Tag Archives: Black Canary

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Tuesday Night Comics Episode 76 – 6/17/15 New Comics Previews

With all the comic book companies holding back on their big announcements until San Diego Comic Con, it’s a fairly slow news week, but that news that’s come is good news: we are finally seeing the publication of Tim Sale and Jeph Loeb’s Captain America: White.

The guys both play the Twenty, picking out what new comics they would buy on a $20 budget, and for a second week in a row, have a hard time sticking to only $20.
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Plus, reviews of Batman Volume 6: Graveyard Shift, a bunch of Convergence and Secret Wars books and more!

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Arrow S2E5: “League of Assassins”

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So the show opens up with a re-shot scene from season 1 set in the past. Sara and Ollie sneaking away on the boat, the Queen’s Gambit, before the island except this scene adds more to Sara’s character. It shows her very flirty with Ollie and deceiving her Dad. I wonder how this scene holds up next to the one that was in the pilot. It seems like it is chock full of inconsistencies. But basically the same thing happens: boat sinks. But the next time we see Sara she is waking up half naked (HELLS YEAH CW) in the ocean looking at a yellow canary floating on driftwood. That seems like a pretty crappy place for a canary. I think that bird doesn’t have long to live. I mean I get it. The Black Seagull would be a worse name for a superhero. Sound more like a plague.  But then the ship named Amazo appears in the distance (remember this is the ship we last left Ollie in flashbacks where he is being tortured with his cellmate the KGBeast). Looks like she is in for a rough time until Doctor Anthony Ivo saves her. He is a scientist and he is using all the people held captive. His objective is to save the human race.

Okay then we switch over to Moira’s pre-trial meeting in Iron Heights. Not really sure what those things are called. I haven’t been keeping up with my Law & Order: CSIVU. I haven’t really been paying too much attention to this in my comments because it seems slightly boring. But this scene is pretty amazing and not in a good way. Laurel, who is now working for the D.A.’s office is on the prosecution team on Moira Queen’s case. Hold the fucking phone. She is prosecuting her ex-boyfriends mom who she has a pretty great relationship with? How corrupt is Starling City’s court system that this can happen? Oh, and not to mention that she gives them a sweetheart deal that Moira’s one would expect expensive lawyer scoffs at and also says that this is conflict of interest having Laurel on the case. Laurel is the best thing you’ve got going here. AND Ollie is pissed too? Come on she helped kill over 500 people! COME ON CW?!?!?! Then by the end of the episode they decide to reject the offer?!??!? WHAT?

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In the present we find out that Sara is living at Queen Manor. Conveniently Thea is staying with Roy most nights. They say a lot of CW relationshipy stuff to each other and then BAM, a dude dressed like Malcom Merlyn in his Dark Archer costume breaks in the fucking window in the middle of the fucking day! He’s obviously trying to kill Sara. This prompts Ollie to take her to the Arrowcave to see Diggle and Smoak. Sara confesses it is Al Owal, who is a member of the League of Assassins who rescued her after the shipwreck and took her to Nanda Parabat (hey Malcom has been there) and she joined their ranks after being rescued. Al Owal tells her the child of Ra’s al Ghul awaits her return. She left because one mission went to far and she quit but you can only leave the League of Assassins by death. Ollie and Sara escape alive but the League is will kill the whole Lance family if Sara doesn’t go back with them. This puts team Arrow into action and Sara into contact with her dad. He figures out she is the Canary. Then they end up back at the Watchtower where Arrow, Canary, and Quentin fight off Al Owal. HOLD the phone. Former DETECTIVE Lance sees Arrow and his daughter, the Canary, fight together. He also knows they both were shipwrecked on the same island. HOW DOES HE NOT KNOW OLLIE IS ARROW?!?!??!

This was a great episode. Lots of secrets uncovered. Great action. Bad acting. Silly relationship stuff. And it ends with Ollie telling Dig that the whole five years he was gone he was not only on the Island. It’s revealed that he found out Sara was alive way back when he was a prisoner on the Amazo! Can’t wait for the next episode. But until then check the out my theories and notes below.

