Black Canary Cosplay by Holly Brooke

Continuing the theme from yesterday's Dragon Con post comes a handful of wonderful cosplay photos featuring model Holly Brooke as Black Canary.

I found these pictures of Brooke as Black Canary on Monday at the website ComicBookMovie.  All of the photos were taken by Lucky Monkey Photography, and you can see fourteen pictures from this awesome session at their Facebook page.

I encourage you to check out all of Brooke's Black Canary pictures; they're gorgeous!  And I have to say she is one of the best Black Canary cosplay models I have ever seen.  She's got the attitude.  She's got the wide-spaced fishnet stockings.  She's got the blue jacket that looks like a denim style but made of leather or vinyl or something reflective--very cool!

What's more, this particular look for Black Canary comes as a breath of fresh air after seeing so many recent convention photos of the last year with Canary in her Arrow costume.  I get why it's so popular, because it's on TV and it's relatively simple, but I love the classic interpretation with the fishnets and either blue jacket or blue stockings.

Black Canary by Peter Krause 2

Peter Krause drew Black Canary in Birds of Prey #7, but anyone with even a basic appreciation of comics ought to know his work from the seminal series Irredeemable from Boom! Studios and his work on Insufferable at Thrillbent, both written by Mark Waid.  If you haven't read either of those books, you're really missing out on some fantastic stories.

Black Canary by Peter Krause

Peter Krause drew Black Canary in Birds of Prey #7, but anyone with even a basic appreciation of comics ought to know his work from the seminal series Irredeemable from Boom! Studios and his work on Insufferable at Thrillbent, both written by Mark Waid.  If you haven't read either of those books, you're really missing out on some fantastic stories.

Black Canary by Cliff Chiang 3

Cliff Chiang is in the process of concluding his run on Wonder Woman.  I don't know what's next for the artist, but I certainly wouldn't mind him returning to Black Canary.  He drew the first story arc of her post-wedding Green Arrow/Black Canary title and continued to do covers for that book for the first year.  He also drew one of my favorite issues of The Brave and the Bold (2007), the "Ladies Night" team-up of Wonder Woman, Zatanna and Batgirl in issue #33.

Splash Pages from DC Comics Presents #50

Click to enlarge.

After guest starring with Superman in DC Comics Presents #30, Black Canary appeared in the epic two-page splash poster featuring all of the heroes (and The Joker... and Red Tornado) who teamed-up with the Man of Steel throughout the series to that point.  The spread is by Alex Saviuk and Frank Giacoia.

Pictured above: Superman (of course), Adam Strange, Aquaman, The Atom, Batgirl, Black Canary, Black Lightning, Brainiac 5, Captain Comet, Captain Marvel, Captain Marvel Jr., Cosmic Boy, Dawnstar, Deadman, Doctor Fate, Doctor Mist, Element Lad, Elongated Man, Firestorm, The Flash, Gold, Vicki Grant, Green Arrow, Green Fury, Green Lantern Hal Jordan, Green Lantern John Stewart, Happy the Marvel Bunny, Hawkgirl, Hawkman, He-Man, Iron, Jack O'Lantern, The Joker, Clark Kent, Chris King, Lead, Lightning Lad, Little Mermaid, Manbat, Martian Manhunter, Mary Marvel, Mercury, Metamorpho, Mister Miracle, Olympian, The Phantom Stranger, Plastic Man, Platinum, Red Tornado, Rising Sun, Robin, Saturn Girl, Seraph, Sgt. Rock, Shadow Lass, The Spectre, Starman, Sun Boy, Superboy, Supergirl, Swamp Thing, Tin, The Unknown Soldier, Wildfire, Wonder Woman, and Zatanna.

Black Canary by Stjepan Sejic

Stjepan Sejic draws some beautiful women and excels at dark fantasy characters and themes.  His Black Canary is interesting in that I'm not sure I've ever seen her wear a top exactly like that.  It looks a little like her Brightest Day with her bulkier leather jacket replaced by a form-fitting biker jacket with fastens instead of zipper.  Either way, I like it, particularly the shiny buckle or button at her throat, which reminds me of the canary that used to adorn her choker in the Golden Age stories.

Check out more of Sejic's work at his DeviantArt page.

