Laurel Lance

* Biography
* Threat Assessment
* Trivia and Notes
* Gallery

## Biography

### Laurel Drake: 1954 - 1973

Charles Drake was a youth who snuck off to join the military during World War II when he was just fifteen years old. He won the silver star for conspicuous valor at Iwo Jima. After his return from the war, Charles Drake settled in Gotham, became a cop, and married Linda Reed, the twin sister of Ramona Reed, a famous nightclub singer of that time. Charles and Linda had a daughter they named Laurel. As a child, Laurel idolized her father. She cherished having a father who was both a war hero and a policeman. When she was a bit older, her father left Laurel and her mother to marry another woman who he had been having an affair with. Caught off-guard by this, Linda was left with no choice but to go work at her grandmother's florist shop to support her and her daughter.

Of course, this caused Laurel to see her father in a different light and she looked to others to be her idols. The costumed vigilantes of New York known as the Minutemen caught her interest, in particular the pin-up Silk Spectre. The team had disbanded years before at that point, but Laurel enjoyed reading of their exploits in the stories written by Hollis Mason and the 'fictional' stories of a similar nature written by Jay Garrick. She likewise followed the exploits of their successors, the Crimebusters, once more interested in this team's Silk Spectre. This was still years before the Keene Act and becoming a costumed adventurer still seemed like a possible career path so Laurel began to train in secret to do just that. Wearing a bright yellow costume she made herself, she set out to take on criminals in the depths of inner city Gotham. On her first night on patrol, at just eighteen years old, Laurel failed to stop a simple purse-snatcher even after she cornered him. The beatdown the cornered criminal gave her nearly killed her, but a man emerged from the shadows and beat the purse-snatcher into a pulp before taking Laurel to his boxing gym where he patched her up and fed her. Ted Grant introduced himself to Laurel and told her to give up on her dreams, but the next day, Laurel came back asking for his help.

After three weeks of her showing up to annoy him, Ted gave in and trained the girl. To Ted's surprise, she was a quick-study. For six months they trained day or night, whenever Laurel wasn't helping her mother at Sherwood Florist. When one of Ted's friends, Jim Wright, saw Laurel's progress, he told Ted to bring her to "the meeting" that night. Turns out that Jim had seen a rare trait in Laurel, a latent potential that had yet to awaken. At this meeting Kent Nelson confirmed Jim Wright's suspicions and told Laurel that with her permission, they could use magic to awaken this dormant ability. While the ritual would be brief, the pain she would feel would be excruciating, but if it worked Laurel could be a hero like she had always dreamed. Without thinking, Laurel gave her consent.

The ritual was even more painful than she could imagine, but when it was over Laurel found her voice could cause men to fall into a hypnotic trance. With powers, training, and the desire to do some good, Laurel was invited to join Juris Societas Auxilium in 1973.

## Trivia and Notes

### Trivia

* Charles Drake would have another child with his new wife, a son named Jackson, who would turn out to be the father of Tim Drake, the third Robin.
* Jim Wright was a previous host of Hawkman.
* Her given name is Lisa, but she started going by Laurel after the debut of the second Silk Spectre, aka Laurie Jupiter. She would go on to give the same middle name to both of her daughters.
* She's distantly related to Siobhan McDougal, Holly & Dawn Granger, and Rebecca Carstairs.

### Notes

* While her name in the comics is Dinah Drake-Lance, her name was changed to avoid confusion with her daughter Dinah Laurel Lance.
* In the comics, Dinah Drake-Lance was the first Black Canary before her daughter took up the mantel. To differentiate her from her daughter, Laurel Drake-Lance instead uses the moniker of Songbird. Furthermore, her power is a hypnotic voice compared to the Canary Cry.
* In the comics, Linda and Ramona Reed were known as Girl Archer, twins who were forced to swap places and use their skills to commit a burglary.
* Laurel's address "Dillin Tower Apartments, Apt. 75" is a reference to *Justice League of America Vol. 1 #75*, the issue where Dinah II joined the Justice League and revealed her Canary Cry. 47 Kanigher Way is a reference to Canary's debut year, as well as one of her creators, Robert Kanigher.
* Laurel's first name being Lisa makes her a composite character with Lisa Drake from *Gotham by Midnight*. Lisa was a detective in a paranormal team of GCPD. She was also a *Bain Sidhe*, a fairy whose scream foretold death.

## Gallery

Laurel Lance.jpgLaurel LanceSongbird.jpgSongbird
## Oracle Files

Oracle Files Laurel Lance 1.pngOracle Files: Laurel Lance 1

## Links and References

* Appearances of Laurel Lance

1. ↑ Oracle Files: Laurel Lance (1/2)
2. ↑ Network Files: Rebecca Carstairs 1