Let’s get back to the rock and roll adventures of Black Canary. Last time, the new band Dinah was involved with got attacked by a group of otherworldly creatures who were after the band’s youngest member for some reason.
Can Dinah keep her friends safe and figure out what is going on? Is it good?
Black Canary #2 (DC Comics)
Dinah is teaching the band members self-defense through martial arts and how to operate firearms; with an unknown enemy after Ditto, they may need to be ready for anything. However, besides this mysterious, dangerous force that’s after them — someone else far less threatening is following the group as well.
The second issue of Black Canary is another great outing for the series. It’s not as strong as the first issue, which set the bar pretty high already to be fair, but still it a wonderful experience. The story was on the light side with not a whole lot happening (it felt like there weren’t many pages in general for some reason), outside of the introduction to a new character and the ending itself. Speaking of which, the ending was pretty surprising and could lead to something potentially interesting. However, this whole reveal of who the villain is at the end could be incredibly tiring for anyone who has read any of the series that Dinah was in before this comic because of how much it overstayed its welcome and dragged down our female lead.
Well, as long as she doesn’t teach you to dodge bullets, you should be fine for this training.
Characterization seems to be the bigger focus for this issue than the story. Writer Brenden Fletcher continues to develop the various members of the band in a subdued manner — through small moments and little reveals here and there. You have characters talking with each other causally where you can pick up small details, like Byron and Paloma talking to their old bandmate, or small moments that aren’t focused on that much like Paloma having perfect aim with shooting a gun. It’s quiet and simple in the way he goes about it, instead of being on the nose and through doses of narration.
Fletcher continues to do a good job flying solo on the book even if there isn’t a lot to say. His dialogue continues to be enjoyable and is bolstered by touches of amusing humor. The story structure and layout is pretty good and outside of one or two moments where the change between two panels feels off, the comic reads relatively well. There’s no obvious issue with pacing or any of the other writing/story mechanics from what I can tell. Just a good experience through and through.
Annie Wu continues to provide artwork for the series (though for how long remains to be seen since someone else will be drawing in the book come September) and continues to do a terrific job. While her characters look solid, the amount of expression in them is truly fantastic; the way they look at one another, react to something happening and the way they move or carry themselves really brings them to life. The layouts are excellent, allowing for the story to flow naturally and really give that feeling of movement in the characters. The colors are nice and there are a few impressive looking shots in the book like where Dinah stares down the former bandmate later in the book. While I can see the style of the art not being for everyone, it’s still a great, vibrant looking comic from the first page to the very end.
Is It Good?
Black Canary #2 is a great issue overall with a lot to like and very little to dislike. If you liked the first issue, you definitely do not want to miss out on the fun in this issue.
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