She’s been a superhero, a secret agent and a rock star. Now, she’s read to enter the ring as an MMA fighter, facing the deadliest assassin in the world. Thus will Dinah Lance prove herself to be DC Comics‘ greatest martial artist in Black Canary: Best of the Best.
Written by Tom King, with art by Ryan Sook, Black Canary: Best of the Best pits the Bird of Prey against one of her greatest foes. Lady Shiva is widely regarded as the deadliest woman in the world of DC Comics. She is also a former sensei of Dinah Lance, who studied Shiva’s most lethal techniques while refusing to use them. She may need those tricks, however, if she is to survive.
Six pages from Black Canary: Best of the Best #1 may be viewed below.
Best of the Best streamlines Black Canary’s origins
To describe Dinah Lance’s background in the current DC Universe as complicated would be an understatement. The 2011 New 52 reboot abandoned her classic backstory as heir to one of comics’ few mother/daughter superhero legacies. The new Dinah Lance was a homeless youth who became a covert operative in Team 7, before acquiring superpowers and going rogue. This was largely forgotten, however, after the 2015 Black Canary series had her become a rock star.
The 2016 Green Arrow Rebirth series tried to reconcile all this with limited success. It is now accepted that Dinah Lance performs in concert when she isn’t saving the world. It is unclear, however, if her mother — the Dinah Drake Black Canary from the JSA — has been restored to the timeline.
In any case, the background given for Dinah Lance in Black Canary: Best of the Best #1 restores the mother/daughter history. This is sure to please those fans who disliked how the New 52 changed their history. Less certain is the outcome of the fight with Lady Shiva, but it is sure to be more thrilling than Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson.
Black Canary: Best of the Best #1 arrives in comic shops everywhere on November 27, 2024.