Super Powers Comic by Phil Postma

This custom cover showing Black Canary kicking criminal ass was designed by Phil Postma as part of a series based on the Super Powers action figures.

Okay, first of all, how awesome would this comic have been?  Either back in the '80s at the height of the toys' popularity, or today, cashing in on the retro-love books like Batman '66 receive, a Super Powers comic showcasing the greatest heroes and villains of the DC Universe in an all-ages, wacky fun comic would rule.

Second, I love that Postma thought highly enough of Black Canary to include her in this series even though she never got the SP toy treatment.  True, she's not the only fresh far; Postma includes a ton of villains that weren't part of the toy line, like Cheetah, Sinestro, Harley Quinn, Black Manta, Chronos, and more, but they're all engaged in combat with heroes that were part of the toys.  Black Canary, though, is engaged in fighting anonymous street thugs.

On the one hand, it's great that Dinah's trashing some hoods and looking beautiful doing so.  On the other hand, this further supports the unfortunate truth that Black Canary has virtually no rogues gallery.  I mean, yes, she does have villains of her own... but nobody knows who they are except me and, like, two other guys who might read this blog.

Anyway, check out all twenty of Postma's Super Powers covers over at his website and bask in the joy of what could have been.

Black Canary Sketch by Mike McKone

My best friend, Anj, of the Supergirl blog Comic Box Commentary, alerted me to this superb sketch of Black Canary by Justice League United artist Mike McKone.  The sketch was commissioned for a lucky fan at Heroes Con in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Check out more of Mike's work at DeviantART and follow him on Twitter @Mike2112McKone.

Black Canary and Green Arrow by Ben Towle

Ben Towle did a series of commission sketches based on DC's heroes of the Silver Age.  In hall, he drew eight character, six of the original seven Justice League members, as well as Green Arrow and Black Canary.

I really like his Black Canary as much as his choice to include her over someone like Hawkman or Adam Strange or The Flash.  But I think his Green Arrow is my favorite.

Check out the rest of Ben's Silver Age sketches at his website.

Update: Ben Towle contacted me on Twitter to explain the reason he didn't include The Flash with the rest of this series was that he had already drawn the character for the same customer who commissioned this set to complete the roster.  Follow Ben @Ben_Towle and check out his wonderful work!

DCAU Homage to George Perez's Justice League

I found this image a long time ago.  I don't remember the name of the artist, but it is a custom depiction of the satellite-era Justice League in the Bruce Timm style of the Animated Universe.

Then, not too long ago I realized that the above image is an homage to the last page from Justice League of America #200 by George Perez.

Click to enlarge.  Seriously, do it!

Note that the DCAU-style version up top corrects the one major flaw of Perez's drawing by including Hawkgirl among the other heroes.

Black Canary by Frank Miller from ASBRBW

Someday I'll get around to reading All-Star Batman & Robin, The Boy Wonder, but not today.  I've heard awful things about how Frank Miller writes Black Canary in the series, and I can't say I'm overly fond of his artistic representation of her in this image from the variant cover to issue #3.  He captures all of what I believe are the fundamental aspects of Black Canary, but puts them through a Sin City filter that adds an unwanted degree of depression and sluttiness.

Black Canary by Trevor Von Eeden and Dick Giordano

Click to enlarge.

From the team behind Black Canary's "New Wings" miniseries comes what I believe to be an unused page of penciled, inked, and lettered Black Canary art by Trevor Von Eeden and Dick Giordano.

Black Canary Sketch by Joe Quinones

Following my review of Black Canary and Zatanna: Bloodspell, drawn by Joe Quinones, is a nice little sketch he drew for a woman named Alyssa on Free Comic Book Day.  I don't remember if Quinones posted this pic to Tumblr or Instagram or what, but I found it on Twitter about a week ago and thought it would be a good capper to Bloodspell.

Hiatus

Due to a busy personal schedule culminating this week, and a personal injury that will require surgery next week, I haven't had much time for blogging.  I ought to have a lot more time for reading and blogging during my recovery, so look for new posts and reviews in the second half of the month.

In the meantime, check out this sketch of Black Canary and Dr. Mid-Nite by Alex Toth!

Birds of Prey Sketch by Chris Samnee

Chris Samnee is one of the best artists working in comics today.  If you don't know about him, check out his work on recent issues of Marvel's Daredevil.  You can see more at his official webpage.

