Celebrating Writer Chuck Dixon

Celebrating the birthday of writer Chuck Dixon (April 14, 1954) with a look at the covers of the collections of his work on Robin and Birds of Prey.

Sadly, collections NOT COMPLETE, as Chuck still had more issues of Birds of Prey (starting with #22) and Robin (starting with #23) which haven't been collected, so, DC, it is well past time to finish these as was done with Chuck's Nightwing series (which had all of its Chuck Dixon written issues collected).

Robin 1 and 2 (January 2016 and May 2016)

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Birds Of Prey 1 and 3 (January 2016 and February 2017)

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Robin 4 and 5 (September 2017 and February 2018)

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Love For Richard And Barbara

Dick and Babs had plenty of history together, but it took years for them to find time together alone, away from Batman....

...and in that time the two went from close, to closer.

Here's a quick look back at how things evolved, from the days of their first solo team-up, that started in the pages of Detective Comics #400.

Batman Family

Dick Grayson had gotten away from Batman, taking his Robin act as the Teen Wonder to Hudson University (which seemed to be a little closer to Washington, DC, where Barbara Gordon was still working as Batgirl).  The two started on and off pairings in the pages of Batman Family, with the Jim Aparo cover of Batman Family #11 (May-June, 1977 by Bob Rozakis, Curt Swan and Vince Colletta) showing a good place to show that Robin and Batgirl might be getting closer (and over the next few issues, Dick even tried telling Babs about his feeling for her...but, things didn't quite work out, and Robin and Batgirl only had a few more adventures together, then were having separate adventures by the time Batman Family moved over to Detective Comics). 

Robin eventually went to work with the Teen Titans as they came back as the New Teen Titans, with Cyborg, Starfire and Raven, and Batgirl mostly kept to herself, being in semi-retirement.

Dick eventually changed his identity to Nightwing, then parted from the Titans for a while, landing in Bludhaven, while Barbara had been shot by the Joker, being confined to a wheelchair, and helping the Suicide Squad, Batman, the new Robin (Tim Drake) and Azrael as Oracle (an online personality Barbara created to help heroes against the ever growing legions of villains).

Birds Of Prey

Barbara had also rescued the Black Canary (Dinah Laurel Lance) who had been suffering depression and a lack of direction since the apparent death of Green Arrow (Oliver Queen).  Oracle used her as her field agent, allowing Barbara the ability to have someone working directly to right wrongs (and giving Dinah a chance to do good and get on with her life). 

Nightwing also used the services of Oracle, but, on one particular day, Dick decided to help his friend, Babs, relax, taking her up in the air for a special time (helped with a harness) allowing Babs to swing through the air (all in the pages of Birds of Prey #8 of August, 1999 by Chuck Dixon, Greg Land and Drew Geraci, under a cover by Land and Brian Stelfreeze). 

This led to a relationship between Dick and Babs that continued for some time....but, for Valentine's Day, the focus will just remain on the happy times of their relationship!

Crimes Of The Calculator

A long time ago, a villain came to be, to strike fear into the hearts of the heroic community....that man was....the Calculator!

Well, not so much.  True, the Calculator might have been a villain to contend with, but he hardly struck fear into the heroes who faced him.

Let's take a look at the facts of his early cases, and see how things add up!

Crimes By Calculation

Detective Comics #463 (September, 1976 by writer Bob Rozakis, penciller Mike Grell and inker Terry Austin) saw the premiere of the Calculator, and he started off small, by facing the Atom!

The Calculator was trying to steal a "quake-breaker" from scientist Richard Bagley at Ivy University, and he was quickly defeated by the Atom (but, the Calculator seemed happy about this as he pressed a button at his defeat....).

A Hot Time In Star City Tonight

The Atom told his friend and fellow Justice League member, the Black Canary about his case in Detective Comics #464 (October, 1976 by Bob Rozakis, penciller Mike Grell and inker Terry Austin), or at least he tried, as Black Canary wanted to get home to Star City for it's Tricentennial!

After a mishap in getting home, the Black Canary faced off against the Calculator and an untimely heat wave in Star City (that the Calculator was causing by amplifying Black Canary's Canary Cry!).  Luckily, she figured out a way to beat him, and did (though, again, the Calculator seemed happy as he pressed a button on his uniform in defeat).

