Review: Black Canary Vol. 2- New Killer Star
Quick Summary
Pros: There is still plenty of action and excitement throughout the volume. The conclusion gives both Black Canary and her bandmates a satisfactory farewell.
Cons: The book, as a whole, feels more generic and is less interesting than the first volume. The ending is rushed and somewhat confusing. The artwork suffers in some places.
Overall: Though this isn’t necessarily a bad book, it also isn’t that great either. The creativity of the first volume is toned down and replaced with a more generic substitute, in both story and art. These problems are then amplified by a rushed and confusing ending. There are plenty of great moments here but the book, as a whole, ends up feeling decidedly average. Pick this one up if you want to see the end of this Black Canary saga but don’t go into it expecting the same high-quality from the first volume.
Review Notes
This collection includes a preview issue from the Batgirl and the Birds of Prey series, which is the series that immediately follows Black Canary. We have already discussed this particular issue in our review of Batgirl and the Birds of Prey Vol. 1: Who is Oracle? (review found here) so we will not be including it in this review.
Story
While the first volume in this new Black Canary series was a fun and experimental journey in the life of a superstar/superhero, New Killer Star simply ends up being a diluted version of this same concept. It follows a similar formula, starting with plenty of fight scenes and ending with a mind-blowing twist, but fails to deliver the same sense of excitement and drama. This is partly because the book is short, and thus a bit rushed, but is also because the main storyline gets downright confusing at times. This is still a fun comic but, unlike the first volume, it is just barely above average rather than something truly special.
(spoilers start here)
The book, like its predecessor, starts out with some battles between Black Canary and various enemies. These fights are clearly designed to start the collection on an exciting note and hook readers in for the larger narrative. However, unlike the previous volume, the fights here are more generic and feel a bit less meaningful. Earlier, we got to see Black Canary take on thugs at concert venues and fight government agents on top of a bus, but now just get to watch her face off against hordes of assassins, in a style like that of any number of Bat-family members. It is still fun to see but not exactly anything special.
As the book progresses, the greater narrative begins to evolve. We slowly learn that Black Canary’s newest enemy is a vampire/demon who wants to exploit a martial arts technique hidden in Black Canary’s memory by her mother. The concept is pretty interesting and the mystery behind it is tantalizing enough to build some interest.
This eventually leads to the book’s finale, where secrets are exposed and nearly every mystery is revealed. For the most part, the finale is a success; it has thrills, gives the main storyline an epic conclusion, and provides a satisfactory end for both major and minor characters. Black Canary leaves the series by leaving the music industry and returning to life as a superhero, which she now knows is where she belongs.
However, though the conclusion is fun and gives a satisfactory end to the series, it is also rather rushed and somewhat confusing. It tries to fit in concepts involving the vibrations of the universe, yet does little to explain how or why these vibrations do what they do. Readers see Dinah use her powers to heal herself and defeat her enemy but are left completely in the dark as to how this happened. It feels like a concept that could be great if expanded upon but is confusing when executed in this fashion.
After the main storyline ends, the collection goes on to tell two more tales involving adventures the band went on sometime before they became involved with the superhero business. These two stories are pretty lackluster overall. The first focuses almost entirely on Heathcliff and will only really be enjoyed by fans of Gotham Academy. Meanwhile, the second just feels a bit juvenile and uninteresting, especially when compared with the rest of the collection. These two stories don’t have a large effect on the volume as a whole but they also don’t help it either.
(spoilers end here)
Art
The departure of Annie Wu from the series is a huge blow to the overall effectiveness of this collection; we listed her artwork as one of the most significant positives in our review of the previous volume. Now the wonderful creativity she brought with her is replaced with a watered down substitute. Newcomers Sandy Jarrell and Moritat are not a bad artists, but their attempt to emulate Wu’s pencils simply does not work out. The minimalist approach of the previous volume worked because background and even characters had a texture to them that made them pop. Here, this is no longer present and makes the art falter somewhere between average and slightly below average.
Continuity
Black Canary Vol. 2: New Killer Star continues the story started in Black Canary Vol. 1: Kicking and Screaming (Review).
The Black Canary series ends with this volume. However, Black Canary’s story continues in both Batgirl and the Birds of Prey Vol. 1: Who is Oracle? (Review) and Green Arrow Vol. 1: The Death and Life of Oliver Queen (Review).
This volume also makes references to other comic books, detailed below:
- Black Canary’s brief stint with the Justice League, from Justice League Vol. 3: Throne of Atlantis (Review), is brought up.
- Batgirl mentions her and Black Canary’s “old team” disbanding. This happened in Birds of Prey Vol. 5: Soul Crisis (Review).
- Batgirl also mentions that she and Black Canary discovered someone messing with her memories recently. This happened in Batgirl #48, which is collected in Batgirl Vol. 3: Mindfields.
- Black Canary brings up her time as a government agent. Her time as an agent is told in Team 7: Fight Fire With Fire (Review).
- Heathcliff’s time at Gotham Academy is told in Gotham Academy Vol. 1: Welcome to Gotham Academy.