When I was little, I used to think, of the three, Ollie was the toughest. I was wrong. 
History
Origins
Dinah Laurel Lance was born into a family of crime fighters. Her father Larry Lance, was a police officer, while her mother (also named Dinah) was the original Black Canary.
The younger Dinah chose to become a crime-fighter at the age of nineteen, despite her mother’s wishes to the contrary. Following a rigorous training program under the watchful eye of a former colleague and life-long friend of the original Black Canary, Ted Grant, also known as Wildcat, Dinah took up her mother’s identity and adopted her costume as her own.
According to her origins during the Silver Age, Dinah’s ‘Canary Cry’ was the result of her being cursed by the Wizard during her childhood. This explanation has been retconned for the current continuity, however. These sonic powers are now the byproduct of her possession of the metagene, making her a metahuman since birth. Dinah’s metahumanity distinguishes her from her predecessor; in fact, no other member of her family is known to have possessed the metagene at all.
Justice League
Main article: Justice League Origins
Not long after her debut as Black Canary, Dinah Lance became a founding member of the Justice League of America. It was Dinah who suggested the newly-formed name of the League, in deference to her mother’s having been a member of the Justice Society of America.[1] It was through her new association with the Justice League that she first met the love of her life — Oliver "Ollie" Queen — also known as the Green Arrow. Black Canary’s membership in the JLA lasted for many years. Her friendship with Oliver Queen developed during this time as their feelings for one another became romantic. When Oliver chose to quit the League in order to continue his efforts in Star City on his own, Dinah decided to join him there soon after.
Hard Traveling Heroes
Whilst Green Arrow and Green Lantern went on a road trip to rediscover America, Dinah too was motorcycling near Mount Rainier, Washington when she was attacked and run down by a motorcycle gang. Left unconscious in the road, she was rescued by a man named Joshua. The stranger was really a white supremacist cult leader who hypnotised her to his cause. Only when put in the position of executing her lover Ollie, was the hypnotic hold broken.[2] Ashamed of being involved in such a despicable group - albeit against her will - Dinah worked with the Native Americans on the reservation that Joshua had intended to murder.[3]
Dinah, rekindling her romance with Ollie, joined the two on other exploits, including attending the trial and sentence of their Guardian companion,[4] thwarting Sinestro and his sister,[5], stopping an evil man exploiting a metahuman child,[6] and helping Speedy through his withdrawal.[7]
After Green Arrow accidentally killed a man, he abandoned his heroic persona, along with his civilian life in Star City.[8] Hal sought Dinah's help to locate their missing friend. Her investigation inadvertently led her to a secret hate gathering, organised by none other than Joshua's sister. She was discovered and outnumbered by the angry mob who threw her off the roof of the building, but was fortunately saved by Green Lantern.[9] Continuing Black Canary's spate of bad luck, a drugged driver crashed into a phone booth when she was making a call. Badly injured and losing a lot of blood, Hal knew Ollie was one of the few people with her rare blood type that could save her. Hal had heard of the discovery of the Arrowplane wreckage, and from there, soon tracked him down in an isolated monastery. Despite his own shame and his contempt for society, it only took the mention Dinah's predicament to get Ollie to return home, where the transfusion was successful.[10]
Justice League International
Following the events of Legends, she becomes a founding member of the new Justice League International established by Maxwell Lord. Under Batman's leadership, they gained approval from the United Nations.[11]
The Longbow Hunters
Main article: Green Arrow: The Longbow Hunters
Oliver and Dinah set up a shop in Seattle, "Sherwood Florist", as well as continuing to fight crime. Oliver was having something of a midlife crisis, however, just as he was about to turn 43. He wanted to marry Dinah and have a real family with real children of his own (he loved Roy, his ward, and Roy's daughter Lian, but wanted his own biological children). Dinah turned down the idea, citing that their lives were too dangerous. During this time, Dinah was kidnapped by a drug dealer she was investigating. She was brutally tortured, causing her to lose her 'Canary Cry' and rendering her incapable of having a child.[12] Ollie killed the man who tortured her, and that act lead to a turning point in the life of the Emerald Archer.[13]
When Dinah came out of the hospital, she was still emotionally traumatized by the incident. Oliver was with her as she entered counseling. Needless to say, she was not going out fighting crime during the first few weeks after leaving the hospital. Ironically enough, it was when she stepped up to stop some muggers on a bus (taking a few hits in the process) she felt back to her old self, knowing that her biggest fear was that she would not be able to fight back anymore, and that fear was gone. She and Ollie were closer than ever.[14]
She continued to fight crime off and on, eventually breaking up with Oliver, feeling he would never commit to her completely after catching him kissing their young assistant Marianne.[15]
Run of the Arrow
Dinah was shocked when Connor Hawke, Oliver's son and the new Green Arrow, told her Oliver had died over Metropolis while fighting some eco-terrorists.[16]
Birds of Prey
Dinah was contacted by Oracle (Barbara Gordon) to work in Gotham City, which she accepted, and the pair formed a partnership, the Birds of Prey. Dinah took this role with great satisfaction. And with that came the feeling that she needed a few changes required in this fresh new chapter of her life, deciding to abandon her traditional blond wig and bleach her hair blond whilst growing it longer instead. During her time operating with Oracle, Dinah operated using an electronic form of her Canary Cry: a weapon that would do the 'crying' on Canary's behalf, called Canary Cry Bombs. After a battle with Ra's al Ghul, she took a dip in the Lazarus Pit at Oracle's urging. Doing so healed her injuries and restored her Canary Cry as well as her ability to have a child. [17] As time went on the Birds expanded their number with Dinah as the backbone of the team, operating alongside notable female agents such as the Huntress, Gypsy and Lady Blackhawk. Following that, Oracle shows Canary the retail space that later houses a reopened Sherwood Florist.