Theories: 
So Al Owal, which is Arabic for the first, comes and attacks Canary. He has trained her and Merlyn. He is pretty high up there in the League of Assassins. Now let’s remember the first of the Christopher Nolan Batman movies, which Arrow takes a lot of cues from. Liam Neeson’s character trains Bruce Wayne the whole movie to become part of the League of Shadows. The writers changed the name of League of Assassins in the comic books to League of Shadows for the movie. It is then revealed at the end that Ra’s al Ghul was not the bald headed silent man but actually Neeson’s character. With a heavy handed hint like the guy’s name being “The First” really points to Al Owal actually being Ra’s al Ghul.

An aspect of Ra’s al Ghul’s character that is not used in Batman Begins is that he has found a fountain of youth he calls the Lazarus Pit. It makes him pretty  much eternal and heals most wounds. There is more than one of these pits scattered around the globe that he uses. Now let’s think about all the people who should have died on the island, Lian Yu. I wonder if the island holds a Lazurus Pit that  Ra’s is using or trying to find and the waters around the island have special healing powers.

Notes:

The Child of Ra’s al Ghul: Ra’s al Ghul has three known children in the comic books. He has a son Dusan al Ghul, also known as the White Ghost. He was reject by Ra’s because he was born albino. There is Talia al Ghul, who is the most well known of his children. She has had romantic entanglements with batman and was featured in The Dark Knight Rises. The last is Nyssa Raatko. She is an illegitimate child Ra’s had when he was traveling through Russia. She tracks him down later in life and impresses him enough to gain a high ranking position in the League of Assassins. If I had to guess which one it would be, I would go with Nyssa since Talia was just used in the last Batman movie and Ollie is currently sharing a cell with the Russian KGBeast. He also says something in Russian before he drinks vodka with Dig at the end of the episode and tells him he wasn’t always on the island.

Doctor Anthony Ivo: Doctor Ivo is a mad scientist obsessed with escaping death, who first appeared in The Brave and the Bold #30 back in 1960 where he created an android Amazo (that’s the name of the boat Ollie, Sara, and Ivo are on) who fought the Justice League. I think we will see a connection made between Ra’s al Ghul’s history with the Lazarus pit and Ivo wanting to never die. In addition to Amazo, Ivo created the androids Composite Superman, Kid Amazo, Red Volcano, and Tomorrow Woman. The Tomorrow Woman story is a great one. It was a single issue story in JLA #5 back in 1997 by Grant Morrison.

Lian Yu: This is the island Ollie is shipwrecked on and where he learns his archery and fighting skills. It is first named in the television show. Lian Yu means purgatory. This looks like a nod to Lost where it seems to be where they got there flashback inspiration from. Lian is the first name of Roy Harper’s daughter who he had with the international criminal Cheshire.

Nanda Parbat: This place has been mentioned before in the television show. We know Malcolm Merlyn spent some time there. It first appeared in the comic books in October 1967 in Strange Adventures #205. Time passes in the city differently than the outside world. Many who enter the city retain their youth for a longer time. It is a hidden city in the mountains of Tibet. It is a place of healing and enlightenment watched over by the goddess Rama Kushna and the monks who worship her. The city is most associated with the hero Deadman who received his powers from Rama Kushna. Other characters closely associated with the city are Judomaster, Crimson Avenger, The Question, and Richard Dragon. Deadman had a nicely updated origin by Paul Jenkins in 2011 in DC Universe Presents.

Iron Heights: Is the prison that Moira is held in. It is a fictional penitentiary that first appeared in Flash: Iron Heights by Geoff Johns and Ethan Van Sciver. Johns is going to be penning the episode that introduces Barry Allen, the Flash. Iron Heights Penitentiary is known for its vicious and brutal treatment of its prisoners. It  houses many of the Flash’s super villains.

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Arrow S2E4: “Crucible”

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This week’s Arrow was simple but really pushed the story along. A throw away villain, Xavier Reed, The Mayor, is bringing illegal military grade guns and wreaking havoc in the Glades. Oliver  reacts with Sebastian Blood (who is getting creepy this episode) to create a cash for guns benefit in the Glades which is attacked. The benefit also shows Oliver struggle in his new role professionally having to answer to Isabel Rochev for his fiscal actions. It shows Thea what a hero Roy is and lets them interact with Sin. They should create a Junior Arrow club.

Meanwhile Diggle meets up with his old colleague Lyla Michaels to flirt and try to get info on tracking down Deadshot. AND back on the island Oliver gets a neighbor on the boat and is getting tortured. This really reminds me of the scenes in The Dark Knight Rises where Bruce is trying to fix his back and get out of the hole.

