BLACK CANARY
Real Name: Dinah Drake Lance
Class: Human
Occupation: Florist, formerly adventurer
Group Affiliation: Justice Society of America
Known Relatives: Dinah Laurel Drake (Black Canary II, daughter), Larry Lance (husband, deceased), Richard Drake (father, deceased)
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: Gotham City
First Appearance: Flash Comics #86 (August, 1947)
Powers: Canary was a skilled martial artist, and she sometimes was armed with gas pellets.History: Dinah was trained by her father since she was a small girl in the martial arts and athletics. Her father dreamed she would follow in his footsteps and join the police, but when her application was rejected he died of a broken heart. Dinah used her inheritance to open a florist shop. She still yearned to fight crime so she became the mysterywoman Black Canary.
(DCU Holiday Bash #2) - <December 24, 1944> Canary and the Justice Society put on the Justice Society Canteen for troops home for the holidays. They helped foil Nazi saboteurs that tried to blow up the canteen, thanks to the help of Ensign James Gordon.
(Flash Comics #86) - Mysterywoman Black Canary gained a reputation as a thief who stole from the underworld. She approached Johnny Thunder, saying she was going to a masked ball but forgot her mask and asked him to retrieve it for her from a nearby building she’d propped a ladder against. Johnny got the mask and tossed it to her, but she yanked away the ladder. Johnny hung from the window and summoned Thunderbolt. He was too proud to admit he needed help and just asked for advice, to which Thunderbolt replied he advised him to get his head checked out before flying away. The crooks who lived in the apartment grabbed Johnny and accused him of stealing their mask for Black Canary. They tried to beat up Johnny, but as he clumsily stumbled around they ended up knocking each other out. Thunderbolt returned to the scene to make sure Johnny was okay, and learned from the crook’s files that they had masks that served as an invitation to mobster “Socks” Slade’s ball. They planned on stealing the Kooblin Diamond from him, which he’d earlier stolen from Mrs. Van Eft. Black Canary gained entry to the ball with her mask and found the safe where the diamond was kept. “Socks” spotted her and drew his gun. Johnny and Thunderbolt arrived on the scene and “Socks” had his men hold them at gunpoint as well. Black Canary tossed a book at “Socks” disarming him and Thunderbolt shocked his underlings. Black Canary vanished, returning the diamond to its’ rightful owner. Johnny Thunder told Thunderbolt he was falling for Black Canary and hoped to see her again. Thunderbolt said it was cliché for a hero to fall for a villainess, and besides which he wasn’t much of a hero anyway.
(Flash Comics #87) - Johnny Thunder read the paper and saw an article about Black Canary having committed a theft that had the police baffled. Black Canary showed up at his home and gave him a package to hold onto, saying she was framed. Goons came to Johnny’s and took the package from him, but Canary dropped a note on him saying he had to catch them because the package was dangerous in the wrong hands. Johnny accidentally stepped on a kid’s roller skate, enabling him to catch up to the crooks getaway car and hang on until they got to their boss’ manor. Johnny crowed to himself about how cunning and brave he was, attracting the criminal’s attention. They tossed him into a bag and lowered him into a pit filled with alligators. Black Canary arrived at the manor, but was captured and put in the same predicament. Johnny had a Boy Scout knife on him and freed them both. Canary revealed that the package she’d stolen contained a stuffed owl with the diary of the crime boss hidden inside, and she intended to use it to have him charged for his crimes. Johnny went after the crooks, closing his eyes because he was scared of bloodshed, and managed to knock over a coat of arms and a knight’s armor that crashed on the crooks. Black Canary cleaned up the last one standing, and thanked Johnny for his help. She gave him the stuffed owl as a keepsake of their adventure and hoped they’d work together again soon.
(Flash Comics #88) - Johnny got a pie delivered to his home and Peachy Pet was eager to dig in. Johnny cut the pie, and a black canary flew out, so he pursued it all the way to a junkyard. Goons knocked Johnny out and tied him up next to the captive Black Canary. She’d been on the crooks trail after they stole from a charity drive, stole the map to their loots, and sent it to Johnny in the pie. The crooks put the duo in a cage, flew them up in a helicopter and dropped them. Johnny summoned Thunderbolt, who saved them, but only after expressing that Johnny was still palling around with Black Canary, who he disapproved of. They rushed to Johnny’s home, where the crooks were ransacking it looking for the map. The heroes easily beat them, but Thunderbolt couldn’t act quickly enough to stop Peachy from devouring the pie. Fortunately Black Canary’s black canary had held on to the map.