The Elongated Plague

Next up for the Calculator is Detective Comics #465 (November, 1976 by Bob Rozakis, penciller Ernie Chan and inker Terry Austin), where the villain really decided to stretch his muscles, and face off against the Elongated Man!

This time, Elongated Man and his wife, Sue Dibny, were guests of honor at the Star City Comic Con, where they faced off against an outbreak of elongated attendees....the people at the show all developed elongated powers they couldn't control (thanks to the Calculator).  Still, Ralph Dibny was able to defeat the Calculator (who again, pushed a button, and seemed very happy in prison....). 

Take Me Out Of The Ballgame

Detective Comics #466 (December, 1976 by Bob Rozakis, penciller Marshall Rogers and inker Terry Austin) saw hints of the Calculator's plan, as he attacks a baseball game in Star City.

Green Arrow was scheduled to throw out the first pitch, but he just couldn't get the ball across the plate (and it was the fault of the Calculator).  Elongated Man was a spectator at the game, and found himself unable to move to help Green Arrow, as the battling bowman used the Elongated Man as a bowstring to take out the Calculator (accidentally hitting the Calculator's special button himself).

The Man Who Skyjacked Hawkman

By Detective Comics #467 (January-February, 1977 by Bob Rozakis, penciller Marshall Rogers and inkers Terry Austin and Neal Adams), even Hawkman knew something bigger was happening, and he told Batman so.

After Batman related his most recent case to the Thanagarian policeman, Hawkman told Batman of his battle with the Calculator, where he faced his foe at Midway City Airport, as Hawkman was taking a scientist off a plane to stop an atomic plant from melting down, but found his cargo to instead be the Calculator!  Hawkman still defeated the villain, and saved the atomic plant (with the Calculator again pressing his button), but Hawkman came to Gotham to warn Batman that he might be the next victim of the Calculator!

Battle Of The Thinking Machines

Detective Comics #468 (March-April, 1977 by Bob Rozakis, penciller Marshall Rogers and inker Terry Austin) sees Batman face the Calculator as the villain tries to steal a time capsule being buried in Gotham, and Batman defeats him, with, yet again, the Calculator pressing his special button.

Batman, after dealing with Metropolis WGBS head, Morgan Edge, goes to the Justice League Satellite, where the members talk about the Calculator escaping...AGAIN...and the heroes who faced him before have Aquaman (who was on monitor duty), beam them down to the Calculator's new target in Central City (where the Flash, the city's hero, is unavailable due to having time travelled into the future at this time).  The Calculator....easily defeats the JLA!

Somehow, the Calculator's device would calculate all the tricks the heroes could use against him after one battle, and they would never be able to defeat him again!   Batman doesn't believe this, so goes after the Calculator again when he strikes at S.T.A.R. Labs in Central City, and turns the tables on the Calculator, having the villain defeat himself!  A truly fun series of tales, as writer Bob Rozakis finally answers the question he set up in all the previous Calculator stories (which, as DC's Answer Man, you knew he would!).

The Calculator Continues

Bob Rozakis brought the Calculator back a few times, first to face the Atom and Air Wave in Action Comics #522 to #524 (August to October, 1981, with penciller Alex Sauvik and inker Vince Colletta), then writer Len Wein, penciller Paris Cullins and inker Dell Barris have Blue Beetle deal with the Calculator in Blue Beetle #8 (January, 1987), and Bob Rozakis has the Calculator learn the value of being behind the scenes, as he faces off against the heroes of Hero Hotline in Hero Hotline #6 (September, 1989, with art by Stephen DeStefano and Karl Kesel). 

The Calculator is just another face in the crowd in Justice League America #43, JSA #30, Flash #183 and Young Justice #51, before taking inspiration from the Oracle (the lady who led the Birds of Prey), and became a source for criminal information behind the scenes, helping villains during the Identity Crisis (and finally getting an alter ego, that of Noah Kutler), helping the villains against the Secret Six during Villains United and the Infinite Crisis, and being a thorn in the side of Oracle and Black Canary in Birds of Prey.

