BLACK CANARY

Black Canary was another hero from the Golden Age of Comics. She got her start in Johnny Thunder's feature in Flash Comics, and soon got her own feature, as well as membership in the Justice Society of America.

After the JSA came out of retirement in the sixties, Black Canary moved from Earth-One to Earth-Two after her husband was killed during one of the annual JLA/JSA team-ups. Once on her new home, she fell in love with JLA partner Green Arrow. It was later revealed that the woman who came to Earth-One was actually the daughter of the original crime-fighter, who had been born with a mutant "Canary Cry", a sonic attack that she used to great effect.

The Brave and The Bold #61

Starman and Black Canary in "Mastermind of Menaces"

Script by Gardner Fox
Art by Murphy Anderson

Cover by Murphy Anderson

SYNOPSIS: Larry Lance, husband of Dinah Drake Lance, the Black Canary, was investigating a series of unexplained robberies around town. When he didn't know was that the robbery victims themselves were being compelled to commit the crimes themselves. A visitor to Park City, Ted Knight (better known as Starman), stopped by Dinah's flower shop to visit his old friend. She gave Ted a flower for his lapel and an invitation to dinner that night, and Ted then went to the Park City Observatory to do some stargazing.

Ted suddenly had trouble seeing at the telescope, as the stars seemed to have disappeared. As he walked back to Dinah's shop, the flower in his lapel started vibrating and emitting sound sensations that ordered him to commit a crime as a certain location. Ted donned his Starman garb and headed over to the nearby location, and watched as a mesmerized victim dropped his cash off in a secluded spot. Soon after, a trio of men came to retrieve the money, and Starman and readied his Cosmic Rod to spring into action. Unfortunately, his rod picked that moment to stop working, so the Astral Avenger had to use his fists to battle the thugs. He had almost defeated them when a sound attack from the flower the last man was wearing caused him to black out.

Elsewhere in the city, Starman's old enemy, The Mist, pondered his next move. His men returned from their altercation with Starman and detailed the fact that he hadn't used his Cosmic Rod against them. The Mist was behind the robberies, and was using the wealthy customers Dinah Lance's florist shop as targets for the crimes. He had devised a way to send (and receive) mesmerizing sound vibrations through flowers, and was listening in on Dinah's shop for prospects. And deactivating Starman's Cosmic Rod was just a lucky by-product of the process.

Larry returned and told Dinah that the one common thread in all the robberies was that she had delivered flowers to the victim. Starman arrived to confirm it, and after Dinah left the room to lock up the shop, she too was compelled to talk to a flower to report to the Mist on who she had delivered flowers to that day. She was amazed to learn she did it later, and suited up as Black Canary to join Starman in solving the case. Larry was going to determine where the flowers were broadcasting from, and Starman insisted that Black Canary take a smaller version of his Cosmic Rod with her just in case she needed it (this Rod used Quasars as its power source and wouldn't conk out like his regular weapon had).

The first home that Dinah had delivered flowers to was being burgled by invisible gangsters when Black Canary arrived to check it. She blew a red powder across the room, which adhered to the invisible thugs enough so she could see to fight them, and she managed to incapacitate all of them quite easily. Starman headed for the next home on the list, where the owner had deposited the proceeds of a charity event into a model Viking boat and set it adrift in the river. As a helicopter tried to pick up the boat, Starman severed their chopper blades, forcing them to surrender. In the meantime, Larry had found the Mist's hideout and called Starman and Black Canary on a radio, not knowing that the bush he hid behind was set to pick up sounds like the flowers had been. A number of invisible thugs came out and captured him, while the Mist made plans for the arrival of Starman and Black Canary.

Starman arrived first, and was incapacitated soon after the Mist turned on his sound machine, since the waves interfered with the Cosmic Rod. Black Canary entered the picture soon after, using the mini-Cosmic Rod to eliminate most of the gang. The Mist, however, got in a grazing shot from a pistol, given with her inexperience with the weapon, and she fell to the ground. Starman had recovered and found his Cosmic Rod to be working again (the Mist had shut off the device), and shielded his friend from harm. The Mist attacked Starman, trying to take control of the Cosmic Rod, but failed, and was "de-misted". The pair found Larry tied up in a closet, and the case was wrapped up.