The Bigger story this episode is the Canary. With Felicity’s help Oliver finds the Canary unmasks her and she is revealed to be… SPOILERS… the long thought dead Sara Lance. Man this is trouble for Oliver. Obviously he wants her to reveal herself to her family but she can’t for some reason. Maybe because they’re all drunks. Well at least Laurel is this episode. Quinten has been recovering for some time now. Anyway, the last time the viewers saw Sara, was way back in the first season when she joined Ollie on his boat, the Queen’s Gambit. During their trip, the ship was sabotaged and sank, along with Sara. Her remains were never recovered so her family buried a empty casket, after she was declared legally dead. But get this, Oliver then reveals to John and Felicity that he thought she drowned on the Queen’s Gambit, but met her a year after being shipwrecked, however he thought she had died since he last saw her. So apparently somewhere in between she joined up with the League of Assassins.

However, the best part of all of this is when Arrow and Canary, excuse me I mean GREEN Arrow and BLACK Canary, team up to take down The Mayor.

All in all a great episode.

Notes/Easter Eggs/ SPOILERS:

The Mayor: Also known as Xavier Reed, The Mayor shares names with two Marvel superheroes, Professor Charles Xavier and Reed Richards. The place where he is stealing he weapons from is Camp Kirby. This is a nod to Jack Kirby, who co-created both Charles Xavier and Reed Richards. Jack Kirby is best known for creating almost half the Marvel Universe of super-heroes in the 1960s. At DC he is best known for his work on Superman and creation of New Gods characters in the 1970s. But way back in the 1950s, he did a stint writing and drawing Green Arrow in Adventure Comics and World’s Finest Comics. The Mayor also reminds me of the characters Steel fought in his book back after Superman returned from the dead.

Lyla Michaels: Lyla is an old colleague of John Diggle. She works for the U.S. government organization A.R.G.U.S. which stands for Advanced Research Group Uniting Super-Humans. In the comic books they act as support and liaison to the Justice Leauge by supplying them with resources and cleaning up after battles. Argus was an all-seeing giant in Greek mythology with a hundred eyes. Lyla Michaels has a history of all-seeing in DC Comic books. She was created by Marv Wolfman and George Perez. She first appeared in New Teen Titans vol. 1, Annual #2 in 1983. She became the hero known as Harbinger in Crisis on Infinite Earths #1 in 1985, where it is revealed she has the power of splitting into various selves and can send those copies of herself through various points in time, space, and parallel universes. I’m not sure if this character will ever develop those powers. If you do want to read up on her, Crisis on Infinite Earths is a pretty historic, being the first company wide DC Comics cross-over. Basically every title in the company tied into this year long series at least one point during the year.

Anatoli Knyazev: This is the guy in the prison cell next to Oliver on the Amazo ship. Anatoli is a lesser known Batman villain known as the KGBeast who was created by Jim Starlin and Jim Aparo in Batman #417 in 1988. In the comic books Anatoli is a K.G.B. trained assassin code-named “The Beast” (very Arrowish naming convention), however he is known to the C.I.A as the KGBeast. In addition to being the master of several martial arts he is cybernetically enhanced with a prosthetic gun arm. KGBeast played a big role in Robin III: Cry of the Huntress. I haven’t read it since high school but remember it being pretty good.

The Flash Watch: A channel 52 news report mentioned protests over a particle accelerator currently under construction.

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Arrow S2E3: “Broken Dolls”

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We left Arrow last week with Oliver in his Hood getup surrounded by police officers in Laurel’s apartment. This was a trap set by Laurel, who now is blaming Tommy Merlyn’s death on the Hood. At the last second, the mysterious Black Canary, ahem, I mean Canary, shows up uses some kind of sonic blast and escapes with Ollie.

While he puts Roy on the case of tracking down this lady, Quentin Lance finds out that a serial killer from an old case has escaped from Iron Heights as a result of the quake. This serial killer, Barton Mathis, also known as The Dollmaker, kidnaps women and kills them by pouring a flexible polymer into their throats. This fires up Quentin to track him down, but he is warned by the police department to stay back. So, Quentin and the Team Arrow find a way to track this guy down and eventually use Felicity as sexy bait.

