The Black Canary Archives, Vol. 1 by Gardner F. Fox

And all the while, the detective takes all the credit. in this case, the 'dame' is always rescuing the detective from harm. These are some classic 40's-style pulp stories, but with a twist. The reparte between Dinah Drake (Black Canary) and Larry Lance (detective) made their relationship entertaining. Overnight I became fan of Robert Kanigher as a Golden Age author. I went into it not expecting a whole lot. So maybe the sexism of those Silver Age comics was less about Kanigher's own values and more about adapting his writing to the gender values and limitations of the era. She's a real force to be reckoned with, and though she hate-flirts with Larry, she never wastes a moment pining about her love life or longing for marriage. I know him mainly as the author of the really sexist Wonder Woman and Lois Lane comics in the '50s and '60s, so it's quite surprising how strong and empowered Black Canary is. Speaking of Kanigher, he really surprised me here. At one point Robert Kanigher even seems to lampshade his own overuse of pistol-whipping, as BC feigns being driven mad by a blow to the head to get the villains off their guard. But they're neat little noirish crime stories and Carmine Infantino's art is effective. Dinah Drake always gets drawn into one of Larry Lance's cases as Black Canary, she fights the bad guys effectively for a while, she almost invariably gets pistol-whipped on the back of the head (resistance to long-term brain injury must be her superpower), she and Larry have to escape a deathtrap, they win, final gag with Larry and Dinah, the end.

The stories are short and formulaic, as you'd expect of backup tales from the era. They look like she'd trip over them a lot.)

It's really quite a well-designed costume. And while her costume is sexy, it's also strikingly practical, straightforward, and believable as action wear, despite the fishnets. She's strong and capable, able to outfight men, escape deathtraps, and solve weird crimes with the best of them, with no superpowers other than her jujitsu training and her wits, and a chin-operable choker locket that miraculously always contains exactly the gadget she needs to escape the deathtrap of the month. I can see why she was a breakout character in the '40s. I was never that impressed by Black Canary before, not having seen much of her in the comics, but this collection changed my mind.

The Black Canary Archives, Vol. 1 by Gardner F. Fox