Round three… Fight! Find The Comic Book Spot’s review of Black Canary: Best of the Best #3 below…
Black Canary: Best of the Best #3
Written by: Tom King
Art and Main Cover by: Ryan Sook
Variant Cover: Saowee, Chuma Hill
Page Count: 32 pages
Release Date: January 22, 2025
Dinah Drake Lance’s battle with Lady Shiva reaches a boiling point in Black Canary: Best of the Best #3 – but this issue isn’t just about fists flying. Writer Tom King continues to weave a narrative that’s as much about the heart as it is about the physical grind, diving deep into Dinah’s psyche while pushing her to her absolute limits.
Finally revealed in this issue is the true origin of Dinah’s motivation for fighting Shiva on the world stage. During a superpowered scrap, the immortal mastermind Vandal Savage proposes a deal: a cage match to scam millions of dollars (if not more) from gamblers in exchange for the cure to Dinah’s mother’s cancer. Dinah keeps this a secret from her boyfriend, Oliver Queen (AKA Green Arrow), her own mother, and – in a special cameo – from Batman himself.
Batman, an experienced combatant with Shiva, agrees to spar with Dinah – but his ulterior motive is to discourage her from participating in the fight (taking money would be considered out-of-line with Justice League standards). Ever the Dark Knight Detective, Batman knows there’s more to the matter than Black Canary is letting on, but without her cooperation, he relents.
The fight with Shiva is brutal, and Dinah finds herself gasping for air, battered, and teetering on the edge of defeat. But as we’ve seen before, Black Canary is nothing if not resilient. King once again layers this intense physical struggle with flashbacks to Dinah’s training under her mother, the original Black Canary. The powerful contrast between Dinah’s past and present emphasizes the weight of the legacy she’s carrying—and the very real emotional toll of living up to it. The flashbacks are beautifully rendered by Ryan Sook, whose art continues to shine with rich colors and texture. Every panel adds to the growing tension, as Dinah’s internal battle is reflected in the external one she’s fighting in the ring.
One of the most engaging features of the series is its mimicry of real televised sports; the issue opens with a ringside interview with Ted Grant (AKA Wildcat), the former world heavyweight champion and feline superhero – a gruff, monosyllabic coach who makes Bill Bellicheck seem like SpongeBob SquarePants. An ounce of humor goes a long way; three subsequent issues of watching Black Canary get walloped takes as much of a toll on us as it does her. One hopes that the second half of the six-part series strays from this pattern of incessant pain; we stand on the verge of monotony if Canary can’t catch a break soon. Come on, Dinah, we’re rooting for you!