The Calculator proved that big things can add up from the smallest beginnings!    

Robert Kanigher's Other Wonder Women

Some of you might remember writer Robert Kanigher as Sgt. Rock and Easy Company co-creator (with Joe Kubert), or as an editor (and then writer) of Wonder Woman (being the first writer to take over Wonder Woman from creator William Moulton Marston).  You might even know he co-created the Suicide Squad, the Metal Men, the Haunted Tank and the Sea Devils, as well as writing the first Barry Allen Flash story in Showcase #4...but he also created a little more as well!

Black Canary

Along with artist Carmine Infantino, Robert Kanigher created the original Black Canary (Dinah Drake) in the Thunderbolt feature in Flash Comics #86 in August, 1947 (with a dinosaur on the cover, not Black Canary, but hey, Kanigher later co-created the "War That Time Forgot" series, where dinosaurs fought soldiers), missing only Flash Comics #89, and she took over the feature from poor Johnny Thunder with Flash Comics #92 (February, 1948, which also introduced her boyfriend, and later husband, Larry Lance...and father of the second Black Canary who was in the Justice League and Birds of Prey).   

Kanigher and Infantino did all her individual features up until the last issue of Flash Comics #104 (February, 1949) and two unpublished stories as well (that got published in DC Special #3 in April-June, 1969, and Adventure Comics #399 in November, 1970, and all these tales plus her two Brave & the Bold #61 and 62 by Gardner Fox and Murphy Anderson, and two Adventure Comics back-ups from #418 and 419 by Denny O'Neil and Alex Toth are in the Black Canary Archives!). 

Harlequin

Black Canary also took over Johnny Thunder's spot in the Justice Society of America, and while there, she faced the Harlequin.  Not Batman's foe, but the foe of the original Green Lantern, a lady named Molly Mayne (still a little crazy, and in love with Alan Scott, the original Green Lantern!).  Harlequin first appeared in All-American Comics #89 (September, 1947 by Kanigher and artist Irwin Hasen).

Harlequin returned many times, in All-American Comics #91, 93, 94 and 95, as well as Green Lantern #29, 31, 32, 33, 34 and 36, and Comic Cavalcade #28, using hologram projecting glasses and a wooden mandolin as weapons, even working with the Injustice Society in All-Star Comics #41 (June-July, 1948) where she met Black Canary.  Molly still loved Alan, and finally did marry him later, during Roy Thomas' Infinity, Inc. run.  Sadly, most of her individual appearances have not been reprinted.

Mademoiselle Marie

Originally just a member of the French Resistance during World War II, Marie fought the Nazis starting with Star-Spangled War Stories #84 (August, 1959) by Kanigher and artist Jerry Grandenetti.  Mlle. Marie's appearances lasted through Star-Spangled War Stories #91 (wherein her feature was taken over by the dinosaurs of the War that Time Forgot), but Marie soldiered on, meeting Sgt. Rock, Johnny Cloud, the members of the Haunted Tank, the Hellcats and the Unknown Soldier (all World War II heroes, co-created by Kanigher).

Marie's final fate was hinted at in Detective Comics #501-502 in 1981, and her murder solved by Batman and Checkmate #21-22 made Mademoiselle Marie a "legacy" name, naming the World War II Marie...Anais Guillot.  DC Universe: Legacies #4 hints that Marie might have indeed survived World War II...and has a son that looks like Sgt. Rock!  Marie also had a World War II one-shot in November, 2010 by writer Billy Tucci and artists Justiniano and Tom Derenick, with a cover by Brian Bolland as well.

Rose and Thorn

There were two women with the Rose and Thorn name..and they were both created by Robert Kanigher!  The first as a foe of the Golden Age Flash in Flash Comics #89 (November, 1947 with art by Joe Kubert) who only had one other published golden age story in Flash Comics #96 (though parts of another unprinted story were reprinted in Superman's Girlfriend Lois Lane #113, among other places....).  The Thorn was a split personality (the good girl being Rose Canton), faced the Flash with poison darts, and she returned to face Black Canary (and the JLA) in JLA: Year One #2, as well as the JSA in All-Star Comics #72-73....and then more of her history was revealed in Infinity Inc. and especially in Infinity Inc. Annual #1...with the Harlequin as well!

