The CONFUSING HISTORY OF BLACK CANARY

[@CasuallyComics]

Lol so the reflection from my ringlight is at anime villain level in this video. Sorry bout that everyone, no more 11pm filming for me, as we grow and the set gets built things will evolve and change. Until then i'll keep playing with those angles...and plotting world domination of course.

[@johnathonhaney8291]

If you need a henchman on that last, I offer reasonable rates.

[@primejudicator7817]

Totally off topic, but if Sasha was a hero in Astro City, what would her name and powers be?

[@johnathonhaney8291]

@@primejudicator7817 Viewfinder for the name. For the power set, ability to see and manipulate the history of any object courtesy of enchanted glasses that only work for her.

[@spookydookie4046]

The same thing we do every night Pinky 🌙

[@Present4]

Changing the angle on the light may rid u of the reflection. Also, try not to make the vids more than 10 mins. Just friendly advice from a fan. 👍

[@firetarrasque4667]

Y'know Black Canary just being a legacy title passed down from mother to daughter was always my favorite explanation

[@miksobrado]

its everybody's favorite explanation, i dont know why dc doesnt get it

[@ianfinrir8724]

​@@miksobradoDC doesn't like simple explanations for things.

[@MollyHuffle]

Same! That storyline is also my favorite origin stories from her. Made the most sense to me and also tied her to other heroes too.

[@elizabethbeck4071]

​@@miksobradobc then DC can't print a different origin story for a character fifty million times instead of letting grow and do stuff

[@Dalenthas]

"It did not need to be as complicated as it got." DC Comics in a nutshell.

[@johnathonhaney8291]

As Slugfest documents, it was a direct consequence of DC playing catch up when they realized--way too late--how much Marvel was eating their lunch.

[@ecliptorcalrissian5014]

If you want Superman to get a new belt, you've got to overhaul the entire universe.

[@GenniBGood]

Basically, Crisis fixed the Canary character, New 52 messed her back up, and Rebirth was hit and miss at correcting what New 52 messed up.

[@Moyoatteh]

@@GenniBGood definitely a half and half situation with Rebirth. they legit cleared up some stuff and were doing ok then got crazy and convoluted again for nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo reason

[@smammam3663]

Yes

[@robert_bbiii]

I actually liked her wearing a wig. If wearing a small mask across your face or a pair of glasses can hide your identity then a wig also makes sense.

[@ComicBookGuy420]

Henry Cavill once stood in Clark Kent outfit under the MOS massive banner in times square showing himself in superman regalia Nobody recognised him

[@robert_bbiii]

@@ComicBookGuy420 then a wig will work.

[@ComicBookGuy420]

@@robert_bbiii indeed

[@kountrygamingofnd3243]

One of the Christopher Reeves Superman movies made me believe it is possible....

[@ComicBookGuy420]

@@kountrygamingofnd3243 the second one?

[@Aries_Sinslayer]

Hawkman: "Sigh. I have the most complicated backstory in all of comics." Black Canary:"Bird please, hold my beer."

[@hakksemerci9988]

Donna troy and powergirl:um hello

[@johnathonhaney8291]

Geoff Jones made a positively heroic effort to clean Hawkman's continuity up in the pages of JSA. It still didn't really work and that was the best effort to date.

[@truckshackley373]

Robert Venditti has cleaned up Hawkman's backstory considerably in the current series

[@johnathonhaney8291]

@@truckshackley373 Which will last how long? Sorry, not optimistic.

[@ecliptorcalrissian5014]

@@hakksemerci9988 What's funny is, they had a chance to start over with Donna with New 52 or one of those other reboots. Totally blank slate, opportunity to come up with her one true history and stick to it... and then the writers of two books she appeared in gave her totally conflicting backstories. So we're back to square one instantly.

[@lordhirudo5311]

I liked the Ollie/Dinah relationship in DCAU and Young Justice. It actually seemed healthy, which is almost unheard-of in comics, especially DC.

[@wwbwbgohbc]

My question is, was she a licensed therapist in Young Justice or was she like picked out of a hat full of names as to who would try to make the kids less angsty

[@Nocturne22]

I read that the producers just really liked the character, and since she has no sidekick to inject into the show, they just made her a counselor to the kids because why not.

[@ComicBookGuy420]

Well let's examine the alternatives Batman shouldn't be anyone's councillor RT is a machine Manhunter self admittedly doesn't get human feelings Fate kidnapped Zataro Green Arrow is too wrapped up in his own shit Superman at that point hadn't accepted Superboy Wonder Woman was not yet in the show, even then, she has limited healthy experience with men Canary it is

[@DarkAnd1000]

@@ComicBookGuy420 Or they could've, you know, hired a licensed therapist with a degree and experience? I don't mind tough, I liked her in YJ.

[@ComicBookGuy420]

@@DarkAnd1000 hire and vet an outsider? That would have taken forever, especially with the secret identities of the team at stake

[@ComicBookGuy420]

@@DarkAnd1000 my guess is they wanted to give Canary an actual part in the show, especially when it came to dealing with the team, I thought she fit the part extremely well Can't wait for s4

[@oliverortiz8507]

I've never realized how confusing DC has made their universe. The new changes every few years does drive me bonkers. Seeing your video should be 101 for all future DC writers so they stop the madness and just give us good stories.

