A
super-hero created by
Bob Kanigher and
Carmine
Infantino for
DC Comics. Her first Golden Age appearance
was in Flash Comics #86 and her first Silver Age appearance
was in Justice League of America #219.
The origin and history of this heroine could best be
described as convoluted. The original character was
Dinah Drake Lance, the daughter of a Gotham City
police officer. When Lance's application to the Gotham
City police department was turned down, she adopted a
costumed identity, consisting of a blond wig and fishnet
hose. She fought crime along side heroes like Johnny
Thunder and eventually became a member of the Justice
Society of America.
The character was reintroduced to the DC Comics universe in
the 1970s and not until 1983 was it decide that the
Golden Age heroine and her Silver Age counterpart were
two different people. The Silver Age Black Canary was
in fact the original's daughter, Dinah Laurel Lance. This
new heroine had the same costume and also possessed a
sonic cry called her "canary cry." Later, in another fit
of revisionist history, DC Comics decided that in the
post-Crisis universe the Silver Age Black Canary had been one of the
founding members of the Justice League of America, along
with the Green Lantern, the Flash, the Martian Manhunter, and
Aquaman.
Black Canary had a long time relationship with Oliver
Queen, the Green Arrow. During the time the two heroes
resided in Seattle, the Black Canary was captured and
tortured by a drug dealer. The Green Arrow killed the
dealer to save her, but her injuries caused her to lose
her sonic cry.
Of late, Black Canary and Barbara Gordon, the former
Batgirl, have teamed up and star in their own comic,
Birds of Prey.