The second Rose and Thorn started in Superman's Girlfriend Lois Lane #105 (October, 1970) in a story written by Kanigher, with art by Ross Andru (who had worked with Kanigher on Wonder Woman as well).  Rose Forrest was a police detective's daughter, traumatized by the death of her dad at the hands of the 100 (an evil crime syndicate based in Metropolis).  This caused Rose to develop the split personality of the Thorn (hiding her short blond hair with a brown wig)...and working to take the mobsters down, occasionally making a wild and wacky Lois Lane cover (and co-starring in the main feature).   

Kanigher wrote most of the back ups (with Cary Bates writing a few), and other artists on the series included Gray Morrow, Dick Giordano, Rich Buckler and Don Heck by the back-ups end in Superman's Girlfriend Lois Lane #130.  Rose and Thorn came back in Superman #336 (June, 1979, by Len Wein and Curt Swan), and in two issues of Brave and the Bold (#188 and #189, written by Kanigher, and art by Jim Aparo) with Batman.

After the Crisis on Infinite Earths, in Dan Jurgens' Booster Gold fighting a new, expanded 100 (now the 1000, in Booster's earliest issues as he settled into Metropolis) and even helped in the Superman title crossover Panic in the Sky, as well as working with the new Green Arrow (Connor Hawke) for a short time as well as having a few tales in the Showcase revival of the mid-1990s, as well as appearing in the early issues of Joker's gal pal, Harley Quinn (no relation to the earlier Harlequin...though Thorn didn't make the covers of #3 and #14 of Harley Quinn), unlike the next Kanigher creation!

Poison Ivy 

The character that brings most of them together!  Kanigher and Shelly Moldoff (ghosting for Batman co-creator Bob Kane) introduced Poison Ivy in Batman #181 (June, 1966) basing her look off popular pin-up girl Bettie Page!  (You can see it in Carmine Infantino's cover for the issue, and she was used as Catwoman was considered "too sexy" to use in the comics of the time).  Pamela Isley was just a seductive thief to start (and was back pretty quickly...in Batman #183) before disappearing again (though that first tale was reprinted in Batman #208, with cover art by noted good girl artist Nick Cardy).  Kanigher even brought her back to face the Thorn in  Superman's Girlfriend Lois Lane #116 (November, 1971, with art by Dick Giordano, who also drew Wonder Woman and Green Arrow/Black Canary back-ups for a time).   

Len Wein and Dick Dillin brought her back as a member of the Injustice Gang of the World (a team of villains including Scarecrow, Chronos, Mirror Master, Shadow-Thief and the Tattooed Man) to face the JLA in Justice League of America #111 (May-June, 1974) and Black Canary was there in the team's second appearance in Justice League of America #143. 

With DC Special Series #6 (November, 1977), Poison Ivy joined forces with Grodd, Sinestro, Bizarro and Kanigher created Wonder Woman foe, the Angle Man to fight the JLA with the Secret Society of Super-Villains!  Later still, she joined forces with all DC villains in the Crisis on Infinite Earths!

After the Crisis on Infinite Earths (where she faced Phantom Lady, a heroine who looked like a pin-up girl), Poison Ivy joined the Suicide Squad (another series originally co-created by Kanigher, though this version included DC villains (like Deadshot and Count Vertigo) thanks to an update by writer John Ostrander, and she was there on and off from issues #33 to #66), and that team faced Checkmate! (which later included a legacy of Mademoiselle Marie!).

Poison Ivy also grew...becoming a champion of the plant kingdom, and even getting a greener hue....and becoming friends with Joker's gal pal, Harley Quinn! 

In the Harley Quinn series, you can see more of the pin-up girl in the art of Terry and Rachel Dodson...and more so in her later appearances as well, like in Gotham City Sirens, and she was even part of the Birds of Prey with Black Canary to start of the New 52!

All of this shows us one thing...that if it wasn't for Robert Kanigher, there'd be a lot less complex female characters for women to cosplay at comic conventions or for writers and artists to explore in the pages of DC Comics!