[@johnathonhaney8291]

A friend of mine and I used to joke that any storyline like Crisis was DC's equivalent of an old guy trying to convince people he wasn't that old after all.

[@Strato_Casterrr9898]

At this point, you might as well consider every story as self contained, its easier that way. Also, how is doosmday clock connected to metal and no justice?

[@antidave]

@@Strato_Casterrr9898 i thought dc gave up the doomsday clock thing and were going to reboot again 😔

[@valletas]

Hahaha batman who laughs go BRRRRRRR

[@tofu_golem]

Black Canary's real superpower is getting away with wearing fishnets even when they are out of fashion.

[@210SAi]

At what point in time were fishnets ‘in fashion’? Haven’t they always been counter culture?

[@welch_inc6532]

I’d say it’s the fishnets not ripping all the time

[@210SAi]

Welch_inc they’re adamantium fiber

[@CovenantD]

@@210SAi - This is DC; they're made of Supmanium. Yep, that's a thing. It's also what the Supermobile is made of.

[@Wandasolosurfavs]

Out of fashion??

[@alexforce9]

The myth, the legend, the one and only Johnny Thunder - forever alive in our hearts...

[@cha5]

"Ce-Ui!" Only hardcore Johnny Thunder fans will get the reference here. ;-)

[@mansourhaddad398]

Rip in peace

[@antwan1357]

Um ... That scene of Black Canary putting her memories into her own daughter has a very Palpatine feel to it.

[@whaleping]

antwan1357 it’s not a new concept but Star Wars didn’t need to use the concept

[@Solitaire001]

If I remember correctly, at one time the reason for the memory transfer was to give her daughter some memories to start life with. This was due to her basically being in a mindless state from birth. Using the memories as a starting point, she would move beyond them and start to live her own life. It was the reason she was able to move on to Ollie. Later, things changed and the above was revised.

[@JoeEnglandShow]

God, I still miss Oracle. She was one of my favorite heroines, no costume or anything. Now every time I see Batgirl posing for her stupid phone I wanna scream. Freaking New 52.

[@JoeEnglandShow]

@Megan Todd I know! I mean, if they wanted yet another kid acrobat would it have been so hard to just develop a new character? Hell, Cassandra Cain made a GREAT Batgirl! Make someone new! "Selfie Girl", or something. But no, when it comes down to a choice between innovation or nostalgia the latter always wins because it's harder to try something new. It's why Barry Allen is the Flash again and Peter Parker and Bruce Wayne are both single. At least Damian and Jon Kent are still here, though I wouldn't put it past DC to retcon them away in a year or two. Or maybe they'll turn out like Franklin Richards and stay the same age for thirty years.

[@NerdRahtio]

Yes! Oracle should have been mentoring a new Batgirl, and that new Batgirl could be the selfie taker !

[@ariemaxi1196]

my thoughts exactly. Oracle was an amazing one of a kind character. i mean, we can get another girl dressed as a Bat and swingin around Gotham and it doesnt need to be Babs. Cass wouldve still work, or if the writers wants more bright and funny stories with her they could use Stephanie again.

[@zeroone871]

I've liked every post in this thread! Barbara as Oracle is vastly more powerful than any punch from Batgirl could give

[@mappybc6097]

@@JoeEnglandShow That bit about Jon staying a kid for 30 years didn't age, no pun intended, very well.

[@donaldsmith6814]

Hi! I'm 73, & I loved all this stuff when I read them back then. You do much better than any other site on you-tube to explain the comics of the silver age. Keep up the Good work!

[@Hawbitten]

You're a legend :)

[@anitanielsen1061]

Hello, sir!

[@donaldsmith6814]

@@anitanielsen1061 Hello back.

[@Emileigggggh]

I like how Dinah and Barbara Gordon are good friends and both of them (at this point anyway) are named after their moms

[@MysteryFoxx3506]

The salt caught me off guard. That was hilarious.

[@jayantharishsharma7287]

Ikr !! Shade from Sasha is the best 😀

[@bwalker77]

The Black Canary/Green Arrow relationship can be interesting if it is well written because both heroes mostly have the same standing and neither is big enough to overshadow the other. Of course, it's not always well written - it certainly wasn't in Arrow - but in theory, a couple working together to fight crime is an interesting idea. As for BC, she's one of the rare character in Injustice 2 that comes off as cool. I like her best as her second origin: a kick-ass woman who became a superhero because she idolized her mom. Simple and believable.

[@filipe19991]

Not really. They might be both street level character but Black Canary tens to be the better character. It got worst for Green Arrow since after his death, he was a has been that got replaced and outclassed by Connor Hawke and Arsenal while Black Canary was the leader of JLA and she has lot of ties to most heroes and teams.

