Dinah Lance-Queen

Black Canary

Dinah Lance-Queen

### Affiliation

Birds of Prey, Justice League of America, Bowhunter Security (former), Iceberg Lounge (former)

## Biographical Information

### Education

Some College (unfinished Bachelor's Degree, psychology)

## Background

### Early Life

Dinah Lance was born on June 29th 1973 to police officer Quentin Lance and lawyer Laurel Drake-Lance. She lived in Seattle with her parents for a good chunk of her childhood, where she befriended Oliver Queen and Tommy Merlyn. However, they moved to Gotham City which turned out to be a great decision as they would’ve been killed during the Dimensional Incursion otherwise. Around this time, Dinah began to develop her later iconic Canary Cry, but her mother, a former wielder of the cry herself, taught Dinah how to control it.

After learning to master her Canary Cry, she joined a band called Black Canary in high school. After graduating, she began attending college to study psychology. In the summer between her junior and senior year, she moved back to Star City to do an internship with Queen Consolidated. She began a summer fling with Oliver, but broke up due to his increasingly destructive and reckless behavior. She ended up deciding to postpone her senior year after getting an offer to tour with the Hex Girls. Shortly after starting the tour, Ollie shortly was believed dead in an oil rig explosion.

After about four months on tour, she learned that her father had been and paralyzed while on patrol, and she was needed at home to care for him while her mother worked. So, Dinah packed up and moved back to Gotham City.

During the day she cared for her father, but at night she took up singing at the Iceberg Lounge to help add a little income to the family. While working at the Lounge, she witnessed Oswald Cobblepot selling illegal arms on the street. She didn’t want something that happened to her dad to happen to someone else.

### Black Canary

Inspired by Batman, Dinah donned a blonde wig and a domino mask and became the Black Canary. She crashed a couple of arms deals and used her signature Canary Cry to take down Cobblepot and his thugs. Unbeknownst to her, Batman watched from afar. She called it in to the police, but grew frustrated when it got no traction in the press.

After the Joker’s murder of Mayor Henry Claridge, Oswald became Mayor of Gotham. This pissed Dinah off, but soon after, Batman crashed one of Oswald’s sales, and publicly beat him up in the Lounge, giving Dinah an excuse to skip town and head back to Star City. There, she became intrigued by Star’s new vigilante, the Green Arrow.

She began looking into dismantling Star City’s underworld. This led to many flirtatious confrontations with Arrow, until one night, when their egos got the better of them and the assailant they were both chasing escaped. After bickering a bit, they locked lips, before unmasking one another and discovering they were familiar with one another.

Dinah, in desperate need of a job, was introduced to John Diggle, who got her a job at Bowhunter Security, as a for-hire bodyguard during the day. By night, she prowled Star as the Black Canary, working with Green Arrow, and shortly thereafter, his sidekick Speedy. Not long after, Dinah and Ollie rekindled their romance.

Dinah was in the second batch of heroes to join the Justice League, nominated by Green Arrow himself. After John Diggle went missing, Dinah helped with the search, and simply tried to be there for Ollie as much as she could. During this time, her mother informed her of her superheroic escapades with the JSA in the 1950s as Sparrow. Through this, Dinah found a new ally in Ted Grant, the Wildcat, who began training her. Impressed with his skills, Dinah convinces him to assist her in giving training lessons to the Titans. Dinah also became a sort of crisis counselor for the Titans, putting to good use the nearly-finished psychology degree.

In 2010, Dinah quit Bowhunter Security, and along with Ollie put a down payment on a storefront to open her dream store, Sherwood Florist. Ollie popped the question in the entryway of the store. Dinah had barely uttered "yes" when Nyssa al Ghul knocked on the door and presented Oliver with his estranged son. Dinah promptly left the store, the city, and the country.

Dinah was discouraged, but she decided to use this as an opportunity to better herself. While traveling Tokyo, she found herself being followed by Sandra Wu-San aka Lady Shiva. Sandra approached Dinah and informed her that she had recently left the League of Assassins. She knew about Connor and wanted to offer her help to Dinah. The two retreated to Sandra's home in the countryside, where Dinah spent a few months meditating and training both her mind and body. During this time, Sandra told Dinah that she had a secret child she left behind in the League.

After a few months of being off the grid, she returned to the United States, back to her parents' apartment in Gotham City. There she was when Oliver returned on bended knee begging for forgiveness. She took him back and a year later they were married.

Following the Death in the Family, Dinah was the chief counselor for the Titans and Justice League. She was present at the Founders meeting where they voted to disband the Justice League. After it was official, she and Ollie left the country and holed up in a vacation home in Switzerland for a few months. Dinah learned she was pregnant, and William Lance-Queen was born. After receiving a call from Barbara Gordon, they returned to the United States.

### Birds of Prey

Dinah snuck into the No Man's Land of Gotham City, and began working with Barbara Gordon to train the mysterious Cassandra Cain. Slowly, Barbara's next work expanded, gathering Huntress and Katana to assist them, officially becoming the Birds of Prey. With Batman out-of-commission, they became one of the only superhero groups in operation in Gotham, and began making headway against the League of Assassins.

When Batman returned and Star City was liberated, the Birds decided to expand their rank and continue their activities, with Black Canary acting as their field leader. While Ollie took a hiatus to focus on being a dad and mayor, Dinah continued operations as Black Canary. Following the OMAC Crisis, Wonder Woman signed her seat on the Founders over to Black Canary, and she officially became chairwoman of the Justice League.