TVs Black Canaries

Black Canary first appeared in the Golden Age of comics in Flash Comics #86 (August, 1947) in the Johnny Thunder back-up (written by Robert Kanigher and drawn by Carmine Infantino), though she took over the feature in Flash Comics #92 (cover by Infantino).  Black Canary was in Flash Comics #86-104 (and even had one story later presented in DC Special #3), and even took over Johnny's spot in the JSA from All-Star Comics #38-57.  Black Canary joined the JLA with Justice League of America #75 (October, 1969, by Denny O'Neil and Dick Dillin, and cover by Infantino and Murphy Anderson), though technically that was the original's (Dinah Drake Lance) daughter (Dinah Laurel Lance), and she now had her sonic weapon, the "Canary Cry".

Mostly, the new Black Canary was a guest or supporting character, working as a member of the JLA, and working with Green Lantern and Green Arrow in Green Lantern's book.  Dinah then was in back-ups with Green Arrow in Action Comics, World's Finest Comics, and Detective Comics, as well as team-ups in Brave and the Bold and DC Comics Presents, and a small feature in Action Comics Weekly.

Black Canary did break out on her own, first in a 4 issue mini-series by Sarah Byam, Trevor Von Eeden, and Dick Giordano (which led into a 12 issue regular series)....and even later, working with Barbara Gordon (the former Batgirl, Oracle at this time) in Black Canary/Oracle: Birds of Prey #1 (January, 1996 by Chuck Dixon and Gary Frank), which led to a few Birds of Prey mini-series and regular series...with Black Canary in most of them (except when she was in Green Arrow/Black Canary, and in the various JSA and JLA titles).

All this, and Black Canary has made it to live-action television as well!

Birds of Prey

Black Canary's first series  was as the junior member of the group gathered together to protect Gotham in Batman's absence in the WB's Birds of Prey (from October 9, 2002 to February 29, 2003).  These heroines include Helena Kyle (the Huntress, played by Ashley Scott), Barbara Gordon (former Batgirl, played by Dina Meyer) and Dinah Lance (teenage runaway with uncontrollable telekinetic powers, played by Rachel Skarsten...).  Developed by Laeta Kalogrids, the series was an odd mix (using Huntress as Batman's daughter from pre-Crisis On Infinite Earths days), the most modern (at the time) take on Barabra Gordon as Oracle, and our first look at young Dinah's high school days.

It was an odd mix (and even had Mia Sara as Dr. Harleen Quinzel (aka Harley Quinn), and a visit from Dinah's mom, Caroline Lance (played by Lori Loughlin, who was the first Black Canary!).  Lacking real costumes, it was still in the early days of super-powered people on TV, and couldn't quite find an audience in its one season of 14 episodes (ironic for what soon followed...).

Sadly, the show couldn't seem to find an audience...after all, who would want to watch a series set in Gotham without Batman?

Rachel Skarsten did well after, going back and finishing high school and college before coming back to acting on series like Flashpoint and the L.A. Complex, and movies like the Vow.  Most recently, Rachel has been a regular on the series Lost Girl about the Fae (beings of supernatural origin) split into light and dark factions, and fought by Bo (series star Anna Silk), who refuses to choose a side.  Rachel plays Tamsin, a Dark Fae, who joined the cast in season 3, as a partner to Dyson (Light Fae werewolf cop, one of Bo's lovers, played by Kris Holden-Reid), and helped turn Bo's life upside down (but has been more help in the fourth season....and more!).

Smallville

Slightly more successful than Birds of Prey, Smallville premiered on October 16th, 2001, and ended up running for 10 seasons, focusing on the pre-Superman life of Clark Kent (Tom Welling).  Season 6 saw Clark meeting Oliver Queen/Green Arrow (Justin Hartley), and that led to the season 7 episode of February 7th, 2008 (written by Kelly Souders and Brian Wayne Peterson, directed by Kevin Fair), called Siren...in which we met the Black Canary!  Black Canary (played by Alaina Huffman) was there as an agent of Lex Luthor (Michael Rosenbaum), trying to take out Green Arrow and his team that had interfered with Luthor's operations across the globe.