(Flash Comics #90) - Johnny Thunder was on his way to catch the bus when a photographer from a new photoshop took his picture, offering to mail it to him for free. They witnessed a bank robbery, and the crooks got away. Back at home Johnny received his photo, which was of an old man and went to the photoshop to see what the mix-up was. He found Black Canary standing over the photographer, who’d been murdered. The police arrived and had a photo from the shop of Black Canary and Johnny pulling off the bankjob. They figured the duo killed the photographer to keep him quiet. Johnny protested that he was there to see why he’d gotten a photo of an old man, but when he presented the photo to the police it was a duplicate of him robbing the bank. Banko Jim and his gang showed up and held the cops at gunpoint, claiming Black Canary was their boss, and drove her and Johnny off. Jim had committed the bank robbery, and when he found out the photog had accidentally documented his crime he altered the photo, superimposing Canary and Johnny over his gang, and putting a temporary exposure of the old man on a copy of the photo to lure Johnny in. Johnny and Canary fled the crooks, but ended up locked in a gas tank. Johnny summoned Thunderbolt, who saved them, even though he caused an explosion when he touched the gasoline. The heroes returned to the photoshop, where Banko had his bank loot stored. Johnny stumbled into flash bulbs, blinding the crooks and giving Black Canary the opportunity to pull a gun and demand Jim and his gang turn themselves in to the police.
(Flash Comics #91) - Johnny took a hike in the woods and saw kids tearing up trees and throwing them. Johnny had stumbled on a gang’s airstrip, which they kept hidden with cardboard trees. The crooks committed their robberies with a plane, but Black Canary foiled their last job by warning their target “Fireworks King” Peters and having him set up high voltage wires above his estate. Canary was stowed away on their plane, but made her presence known to save Johnny. The crooks took Canary and Johnny hostage, saying they were going to parachute Canary down to Peters estate and demanding she rob him or see Johnny get pushed out of their plane. Canary said she’d comply, but while she was meeting Peters they pushed Johnny out of the plane anyway. Canary hadn’t actually robbed Peters, she just filled the satchel the crooks gave her with bricks. Johnny summoned Thunderbolt to save himself, and Thunder grounded the crooks’ plane with lightning bolts. The plane crashed and hit a lightning rod, which struck Thunderbolt, grounding him and leaving him unconscious. The crooks tied Thunderbolt, Johnny and Canary to giant bottlerockets they found on Peter’s estate and lit the fuses. Thunderbolt recovered, saved his friends and made short work of the crooks.
(Flash Comics #92) - P.I. Larry Lance was a frequent customer of Dinah Drake’s flower shop, and she was always annoyed that he seemed overly familiar with her and called her baby. Lance bragged that she should show him more respect because he was on the case of the vehicles that kept disappearing on Franklin Turnpike. An armored car was passing through the turnpike, and Canary decided to investigate herself as Black Canary. The armored car saw headlights coming straight at it and swerved into a service road. Black Canary encountered Lance in the dark, and at first each thought the other was the crook behind the disappearance. The actual criminal knocked them out and tied them up. She put them on a log and sent them down the river, but as they rapidly approached a waterfall Canary used her chin to open up a locket she kept around her neck that contained a miniature knife and freed them. Canary and Lance took out the crook and her gang. They realized she kept a giant mirror on the turnpike that reflected the headlights of the vehicles coming through, fooling them into thinking they were about to crash. The service road led to a gang-plank and a large storage unit, effectively disappearing the vehicles. The next day Lance visited Dinah’s shop saying he wanted to buy flowers for Black Canary, who he’d developed a crush on, but Dinah pointed out that he didn’t know where Black Canary lived.