[@MiguelGonzalez-du8de]

Honestly yeah, what I like about those two is that they're not huge world-known superheroes fighting villains and everything, they're just vigilantes trying to help the little people, solving street and community injusties and having a personal touch with the people they save

[@jaernihiltheus7817]

They were a couple in Arrow? :p Yeah, their season 1 romance was boring CW love triangle stuff, but I personally blame that on them not allowing the couple to exist at all once she actually becomes the Black Canary. They took so long developing her into a likeable badass worthy of the title (by Arrow standards I mean) that by the time she was there they had GA shipped off with an OC (in everything but name) that they warped the show around. And then a couple episodes later they killed her off because they had already committed to killing someone off and also because they didn't want the source material ship getting in the way of their own - or if you want to use their own BS words "We've run out of (Black Canary) stories to tell".

[@welch_inc6532]

I wish we had the injustice 2 BC & GA. I feel like them having a kid was done well and their relationship was so natural

[@Werewolf914]

Hawk and Dove in the Titans series also proves street level crime fighting couples can be awesome , though that show too as much as I love it does on occasion not have the best writing but Hank and Dawn are the 🐐

[@Vermoulian]

I got to know Black Canary during the early Birds of Prey miniseries era and as a major supporting character in the Mike Grell Green Arrow series. What I liked about that version of the character was, she was a mature and experienced character in a way that few others were. She had been around the block a few times, and there was a little weariness in her character that gave her a lot more depth than most other DC heroines. It also made her relationship with Barbara "Oracle" Gordon make sense and feel organic, because these were two women who had been through a lot and probably understood each other better than many others. Later DC shoehorned just about every female character they had into the Birds of Prey at one time or another. Those relationships always felt forced, but the original team of Dinah and Babs felt real. In my mind, at the time of those stories she was in her late 30s or even early 40s---again, an unusual demographic for a superhero. Another thing that made her interesting. When DC launched the first Birds of Prey ongoing series, they went with a new art style, and she was drawn like a teenager. They brushed aside the "mature, experienced heroine" part of her character and made her much more generic.

[@grahamcann1761]

I started reading comics in the 60's, and I remember when Black Canary crossed earths, and I was quite a fan. I also remember when GA & GL traveled across America, and Oliver went from rich to broke. Yeah, I'm old. That said I was a big fan of the romance between Ollie and Diana. And you know what, there are probably as many differing opinions about comics as there are readers, and that's okay. I was also a big fan of the Batman's daughter backup stories, aka Huntress, (which I notice is in your past videos - I only recently discovered 'Casually Comics', and am going through past videos,). As always, thank you so very much for your observations and videos, especially now.

[@michaelleary9233]

Same here, I gave up during Crisis when everything got changed, I loved the Justice Society, but its not the same any more.

[@adrian72300]

Good to see other old school comic fans out there, i'm a lifelong comic fan also, been reading since the 70's

[@apolloman1608]

@@adrian72300 hello yea I started to ready comics cuz of quarantine

[@ariemaxi1196]

whoa i wanna be like you guys when im old. hope you guys well

[@apolloman1608]

@@ariemaxi1196 I'm not old but what comic are u reading

[@jeffjones4654]

Larry Lance didn't die. He just ran off with Johnny Thunder.

[@Pandie2828]

I need to know whether this is a joke or not.

[@jeffjones4654]

@@Pandie2828 I was just kidding.

[@Pandie2828]

@@jeffjones4654 ok lol it make a good fic thought she stole his spotlight he stole her man

[@vasp99]

You might think that DC MIGHT take advantage of one of their constant stream of company wide retrofits to have two generations of Black Canary. A mother-daughter team of canaries would be a good thing.

[@redjirachi1]

"She is her own mother" Ah, so she's doubly immune to evil brains

[@Bulls3ye86]

If history doesn't care that our degenerate friend Dinah is her own mother, then who are we to judge?.

[@PhoenixSisters]

As a Black Canary fan, this video was an absolute delight and was extremely comprehensive and well done! Thank you!! Her post-Crisis and pre New 52 origins are definitely my fave also.

[@KennAKALeo]

Actually, most golden age comics had generic titles like SMASH or WHIZ. There was no title character. Usually if a comic was one super hero's name, that meant the book was a solo book, and had 3-4 stories of that hero. 'Superman', 'Batman', 'Wonder Woman', 'Captain Marvel Adventures', 'Green Lantern,' 'Daredevil', etc. "Flash Comics" was weird as the book was named 'Flash' before the Flash was created for it; and the Flash's solo book, when he earned it, was called "All-Flash".

[@KennAKALeo]

@Will N Captain Marvel Jr. was the lead in Master from #25 until it ended at #155, AND his own title. I would argue that he was less a protege, and more of an attempt to catch (magic) lightning in a bottle a second time. Using the same basic concept (magic word, powers), but stories aimed at a slightly different audience. Freddy's stories were, generally, more down-to-earth, and less fanciful. People could be a fan of both, but if people thought Billy's stories were to goofy, they might like Freddy's. Also, Mary Marvel was the lead in Wow comics, and had her own book. Again, aiming at a different audience, as her stories were more "girly". But she wasn't as successful as Freddy. Also, Hoppy the Marvel Bunny was another case of taking the basic concept (magic word, powers) and aiming for another different audience (funny animals). My dad (b. 1939) was a Hoppy fan before he was a Captain Marvel fan. And there is Zero reason to call anyone but the old wizard by the the old wizard's name, so I applaud your decision.

