bonfire or Pyra are ever seen again after this, but they're nice benchwarmers.

Unfortunately, after this stunning debut of the All-New Black Canary, she dropped out of the Green Arrow backup strips in Detective Comics for a couple of months.  She turned up next in Green Lantern during the Crisis on Infinite Earths.  I might cover that story next week, in addition to recapping Ollie's solo efforts in Detective Comics #555 through #558.

Pretty Bird: DETECTIVE COMICS #550

Every Friday, I review a comic or backup feature showcasing Black Canary and her longtime love interest, Green Arrow.  Last week, I looked at the first of a two-part story that began in Detective Comics #549 and concludes here in #550.

The seven-page backup story, "Night Olympics Part 2" is written by Alan Moore with art by Klaus Janson.  Once again, I present it uncut for my readers, because Alan Moore and Klaus Janson!

In this part, as with with the last, Moore uses allusions to Olympic games and competitions and, in particular, the pageantry associated with them in his depiction of super heroic exploits.  The average adventure of a costumed crime fighter is a game, according to Moore's script here.  And the game gets deadly when one participant--the criminal--breaks the rules.

Pete Lomax, the archer who doesn't wear a costume or use a name like Arrowman, targets the heroes specifically and hurts Dinah before Ollie can act.  Pete doesn't announce himself like one of Batman or the Flash's rogues until after he's drawn blood.  But when confronted with the actual reality of just how good a hero like Green Arrow is, Pete has no escape except to faint.

I really enjoyed this story.  I like how even though Black Canary gets taken down pretty easily, she still wants to pull the arrow out and help Ollie fight.  I like how Ollie doesn't give in to fear and rage; he never loses control or suggests that he'll kill Pete Lomax.  He uses his "powers" to terrify Pete with his real talent.  I also got a kick out of the return of Joey, the hard luck crook who freaks out at the sight of superheroes just as he's about to be released from the hospital.

"Night Olympics" is a great short story.  To my knowledge, this two-parter has never been collected, which is surprising given the popularity and profitability of Alan Moore's name.  If you can't find a copy in the store, this issue of 'Tec is available on ComiXology for $1.99 U.S.  It also includes a Batman story by Doug Moench and Pat Broderick about Batman trying to help a victim of child abuse who has grown into an abusive criminal lowlife with nowhere to go but down.

Come back next Friday for more of Green Arrow and Black Canary!

Pretty Bird: DETECTIVE COMICS #549

Welcome to the first post in my new weekly segment devoted to Green Arrow and Black Canary team-ups.  Every Friday, I'll review a comic or backup feature showcasing Dinah and her longtime love interest, Oliver Queen.

To kickoff Pretty Bird Fridays, I selected a short story that first appeared in Detective Comics #549, cover dated April 1985.  It's not Ollie and Dinah's first meeting and it's not an historically momentous chapter from Green Lantern/Green Arrow or The Longbow Hunters.  But it was written by arguably the most profound writer in comics and the man who revolutionized the medium at least once.

The seven-page backup story, "Night Olympics" is written by Alan Moore with art by Klaus Janson.    I present it here uncut for my readers, because it's Alan Moore and Klaus Janson!

Naturally there's some fascinating commentary on the nature of superheroes because duh, Alan Moore.  Even in seven pages, the question of superhero's celebrity status is brought up multiple times no less than three times.  But are the heroes celebrities... or urban legends?

Joey, the first criminal we meet, has had so many ill-fated run-ins with superheroes that he has developed a kind of post-traumatic seizure disorder.  After being thwarted by Firestorm and Metamorpho, the mere sight of Green Arrow standing in Joey's way reduces him to a screaming, thrashing wreck.  Ollie exerts more energy keeping the guy from breaking his skull on the pavement than he would shooting an arrow into his hand.  (Also, what's with the cops dissing Metamorpho? Is that just flavorful dialogue, or is Moore taking a swipe at ol' Rex Mason?)

Then there are the two looters who surrender to Black Canary.  Their fear of costumed crime fighters is fueled by hearsay and local lore, by tales of Batgirl allegedly beating up a friend and the ridicule it brought them from the rest of their gang.  They're so unnerved by the idea of a superhero smacking them around that they don't even know who it is they're turning themselves in to.

Lastly we have our rogue archer, Mr. Mohawk, and his weapon-smith.  The old man thinks if Mohawk is going to get in the villain game, he needs a codename, an identity like "Arrow Man".  The garish names and costumes are part of job--literally, he figures.  But this archer seems to shirk that idea, dismissing the grandiosity of the superhero/supervillain motif in favor of deadly simplicity.  And that is what makes him most dangerous in this story.  He kills one man and it looks like he's going to kill Ollie or Dinah by the end of this chapter, and the reason is because he doesn't announce himself with puzzle games and flamboyant attire.

Is that what Alan Moore is saying with the story, that old school heroes and villains are as commonplace and predictable as people on TV?  Is that why he layers the narration with allusions to spectator sporting events, because the superhero life has become a "game" replete with rules and  contestants?  Then surely this Mohawk sporting archer is breaking the rules and upsetting the balance of the heroes' lives.

There's nothing I can say about Klaus Janson's work that hasn't been said a thousand times before by people who really know his stuff.  His Black Canary looks good as always, and this is about six months before he would redesign her costume that would become her Justice League International look.  Even without a true costume, Janson gives our villain a distinctive look with his mohawk and shirt so that the character is well defined visually even if he's not wearing Captain Cold's parka.

This is a great short story.  If you want it for yourself, the digital version is $1.99 on ComiXology.  The lead story starring Batman and Harvey Bullock by Doug Moench and Pat Broderick is pretty crazy, suggesting the Bullock's gruff, bull-in-a-China-shop behavior is a mask hiding the soul of an effete, vaguely British poet.

It ends with Bullock and Batman fighting, like, twenty members of a street gang.  Like I said, crazy.  Come back next Friday for the conclusion to this story of Green Arrow and Black Canary!