Written by: Brendan Fletcher
Art by: Annie Wu
Publisher: DC
Black Canary #7 acts as the culmination of Fletcher’s first story arc on the character. He relaunched the book over the summer, completely re-imagined the character, and has been building to this issue since the beginning. All of the set up leads to this, and honestly, it’s kind of a let down. The issue feels rushed and overstuffed – almost as if it should have spanned multiple issues. The thing is, that would have made perfect sense. Issue #6 felt like it could easily be the end of the first story arc. Yes, it ended on a cliffhanger, but that could have been picked up and extrapolated on in the next arc. Instead, we’re left with an issue that draws in characters we haven’t seen in months and pretends to hit big emotional story beats. None of it really comes together.
It certainly doesn’t help that the climactic battle lasts all of five pages. Ok, to be fair, it’s possible to do great action scenes in five pages – there are books that do them in two or three. But this just feels way too brief, especially since what they’re supposedly fighting could destroy the entire universe, I guess? That’s a pretty big revelation that is saved for the last issue of the story – which is generally not where you want that revelation to be. It just comes out of nowhere, and there’s not enough time for it to sink in. How they defeat the big bad – which I guess is literally sound – is a bit silly as well. Normally, this would be fine, but having the band play really loud is kind of cringe worthy.
The first couple of pages are also super weird. Fletcher seems to be pretending that this is some super deep comic (it really isn’t) and tries to make a point about time and the universe, I guess. Honestly, I chuckled, and if the intent was to be a parody, then bravo, but man, this issue really seems to be taking itself seriously. That’s not inherently a problem, except for the fact that it spits in the face of the last six issues (which I rather enjoyed, actually). It’s almost as if Fletcher didn’t write this issue, because it really does not feel like any of its predecessors. As far as I’m concerned, that’s problematic.
the book’s one saving grace is Annie Wu’s art. Of the three artists credited over the course of this series, Annie Wu’s definitely stands out, and seems to fit the book the best. Not so much this issue, unfortunately, but that’s not really her fault. She makes some pretty cool stylistic choices, and there are some panels that are actually pretty fun, thanks to what she chooses to do with them. I do find it odd that some of this is only being integrated into the book now (for instance, one page has action unfolding on a piece of sheet music), but better late than never, at any rate.
Wu also brings the characters to life. Body language and facial expressions convey the story far better than the actual writing does, and that’s thanks to Wu’s talent. She makes the characters feel alive. Obviously, there’s exaggeration going on here (it’s a superhero comic, after all), but what the art lacks in photorealism, it makes up for in terms of the characters’ vibrant movements. The action, though brief, is well conveyed, and all in all, Black Canary #7 is a gorgeous book to look at.
It’s a shame, then, that the writing doesn’t quite match the quality of the art.