[@diegopansini3152]

My favorite versions of Black Canary are the one from Young Justice and DC Green Arrow Showcase where she makes one hell of an entrance.

[@crhu319]

Yeah....after the Brave and the Bold animated Black Canary. The musical numbers in which are immortal.

[@MRPandoraHartDR]

Catwoman backflips into view says Mioaw and everything explodes kind of entrance? Cos if so I'm sold.

[@sidneyclay2632]

Removing The Flash from the timeline might fix all these problems. Seriously.

[@johnathonhaney8291]

Nah...Dark Knight Metal proves they'd find some other sap to screw it up.

[@filipe19991]

I kinda miss Black Canary on JLA. Think about it she isnt physically or mentally stronger than Batman neither her powers can be that great standing around The Flash or Zatanna. However everybody treats her as equal and with respect. And she is even chosen to be the leader of JLA. She is liked that only two villains actually dislike her (being Cheshire and White Canary). Even Deathstroke and Lady Shiva risk their life to protect her.

[@loganbyrne3054]

That side story about the band was so Dazzler. I remember that series.

[@briguy_81]

Love Diana with Ollie. She is settling though lol

[@_ale_rivero._4918]

Dinah*

[@LilC1deep]

nah Ollie is no zero or slouch m8

[@void2258]

Black Canary: I have such a complicated backstory Legion of Super Heroes: Hold my beer in 5-7 different timelines.

[@Jaggling]

I miss the old Legion pre Crisis, kind of lost interest after Karate Kid was written out and Princess Projectra got the rebirth, even the Substitutes were fun.

[@johnathonhaney8291]

To quote Yoda, "Always changing the future."

[@yiklongtay6029]

I tried getting into the Legion but the inconsistent timelines pissed me off. I liked the stories but the fact that there is no promise of longevity made all their stories feel unimportant.

[@Solitaire001]

@@yiklongtay6029 I don't fault the Legion's Creative Teams for the Legion's continuity problems. It stems from them having to accommodate events occurring elsewhere in the DCU. As an example, much of the problems were due to the elimination of Superboy. That one thing led to the continuity mess The Legion has. The Legion's Creative Teams tried to fix things, but future events caused new fixes to be needed. The led, in conjunction with "Zero Hour", to the entire Legion being wiped out and restarted from scratch.

[@TeddXplosion]

Hawkman has entered the chat.

[@joellopez-wo5jn]

I love the history lesson. I really like getting these back stories on characters and comics. One that I would like you to tackle would be Zatanna. She has had several changes up to now. 🤔

[@plasticslacks]

I've been reading a bunch of the Birds of Prey series that started in the 90's and I love Black Canary. She's one of my favorite DC characters now. :)

[@Dargonhuman]

I'll be honest, simply having her mom's memories implanted into her mind isn't nearly as icky as what the title card thumbnail made me think; I was thinking something closer to Loraine and Marty in Back to the Future where Black Canary gets stuck in the past, falls in love with a man in the past, has a daughter by him only to find out he was living under an alias and his real name is her father's ... because he is her father and the daughter she's carrying is going to be her in the future. Okay, so maybe that's also a little bit of Sela from Star Trek: The Next Generation along with BTTF... but with like 1000% more eww.

[@blah7983]

They could have just gone the “clone doesn’t know they are a clone” route. Simplifies everything and similar enough to the original idea

[@ghostiecircus]

11:02 I literally thought I had dropped my phone too hard and the colors were messed up. Then I noticed the salt shaker lol.

[@MistarZtv]

Readers: so does it mean that she's a- DC: LOOK OVER THERE!

[@DCMarvelMultiverse]

When I was doing research for my Black Canary video, I came across evidence that BC was based on actress Veronica Lake at some point. Regarding the JLA revelation in 83, DC was also paving the road for Crisis during this time by ironing out loose continuity threads, putting them to bed, before Crisis retcons took over.

[@ERASEREPLACEPLACE]

The super heroine Liberty Belle (the original, not her daughter Jesse) was also based on Veronica Lake. When I actually saw Veronica lake, I could see why she was such an inspiration.

[@welch_inc6532]

Justin Tyme has that ever been brought up in the comics? It could actually be a good joke

[@lucasbishop4764]

I wanna hear these reasons for the GA/BC shade. Not pro or con myself, but now I'm curious on your take...

[@filipe19991]

Overall their relationship only serves to make Green Arrow better. In many Black Canary stories, he isnt present at all while she tends to be present in most of his arcs in major way. And not mention Black Canary stop being a single mother raising an adoptive kid end up with Black Canary thinking that her daughter was killed by some villains to Green Arrow with the help of his son and Speedy (Mia) made Sim/Cynthia live in monastery for her own safeity. And DC decided to Marry them, which the writershate that because Black Canary was one of most popular character of that time and Green Arrow was dead for while and had his own son and Arsenal being outclass him as Green Arrow. Also Sin/Cynthia never appear physically in any comic so far not even when she was kidnaped by White Canary. (And DC decided to get make her go away because Black Canary wouldnt be sexy as mother)

[@unigenius]

TEEELLLLLL USSSSSSS!!!