COMMENTS: Great little story, buttressed by the fantastic Murphy Anderson art. This was the second in a trio of try-outs for Earth-Two heroes in the Silver Age (Showcase featured the team of Doctor Fate and Hourman, as well as the solo adventure of the Spectre), and I've always thought the two issues featuring Starman and Black Canary were the best of the bunch, mainly for their simplicity and their Golden Age feel.

This issue marked the third Silver Age appearance of the Golden Age Starman.

THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD #62

Starman and Black Canary (with Wildcat) in "The Big Super-Hero Hunt"

Script by Gardner Fox
Art by Murphy Anderson

Cover by Murphy Anderson

SYNOPSIS: The Sportsmaster has begun a series of crimes, the first being the theft of the Parker Trophy at a sporting event dinner. He is followed by Dinah Drake Lance, better known as Black Canary, who trails him to the estate of Ted Knight (Starman). Ted has discovered his old JSA partner Wildcat in a cage in the heart of a labyrinth replica he has on his Federal City estate. Wildcat was captured by his old enemy, The Huntress, who briefly detained Starman with a flock of wild birds. The Sportsmaster and the Huntress were rendezvousing and almost inadvertently defeated both Starman and Black Canary and flee the scene. The criminal pair are actually husband and wife now.

After Starman and Black Canary awaken, they find Wildcat gone from Starman's labyrinth, but trail Sportsmaster's remote controlled skis back to their lair, where Wildcat has been caged up along with a number of dangerous wild animals, which are released when Wildcat is freed. The animals are only a short diversion for their combined abilities. Starman and Black Canary head out to stop the Sportsmaster and Huntress, who are attacking the members of a golf course on a flying green (with the intent of stealing the tournament's $100,000 prize money), leaving a dejected Wildcat to guard the estate on the chance the bad guys escape. The pair beat the two athletic villains fairly easily, trapping them in the device the Sportsmaster had intended to use on the heroes.

COMMENTS: This was another of DC's early efforts to bring the heroes of the Golden Age out of retirement. The popularity of the early Justice League/Justice Society team-ups let Gardner Fox and the other creators play around with the individual JSA members. Starman and Black Canary had two outings in the pages of B&B (including this issue with Wildcat). Showcase featured a pair of team-ups between Doctor Fate and Hourman (including one with the Golden Age Green Lantern), as well as a three-issue run that led the Spectre to get his own short-lived book (which also had an issue with Wildcat, with art by Neal Adams).

This issue was one of the more fun books in this brief series. Here you have three great heroes (albeit near-second stringers) of the Golden Age with two fairly popular villains. You had the "Strange Sports Stories" angle with the Sportsmaster's crimes (a popular theme in the sixties at DC, right up there with apes everywhere), and you get to see Wildcat knock out a kangaroo (see below…which for some reason has been one of my favorite Wildcat sequences since I first got the book when I was a kid). Sure, having Starman around pretty much made both Black Canary and Wildcat superfluous, but he did let them take their turns at the baddies.

The Brave and The Bold #91

Batman and Black Canary in "A Cold Corpse for the Collector"

Script by Bob Haney
Art by Nick Cardy

Cover by Nick Cardy

SYNOPSIS: Our story opens with a bunch of criminals reviewing a movie of a payoff and double cross on a bridge in Gotham City. Batman is on hand as well, telling them what will obviously happen if they put a hit on the double-crosser, Turk O'Hare, who worked for mob boss Rhymer. They are all there at the behest of the Collector, a very expensive problem solver who was working. One of his special methods was to have a guy sit in on the conference dressed as Batman to give them the perspective of what the Dark Knight would do to their affairs.

Meanwhile, the double-crossed man in the movie was being pulled from the river by Commissioner Gordon and Batman. He was Waxey Till, a switch man for the syndicate. Also on board the boat was a stowaway, private investigator Larry Lance, who said he had been watching Till for a client, but refused to say who it was. Batman and Larry decided to work together on the case, since it was bound to bring out The Collector, who had cut a path through every thug, politician and cop in the city. Batman believed the Collector was Karl Klegg, while Larry believed the unseen man was actually "Doc" Danton.

Later, Larry returned to his office to find one of his clients, Myra Kallen, who had wanted him to take up the case of her missing husband. Myra was actually Dinah Lance, also known as the Black Canary. She had recently moved from Earth-Two (where she was a member of the Justice Society) to Earth-One and joined the Justice League of America, and had searched out the Earth-One doppleganger of her late husband. Larry didn't really take "Myra" seriously, but Black Canary planned to make him love her so her new world would finally seem like "home"

That night, Turk O'Hare was gambling in an illegal casino in midtown when the croupier revealed himself to be the Collector and shot O'Hare dead. The Collector filled his pockets with cash from the table and ran, but was soon accosted by the Batman. The Caped Crusader was forced to leap for cover by a hail of gunfire, and the Collector got outside the room, though not before the Batman got a batarang off. The Batman saw a figure run in front of a glass door and charged through it, only to find Larry, who had also been there looking for the Collector. Larry did have a wound that matched the one his Batarang gave the Collector, but he decided not to make much of it, since Larry had told him someone had hit the private eye before the Batman pounced on him. They did find the Collector's disguise, which had a pocket full of peanuts (a habit of Doc Danton).

After calling Gordon to collect O'Hare's body and shut down the casino, The Batman and Larry were met outside by "Myra". The Batman kept up the charade for Black Canary, but she wouldn't listen to him when he told her that Larry might not be who or what he seemed to be. As she walked away, the Caped Crusader noticed a man with a flashlight on a nearby roof. Immediately after noticing the man, a truck dropped off a bale of newspapers in front of a nearby newsstand. A weird noise was heard and the paper bale flew away from the Dark Knight, where it exploded. Black Canary had used her Canary Cry to get the bale away from Batman, since she had noticed that the truck driver had worn expensive gloves and figured something was up. She drove away on her cycle, saying that she hoped Batman could see the situation with Larry from her point of view.

The next day, the leads on Danton and the delivery truck appeared to be dried up until Larry called Batman to tell him that the Collector was due to make a collection from his client, at the Gotham City Museum's sculpture court. The Batman knew that meeting in museums or art galleries was another of Danton's quirks, so he headed over there after the museum had closed. The Batman was then attacked by a fusillade of gunfire. He dodged behind a statue of Don Quixote until the assassin ran out of ammunition, and then ran for him. He was about to catch the killer when the man was killed by a shot from behind ... Larry had arrived, without his client since he believed it to be a trap. The Batman mused to himself as to if this had been a trap for Danton, or for himself.

Soon after, Gordon let the Caped Crusader know that Doc Danton's body had been recovered from the city dump, after having been dumped their weeks ago. This hardened Batman's belief that Larry was the Collector, but he couldn't get Black Canary to believe any of it because of her infatuation with the man. She believed the Dark Knight was jealous, and slapped him. After Batman left, Larry entered the room and revealed that he knew who she really was, and wanted her help in stopping the Collector himself, which would set them up for life.

All over Gotham that night, Commissioner Gordon and Batman set about rounding up all of Rhymer's men, as well as all the syndicate heavies. They would be out on bail soon without proper evidence, but Larry supplied the judge with enough to keep them all behind bars. The final suspect for the identity of the Collector was Karl Klegg now, since that proved that Larry wasn't the criminal. Later, the Collector met with the syndicate, where he offered them the greatest pay-off of all: The life of Batman.

Larry called Batman and said that a stoolie had tipped him off that Kleff was meeting Rhymer at the track at dawn to work out a deal. At the track, Batman saw a man climbing the judges' stand, and headed to collect him, but was bowled over by a horse and sonic cry of Black Canary. The man on the ladder revealed himself to be Larry, who was about to shoot the Caped Crusader. Black Canary jumped between them, saying that she had stunned the Batman so Larry could capture the Collector himself, not realizing that Larry had used her and he was, indeed, the Collector. The surprise paralyzed the pretty bird for a moment, and Batman shoved her out of the way of the bullet, and a Batarang disarmed Larry, who jumped on a horse and sped off. The two heroes jumped on the Canary Cycle and gave chase, being assisted by Black Canary's sonic cry to negotiate the steeplechase course in the field. Batman unhorsed Larry and fought in a water hazard, but Larry accidentally stabbed himself to death.