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Alright, let me pause here. Felicity is a very attractive woman who could jump from this show onto any other CW drama if she wanted to. However, she plays the nerd on this show and it just comes across as, “Hey, I wear glasses. I’m a nerd.” Is it how she is written? Maybe. Is it how she looks? Maybe. It is one reason I think we will never see her character jump to the comic book page like Diggle’s. Currently there is a nerdy tech geek helping out Oliver in the Green Arrow books. And she is more believable as an actual nerd than the character played by a person. Ok back to it.

As a result of this, Felicity is put in danger, and both Laurel and Quentin end up being kidnapped by the Dollmaker. Arrow saves them in time and then the Black Canary in return saves him, kills the Dollmaker and runs off. However, Roy finds the Canary and tells Arrow the location of the watchtower where Arrow finds her and her friend Sin. We see a character who looks like the Dark Archer (but is not) and he name drops Ra’s al Ghul!?!?!

In the past, we see Slade and Oliver run around on the island. They see a Japanese boat shooting bombs towards Shado’s location. They run to her, but are ambushed and end up in a prison on a boat called Amazo.

All in all it was a pretty straight forward episode with a bunch of hints dropped….well lets get to it:

Notes/Easter Eggs/ SPOILERS:

Dollmaker: Barton Mathis, the third iteration of the character first appeared in Detective Comics, vol. 2 #1 as a Batman villain. He was created by writer and artist Tony S. Daniel. In this episode Barton’s lawyer is named Tony Daniel as a nod to his creator. The full Dollmaker story is collect in Batman: Detective Comics: Faces of Death.

Metamorpho: This is the name of the factory that the Dollmaker is using. Rex Mason, also known as Metamorpho, the Element Man, is a superhero with the ability to transmutate into a wide variety of elemental compounds. He is mostly associated with Batman and the Outsiders. He first appeared in The Brave and the Bold #57. Rex was an adventurer who was hired by business man Simon Stagg to find a rare Egypian artifact, the Orb of Ra. As a consequence of this adventure Rex obtained his powers from the Orb of Ra. I suppose if he were to be “Arrowized” his origin could possibly start in a chemical factory. If you can track it down there was a pretty good modernization of his origin in the mini-series Metamorpho: Year One.

Quentin Larry Lance: Much like his daughter, his middle name gives a nod to the comic book character he is based on. Detective Larry Lance was created back in 1948 in Flash Comics #92. He was a police officer who would help the Golden Age Black Canary on her cases. The two would fall in love and have a daughter who had the superpower of a sonic scream. She would also take the name Black Canary. Hmmm…..

Amazo: This is the name of the ship that we see Oliver held captive on in the past. Amazo is a super-villain android who first appeared in The Brave and the Bold #30. He was created by Gardner Fox and Murphy Anderson as a villain for the Justice League of America. His fictional creator, Professor Ivo, created him to have the power to duplicate superheroes’ abilities. Could this boat be filled with people who have the same abilities as Oliver? A great Amazo story to read would be JLA #27 by Mark Millar (Kick Ass, Wanted).

The Clock Tower: This is the location of a team of mostly female heroes called the Birds of Prey. The team mainly consists of Black Canary, Batgirl/Oracle/Barbra Gordon, and sometimes the Huntress. This is the hiding spot for Black Canary and Sin which is a nod to the Birds of Prey comics. The team also had a short lived TV show on the CW when Smallville was in its second season.

Sin: Is a girl rescued by Black Canary from becoming a martial arts weapon. She first appears in Birds of Prey #92. She was created by Gail Simone.

Ra’s al Ghul: His name is Arabic for “The Demon Head.” He was created by Dennis O’Neil and Neal Adams in Batman #232 (June 1971). He is almost immortal, gaining long life from a fountain of youth called the Lazarus Pit. He has genius-level intelligence, and is skilled in martial arts. Ra’s al Ghul was the main villain in Batman Begins. I wonder how his portrayal will differ here. It is interesting that his soldiers wear a uniform very similar to the Dark Archer uniform worn by Malcom Merlyn. Could Ra’s al Ghul be behind the plan to wipe out the Glades? It would fit his M.O. His ultimate goal is a world in perfect balance. He believes that the best way to achieve this balance is to eliminate most of humanity. A great Ra’s al Ghul story that doesn’t involve just Batman is JLA: Tower of Babel by Mark Waid and Howard Porter.

Written by Dave Tomko. Check out Dave’s blog, New Earth 2. 

