Today marked the release of Black Canary #1 from DC Comics, a decidedly new take on Dinah Lance — and a bit of a new take on super-hero comics in general. Launched by writer Brenden Fletcher (Batgirl, Gotham Academy) and artist Annie Wu (Batgirl Beyond, Hawkeye), Black Canary become more than a hero name — it’s now a punk band led by the lady with the magic voice herself. Wu and Fletcher sat down right before showtime to share some more thoughts with Comicosity about the look of the book overall, its musical influences, and just where that spare roadie came from.
Matt Santori-Griffith: Tell me a little about the inspiration for the look of the book. Black Canary definitely has a very different feel than most comics I’ve seen.
Annie Wu: Sure! I decided to go a little more old school. We had the opportunity to do stuff with blogs and things like that, but why do blogs when you can do zines for a comic about rock and roll? It’s a lot of X-Acto cut-out captions and mid-century screen prints.
I was even trying to figure out a new way to do the canary cry. When I drew the eight-page preview that came out last month, I decided to pull some influences from screen printing. So, instead of just doing the concentric circles — they’re great and that’s why everyone uses them — I made it look like a screen print that had gone off register between layers. I’m kind of looking to find a cool middle ground between super-hero stuff and old school aesthetics.
MSG: It’s so funny. When you first said “old school,” I was like, “Black Canary doesn’t look anything like old school comics.” But you literally mean OLD school. [laughs]
AW: I’m talking about do-it-yourself, my-band-is-playing-in-this-crappy-basement-under-a-bar, you-should-come-see-it, here’s-a-Xerox-I-did type of old school. Really hands-on. I mean, there’s smart phones and modern technology in the book, but we’re sticking with a do-it-yourself, old school vibe.
MSG: And that totally reinforces what you seem to be going for overall with the book, referencing the particular era of David Bowie or Siouxsie Sioux. What were your inspirations for the looks Dinah and the other characters carry off?
Brenden Fletcher: Certainly, you hit the nail on the head there for me. The first time Annie and I talked, it was about David Bowie and Radiohead and pretty much all the stuff that we listen to. So yeah, for Dinah, I don’t think there was ever any question that there would be a Bowie influence cropping up at some point.
For the Johnny Greenwood character of the band, Paloma, it was obvious that she would end up looking a lot like Johnny Greenwood. But really, Annie took the rest and ran with it. It’s amazing.
Interior art for Black Canary #1.
AW: Early on, I did say to Brenden, “OK, I know they’re a rock band. What kind of rock do they play?” Because that is going to completely influence what they look like. This was even before I decided what their stage look was going to be. The type of music they play is totally going to effect the aesthetic of the book. So, we pulled together the things we were interested in and arrived at a modern take — a little bit electronic, a little bit 80s gothy dance music. And from there we just went a little darker for the look and I pulled all of my favorites from musical theater and rock musical influences. It’s a little bit of everything.
MSG: I can see a lot of influence in the stage costuming from Rocky Horror or Hedwig and the Angry Inch, specifically.
AW: Oh yeah, totally. Dr. Frankenfurter is basically wearing the same thing as Dinah in most of Rocky Horror Picture Show, with the fishnets and bodysuit. It’s an opportunity for me to bring out all of my favorite aspects of my favorite front people. David Bowie was a huge influence, especially in deciding what kind of costume I wanted her to wear.
Early on, I didn’t want Dinah to have a standard super-hero costume that she would wear every issue. I wanted something that felt like her iconic Black Canary outfit, but was still different for every show. So, the way I approached it was like an era in Bowie’s career. He had a type of outfit that he wore for each period of his career, but it wasn’t the same thing. I just pictured it as a particular era in Black Canary’s career where she wears this type of outfit.
MSG: All of these things from Bowie to Rocky Horror have this common thread of sexual politics and androgyny. But one of things that really strikes me about the first issue is that it feels 100% centered on women, but who are not in any way being sexualized or subject to the male gaze. What angles are you looking at for this kind of feel?
Interior art for DC Sneak Peek: Black Canary #1.
BF: For me, this book isn’t about romantic relationships, and I think that might be the reason it ends up feeling that way. It’s not set up to deal with romance in any way. I think that might disappoint a lot of people who are desperate for me to do the Green Arrow-Black Canary meet-up issue. That’s not a goal of mine. I’m not saying that it will never happen, but it’s certainly not the aim of this series.
We are going to deal with the fact that Dinah has been married, but that part of the storyline is not going to be about romance in any way. If anything, you can look at Black Canary — I hesitate to say this — as DC Comics’ Mad Max: Fury Road. [laughs] It’s about this group of women who have a goal and are going to achieve it with or without men, and sometimes despite men.
AW: I think music is a classic place to play around with sex and gender, especially in the look of the band. Once I decided Dinah was going to be back in some form of her iconic Black Canary outfit, but elevated for a rock performance, she took on this role of heightened femininity. She’s playing that role, but there’s also an element of androgyny in some of her other bandmates. I feel like this is the perfect place to play around with that in a rock music context.
MSG: And Brenden, in talking about all of the women in the book, we get a little surprise in issue #1 in the form of a stowaway from Gotham Academy, one of your other titles. What can you tell us about Heathcliff’s place in the book as Black Canary’s road manager?
Interior art for Black Canary #1.
BF: This is Heathcliff starting to live his dream. Even the first time you see him in Gotham Academy, we presented him as a music fan. I think it was on page 5 of #1 you see him sitting in the atrium of the chapel playing guitar. How he’s presented through the first arc in Gotham Academy is as someone who just loves music and wants to be in that world. He doesn’t really care for the world of academia at all. He was failing his grade. Olive was, in fact, his tutor.
So this now is Heathcliff’s chance to follow his dream. It’s a bit ambiguous right now about how he left Gotham Academy, but he has left prematurely. And he’s probably not being very truthful about his age to the record label and management company handling Black Canary. But he is now in the position of being their tour manager and a roadie of sorts. He’s managing the equipment, the bookings, all of the details of the tour the band is on right now. He is definitely not qualified to do so.
But this is Heathcliff’s shot. He’s getting involved in the world of music, and this might mean bigger and brighter things for him in the future.
MSG: Awesome! Any final thoughts on what fans who haven’t picked up Black Canary yet can expect?
AW: It’s a real weird one. [laughs] I’m dead serious. There’s a lot of overlap in the things Brenden and I love, in music and comics, and in just storytelling. It’s a lot of weird stuff, and it’s been a wonderful opportunity to pull all that out. I think there’s going to be something for music fans, super-hero fans, Black Canary fans. But in general, if you’re looking for a really fun book to read, I think we’re going to do a great job.
BF: And get excited about what Annie is doing in issue #2. It’s some really oddball stuff that you probably never expected to see in a DC comic. I am so proud and honored to have Annie on this book with me.
Black Canary #1 is in comic shops and available online right now! Get it, get it!