The world of super powered crimefighting is not exclusively a boys’ club. In fact, one of the only members to belong to both the prestigious Justice Society and the legendary Justice League wears fishnet stockings and has long blonde hair. She is called the Black Canary, but don’t let her good looks fool you. Besides being an expert martial artist, her supersonic scream, the “canary cry,” can shatter glass, to say nothing of the bad guys’ ear drums. Working with other female heroes like Oracle and The Huntress, collectively known as the Birds of Prey, Black Canary functions well as both a covert spy operative and an in-your-face street fighter. She has long been romantically linked to the superhero Green Arrow, and, in fact, the comics recently saw the two lovebirds tie the knot in “The Green Arrow/Black Canary Wedding Special.”
There have actually been two Black Canaries in the comics. The original Black Canary, Dinah Drake Lance, made her comic book debut in “Flash Comics” #86, in August 1947. She was later succeeded by her daughter, Dinah Laurel Lance.
The first flesh-and-blood Black Canary appeared on screen in 1979, in the campy live action “Legends of the Superheroes” specials. These two features starred popular DC superheroes of the time, headlined by Adam West and Burt Ward reprising their roles as Batman and Robin.Black Canary was played by an actress credited simply as “Danuta.” It is usually accepted that this was actually Danuta Rylko Soderman of “The 700 Club” fame (one can only speculate as to why she would have wanted her full name left off of this project). The Canary is not given much to do here, besides getting kidnapped by Solomon Grundy, who she does not recognize in his disguise as a gas station attendant.
It would be more than 20 years before the character flew back to television. With the success of “Smallville” on the WB, the network took a chance on another superhero property from Tollin-Robbins productions when they brought “Birds of Prey” to the airwaves in 2002. The series about a trio of female crimefighters protecting New Gotham after the disappearance of Batman featured two versions of the Black Canary character. The youngest of the three leads, Dinah Lance, a.k.a. Dinah Redmond, was played by Rachel Skarsten. A loose adaptation of the Black Canary character, Dinah has the ability to see flashes of the future whenever she touches people. She is taken in by Barbara Gordon, the wheelchair-bound former Batgirl now known as Oracle, and Helena Kyle, the daughter of Batman and Catwoman who goes by the name The Huntress. Together, Oracle and Huntress train Dinah to control her developing powers. Ms. Skarsten had previously appeared on “The Famous Jett Jackson,” which starred Lee Thompson Young, who played Victor Stone/Cyborg on “Smallville.” Most recently, Skarsten appeared in the direct-to-DVD “American Pie” spin-off movie “Beta House.”
Fan reaction to the changes in “Birds of Prey’s” Dinah character compared to her comic book counterpart was mixed. Perhaps in response to this reaction, the show later revealed that Dinah was not actually intended to be Black Canary, but her daughter. The episode “Sins of the Mother” introduced Carolyn Lance, Dinah’s mother, as being the original, “true” Black Canary. Dressed in a costume similar to her comic book counterpart and sporting her signature “canary cry” ability, Carolyn was a much more faithful adaptation of the character. Though she was seemingly killed off at the end of the episode, no body was ever found, which of course meant that the character could have returned had the show continued (the series was canceled after one 13-episode season). Carolyn was played by Lori Loughlin, who is perhaps best known for playing Aunt Becky on “Full House” for many years. Since then, Ms. Loughlin has starred on “Summerland” and “In Case of Emergency.”
In 2004, DC’s superheroes got animated with “Justice League Unlimited” on Cartoon Network. This would mark the first animated version of Black Canary, who, unlike many of the other DC superheroes, was not present in any of the popular “Super Friends” cartoons of the 1970s and 80s. The first “JLU” episode, “Initiation,” focuses on Green Arrow being brought into the revamped League. Though he is initially hesitant to join up, the episode ends with Arrow changing his mind after seeing Black Canary for the first time in the Watchtower. Canary has no lines in this episode, and her appearance is essentially just a cameo.
She returns for the episodes “The Cat and the Canary,” “Double Date,” and “Grudge Match,” often teaming up with Green Arrow and/or Huntress in her appearances. She is voiced by Morena Baccarin, who has also appeared on shows like “The O.C.,” “Kitchen Confidential,” and “How I Met Your Mother.”
With the seventh season “Smallville” episode “Siren,” Black Canary will once again bring her sonic scream to television. This time out, she will be played by actress Alaina Huffman. The episode will feature the Canary crossing paths with the returning Green Arrow, with popular guest star Justin Hartley reprising his role as the emerald archer from the previous season. Huffman (also sometimes credited as Alaina Kalanj) has previously appeared on the series “Painkiller Jane,” as well as episodes of “Navy NCIS,” “The O.C.,” and “Tru Calling.”
Black Canary has proven to be a very versatile heroine. Whether she is super-sleuthing with the other girls of the Birds of Prey or charging into battle alongside the heavy hitters of the Justice League, she has shown that she can hold her own with the biggest and best. And, perhaps just as impressively, she has tamed the heart of the wild and adventurous Green Arrow. Now that the two have taken the big plunge, they face a whole new set of challenges… living as a superhero married couple. (And they thought the Legion of Doom was scary!)
Note: The views of Russ Dimino don’t necessarily represent the thoughts and feelings of everyone at KryptonSite.
Many of these past Superman actors and events are featured in the documentary “Look! Up In The Sky! The Amazing Story of Superman.”