[@nathant7555]

@@filipe19991 The marriage is a classic dc relationship that is adorable and nobody should ever touch it

[@mickeysaine8126]

I think it comes from a story telling time where weaker selling characters were being transferred into join team books, such as Flash/GL/GA/Canary, at one point (It was confusing to follow). So I think it did a great job of making two characters more interesting together, than they were apart (Canary was really kinda "Blah" in sales and Arrow was a "Batman Clone."). I think that it is WONDERFUL to see two characters in a relationship (in comics) stay together, and it's inspiring because it takes all types to make the world go around. NOW, while it's a great concept, it's really, really been inappropriately handled (like almost all characters have had periods of), and it REALLY drages BOTH characters down. To make Drama, they've really made GA do some creepy and crummy things (Looking at the GA II), that has came out of those bad periods, and I think that is where the shade really comes from.

[@captain_dsz6049]

as someone who found the comics through the dcau my love for ollie/dinah was instant they just had chemistry that i thought no other hero couple had i mean sure you have lois and clark but hes superman he can do no wrong and isnt a relatable person then you have ollie who may be a billionare but like batman has no powers and fights crime with a bow (boxing glove arrow is still my fav) and so having that dynamic of working for what he can do and not having it be given to him was really compelling (also i watched smallville but i always shipped clark with chloe and hated lana, lois was okay but still chloe amd clark was the real couple we should have gotton) then theres the arrowverse and laurel was an instant fav, sure cheatong on her with her sister sara wasnt cool but my boy ollie wanted to have a 3 way with the canary sisters :p jokes aside though i think canary/arrow is a good pairing, although it depends on who is writing and how they create stories worth being told, and again if you cant have eithre character strong in their standalone comic and have to constantly rely on ome another to make it interesting that can be bad, but the occasdional appearence /team up by the other in the standalone can be good, like how with the justice league existing then having stories where you can still have batman protecting gotham solo or with his bat fam, just because the jla exists doesnt mean it needs to show up in a heroes standalone but ya lets hear the salt girl, you cant jist bring something up and then not say it, as people we love a mystery we GOTS to knoq haha

[@stendec-dd3he]

Whew, it can be ponderous at times. I am glad I discovered your channel; you give a concise synopsis, and save one literally thousands of dollars in the process. My comic days from the 60's up to the 90's were to be treasured, but they were getting so convoluted in the 90's that one just had to step away. Your take and obvious love of them shows through. You derive genuine pleasure from them; one can see that, which makes your channel so enjoyable.

[@oliverortiz8507]

One of my favorite heroes. Love her in Birds of Prey and love her under the writing of Gail Simone. You are great with these. I'm a fan of yours now.

[@richardleatherman5075]

Thank you for your content, I found it interesting. I have only a **casual** acquaintance with DC comics . It exists primarily from reading my friends' comics in the late 60's and early seventies combined with recent CW programs. I always liked Black Canary, and was unaware of her involved backstory and rebootery.

[@Fade2GrayOG]

I started reading DC during the new 52. I remember a lot of fans being really angry but I didn't care because it feels like a decent starting point for me. Then Rebirth happened and I got a taste of how the legacy fans must have felt.

[@charliejames1981]

Black Canary has one cluster truck of a back story to sift through here. So glad you were able to put it in a way that I can at least get a handle on it.

[@aniaxxx4785]

The saltiness is real. I absolutely love legacy characters, and it makes me so sad whenever they are made dirty by comics... Speaking of which, I would love to see a video about Thomas toro Raymond, since he is one of the first legacy characters and marvel really tends to forget about him. And a little bit of topic, but a video about Jenny Quantum would be great, or the Authority in general.

[@PJFrye]

Wasn't she on the sweet musical Brave n' the Bold ep where Batman thinks he is Matches Malone? That ruled. And i see you also use that legacy salt... I love legacy salt lol. I have it all over my flashes.

[@genericusername4596]

She was on BntB a lot. That show ruled in general

[@rolandbaldwin]

Yes the 'banned' episode by Gail Simone which only aired in Australia I believe.

[@PJFrye]

lol for a week, then it was released anyways. It aired everywhere.

[@artemisknight9710]

I know comics is your focus, but I'd love to hear your thoughts on how the DCAU handled the characters in JL and JLU.

[@jakobwulk6159]

Yes I called it that black canary would be the next video she's one of my favorite female characters

[@missmeme3946]

"You have your mother's sense of fashion." jay Garrick to black canary ( injustice 2)

[@roberthuesart]

Didn't realize there was anyone with a more convoluted backstory than Psylocke...speaking of, would you do a Confusing History of Betsy Braddock?