(Flash Comics #93) - Larry Lance walked into Dinah’s flower shop to make a purchase for a new client he was trying to win over. Larry told Dinah his client was helping him expose a new racket in town, and unexpectedly his client appeared. She was fatally wounded and warned Larry he’d be killed next. She was once the member of a cult called the Sacred Order of the Crimson Crystal, led by a mysterious swami. The swami promised the crimson crystal would grant them eternal life, but used his leadership position to fleece the cultists. Lance’s client betrayed the cult and stole the crimson crystal, marking her for death. The cult appeared and dragged Larry away, hoping he had the crystal on him. Dinah changed into Black Canary and realized Larry’s client still had the crystal on her person. The police responded to the hullabaloo and thought Black Canary had killed the former cultist, so she had to fight her way past them. She placed a newspaper ad offering to exchange the crystal for Larry and arranged a meeting with the cult at Marleek’s Bridge. She was ambushed and brought to the cult’s headquarters on Eagle rock Mountain. The swami was pleased to have the crimson crystal back and said it demanded a sacrifice, so Black Canary and Larry Lance had to die. Canary created a smokescreen with capsules hidden in her choker and knocked out the swami, revealing him as crook Bullet Ben under a mask. Canary showed the cultists that the crystal was a phony as well, a hollowed out fake with a battery inside providing its’ eerie glow. Canary told the cultists they shouldn’t be disappointed that eternal life was a sham, they should find something to live for like working for charity. The next day Larry told Dinah about the adventure, but implied he’d saved Black Canary instead of the other way around and Dinah realized he was quite the blowhard.
(Flash Comics #94) - Larry Lance relocated his P.I. office to Dinah Drake’s flower shop, and she suggested he start looking for a real job, like street sweeper. Larry tried to gain Dinah’s favor by buying flowers from flower girl Duchess, but she got annoyed when he told the flower girl Dinah would pay for them. Duchess took the flowers back, saying they were for a regular customer, and when he customer Van Nell arrived she handed them over. There was an explosion and Van Nell perished. Duchess went to the police, saying Dinah and Larry had tampered with her flowers and killed Van Nell. Dinah and Larry fled, realizing they’d been set up. Dinah changed into Black Canary to investigate Van Nell’s home and found that Larry had the same idea, as she found him trussed up by the Duchess and her gang. Duchess had kidnapped the physicist S.N. Lester and duplicated his photon smasher, which she planned on using for a crimewave, starting with the murder of Van Nell. Canary, Larry and Lester were tied up next to Lester’s photon smasher, which the Duchess activated. Fortunately the photon smasher’s light beams hit Canary’s locket, reflecting them back and destroying the machine. Black Canary caught duchess and her gang using their photon smasher to blow up an armored car and apprehended them.
(Flash Comics #95) - Dinah Drake went to work at her flower shop only to find Larry Lance had moved in and set up his new P.I. office. there. Larry said he couldn’t pay his rent because he only wanted to take big cases, and even though Dinah objected vehemently to sharing office space with her he managed to sweet talk her in his own charmless way. Someone claiming to be Black Canary placed a phone order for a black orchid to be delivered to the Lake Drive estate of Andrew Masters. Dinah mailed out the order but wanted to investigate who was posing as her so she sent Larry out to deliver a bouquet while she changed into Black Canary. Canary arrived at the estate and was detained by security, who said she’d killed Mr. Masters after threatening him with a black orchid. Masters’ niece Miss Masters wept, asking Canary how she could kill someone who looked up to her so much. Larry, curious about the Masters delivery as well, showed up, giving Black Canary a distraction so she could escape. She knew she was being framed by her impostor, and was going to tell the D.A. her side of the story, but when she scaled his office building she overheard him on the phone, and he was convinced Canary was guilty because Masters had just left his fortune to her in his will after the fake Black Canary saved him at Gargoyle Head Lake. Canary and Lance found the impostor at the lake, and she turned out to be Miss Masters. Miss Masters was always a disappointment to her uncle, who’d cut her off from his fortune. She impersonated Black Canary and framed her for murder because with her ineligible to receive Masters’ fortune the money would default to her, his closest living relative. They fought and ended up in the lake, where Masters panicked because she couldn’t swim, and agreed to confess to the authorities if Black Canary saved her.