COMMENTS: This was one of those odd issues of B & B that both played good and bad with continuity. It was interesting to see an Earth-One version of Larry Lance, evil though he may have been, but this also began raising the interesting question of where the Earth-One Dinah Drake was, a question which wasn't answered for about fifteen years until a Justice League of America/Justice Society of America team-up finally addressed the situation (not to mention Dinah's apparent youth when compared to the other JSA'ers).

Nick Cardy provided some excellent artwork on this issue.

This issue also features a text page "The Greatest Heroes of Them All (Part 5)" which covers the history of The Brave and The Bold #79-the then-present, written by Marvin Wolfman. The letters page also features a brief biography of artist Nick Cardy.

The Brave and The Bold #100

Batman and 4 Famous Co-Stars (Green Lantern, Black Canary, Robin, Green Arrow) in "The Warrior in a Wheel Chair"

Script by Bob Haney
Art by Jim Aparo

Cover by Nick Cardy

SYNOPSIS: The Batman was shot by a sniper outside of Gotham City Hall, and nearly killed. The bullet was perilously close to his heart, and only the renowned surgeon Dr. Hellstrom of Zurich had a chance of saving his life. Unfortunately, the doctor would not be able to get to Gotham for three days, during which time the Caped Crusader must be immobilized. This did not suit the Dark Knight, as he had intended o stop the biggest heroin shipment ever smuggled into Gotham within the next few days.

The Batman sat in the penthouse of Bruce Wayne and watched a spider catch and devour his prey in his web, which inspired him to do that same. His ward Dick Grayson arrived soon, as well as three friends: Green Lantern, Green Arrow and Black Canary. Commissioner Gordon also agreed to keep out of the matter until Batman called him (so as to prevent any needless police deaths). The Batman's plan was to search out the ways that the drug kingpin, Belknap, could bring the dope in and capture it before it hit the streets. Belknap was, in fact, suspicious, since this was the biggest operation he had ever run, and planned to run a test shipment first.

First up, Green Arrow, went to the Gotham City Post Office, where he intercepted a load of packages. After the runners where subdued (and one was killed), the Emerald Archer discovered that it contained nothing but sugar. Belknap decided to run a test on his next channel into the city, and Green Lantern (as Hal Jordan) was watching a car being unload from a cargo ship. He became immediately suspicious when the car was off loaded, and then a car of the exact same model and color was reloaded onto the vessel. He got ahold of the car (after a brief gun battle in which the thugs escaped) and used his Power Ring to dismantle it, but found no drug shipment within it. The Batman knew that now Belknap had to be suspicious of what was going on.

Belknap tried to run a test through his third channel, but the Batman could not located Black Canary to handle it. He sent Robin to find her, locating the Blonde Bombshell in a beauty salon drying her hair after the rain inundated her. Robin believed he could handle the next channel, but unfortunately the drop was at a women-only lecture of Monique de la Tour, noted feminist. Black Canary was able to get in, but the drop was yet another dead end, as Belknap had merely sent two crates of de la Tour's book.

The Batman went under the surgeon's blade the next day, with his only regret being that he wasn't able to stop Belknap. The Dark Knight hallucinated wildly as he went under the anesthetic, and suddenly saw through the madness and grabbed the surgeon's arm. As the doctor's tried to subdue him, he pushed a button on his wrist that summoned Robin into the operating theatre. Batman told his partner that Hellstrom was a phony, and indeed, the surgeon was ... Belknap! An arrow prevented the criminal from harming the Caped Crusader, but Batman was still near death's door and the surgeon who could save him was being held by Belknap's goons. Green Lantern used his Power Ring to bring the doctor to Gotham and he performed the operation. In the middle of it though, Hellstrom noticed that the monitoring equipment was not functioning. He opened it up only to find the drug shipment that Belknap had wanted to get into the city, hidden in all of his "special" medical equipment to get past customs.

The operation was a complete success and the Batman told his friends that he had notice needle marks on the surgeon's arm, and had also remembered that Belknap was a junkie as well as a dealer. He thanked his four friends for their help, and thanked his eight-legged inspiration.