JSA
Dinah helps found a new incarnation of her mother's old team, the Justice Society of America, following the death of JSA founding member Wesley Dodds. She serves as a member of both the JSA and the Birds of Prey for a time.[18]
Quiver
Main article: Green Arrow: Quiver
A short time later, Dinah resigns from the JSA when she discovers that Oliver Queen has been resurrected. She travels to Star City, where the two former lovers are happily reunited. Their renewed relationship is short-lived however, as Dinah feared that Oliver might try to take advantage of his young female ward, Mia Dearden. Dinah leaves Star City and returns to Gotham City where she continues to function with the Birds of Prey.
Perfect Pitch
Following the "One Year Later" jump, Dinah trades life experiences with Lady Shiva in hopes of softening the warrior, undertaking a harsh training regimen in an unidentified Vietnamese bidonville, or shantytown. The regimen replicates Shiva's early life and training; Shiva, meanwhile, assumes Dinah's role in Oracle's group and demands that her associates call her the "Jade Canary".
When Dinah realizes following Lady Shiva's path will require her to fundamentally change who she is as a person, she ends the training and returns to the United States. She brings with her a little girl, Sin, who also had begun the harsh grooming process to be Lady Shiva's successor (Birds of Prey #95; the now resurrected Oliver Queen uses his connections to allow Sin to immigrate into the country). Dinah hopes to balance her duties as a superhero with the responsibilities of being a surrogate mother/sister to the child.
Raising Sin
In Birds of Prey #99, Dinah informs Oracle that she is quitting the team, having decided to devote herself to raising Sin. Issue #100 shows Dinah and Sin leaving Metropolis. It is hinted that their final destination is Star City; Dinah jokingly tells Sin that she can rip out Ollie's beard if he isn't nice to her.
Tornado's Path
After leaving the Birds of Prey, Black Canary joins with Green Lantern (Hal Jordan) and Red Arrow (Roy Harper) on a mission to locate the Red Tornado's body (stolen by his creator and Solomon Grundy). The three heroes join forces with Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Hawkgirl, Black Lightning, and Vixen to defeat Amazo.
Lightning Saga
The assembled heroes re-form the Justice League of America; Dinah is made the Chairwoman, due to her strong abilities and strategic mind. The team's first mission with Dinah as leader sees the JLA and JSA discover that members of the Legion of Super-Heroes (a team that lives in the 31st Century) have been located in the 21st Century.
Dinah eventually returned to Star City to aid Oliver, Connor and Mia against Roadblock and Merlin. During the course of their mission, Dinah rekindled her relationship with Oliver yet again, feeling that he had truly changed and that all the parts of him that she hated seemed to be gone. Oliver admitted to Dinah that many of the changes he made over the last year were due in most part for her, because he wanted to be a better man. As the battle concluded, Oliver at last proposed to Dinah. Dinah however, did not give him an answer right away.
