Black Canary #3 Review

Black Canary #3 reveals more about Dinah’s life with Kurt, the danger that is stalking the band and who (or what?), Ditto is after all.

BLACK CANARY #3
Writer: Brenden Fletcher
Artist: Annie Wu
Colourist: Lee Loughridge
Letterer: Steve Wands
Editor: Chris Conroy
Publisher: DC Comics
Cover Price: $2.99

Previously in Black Canary #2: Dinah’s dirty laundry was aired for all of Black Canary to see and that included Kurt.

WHO OR WHAT

Much of the drama in Black Canary #3 has to do with Ditto – the little kid drummer of the band. Ditto has been a mysterious figure in Brenden Fletcher’s story thus far and in this particular issue he drops a sizeable information bomb on the readers. For the sake of this review I am not going to spoil the exact detail that is revealed, but the implications in the revelation (that comes from Kurt of all characters), open the scale of series narrative to a cosmic level. At this point, it is unclear whether or not Fletcher is looking to take his Dinah to the stars, but that would certainly be a way for him to take this series and break it out of the mold that other titles with young female leads (like Batgirl, Gotham Academy and Prez), are in.

Further to Gotham Academy, in Black Canary #3 bandmemer/manager/roadie Heathcliff says “Pomeline” in a moment of stress, begging the question of familial relations and further crossovers to come for both series?

Fletcher has mirror plots going on in the pages of Black Canary #3 – one set on the stage of a music festival in Keystone City and the other on the tour bus as it makes its way through the desert and toward Keystone City. A lot of the carry over comes from Dinah’s Canary Cry or physical confrontations almost like a quick camera pan that allows him to jump back and forth through the narrative while never slowing down the pace of the story.

Dinah comes across as a character for whom the readers can easily have pathos for in Black Canary #3, where she felt a touch harsh in the previous issue. When she reveals that her marriage to Kurt ended because his memory was wiped and he no longer recognized her she becomes not only a more tragic figure momentarily, but a character stronger for her struggles. Certainly Dinah and Kurt’s inevitable team up in met with frost from both parties, but it has the potential to reveal some interesting things about both of them in the coming issues.

With Ditto at the center of Black Canary #3’s drama Fletcher forces all members of the band to step up and be on the top of their game. Paloma, for instance, has a moment of true bravery against one of the evil alien entities that has been in pursuit of Ditto and their tour bus for the entire series to date. It’s a great credit to Paloma’s character that she can look past her doubts and dislikes of Dinah and the chaos that the band has suffered in order to protect their [presumably]weakest member in her moment of need.

However, by the end of Black Canary #3 a lot of the heroism on display turns out to be for naught when Ditto voluntarily lets herself be taken away by someone who readers don’t know to be either human or a space alien, but definitely a rival.

BEST ART TO DATE

Annie Wu has a very edgy, sharp style that really works for the story Brenden Fletcher is telling and in Black Canary #3 something about her style solidifies. This issue is beautiful, it’s polished and it feels packed full of the same danger that the characters are undergoing panel after panel.

Wu moves Dinah (often times on a motorcycle), across the page by employing bold lines in both the design of the characters and the panel and in the way Dinah is posed. Interestingly, Wu’s Dinah cuts like a bird through the sky. It is truly lovely to behold and also earns the quiet moments that Fletcher uses to great effect in his narrative.

On top of the stunning linework, Lee Loughridge’s colours (that I still suspect may be colour flats used for their muted design), enhance both the desert and music venue settings by highlighting only the most important colours. They are an accent unto themselves and they just look really cool.

BOTTOM LINE: BETTER AND BETTER

Black Canary #3 is the best issue in the series to date. Dinah and her compatriot keep getting more interesting and we delve deeper into their weird individualities with a lot of fighting piled on top.