u/Dent6084

Art by Ryan Sook.

Despite their history as the first major mother/daughter legacy/shared heroic identity in DC, there are surprisingly few team-up stories or parallel stories for the two Dinahs (there's the one where Dinah Laurel ends up making her new costume, there's the BoP one where Dinah Laurel ends up bringing the Blonde Slasher to justice). Seems like there's an opportunity to correct that!

Given how little early continuity exists right now for both Black Canaries, would love to see a story where the two of them team up early in Dinah Laurel's career, maybe shortly after she's helped co-found the League. Would also love to see a story where both team up with Zinda Blake (one with Dinah Drake back in the 40s, one with Dinah Laurel in present day), and one that parallels Dinah Laurel's relationship with Dinah Drake with Diana's relationship with Hippolyta.

Let's fucking go. Time for Absolute Dinah to unravel the mystery.

Image Source: Secret Origins of Superheroes #10 (Mike Vosburg), JLA Vol. 1 #188 (Don Heck), World's Finest #251 (Trevor Von Eeden),

The legendary Gerry Conway passed today. For his work on the Satellite-era JLA and the Green Arrow/Black Canary World's Finest back-ups among others, he's one of the most significant pre-Crisis Black Canary writers... most notably because after giving Canary her first real origin in Secret Origins of Superheroes #10 "The Canary is a Bird of Prey", in JLA Vol. 1 #219 "Crisis in the Thunderbolt Dimension", he is the one (along with co-writer Roy Thomas, who takes over in the second part as the full retcon is explained) who introduces the retcon that the Black Canary we've been following ever since JLA Vol. 1 #75 is, in fact, Dinah Laurel Lance and not Dinah Drake Lance.

It's a complicated and controversial retcon, to be sure - and it's no surprise that when the COIE came along in just a few years, they retconned the retcon so that things were much simpler. No need for Dinah Laurel to have been in a coma after being cursed by the Wizard as a baby until her mom died and then she had her mom's memories put into her and so she thought she was her mom (though I do think some of that weirdness has stuck around subtextually in the Dinahs' complicated relationship). But without this story, we would not have gotten Dinah Laurel Lance, and for that we must say thanks. So thanks for all the stories, Gerry, the stories of Black Canary among them. RIP.