Black Canary #4 Review

Written by: Brenden Fletcher
Art by: Pia Guerra, Lee Loughridge and Steve Wands
Cover Price: $2.99
Release Date: September 16, 2015

Solo Act

Black Canary has been one of my favorites of the DC You.  It's easy to say that the awesome art and slow burn story are the reasons, but there's something else at work here.  It's a feels type of thing and without being able to fully explain it, I love this book and it's characters.  In fact, Ditto is one of my favorite characters right now and she hasn't even uttered word one.  Last issue, Brenden Fletcher expanded the mythos of Black Canary by forever tying her together with Ditto and I couldn't have been happier.  However, the issue ended with the unthinkable...Ditto was kidnapped and it wasn't by aliens or Kurt Lance...it was by Bo Maeve!  I knew she was up to something and have been praying that she is on the receiving end of a Canary Cry this issue.  Did my wish come true?  Let's find out...




The issue starts with Bo and Ditto on the road and while I want to say that I hate Bo with all my heart, I can't.  Damn you, Brenden Fletcher, you can even make a kidnapper and jealous lead singer likable!  At first it's how she treats Ditto like a little sister, but later it's when we get her origin story.

We see Bo go from a little girl who just wanted her MTV to a rebellious teen who went out on her own to reach for the stars.  What I liked is that Fletcher doesn't sugar coat anything and in fact, what Bo thinks happened doesn't appear to be the full truth.  She is blinded by ambition and dreams, but instead of coming off as a full out diva, she really ends up feeling like a lost little girl (hence the issue title?) who craves attention and acceptance.  Of course, things don't go as planned and she blames Dinah.

While Dinah is desperately seeking Ditto, Bo is teaching her how to be a star...Maeve style.  Watching Bo teach Ditto how to dance (and channel Stevie Nicks in the process) was my favorite thing I've read in a long while.  It was so great and really shows that Maeve is not necessarily evil, just misguided.

Dinah continues looking while we get more Bo origin and while it was cool to see Canary take a detour down "kick a douchebag's ass" street, seeing what Maeve was willing to do to take out the competition was crazy. It was also a pivotal scene where Bo witnesses Dinah's unique talent for the first time.  That all leads up to the present and while I was already pretty sure what she wanted with Ditto, seeing who else was involved was a cool little reveal.

Up until now, this issue was already kicking major ass, but when a mysterious white female ninja steps up to save Ditto, it went through the roof.  I'm sure that everyone who has read this issue has a theory about this new character and the obvious (too obvious?) would be the comic version of White Canary which would be so awesome.  I guess we'll have to wait...but I want to know right now!!!

The issue ends with an emotional reunion between Canary and Ditto and Maeve getting what she wanted.  I can only imagine how that's going to play out in this story going forward.  I know I'll be there, hanging out in the front row.

Like Magoo, Brenden Fletcher has done it again. He made me feel so much for these characters that by the end of the issue I was pretty much sapped.  I love this book and while I can't fully explain it, everyone reading it should know what I mean.

Pia Guerra guests this month on art and while I love Annie Wu's art on this book, Pia does a great job.  Their styles are very similar and even when it strays from the usual in this issue, it still feels just right.  The only thing I had a problem with is that Ditto looked a little bit to old here compared to the first three issues.  It's a minor complaint, but threw me off a bit while reading.

Bits and Pieces:

Brenden Fletcher is so good at breathing life into his characters that I even fell in love with the awful villain of this issue.  He scales back the story a bit and we get a Maeve origin and I couldn't be happier.  The art and story were top notch and the issue ends with Bo going from jilted ex lead singer to possible super villain.  Throw in a crazy white ninja saving the day and you got yourself a must read issue.  by the way, that's an order, not a description.

9.7/10