[@Aphrodite-1989]

I remember first hearing the background of her years ago. And then trying to read the new 52 and then being even more confused. She’s one of my favourite characters and I have to laugh how much they kept changing things about her. I like the rebirth version. Ps love the salt. You’re one of my favourite youtubers so it’s great watching you talk about my favourite comic characters. Keep being salty it’s great 😘

[@daveherz998]

DC's constant reboots have rendered virtually all of their books unreadable. I really tried with a few titles I used to like, and a few that looked fun, but nothing makes sense anymore, and, maybe it's just me, but if felt like a lot of writers aren't even bothering to try to maintain continuity, because they know the execs are just going to decide to make another huge mess again. I don't know if there is an easy solution here, but this reboot thing is not working.

[@MastaSmack]

Just reboot your brain.

[@ariemaxi1196]

MastaSmack thats supposed to be funny isnt it?

[@ZanzibarEcho]

it's almost like these reboots are part of a set plan albeit it 3yrs or 5yrs once the 'newness' of what's conceived as a 'radical makeover' has lost its lustre its reboot time rather than evolve continuity as has been done since comic history immemorial (the good old days) it's easier just throw away that which has become..old and start again is this because where once writing and drawing those heroes that 'we' may live tho in our wildest imaginings was enough and all that was needed now its business and assets and commodities so everything must be like new each day and must never lose its shine and the moment it does sales fall it's out with the old in with the new ..make it bigger make it better make them keep buying ...even tho they don't know anymore what is they are buying because theres no time to come to know character before its revamped ..unfortunately guys 'n gals big business has taken over the cornerstore comic stand I'm afraid

[@mslightbulb]

In my experience, I just grab whatever interests me on the shelfs. I don’t even try making sense of it. Things happen, I admire the drawings. And put it back until I decide to read it again.

[@TA3DArtist]

This is a cool look at Canary. That said, I think the people want to know: did our man Sonny finally relax?

[@CasuallyComics]

He better not be! They don't pay him to relax.

[@freddiemartin699]

Loved the original Black Canary's origin. You should do a video on if Crisis on Infinite Earth was necessary. It messed up a lot of origins like Power Girl, Huntress, The Legion of Super-Heroes. I heard many were confused who was on what earth. From what I heard from other comic book fans, they got it, but it was the comic book writers who were confused because they just didn't do their homework.

[@johnathonhaney8291]

6:18 Quick plug: the best Johnny Thunder stories can be found in Geoff Johns' run on JSA and the prequel specials that led to the series.

[@ecliptorcalrissian5014]

Johnny Thunder needs more love. He's a charming character who wouldn't last long in today's "everything's gotta be as gritty as possible, no fun allowed 'cause we're too good for that" comics climate, but... basically, he's the luckiest man in the world, and also none too bright. So, he's the worst and best hero ever, bumbling around cluelessly but always saving the day anyway by pure luck. As for the Thunderbolt, well, he ends up connected to this genie who will appear whenever you say his name, Cei-u. So, Johnny would often yell "Say! You!" at whoever he's chasing, and accidentally summon the genie, who he didn't even know about for the longest time. While he was (as mentioned here) too silly to support his own title even in the Golden Age, I could imagine him appearing now and again in anything like "Batman: The Brave and the Bold" or "Justice League Action," some tongue-in-cheek self-referential series that knows how to balance silliness and seriousness.

[@rubiconprime1429]

RIP Johnny Thunder He died as he lived Unremarkablely

[@shroomer8294]

The first stand user

[@NadDew]

I have a suggestion Make a series about forgotten characters from DC and marvel

[@khandimahn9687]

Whatever you may think of Black Canary's story at the time, they did produce some kick-ass 80's style music for her a few years ago.

[@ashleytuchin7693]

Thanks for this, I've always been a Black Canary fan, but when I tried to research her history back in the day, I had trouble getting my head around the whole thing. You've managed to make a nice and concise explanation that is really easy to follow.

[@e34re]

I preferred her when she was leading the Justice League. She was not to be trifled with

[@mickeysaine8126]

Me too! She was done really, really good in new DC Young Justice TV Show (I forget the name of it).

[@tyrannicalking8754]

@@mickeysaine8126 young justice outsiders

[@johnathonhaney8291]

4:15 Mark Gruenwald said almost the same thing nearly 30 years ago: "1. Don't get married. 2. Don't have kids and 3. Don't say I didn't warn you."

[@summonersumnerus4364]

I loved Gruenwald. He was the continuity king and probably why i cherish continuity. Also probably why i stopped reading DC as they throw it all out every few years.

[@johnathonhaney8291]

@@summonersumnerus4364 I shall always think the world of Gru for the original Marvel Universe Handbook and the Squadron Supreme maxiseries (I still say the latter is a better deconstruction of the superhero genre than Watchmen ever was). My one regret is that there doesn't exist a collection of his Mark's Remarks columns, which is where my quote came from.

[@summonersumnerus4364]

@@johnathonhaney8291 Yup! I totally agree there. Love me some OHOTMU. For me the mid 80's was when i got into Comics so it was my mini Golden age. I also possess the SS graphic novel containing the great man's ashes. RIP.

[@c-really-h1859]

You should do a thing on why you don't like Black Canary's relationship with Green Arrow. Like do you have an issue with in in universe or just on a meta level? I think it's nice that they both get to actually be happy with each other and recently I think it's been done decently but I do remember reading a few older Green Arrow comics and wondering why she seemed to be reduced to just a love interest for him.