(Flash Comics #96) - Dinah and Larry went to a soda shop for ice cream sodas and discovered the druggist murdered. Dinah said she was going to fetch the police, but used the opportunity to change into Black Canary away from Larry. Larry found a newspaper clipping on the druggist about a society horse show where Mrs. Gorham was having the last public showing of her famous topaz brooch before selling it for charity. The crooks that killed the druggist returned and knocked out Canary and Larry, but fled as the police arrived. Canary and Larry revived and fled when the police accused them of the murder. They knew they’d have to clear themselves and went to the horse show, where the crooks reappeared and stole Gorham’s brooch. Canary and Larry pursued them on Canary’s motorcycle to a hideout outside of town where the crooks took off in a plane. The heroes leaped aboard the plane, and when the crooks couldn’t shake them they parachuted out. The heroes jumped onto the parachutes and made short work of the crooks, wo confessed that the druggist was actually a fence trying to pull the same job they were.
(Flash Comics #97) - On his way to Dinah’s flower shop Larry Lance witnessed Donald Swain, the president of Chemical Alliance, being tossed from a car. Swain was dying, and took a piece of cloth from his mouth, and asked Larry to hide it, saying it was worth millions. When Larry told Dinah what happened she advised they go to the police, but when they left the shop the same car that dumped Swain grabbed Larry and sped off. Dinah changed into Black Canary and traced the car’s license plate to T. Tate, an employee of Eastern Textile Mills. At the mill she found Larry held captive by criminal Threads and his gang. They subdued Canary and tied her and Larry up with thread and bound them to bobbins, spinning them around and demanding to know where the cloth was. When they refused to talk Threads and his men walked away, saying he’d give them time to reconsider. Canary used a miniature flint in her choker to start a small fire that burned the threads that bound them and let them escape. Threads panicked when he realized they were free, and tried to flee, but Canary stopped him in his tracks by throwing a large bolt of cloth at him. He confessed to killing Swain for the cloth, which had a priceless formula for a new type of dye, and Larry revealed he’d had the cloth all along, which he’d fashioned into a tie. Larry returned the formula to Chemical Alliance and later bragged to Dinah about his adventure.
(Flash Comics #98) - Dinah went to her flower shop only to be mystified that it had been converted into a grocery store. She spotted men setting up the shop back to normal bragging about how they’d hoodwinked millionaire Roger Steel, and that the police would think he was nuts if he said he met them in a grocery store that was really a florist shop. Dinah changed into Black Canary and chased them away only to find Steel, shot and wounded out back. Larry Lance arrived, telling Canary he’d been hired as Steele’s bodyguard, and she told him he was doing a pretty crummy job. Crooks had stolen Steele’s priceless stamp the Byzantine Black and had lured him to Dinah’s shop before Larry could stop him. The returned Steele to his mansion, where his niece Elaine doted on him, but the crooks returned and knocked out Canary and Lance. The heroes found themselves on a board balanced by a rock in a quicksand pit and the crooks bragged that if one of them moved the other would go in the quicksand. Canary grabbed a nearby vine to swing herself to safety and brought down a rock that catapulted Larry away from the quicksand. They caught the crooks, who protested that they weren’t the ones who shot Steele. Canary and Lance returned to the Steele mansion, where Elaine was trying to brain her uncle with a pistol. She admitted she tried to kill him because she was impatient for her inheritance.
(Flash Comics #99) - Dinah mistakenly received a package for neighboring florist Danny Deake, and she ran into Larry who wanted to talk to Deake about a lead in a case he was pursuing, tracing a million dollars of stolen radioactive vinium. Deake arrived to take his package when a car full of goons pulled up, gunned him down, took the package and grabbed Larry. Dinah changed into Black Canary and followed them to the Modern Glass Company. Deake’s package contained a vase with some of the stolen virium, which the crooks were fencing using flower shops. They knew they had to eliminate Deake when they learned he was going to spill to Larry. The criminals knocked out Larry and Canary, placing them in a giant hourglass which would suffice them once the sand ran into the bottom. Black Canary used her locked, which was decorated with a canary with a diamond beak, to cut a hole in the hourglass and them. They mopped up the criminals, and Larry asked Canary why she always disappeared right after they finished a case. She promised she’d see him soon, and back at the flower shop Dinah was amused that the forlorn Larry seemed to be counting the minutes, hoping black canary would show up.