Road to the Altar
Shortly thereafter, Ollie and Speedy helped Black Canary when Merlyn abducted Canary's "daughter" Sin. To save Sin's life, Ollie was forced to fake the young girl's death, keeping the knowledge of the plan between himself and Mia, even at the risk of losing Dinah forever. After Sin was placed into safekeeping, Ollie told Dinah what he had done. Recognizing that he was willing to sacrifice his own happiness to save a life, Dinah finally agreed to marry him. [19]
The Wedding
Main article: Green Arrow and Black Canary's Wedding
After a great deal of compromise and strife, Dinah and Ollie agreed to get married inside the Secret Sanctuary, the original cave headquarters of the Justice League of America. Wedding guests included nearly everyone within the superhero community who were asked to attend the ceremony in-costume. The wedding was interrupted by a phalanx of supervillains, who attempted to take out as many heroes as possible in one fell swoop. Nearly all of the villains were apprehended except for Deathstroke, who managed to escape. Despite the interruption, the ceremony concluded and Dinah Lance and Oliver Queen were married. [20]
Following Dinah's marriage to Ollie, the duo fought crime alongside one another, facing new challenges such as the villains Cupid, a mentally ill vigilante stalker with an obsession for the Green Arrow; and Discord, a man deafened by Canary's scream during the first fight with Dregz.
Shortly after, Darkseid attacked Earth and took control of it. Dinah planned an attack on Darkseid from the Justice League Watchtower but her plan was thwarted by a mind-controlled Green Arrow and she was forced to fight the one she loved.[21]
After Darkseid was defeated, Dinah was summoned to Gotham City along with other heroes to join the Network, a group dedicated to mantain order after Batman's death.[22] There, she teamed up with Huntress to aid Nightwing against I-Am-Batman.[23]
Cry for Justice
Main article: Justice League: Cry for Justice
Canary had soon resigned from her position as chairwoman of the Justice League, and later Hal Jordan and Ollie start their own Justice League. Discovering this, Dinah confronts Ollie in anger when he returns to the Watchtower to warn her and the other former League members of an impending attack on the world's superheroes, after which Prometheus arrives out of nowhere and attacks the team, severing Red Arrow's arm and defeating Dinah by maneuvering her into the path of an energy bolt fired by Starman (Mikaal Tomas). The now defeated Prometheus then destroys Star City via a teleportation device. While searching for survivors, Dinah and Oliver find the body of a dead, bloodied Lian, the daughter of Roy Harper. Dinah is then seen at Roy Harper's bedside at the hospital with Donna Troy, preparing to deliver the tragic news of his daughter's death when he awakens from his coma.
Blackest Night
Main article: Blackest Night
In the events of the Blackest Night, Dinah fights off an army of Black Lantern Corps under the supervillain Nekron. Nekron reveals he has the power to control all the heroes who have died and been resurrected, one of which, is the Green Arrow. With the aid of Mia Dearden and Connor Hawke, Dinah fights her husband (who has been transformed into a Black Lantern) while he tells her that he has been secretly in love with Shado since she raped him and that she is a fool for thinking he has changed, all out of his control. In the short time he is able to regain self-control, Ollie deliberately misses a shot he had aimed at Dinah, instead severing a hose containing liquid nitrogen. Connor, under Dinah's instructions, reluctantly uses the hose on Ollie, freezing him solid. The three then join the other heroes in battle.
Fall of Green Arrow
After Ollie returns to normal, it is discovered that he had secretly murdered Prometheus and had left his body to rot in the villain's own headquarters. After Flash and Hal Jordan confront Ollie with this revelation, Ollie goes on the run. Dinah joins Hal and Barry in searching the ruins of Star City for him, and eventually finds the archer scouring the city for one of the men who had worked for Prometheus. He easily defeats all three of them, leaving Dinah trapped in a specialized fluid designed to restrain her. Following this chain of events is Dinah's realization that all Ollie wants is to be left alone and so she tells him during her visitation at his jail cell after he turns himself in. With that said, she decides their marriage is over, leaving her wedding ring with him.
Brightest Day
Main article: Brightest Day
During the events of the Brightest Day, Dinah returns to Gotham City, where she along with Huntress, Lady Blackhawk and Hawk and Dove are assembled to reform the Birds of Prey.
Flashpoint
Professor Zoom drastically altered the Timestream in an attempt to get rid of his nemesis The Flash during Flashpoint.[24] This completely changed the course of history.[25] Dinah was never shown to have become Black Canary, as her mother's incarnation of the Justice Society had been unsuccessful.[26] Eventually the timestream was restored, although Pandora fixed it into an entirely new timeline.[27]
Powers and Abilities
Powers
- Canary Cry: Dinah possesses a metagene that gives her a potent sonic attack, able to damage and stun foes or objects, to the point of shattering metal. She possesses a incredible degree of control over her vocal cords. This enables her to mimic sounds and generate any sound she desires, even developing several abilities. The Canary Cry has been able to reach 300 decibels, which is enough to make a person's ears start bleeding even if they're not the attack target.