COMMENTS: This was a good story, but not a great one, which would've been more fitting an anniversary issue. The basic idea of the story to have Batman behind the scenes pulling the strings was a good one, though. I have to agree with Robin's assessment and say that Black Canary was pretty much useless during this caper, and was completely out of character for most of it as well. The three older heroes are apparently here recently after the end of their "Search for America" journey in those classic Denny O'Neill & Neal Adams issues of Green Lantern/Green Arrow, but each character's personality really doesn't reflect the changes that they endured during that trek.

Jim Aparo wasn't yet hitting his stride on the book, but his work still looks good. It would be another three or four months before his style finally crystallized into the unique combination of realism and cartoon that typifies his work.

This issue also features a reprint of Strange Adventures #210, "Hide and Seek", starring Deadman (by Jack Miller and Neal Adams).

THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD #107

Batman and Black Canary in "The 3-Million Dollar Sky"

Script by Bob Haney
Art by Jim Aparo

Cover by Jim Aparo

SYNOPSIS: At Gotham Airport, The Batman and Commissioner Gordon could only watch as a skyjacked airliner with 93 aboard came down hard on the tarmac, nearly crashing. The skyjackers' demands were a ransom of $3 million dollars in small bills and the immediate release from State Prison of Monk Devlin. Batman called the Governor and arranged the release. Devlin boarded and discovered that the skyjacker was Willie Kresh, brother of Tony, who had been a loyal companion to Devlin. The plan was to then take the plane to San Pedro in South America. The pilot protested that he'd need a flight engineer and at least one stewardess, and got both, in the form of a disguised Batman and Black Canary, who had answered a call from her JLA teammate.

The flight was fairly uneventful until Kresh discovered that Black Canary had drugged the coffee, making Devlin pass out. As the group were preparing to bail out and escape, Black Canary attacked and disarmed Kresh, but was knocked unconscious by Devlin, using the suitcase full of money. Kresh sent a barrage of bullets into the flight cabin, injuring the pilot but missing The Batman. The pair bailed out, but took Black Canary with them (still not knowing she was really the super-heroine). Black Canary landed safely, but Devlin was almost killed by a rattlesnake, saved only by the accurate shot of Kresh. The Batman also bailed out of the plane to follow the trio.

The men and Black Canary traveled through the rocky country searching for the mountain pass to get to San Pedro. They had landed near an adobe house, but Kresh believed it was too close to a village, so they avoided it. Black Canary made it look like she slipped and fell off a cliff in order to get away to alert the Batman of their position. When the two men got to the pass, Kresh turned his gun on Devlin. He had wanted Devlin to have just the sight of freedom before he killed him in revenge for him killing his brother Tony when Devlin was worried the brother might take over the rackets from him. Unfortunately, just as he was about to pull the trigger, a bandit known as Emiliano and his men interrupted the proceedings. He had been following the progress of the plane and them on a radio and wanted the three million dollars. When they opened the case, they found it full of rocks instead of cash, since Kresh had hidden the money in case anything had gone wrong with his plan. Emiliano threatened Kresh with the bite of a Gila Monster, but he stood his ground. A well-timed rock thrown by Black Canary knocked the poisonous creature out of the bandit's hand.

The Batman and Black Canary took care of many of the bandits, but fled with Kresh and Devlin because the odds were too great. A ricochet hit Black Canary, and both she and Batman were taken prisoner by Emiliano. Moments later, they heard two shots nearby, and found Devlin and Kresh dead. Emiliano had no quarrel with either of the heroes, so he led them out of the mountains, to the adobe house Kresh and Devlin had seen before. The adobe was the home of a coffin maker, who built boxes for the two killers. Emiliano bemoaned the loss of the money and before the police could arrive. The heroes returned to Gotham with the bodies of the two criminals but no money. Later, the mortician found the missing money, which had been hidden in one of the coffins, which Kresh had apparently mistaken for a box.

COMMENTS: Another nice little thriller ... no lose ends, a nice twist at the end, good characterization, and a good deal of logic to what was going on in the tale. Bob Haney and Jim Aparo really hit their stride about this time in B & B's history, chugging out stories of consistently good quality to hold even the most daunted reader's interest. Another reason I enjoyed this tale was that Black Canary did not use her sonic cry once during the whole adventure. It made the whole story considerably more believable and likened back to her golden age roots.