Customer Reviews

The Black Canary Archives, Vol. 1 (DC Archive Editions)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a terrific hardbound volume full of BC's history...including her first appearance. Stories included:1) Flash Comics #86-104 (August 1947 through February 1949)
2) Comics Cavalcade #25 (February/March 1948)
3) DC Special #3 (February 1949)
4) Adventure Comics #399 (November 1970)
5) Brave and the Bold #61-62 (September 1965, November 1965)
6) Adventure Comics #418-419 (April/May 1972)
So order and enjoy! With so much packed into one volume, with so many great storytellers and artists like Robert Kanigher, Carmine Infantino, Gardner Fox, Murphy Anderson, Denny O'Neil, and Alex Toth, this book is a must-read for any Black Canary aficionado.

This book not only contains Black Canary's Golden Age appearences, but also includes some of her Silver Age appearences too. Very nice volume that covers a lot of Canary's early history. Like the fact her first appearence she was described as being a villian, although she stole from criminals only. Then she bacame a hero fighting, early on, with Johnny Thunder (Who should get his own volume to. Email DC and say you want one!) Canary then went on to do a solo gig in her own feature in Flash comics. This volume even shows her team up with Starman - which now in DC history is when Canary had an afrair with Starman.
So if you want to find out about the early adventures of Diana Drake, the first Black Canary (Diana lance, now appearing in Bird of Prey, is her daughter) then buy this volume!

This DC Archive Edition of Golden Age and Silver Age Black Canary comics tales is a real goodie. The Judo-chopping , Ju-Jitsu-tossing crime fighter was always into heavy conflict with the criminal underworld and was, in many ways, a lineal ancestor to the tough-as-nails Cathy Gale and Emma Peel of t.v.'s "Avengers" years later. She also shared some common
ground with t.v. detective Joe Mannix (Mike Connors) and 50's pinup legend Bettie Page. Like Mannix she was always getting bonked on the head by the baddies, and, like Bettie, she was always getting tied up.

Somehow, over the years, the Canary always managed to get herself un-tied in time to save her life and catch the crooks, and, like Mannix himself, fortunately all that head-conking never resulted in permanent brain damage. so our heroine never got "punchy" on us.

These charming, exciting "old school" comics stories are lots of fun and showcase some fine artwork by some of those artist icons that are well remembered by long-time fans (certainly by "boomers"). A great deal of the work is by Carmine Infantino, who later would become a DC "staple" with his work in the Silver Age "Flash", as well as "Adam Strange" in Mystery In Space , the recurring "Space Museum" stories in Strange Adventures, and the "New Look" 60s "Batman".

Also putting in an appearance is Murphy Anderson, a very gifted artist in his own right, as well as Infantino's best Silver Age inker (apart from Infantino himself).

A special treat at the end of the volume is a two-part adventure illustrated by the late, legendary Alex Toth (world renowned for his late 50s-early 60s "Zorro" work for Dell), arguably the best graphics design/layout artist in comics. Toth's bold blacks and panel designs are always a blast and he is really clicking on this particular contribution.

Black Canary Archives, Vol. I ....get one. It's a keeper.

This collection includes adventures from her entire solo career, from 1947 to 1972, starting with a support role in the comedic crime strip, "Johnny Thunder" (a minor character from the WWII-era DC lineup), and moving on up to a brainlessly goofy hippie-era plotline involving a women's lib group that was actually a front for a notorious criminal mastermind. It's all good stuff; not too substantive on the writing side of things, but nice light fun nonetheless. The best part is Carmine Infantino's artwork, which was highly imitative of newspaper cartoonist Milton Canniff, with a rugged yet stylish flair -- very different from the fluid, slapdash style Infantino adopted later in the '50s and '60s. I really enjoyed reading this one, and found it less repetitive than other volumes in the series... It's also nice to see one of the lesser, neglected Golden Age characters finally get their due, particularly one as foxy as the Lana Turner-ish Black Canary... Wish they'd do a DC archive for Wildcat, as well!

Another one of DC Comics' excellent Archive editions, this volume centers on the Golden Age female superhero, the one and only Black Canary( the one that appears in the Birds of Prey comic book is her daughter, and is thus Black Canary II). Black Canary(a.k.a Dinah Lance) was one of the few prominent female superheroes in the early days of comics, the only other famous examples being Wonder Woman and Supergirl.
These tales(which span from the 1940's up to the 1970's), include the following issues: Flash Comics # 86-104, Comics Cavalcade #25, DC Special Edition #3, The Brave & The Bold # 61-62, and Adventure Comics # 399,418-419.