Black Canary by Adam Tupper

Check out more of Adam Tupper's work at his deviantART page right here.

Black Canary Bombshells Pin-Up

The Black Canary poster above is part of DC's Bombshells line of pin-ups designed by Aunt Lucia.  Each poster spotlights one of DC's heroic or villainous women in a pose and fashion inspired by the 1940's deco style--some with a bit of steampunk thrown in, too.  Ten images will be distributed by Quantum Mechanix, priced at $14.95 each.  Black Canary's print should be among the second wave, available for preorder in early summer.

DC Collectibles is also releasing a statue based on the Bombshell image sculpted by Sam Greenwell.  Head on over to their site for item and purchasing details.

Black Canary Sketch by Bruce Timm

This is an older sketch--you can tell from the date beneath the signature--done by Bruce Timm, the creator of Batman: The Animated Series and basically the DC Animated Universe that's existed for two decades now.

There's a little more detail in the sketch, and more color variety between Dinah's black leather jacket and her leotard.  As with her appearance in Justice League Unlimited, her legs are covered by what looks like solid gray tights instead of fishnets.  It's still unquestionably Black Canary, though, and there is a iconic-ness to her look that is completely lacking in her current New 52 costume.

Black Canary by Marcos Martin

This gorgeous image originally graced the cover of Green Arrow #40 from September 2004.

I've enjoyed Marcos Martin's work since Batgirl: Year One, but I really, truly grew to love his work in recent years on Dan Slott's Amazing Spider-Man and Mark Waid's Daredevil when Martin's work evolved into what I can only describe as a "Modern Ditko".

Black Canary Poster by Steve Garcia

My best friend, Shag Mandelbaum from Firestorm Fan, recently alerted me to the artwork of Steve Garcia, whose Deviant Art page is filled with mock posters of DC hero and villain silhouettes.

I love this image of the Black Canary.  I love the outline of her leather jacket and her gloves.  I love how Garcia uses white to line her fishnet stockings and her choker and locket, as well as the inner silhouette of Dinah Drake or Dinah Lance inside.

Garcia headlines each character portrait with a word that's supposed to embody some aspect of the character.  I think by the time he got around to Black Canary, most of the good words were taken because progression isn't all that interesting or applicable.  I suppose it could be in reference to the passing of the heroic identity from mother to daughter, but that's stretching a bit.

Here, too, are Garcia's posters for Green Lantern...

...and Batgirl/Oracle...

...and Huntress.

But these three are hardly the only silhouettes designed by Steve Garcia.  For even more iconic DC heroes and villains, check out the veritable Justice League of Bloggers listed below.

• Firestorm and Killer Frost at Firestorm Fan!
• Aquaman and Mera at Aquaman Shrine!
• Wonder Woman at The New Wonder Woman!
• Wonder Girl at The New Wonder Woman!
• Batman, Robin, Alfred, Nightwing, Batgirl, Batwoman, and Villains at Riddle Factory!
• The Flash and the Rogues at Speed Force!
• Green Lantern at Indigo Tribe!
• Martian Manhunter at Idol-Head of Diabolu!
• Black Lantern Martian Manhunter at Idol-Head of Diabolu!
• Supergirl, Lois Lane, and Vibe at Comic Box Commentary!
• The Atom at Power of the Atom!
• Hawkgirl at Power of the Atom!
• Zatanna at Justice League Detroit!
• Captain Marvel at DC Bloodlines!
• Steel at DC Bloodlines!
• Plastic Man at Eeyow! It's Plastic Man!
• Red Tornado at Red Tornado's Path!
• Blue Beetle (Jaime Reyes) and Blue Beetle & Booster Gold at Kord Industries!
• Booster Gold at Boosterrific!
• Captain Atom at Splitting Atoms!
• Ambush Bug, Beast Boy, Metamorpho, Power Girl, and Deadman at My Greatest Adventure!
• Cyborg at S.T.A.R. Labs Detroit!
• Swamp Thing at The Blog from the Bog!
• Daredevil, Hulk, and Captain America at Daredevil Podcast!
• Thor at The Hammer Strikes!
• Strange Tales at Comic Boxxx Trot!

You can see Steve Garcia's work at his Deviant Art page, his Facebook page, his Tumblr page, and his Instagram page.