[@mr.sand7899]

The confusion was not necessary. Nobody was asking why Black Canary looked younger than other Earth 2 characters. And the post Crisis explanation was stable having them be 2 different people.

[@louisvictor3473]

13:00 The new 52 wasn't sure what to do ~with her.~ It just didn't know what to do in general.

[@richardmark9161]

In the animated series Batman: The Brave and the Bold season 2 episode 5 “The Golden Age of Justice”, golden age Black Canary died in the line of duty when a ceiling collapsed on her. Her dying request was that the JSA watch over her daughter who grew up to become the new Black Canary. In this story they both have the power of the sonic scream. Was this story-line adapted from any of the existing comic book stories? The show aired between 2008-2011 thanks

[@Isaacisaperson4677]

8:57 why The Gordon's named there kids after them selves James Gordon and James Gordon Jr. Barbara Gordon and Barbara Gordon (Batgirl/Oracle)

[@Ujelly12]

Great video! I recently got into Hellblazer and I'm slowly reading all of the 1988 series. Could you do a video on Constantine? I'd love to hear you talk about him you make everything so interesting.

[@jesusramirezromo2037]

The more i learn about Flashpoint's retcons, The more mad i get How the fuck was that mess supposed to be easier to follow?

[@orlandobautista2848]

Black Canary is My Favorite Heroine She's best in Fighting Skills than Wonder Woman

[@kingsmythe]

Decent recapitulation of a complicated history. Got to say, though, I like Dinah with Ollie.

[@odysseyi5992]

JUSTICE FOR WALLYS KIDS, JUSTICE FOR WALLYS KIDS, JUSTICE FOR JAI AND IREY DAMN IT!!!!! Also same Wally... I ship Ollie and Dinah too...

[@seanpowell1661]

Thanks for making this video! You brought up some interesting points. I loved the post crisis origins of the mother inspiring the daughter better than the new 52 one. It's a shame that the TV series Arrow never went this route. I was okay with Sara Lance being the first "Canary" on the show too. However, when Sara was telling Ollie how she came up with the name, I wish it was her MOM, Dinah Drake-Lance who gave her the "Canary" nickname as a child instead of the dad. To introduce the character of Dinah Drake-Lance and have her with no ties to the Black Canary name was stupid on the writers' part. Furthermore, did you noticed how Ms. Drake-Lance all of a sudden disappeared from the series once Dinah Drake#2 show up in season 5???🤔👀 Btw, Quentin Lance is actually supposed to be Larry Lance. I believe his name is Quentin Lawrence Lance. Which is why they named their daughter, Laurel( in honor of her father). One last thing, it's funny how Robert Kanigher and Carmine Infantino gave the character the name Black Canary although her costume up until 1989 was always blue? I'm sure the Blue Canary didn't sound to good? 😂

[@Iorekbyrnison100]

Thanks for the fun video about one of my favorite characters! I actually kind of liked the Black Canary mini after the New 52, but it certainly wasn't for everyone. But, explaining her backstory to people is certainly a challenge. I worked at a comic store for years, and part of our job was to "educate," patrons about characters/books etc. I loved this part of the job, but when someone would ask about her (which was fairly often, thanks to Arrow), I would just say, "Uh yeah, so she's kind of her own mom, and has been around for ages, but now she's a kung-fu guru who's in an emo band." I wish this video had been around back then, so I could tell them what to watch.

[@RandomJayne]

As soon as I heard that Dinah's last name was originally "Drake" I googled an obvious question and found a reddit thread asking if she's related to Tim Drake and suggesting an AU where he becomes her sidekick instead of Batman's and develops a bird call of his own.

[@hongkongcantonese501]

What a wonderful channel! So cool that comics fandom has opened up to include fresh, original takes on some very old characters.When I was a kid, we didn't have comic book stores, so we would run down to the news stand and hope for the best. Now you have a really engaging, international venue with good production values. You are awesome!

[@kwdmiller3]

People can believe a man can fly, bullets can bounce off a man’s body, two men can survive a nuclear explosion by bonding together, a man can run faster than light, a man can make a costume out of pieces of dwarf Star and a man can live underwater; but they can’t believe a character can stay young.

[@Vaith]

I'm honestly expecting a full on reboot with no "story" reason, just a 100% reboot

[@scifi.ginger]

This was a great video!

[@anonyarena]

Thank you for this. Black Canary is one of my favorite characters, and your channel is my favorite youtube channel for comics. Your take on the comics is the best and most interesting that I've ever seen.

[@gracetrainor4712]

This is by far your best video, and I love all of them. Please do more Black Canary videos. On another note, I really disliked her singer phase. To me, the singing took away from the martial arts aspect of her character, especially because they focused on that more than her fighting prowess, and I feel that casual fans will know that she was a singer but not a martial artist. The truth is, I just miss the Black Canary Shiva relationship. I really loved her New Earth character, and I was sad to see her go. Also side note, anyone remember Sin? Curse you New 52 all children have to be retconned rule.

