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 BLACK CANARY II (Dinah Laurel Lance)BIOGRAPHY
Created by Denny O'Neil and Dick Dillin

The Original Universe


PERSONAL DATA


Real Name: Dinah Laurel Lance
Occupation: Former florist, now adventurer
Citizenship: American
Marital Status: Separated
Known Relatives: Lawrence "Larry" Lance (father, deceased), Dinah Drake Lance (mother, deceased), Oliver Queen (husband)
Group Affiliation(s): Justice League of America, Justice Society of America, Birds of Prey
Gender: Female
Height: 5'4"
Weight: 124 lbs.
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Black (dyed blonde)
First Appearance: Justice League of America #75 (October 1969): "In Each Man There Is a Demon"
Creators: Denny O'Neil and Dick Dillin


HISTORY

The daughter of the original Black Canary, Dinah Lance grew up surrounded by the heroes of the Justice Society and was determined to become a crime fighter like them. Her parents were, naturally, against this, but fate took a hand with the discovery that Dinah, as a consequence of the meta-gene, was able to project a devastating sonic scream. Armed with this ability, and with extensive martial arts training from Ted Grant, the golden age Wildcat, Dinah launched her super-heroic career, and soon became a founder member of the Justice League of America, where she met and romanced Oliver Queen, the Green Arrow. Dinah continued to serve as a Justice League member on and off for many years, until one of Green Arrow's enemies tortured her and severely mutilated her vocal cords, robbing her of her sonic ability. A year or two later, the romance between her and Queen died, and Canary struck out on her own, battling street level crime, generally alone. Recently, she was recruited by Oracle for a serious of undercover missions world-wide, combating a number of different organized criminal activities.

In the wake of the death of Wesley Dodds, she fulfilled a dream in joining the regrouped Justice Society, where she began a brief relationship with Pieter Cross, the new Dr. Mid-Nite. However, when Green Arrow came back into her life recently, she took a leave of absence from the team.

While on a mission for Oracle, Dinah found herself immersed in a Lazarus Pit and was transformed to her physical peak of early adulthood and regained the use of her sonic Canary Cry.

Recently, Dinah took up the chairmanship of a reorganized Justice League, but outside circumstances caused that grouping to dissolve.

POWERS AND WEAPONS

The Black Canary is one of the premier martial arts experts alive today. Mixing styles and modes with the addition of a powerful sonic blast makes her a formidable fighter, on a par with Batman and Lady Shiva.

Additionally, Black Canary, possessed the metahuman ability to emit a powerful sonic beam from her mouth, which she called her 'Canary Cry'. The cry could disorient her foes or destroy solid objects. This ability was eventually lost when her vocal cords were slashed by one of her enemies, and she had to rely on her martial arts abilities for several years. While working for Oracle, Dinah was given a technological version of the Canary Cry, a grenade-like object which would emit powerful sonics when triggered. Dinah made good use of this for a time, but a dip in the Lazarus Pit restored her natural ability to her. -Justice League of America #75, Birds of Prey #7

CHRONOLOGY

For a definitive list of appearances of Black Canary in chronological order click here

PROFILE REFERENCES

Green Arrow Annual Vol. 2 #2 (1989)

Who's Who in the DC Universe #9 (May 1991)
JSA Secret Files #1 (August 1999)
JLA-Z #1 (November 2003)