Most of the stories in this volume (and I don't believe there is a volume 2) are from the Golden Age. The first couple are Black Canary's appearances with Johnny Thunder, followed by her solo stories. The stories are good old-fashioned Golden Age fun, but quite formulaic. I read them one at a time, with breaks in between, and recommend this as a reading pattern. The last three stories are Silver Age stories with Black Canary teaming up with Starman in the first two, and with Green Arrow in the last one.

these are not maybe the very best comic book stories ever, but are very well drawn and neat for their "vintage" Golden Age appeal! I am very much a fan of female super-heroes and therefore consider this book a "must have" because the original 1940s Flash comic books that these stories originally appeared in as back-up features are very costly to procure (if you could even find them at all!) the stories are cute, but kind of short...the art is in my opinion very very good, with the Black Canary character very well proportioned and costumed.

Looking through this is a fun romp through the past and it's great to see some of the original art that inspires many retro style cartoonists of today. Black Canary looks as great as ever and here you can see how it all started out.

No wait, don't do that. Do the opposite of that. Forget I even mentioned it. The point I was trying to get across is that these stories remind me of the old black and white b mysteries from the 30's and 40's, movies like The bat and the Crime Doctor and Bulldog Drummond series, or any of the Monogram or republic mysteries. Like the best of those movies, the stories in this volume are atmospheric, fun and feature some snappy writing.

To the world at large Dinah Drake is a mild mannered florist, but we the reader also know her as her crime-clouting alter ego, Black Canary!! The Canary started out as a jiu-jitsu expert and master thief who stole only from other thieves and who eventually dropped the whole thieving bit and concentrated on clouting crime. She had a few partners along the way, including Johnny Thunder and his Thunderbolt, Starman, and private detective Larry Lance, with whom she traded quips and eventually marriage vows.

The Black Canary is tough savvy and sexy and so are most of her stories. I'd put this volume right up there with the Golden Age Sandman, the Specter and Dr. Fate as some of the best of the DC Archives.

Here's a peek at some of the stories inside:

Flash Comics #86-The Black Canary!! -In the Canary's origin she sweet talks Johnny Thunder into helping her pilfer a valuable jewel from criminal "Socks" Slade. Just what kind of criminal is known for his socks anyway?

Flash Comics #88-The Map that wasn't There! -The Black canary slips an actual black canary along with a map showing the location of some hidden loot, into a pie and mails it to Johnny Thunder in case blackguards capture her. She does get captured and now her life is in Johnny's hands. Wuh-oh!!

Flash Comics #92-The Huntress of the Highway! -This is the first appearance of Dinah Drake's flower shop and private detective Larry Lance. The Canary starts out trying to K.O. a gang of truck hijackers and ends up tied to a log, drifting over a waterfall!

Comics Cavalcade #25-Tune of Terror! -A mailbox, a fire hydrant and a street lamp attack a young man. Black Canary agrees to help him and ends up tied to something again, this time a giant spinning phonograph record! She foils the bad guys with her jiu-jitsu and her spell-casting abilities. Spell-casting abilities? Maybe the writer confused her with Zatanna?

Flash Comics #93-Mystery of the Crimson Crystal-Dinah teams up with Larry Lance to show up a sneaky swami who is bilking rich folks out of millions. Will B.C. and L.L survive when the swami decrees they serve as a blood sacrifice? Are you new?

Flash Comics #94-Corsage of Death!! -There's some great banter here between Larry Lance and Dinah Drake. L.L. and the Canary tackle some armored car bandits who use something called a Photon Smasher to crack open the armored cars they rob. But what will happen to Black Canary when the Photon Smasher is aimed at her?

Flash Comics #95-An Orchid for the Deceased-Black Canary fights a death match with a murderous imposter high atop the titular gargoyle at Gargoyle Head Lake. Plus more priceless badinage between Dinah and Larry!

Flash Comics #98-The Byzantine Black-Black Canary faces blazing .45's, death traps and a wise-acre partner as she tries to recover a rare and priceless stamp.

Flash Comics #103-The Mystery on Ice! -Larry and Dinah go on an ice skating date in hopes of finding romance and as usual wind up caught in an insidious death trap instead. Won't these crazy kids ever get together?

Adventure Comics #418-The Canary and the Cat!! -It's the ultimate bombshell throw down, Black Canary vs. Catwoman! Chick fight!! Chick Fight!!!

Robert Kanigher, Carmine Infantino, Denny O'Neil, Gardner Fox, Alex Toth and Joe Giella among others handle the creative chores.

Side note: If you're a Wildcat fan like I am, you'll want to know that there's a great sequence in a later story where Wildcat boxes a polar bear and a kangaroo (separately, of course).

This here's my surprising winner for the best of the DC Archive editions. This ones kind of a greatest hits collection but the Golden Age stories hold up well, and are quite entertaining. Tho, the artwork for the older stories isn't the best, the newer tales have real nice artwork. I'd love to see a Volume 2 for Black Canary.