[@zombiekilldemon]

A confusing dc female character is Wonder Woman's sorta daughter Fury. Fury is also the mom of Daniel Hall aka the new Dream of the Endless, making golden age Wonder Woman and Hawk Girl the grandmas of Dream.

[@BenChanNYC]

I really liked how Black Canary was retconned as one of the founders of the JLA post-Crisis as a side-effect of Wonder Woman's reboot. (because ya *gotta* have a girl in there!) "JLA:Year One" was a great mini and really set up her new status. She served as a bridge between the JSA and JLA and it was a well-deserved status upgrayyyde! Even when Wonder Woman was softly rebooted back to being one of the founders, they didn't necessarily say that Dinah wasn't anymore. She had a good run there between her prominence with the League and featuring in BoP. Oh well.... Flashpoints gonna happen...

[@iceslick16]

How about doing a video on how Captain Marvel (Carol Danvers)'s son became his own father and raped his mother!! Yup, comics can be awful lol.

[@johnathonhaney8291]

Avengers #200, which was largely Jim Shooter's idea, as I understand it...Christ, you a sadist!

[@EDifyer881]

so true

[@joefernandez8008]

That’s some Oedipus level stuff lol

[@pottertheavenger1363]

That's super fucked up

[@maymay5600]

dude, really? you had to mention marvel special #2000? why just why?

[@nicolasbazzano2028]

I am a diehard Post Crisis Canary fan, loved the Mark Waid JLA Year One story, and how much it embraced Canary as one of the founding five. Plus, it had seeds of her and Ollie’s love story...

[@Strydex]

This channel lets me freak out about characters when they are going thru a crisis Thanks!

[@gustavobvitorino7950]

Started watching this channel yesterday! It is amazing!

[@pauloverly4830]

Thank you for getting the history (both in the comics and behind the scenes) right! Excellent research ...although I would have liked to have seen the Veronica Lake association mentioned in the original character design part. Weird factoid about the original (and best) Canary: in virtually all of her solo stories (14 of 16, IIRC) and some JSA adventures, at some point she is knocked unconscious. If the creators wanted to dispose of her believably, a brain hemorrhage or chronic traumatic encephalopathy would have been the ticket. I can send you a PDF of her "greatest hits" panels if you like.

[@Leadeshipcoach]

Sasha! great video! Just subscribed to your channel after watching a few episodes. Okay I am an old/older guy. The comic where you mentioned the origin with her going into stasis and the mother taking the daughters place...I have it! I like her origin where she was raised by her mom -the original Black Canary - and because of being around the members of the JSA and all their super/mystical energy she developed the sonic scream. Di you know that in some of the earlier stories when she first came to earth 1 she could not control the direction of the scream. Also they had her being overly emotional...a lot! There is a Brave and Bold story where she gets upset with Batman because Batman suspects a guy she likes of wrong doing. A far cry (pun intended) from the Canary have today. Great job...looking forward to more videos.

[@All-Fur-Coat_No-Trousers]

You're great. I hope your channel grows like a weed cause people are gonna love you, I feels that shit

[@happytyo3200]

Besides Comics explained you're my go-to when it comes to anything history or behind the scenes of comics

[@TheDawnofVanlife]

I think just the simple explanation mom Canary gave birth to a daughter who also became the Black Canary was what made the most sense to clean things up. In Gilmore Girls, Rory is actually Lorilai just like her mom. She was just called Rory instead of Lorilai. I don't know why people get so weird about daughter named after their (living) mother. If the mom is deceased and it's an inherited name for girls, it seems to gel better. But women giving their daughters their name for someone confuses people more then sons having their dad's name.

[@matthewpopow6647]

I don't dislike Arrow and Canary... but I see your point

[@potandpoliticswithmr.broph1420]

got my subscription. Nice to hear someone talking about comics that isn't a complete fan girl/boy for whatever the company does but also talks about the characters and the good stories, not just spend twenty minutes ranting against Marvel or DC with a couple pictures of superheroes in the corner of the screen while they run their mouths. Thank you

[@LilC1deep]

hell yeah

[@Sadistic_Samurai]

First video I saw from you, will definitely stick around!

[@brianomdahl8377]

Sasha, I could happily sit and listen to you explain how things work - from the origins of Black Canary to the secrets behind microwaveable oatmeal - and have no regrets and all smiles. Keep up the great work!

[@PhrontDoor]

Yup.. you were totally right. I was utterly NOT ready for that. I thought that I was ready at 5:46, Then I heard you mention the wizard curse thing and was like.. "ok, check-plz"

[@vaegontargaryen9203]

I always loved how the Black Canary was trained by wild cat in the animated series.

[@nathanielstacy4488]

Carary Arrow are a mutch healthier parting then Lana Lang & Lexx Luther whom still end up married in a lot of contenuities.

[@Priceluked]

You're telling me Johnny Thunder was the first Stand User.

[@LanceLovett]

I loved the old comics with multiple stories. Even Bat, Supes, etc Family books.

[@Blofeld001]

Great video. I love your channel. But, now I'm confused which Black Canary I had the hots for growing in the '80's.