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Arrow S2E1: “City of Heroes” – REVIEW

City of Heroes

The last season of Arrow finished with a bang or more like a quake. Part of a devious plan, “The Undertaking” put into place by Malcolm Merlyn/The Dark Archer and a group of businessmen to level the Glades section of Starling City. The plan was partially successful despite Oliver Queen/The Hood/Arrow, Felicity Smoak, Detective Quentin Lance, and John Diggle’s efforts. It left Moira Queen incarcerated, the Glades in shambles, and Malcolm and his son Tommy dead along with over 500 civilians.

Within the first couple minutes we find out that Oliver Queen has blamed himself for not saving his best friend Tommy or the 500 other some odd dead people in the glades. And so like any emo 14 year-old who just broke up with his girlfriend or full grown super-hero, he exiles himself to his room to listen to Morrissey. Or in this case the island where he originally found himself spiritually and emotionally, Lian-Yu. And like any best friend or sidekick would, Felicity and Diggle venture to the island to shake him out of his funk. They’re all like dude everything sux now without you around. And they’re right. But Ollie is all like, hey I’m coming back but only as Oliver Queen guys not the Hood!

So non-Hood-Ollie returns to Starling City to find the Glades a mess. A new player, Isabel Rochev has purchased 40% of Queen Consolidated and is looking to purchase the last 10% to gain control of the company. A group called the Hoods co-opted Oliver’s look and are running around killing rich people. His mother, Moira is locked up in Iron Heights. Laurel Lance has taken a job at the DAs office and she has a new . Her father Quentin Lance has been demoted to a beat cop. Oliver’s sister Thea has been running his nightclub with Roy Harper which is above his “Arrow Cave” unbeknownst to them. Also, Roy is running around playing Hood Jr. in the Glades, which doesn’t make Thea very happy.

So Ollie comes back and takes care of all this stuff and by becoming the Hood again. The one difference is he won’t kill anymore. The show highlights this theme nicely with the fashbacks to the island that lead up to the first time he takes a life. The Hoods aptly illustrate how his mission can be skewed and taken off course. He decides he needs a new identiy and he stares at the Arrow.

It’s an okay jumping on point for new viewers. Definitely a strong start to the new season.

SPOILERS/NOTES/EASTER EGGS/COMIC CONNECTIONS

Below are notes and Easter eggs that will provide insight and connections to the comics that may spoil some future twists if you are not a comic book reader.

The news story on the TV screen when Ollie returns to Starling City gives us a hint of the character  who will be coming to Arrow. The line, “In Central City, S.T.A.R. Labs’s particle accelerator will be finished by Christmas, ” is a nice way to set the stage for The Flash. S.T.A.R. Labs is a research facility that first appeared in Superman vol. 1 #246 (December 1971). It stands for Scientific and Technological Advanced Research. Barry Allen (The Flash) is a forensic scientist from Central City that gets struck by lighting while being dowsed in chemicals. This accident gives him the the power of super-speed. It think changing the chemicals to a particle accelerator is a good way to update the origin of Barry Allen. Barry first appeared in Showcase #4 (Oct. 1956),

It’s also funny that Channel 52 where the news stories are being played is the name of the two page teaser comic in the back of DC Comics teasing what is to come in their new books.

Isabel_Rochev,_Oliver_Queen_and_Felicity_Smoak_at_Queen_Consolidated

Isabel Rochev played by the sexy Summer Glau comes straight from Green Arrow comic books. She was created by J.T. Krul and Diogenes Neves and first appears in Green Arrow vol. 4 #1 (August 2010). She is an adversary to Ollie’s that goes by the name of Queen. Born in Siberia, she lived a life of servitude in a diamond mine. When Oliver Queen’s father came to her village, she was inspired by the man, who she saw as a symbol of one’s inner power. She found him a great source of inspiration and vowed to make something of herself and rise from her humble status as a slave girl. She achieved this goal years later by purchasing stocks of Queen Industries and taking control of the company. This should be interesting.

In the last scene of the episode, Roy is fighting some street thugs in the Glades. He says he just ate a Big Belly Burger. This is a fast food restaurant in DC Comics that first Adventures of Superman#441 (June, 1988). He is helped out by a surprise vigilante. She is supposed to be the Black Canary. This is a big twist. The only Black Canary characters in the comic are Laurel and her mother. This must be a new take on the character. I’m looking forward to seeing more of her.

Written by Dave Tomko. Check out Dave’s site, newearth2.com.