(Flash Comics #100) - Dinah and Larry were entranced by a music shop’s window display of a music box with Pierrette figurines, but were startled when the Pierrette shot Pierrot, causing him to fall over. Dinah wanted to know more about the music box, and when they entered the store a customer rushed out and the shopkeeper soon keeled over, dead. Dinah told Larry to get the police, giving her time to change into Black Canary. She examined the peculiar music box, and found it was made by Rex Clay and Pottery. She went to the address and saw Rex, recognizing him as the customer she’d encountered, and his gang filling pottery with stolen diamonds. She went on the attack, but Rex knocked her out with gas that was a non-lethal version of what he’d used to kill the shopkeeper. The shopkeeper was one of Rex’s fences who’d threatened to double cross-him. When Canary awoke she found herself tied to a pole on an enormous music box, with Larry, who’d also tracked down Rex’s address, on another pole. Rex was a sculptor turned criminal and enjoyed making figurines depicting his crimes, so he’d already produced a miniature version of black Canary and Lance, and told them the music box was set to spin them around until they faced each other, at which point it’d explode. Rex and his gang left and when they were back to back Canary grabbed Lance’s hands, and the pressure snapped the poles. They deactivated the explosives and found a miniature of Martier’s Jewelry Shop, and knew it would be where Rex and his gang would strike next. Canary’s judo easily dispatched Rex and his gang. Back at the flower shop Larry bragged about his latest adventure to Dinah and gave her one of her own roses as thanks for setting him off on such an intriguing adventure.
(JSA #68) - <October 13-15,1951> Black Canary and the Justice Society appeared before HUAC, where they were accused of having ties to the reds because they’d associated with a communist to bring in saboteurs. HUAC demanded they prove themselves good Americans and reveal their secret identities. They all refused, and Green Lantern teleported them out of Washington. At JSA hq they discussed the fact that they’d be wanted men and women if they didn’t reveal their identities. They decided it was for the best to disband the Society.
(JSA #72) - <October 30, 1951> Canary and the rest of the Justice Society were convinced into coming out of retirement by the time-traveling JSA. They had to team up to stop Per Degaton, who was going to assassinate President Truman and put the blame on the Justice Society, forever ending their legacy. The teams defeated Degaton, who fled into the timestream. The resulting time distortion caused Canary and the other Society members to forget their adventure with the JSA.
When the JSA disbanded she married her detective friend Larry Lance and gave birth to a daughter she named Dinah.
The elder and junior Dinahs worked together in a floral shop until the younger Dinah donned the mantle of Black Canary II and joined the JLA. In Black Canary I's last case she helped the JLA defeat Aquarius, but the battle left Larry Lance dead and Canary infected with cancer.
Black Canary and her daughter spent time at odds, but they had a deathbed reunion when Canary finally succumbed to cancer.
Comments: Created by Robert Kanigher & Carmine Infantino
In the pre-Crisis DCU Black Canary I lived on Earth-2. In this continuity Canary's daughter was cursed since birth with a sonic scream by the Wizard and Canary was forced to ask her friend Johnny Thunder send the baby to the Thunderbolt's dimension. When Canary contracted cancer from Aquarius Johnny's Thunderbolt put her mind in her fully grown daughter's body to save her life, but erased from her memory the fact that she was now her own daughter. This Canary moved to Earth-2 and joined the JLA.
Black Canary received a profile in Who's Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe #2. She received a profile in Who's Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe #12 under the Justice Society of America entry. Black Canary was featured in the Crisis on Parallel Earths entry in JLA in Crisis Secret Files #1.
Black Canar's appearance in Flash Comics #92 was reprinted in Detective Comics I #442, Flash Comics #95 was reprinted in 100-Page Super Spectacular #DC-20.
Black Canary had a cameo in JSA #38, 69.
A statue of Canary was seen in the JSA Museum in JSA #82 and JLA / JSA: Virtue and Vice.
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