Black Canary: Best of the Best

Warner Brothers could have cast Scott Adkins as Batman. Instead, they chose Ben Affleck. They would probably never cast a real-deal martial arts star like Amy Johnston as Black Canary either, but this DC story-arc shows why they should. Much to the dismay of the Justice League, Black Canary, a.k.a. Dinah Lance agrees to an MMA fight to abject surrender with Lady Shiva, the most skilled super-villain martial artist in the DC multiverse. No holds are barred, but superpowers are off limits, which is unfortunate, because Black Canary’s shriek is a powerful equalizer. The bout gets bloody in Tom King’s Teen 15+ rated Black Canary: Best of the Best, illustrated by Ryan Sook, releasing today in a 6-issue hardcover bind-up.

Nobody understands why Lance agrees to the fight, except supervillain Vandal Savage. He promises to provide the rare cure needed by her mother, the original Black Canary. All she neds  to do is take a dive in the sixth round—assuming she can last that long. That will be a big ask. Even Batman unhelpfully admits he never managed to beat Lady Shiva when he reluctantly agrees to a sparring session.

Nevertheless, Lance’s mother relentlessly oversees most of her training until her condition craters into a coma. Lance can also count on the support of her boyfriend, Oliver Queen, at least during the periods when he isn’t dead. Happily, that will be for most of Best of the Best. Admittedly, they have a complicated relationship, but they are making it work.

Making it in the ring is a different matter. Their match is considerably more violent than the average Van Damme movie. However, readers do not see every single blow, because King often carries on the play-by-play of the fight while simultaneously flashing back to earlier scenes. That would be a clever and effective strategy if the announcer’s commentary were not so ridiculously over-the-top and cringe-inducingly shticky. Seriously, in real-life, Mike Berg and Wordy Johnny Sunter would motivate most viewers to reach for the mute-button—but Kiing needs them to advance the action.

Regardless, their hand-to-hand moves are truly face-pounding (living up to the subtitle cribbed from Philip Rhee’s 1990s martial arts quartet). King also nicely explores the psyches of both mother and daughter Black Canary, as well as their complicated issues of succession and legacy. Plus, he serves up a somewhat fresh and new conception of Savage that is wildly sleazy. Those elements combine into a briskly entertaining read. Frankly, it would be a shrewd storyline for James Gunn to adapt, because there are no super-powers to render on-screen—but would have be rated R. Highly recommended for fans of the character and martial arts comics, Black Canary: