Black Canary: Best of the Best #4

Black Canary: Best of the Best #4 could be the only issue of this series I would have to have read. I would still tell you how strong of a series this is. This is a ten, ten, tens across the board issue. Honestly the team should be stunningly proud of what they are doing with Black Canary: Best of the Best. Read Full Review

Tom King's books often play with time and format, but none has ever been quite as decompressed as this one taking place entirely within the confines of a single MMA fight between Black Canary and Lady Shiva, with each issue containing one round of what's supposed to be a six-round fight before Canary takes a dive to get the money for her mother's cancer treatments. Read Full Review

Black Canary: Best of the Best #4 continues to be an emotional introspective journey into the mind of Dinah Lance, centered around a gruesome fight. Read Full Review

The latest round pushes Dinah Lance into her last shot to victory. King blends in a touching flashback in between the fight inside. Sook, Stewart and Cowles construct distinct images layering Dinahs road to winning. Brace for another hard-hitting chapter. Read Full Review

Black Canary finally turns the tide with a display of fierce combat and undeniable grit, as Ryan Sook's dynamic artwork makes every blow resonate. Tom King's playful, sportscasting dialogue keeps the energy high even amidst the chaos. Despite the excitement, the issue is not without its flawsthe overdone commentary and the intrusive Green Arrow flashbacks serve as narrative detours that dilute the forward momentum of Black Canary's ongoing saga. Read Full Review

daspidaboy

Feb 28, 2025

tom king often starts off strong, but as the series goes on he loses his steam. It's a shame too, the art was nice. The dialogue of the announcers was kind of boring.

mego-joe

Feb 26, 2025

The worst part of this series is the fight, and with issue the brutality is highlighted. It's not only pretty gross, but it attempts to make you think the brutality is cool. Clearly King doesn't understand how Dinah sees her fighting prowess, it's not to hurt people which is what she does here. Not only is the fight between Black Canary and Lady Shiva contrived, without any context for the reason for the fight it makes the brutality even worse. The over narration continues to slow down this series, and now Tom King seems to want to rewrite the history of Dinah, Wildcat and Oliver Queen because it fits his story. King has Dinah as Ted Grant's coach as well as Oliver Queen's before he takes up the Green Arrow identity. Talk about contri ved! Additionally, the stereotypical hard drinking "tough girl" doesn't really fit Dinah or her mom. It's very awkward and feels like King is writing them as a couple of "bro's." This issue solidifies that this isn't taking place in the DC Universe, but only in Tom King's head. It's as if he asked himself the question, "wouldn't it be cool if Black Canary and Lady Shiva fought?" The answer is, "no, it wouldn't- not from King's pen." Gail Simone explored all these relationships in a deep and nuanced way in Birds of Prey nearly 20 years ago. I suggest you seek out those comics, because that's what you're really looking for- Dinah and Ted Grant? CHECK! Dinah and Lady Shiva? CHECK! Dinah and her mom? CHECK! Black Canary: Best of the Best #4? PASS. more