Publisher: DC Comics
First Appearance: Flash Comics #86 (August 1947) or Justice League of America v1 #75 (November 1969) or Justice League of America v1 #219 (October 1983), depending on how you look at it
Created By: Robert Kanigher and Carmine Infantino or Roy Thomas, Gerry Conway, and Chuck Patton – again, depending on how you look at it
Biography:
Dinah first appeared in 1947 as a supporting character for Johnny Thunder, who she quickly replaced as the backup feature in Flash Comics. She resurfaced with the rest of the Justice Society in the 1960s, and when her husband Larry Lance was killed during a team-up with the JLA, she decided to move to Earth-1, where she wouldn’t be plagued by memories of him.
Years later, when writers realized that her origin with the JSA required her to be pushing 70, they created a really loopy retcon that made Dinah her own daughter. Apparently, Dinah Sr. had died in the 60s, and her daughter, Dinah Jr. – who had been placed in suspended animation as a baby because of her dangerous Canary Cry, aging all the while – went on to Earth-1, with all of her mother’s memories, and this Dinah was the one who had been appearing in Justice League for the past 14 years. Comics, everybody!
Luckily, the Crisis came along, eliminated Earth-2, and streamlined Dinah Jr.’s origin – she simply followed in her mother’s superheroic footsteps. The younger Dinah was a martial artist like her mother, but also a metahuman born with a devastating sonic scream: the Canary Cry.
Dinah Jr. joined (or founded, depending on the continuity) the JLA, and started a relationship with Oliver Queen (Green Arrow). Together they eventually moved to Seattle, and opened up a florist’s shop. When the relationship went south and the business went under, Dinah’s life started spiraling out of control – until she teamed up with Barbara Gordon (Oracle) in Birds of Prey. Their partnership – and friendship – helped Dinah turn her life around and take her place as one of the most competent, respected superheroes in the DCU.
Since then, Ollie’s died and gotten better, and they’ve been together, estranged, married, and estranged again. Dinah’s adopted a little girl named Sin, and had to give her up to protect her. She’s quit and rejoined the JSA, the JLA, and the Birds. Her origin’s been futzed with. But she’s still one of the most asskickingest heroes around, male or female.
So What’s So Great About Her?
Well, for starters, she can totally kick your ass. Ranking martial artists in the DCU is always an exercise in frustration, because writers randomly assign them titles like “5th Best Whatever” without contextualizing them, but by any ranking system Dinah can go toe-to-toe with the undisputedly badass Lady Shiva, which puts her comfortably in the top ten. The really cool thing about this is that this all has nothing to do with her superpower. Dinah has incredible control over an awesomely destructive sonic weapon – that she almost never uses, because she doesn’t need it. In fact, for about a decade and a half she didn’t have it at all, and it didn’t slow her down one bit. How often do you see the Flash deciding to win a fight without using superspeed?
That aforementioned period without her powers started in Green Arrow: The Longbow Hunters by Mike Grell, when Dinah was tortured in order to give Ollie a motivation to kill some dudes, thus becoming “edgy.” (See also: the death of Lian Harper in Cry for Justice. Look, DC, the guy dresses like Robin Hood. He’s not that edgy.) This was the culmination of a couple decades of Dinah-as-Ollie’s-damsel-in-distress, a role she also played in the seminal Green Lantern/Green Arrow series of the 1970s. Ironically, this Golden Age heroine who’d tried to become a cop in the 1940s, ousted a male hero from his spot in Flash Comics and the JSA, and spent her time tooling around on a motorcycle spent the progressive Bronze Age being rescued by Oliver Queen. Luckily, Grell wrote Dinah as very competent after initially fridging her, but it was really her starring role in Birds of Prey that took Dinah to her current heights of badassery. In the first volume of that series, Chuck Dixon and Gail Simone wrote a woman growing more and more confident in her skin and her skills with every issue – smart, resourceful, and perfectly able to rescue herself – or anyone else who needs rescuing.
All of that is why I admire Dinah, but none of that is why I love her. I love Dinah because I want her to be my pal. In a world where genuine female friendships are a depressing rarity in the media – especially in comics, where women are so often relegated to supporting and/or competing over a man – Dinah seems like she’d just be an awesome friend. She’s fun-loving and funny, loyal to the death, and practical enough to tell you when you are making incredibly stupid life choices. She just seems like a wonderful person to have in your life, and reading about her is like reading about a pal who just happens to put on fishnets and fight crime on a daily basis.
Dinah Laurel Lance is a great superhero because she’s smart and competent and scary badass. But she’s a great character because she feels like a person you would like in real life.
Notable Appearances:
Dinah does not appear in every issue listed below, but was a regular cast member during the following runs. In this writer’s humble opinion, she particularly shines in Green Arrow v2 (post-Longbow Hunters), JLA: Year One, and especially Birds of Prey v1 #56-100.
Justice League of America v1 #75-231
Green Lantern/Green Arrow #1-7
Justice League International #1-13
Green Arrow: The Longbow Hunters
Green Arrow v2 #1-81
Black Canary v1 #1-4
Black Canary v2 #1-12
JLA: Year One
Birds of Prey v1 #1-127
JSA #1-31
Green Arrow v3 #1-40
JLA #112-125
Justice League of America v2 #0-43
Black Canary v3 #1-4
Green Arrow/Black Canary Wedding Special
Green Arrow/Black Canary #1-29
Dinah is currently co-starring in Birds of Prey v2.
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