Abilities
- Acrobatics
- Driving
- Investigation
- Martial Arts: She is one of the most skilled martial artists on the planet. She has also been trained by Wildcat, who is formerly the Heavyweight Champion of the World, in the art of Boxing, Muay Thai, Capoeira, Krav Maga, and Hapkido. She has also been trained in Dragon Style Kung Fu and pressure point fighting by Richard Dragon. Thanks to Wonder Woman, Dinah has been trained in Amazon martial arts, but is strictly a novice in that kind of fighting style. Other styles she's shown skill in include Savate, Judo, Aikido, Jujitsu, Wing Chun, and Tae Kwon Do. [citation needed]
- Tactical Analysis: Dinah is also considered a strong leader and strategic thinker, which has led to her being made Chairwoman of the JLA.
- Weaponry
Paraphernalia
Equipment
- Body Armor
- Oracle Tech: Necklace and earrings used as communication devices from Oracle.
Transportation
Weapons
- Various Martial Art Weapons
- Canary Cry Bomb (Formerly) During the time she was without her actual Canary Cry, Dinah carried round bombs that would emit a similar loud sonic sound.
Notes
- Although this character was originally introduced during DC's Earth-One era of publication, their existence following the events of the 1985–86 limited series Crisis on Infinite Earths remains intact. However, some elements of the character's Pre-Crisis history may have been altered or removed for Post-Crisis New Earth continuity, and should be considered apocryphal.
Trivia
- Prior to and during her heroic career Dinah wore a blond wig to hide her identity and mislead her enemies. Later, she bleached her hair blond instead of concerning herself with a wig.
- Dinah plays a harmonica which she uses to strengthen her breathing and vocal cords. This is a form of training for her Canary Cry.[28]
- Dinah has a rare Rh-negative blood type, the same as her lover, Green Arrow.[10]
- Dinah secured a job as a physical education teacher at Meadowhill School before its destruction.[6]
Related
- 1,216 Appearances of Dinah Laurel Lance (New Earth)
- 322 Images featuring Dinah Laurel Lance (New Earth)
- 55 Quotations by or about Dinah Laurel Lance (New Earth)
- Character Gallery: Dinah Laurel Lance (New Earth)
External Links
- Black Canary at Wikipedia.org
- Black Canary at Toonopedia
- Black Canary biography at JSA members list
- Black Canary at the DCU Guide
- Canary Noir
Footnotes
- ↑ JLA: Year One #1
- ↑ Green Lantern (Volume 2) #78
- ↑ Green Lantern (Volume 2) #79
- ↑ Green Lantern (Volume 2) #81
- ↑ Green Lantern (Volume 2) #82
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Green Lantern (Volume 2) #83
- ↑ Green Lantern (Volume 2) #86
- ↑ The Flash #217
- ↑ The Flash #218
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 The Flash #219
- ↑ Justice League #1-Justice League International #7
- ↑ Contrary to popular rumors, she was not raped (as stated by Mike Grell)[citation needed].
- ↑ Green Arrow: The Longbow Hunters #1-3
- ↑ Green Arrow (vol. 2) #1-3
- ↑ Green Arrow (vol. 2) #75
- ↑ Green Arrow (vol. 2) #101
- ↑ Birds of Prey #34
- ↑ JSA: Secret Files and Origins #1; JSA #1-25.
- ↑ Black Canary (vol. 3) #1-4
- ↑ Green Arrow and Black Canary Wedding Special #1
- ↑ Final Crisis #6
- ↑ Batman: Battle for the Cowl #1
- ↑ Batman: Battle for the Cowl #2
- ↑ Flash (Volume 3) #12
- ↑ Flashpoint (Volume 2) #1
- ↑ Flashpoint: The World of Flashpoint #1
- ↑ Flashpoint (Volume 2) #5, see excerpt
- ↑ Lightning Saga
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  This character is or was a member of the Green Arrow family of vigilante super-heroes, who fight crime using archery and martial arts. They are a loose connection brought together through family bonds and shared experiences. This template will categorize articles that include it into the category "Team Arrow members." |
 This character has been a member of the Justice League of America, or the Justice League in any of its various incarnations, sworn by a duty to act as guardians of America and the world by using their skills and/or superpowers to protect Earth from the clutches of both interstellar and domestic threats. |
 Justice Society of America member |
 Birds of Prey member |