Black Canary was really Dinah Lance, right wing radio host, who was into fighting crime in a blond wig and using weapons and her sonic scream.  After being convinced Green Arrow was not the villain, she joined up with Green Arrow's pre-Justice League (with Aquaman/Arthur Curry played by Alan Ritchson, Impulse/Bart Allen played by Kyle Gallner and Cyborg/Vic Stone played by Lee Thompson Young), returning in season 8 in Odyssey and Doomsday, season 9 in Salvation and season 10 in Icarus and Collateral.  Her costume was more like the modern Black Canary of the comics of the time, yet there was also a Black Canary with the Justice Society of America, but no link to her and Alaina's Black Canary was made.

Alaina Huffman continues to work steadily to this day...taking on a permanent role as blond Lt. Tamara Johansen on SGU Stargate Universe (that lasted from 2009 to 2011, wherein a Stargate took a military crew and some civilians to a ship far across the universe, but without the power to return home).  Alaina is currently working on Supernatural as red-headed Abaddon, one of the demons faced by the two brothers (Sam and Dean Winchester, played by Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles) who hunt demons on the CW show.

Arrow

The current home of the Black Canary is on the CW's Arrow show, but it took a while for Black Canary to develop.  There was a little teaser to start with...Katie Cassidy was called Laurel Lance in the first episode (not revealing her full name until the end, Dinah Laurel Lance, the lady that should have been Black Canary...).  Instead, Laurel is the ex-girlfriend of Oliver Queen (secretly "the hood", played by actor Stephen Amell), left behind when he went on his boating trip (that got him stuck on the island, and eventually turned him into the hero).

Laurel also had to deal with Ollie taking her younger sister along (Sara), whose death Laurel's dad (police detective Quentin Larry Lance, played by Paul Blackthorne) blames him for.

Lauren became a lawyer while Ollie was gone, and losing Sara also helped to break up the Lance family (though Dinah Lance, Laurel's mom, did come back thinking Sara was still alive....and was played by Alex Kingston).

While Laurel was in the action here and there, mostly she just caused complications for Ollie (and was sleeping with his best friend, Tommy Merlyn, played by Colin Donnell).

Laurel then suffered some more tragedy as well...

The second season rolled around and Laurel's life just seemed to get worse and worse.  While Laurel did get a job working for Starling City's District Attorney, she lost CNRI (the City Necessary Resources Initiative), as well as having Ollie disappear for a time (she had grown closer to him at the end of Season 1).  The Canary also arrived in Starling City....and Arrow found out that...it was Sara!  Always believe your mom, as Dinah was right, Sara did survive, working as a member of the League of Assassins (and played by Caity Lotz in Season 2; for her brief appearance in Season 1, she was portrayed by Jacqueline MacInnes Wood, and those scenes were reshot in Season 2 as how Sara survived and found her way to the island and Ollie was explored).

Sara's return (and getting back together with Ollie) helped Laurel's life spiral out of control, but Laurel was always a fighter, and fought to get back all she lost.  Sara spent her time in Ollie's city, fighting crime as well as the Canary (with martial arts and mechanical sonic cry bombs).  Laurel also learned of Ollie's identity, and even helped out during the end attack on Starling City, and both of the Lance sisters fought for redemption.

With Sara leaving the city, she gave Laurel the Canary jacket (and likely...the identity of Canary for season 3!).

Caity Lotz played Officer Kirsten Landry on the MTV series Death Valley (and faced all sorts of supernatural threats...) in 2011.

Caity was also a part of Don Draper's past as Stephanie on Mad Men.  Part of the reason she was so graceful as the Canary is her history as a dancer!

Katie Cassidy is a very happy lady, enjoying her time on Arrow. Previous long running roles of hers include Ruby on Supernatural, Ella Simms on Melrose Place and Juliet Sharp on Gossip Girl.

Katie also runs a fashionista blog, Tomboy KC and she's looking forward to seeing more action with Arrow Season 3 (aren't we all?).

With luck, maybe some of these previous Black Canaries can take time out from their busy schedules to visit on Arrow as well?

Heaven help Ollie if these pretty birds flock around him (though it would make the fans very happy!).