Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths has been taking over large swaths of the DC universe, with the “death” of the Justice League kickstarting a fight to save the entire multiverse. Across the book’s various issues and tie-ins, an increasing number of characters have been pulled into the event’s orbit — including a handful of new faces. Among them is Red Canary, a new legacy character who was first introduced in a variant cover for Dark Crisis #3 earlier this year. The vigilante superhero is clearly meant to be a new legacy character for Dinah Lance / Black Canary, who was among the perceived casualties of the Justice League’s death, but a lot has remained mysterious about her since her first debut. This week’s Dark Crisis: The Dark Army #1 began to shed a little more light on Red Canary’s backstory — and prompt more speculating about whether or not she could be a character already in the pages of DC. Spoilers for Dark Crisis: The Dark Army #1 from Mark Waid, Delilah S. Dawson, Dennis Culver, Freddie E. Williams II, Jack Herbert, Adriano Lucas, and Troy Peteri below! Only look if you want to know!
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Dark Army saw Red Canary teaming up with Damian Wayne and an eclectic group of superheroes to potentially save the multiverse from Pariah and his Dark Army — an effort that put them face-to-face with the Justice League Incarnate. Along the way, we learned more nuggets about who Red Canary is, as she told her various teammates that she’s in college, and became a superhero because “With Black Canary gone, someone has to carry the torch.” She also revealed that she stole her high-tech Escrima sticks “from some baddie”, and has been training in Jiu-Jitsu and Kali.
Is Red Canary Sin Lance?
One prevailing theory — which the nuggets of Dark Army seems to help — is that Red Canary could be Cynthia “Sin” Lance, a young girl who Dinah adopted after they bonded in a martial arts village in Asia in the pre-Flashpoint continuity. After Dinah brought Sin back to the United States, the young girl was subsequently targeted by the League of Assassins, leading the Arrow family to have to fake her death and hide her away in a monastery.
With DC’s continuity essentially embracing nuggets from every previous era of storytelling, the idea of weaving Sin back into the fold as Red Canary would definitely be compelling. And while the ages of the “Arrow Family” sidekicks have been shifted around since the pre-Flashpoint days, it would be a logical step to reintroduce Sin as a college-age young woman, potentially setting up an older familial dynamic between her and Dinah that never got to play out the first time around.
Is Red Canary Lian Harper?
Another possibility has been that Red Canary could really be Lian Harper, the daughter of Jade Nguyen / Cheshire and Dinah’s fellow Arrow family member, Roy Harper / Arsenal. Unlike Sin, Lian has already been reintroduced into canon in recent years, with her adopting the mantle of Shoes and adopting a Cheshire-like mask in the pages of Catwoman.
Given the fact that Lian was previously viewed as a sort of surrogate daughter to Dinah in pre-Flashpoint continuity, it could also be narratively significant for her to be Red Canary — especially since the “Red” part could homage her father’s days as Red Arrow. But there are some caveats, as Lian was portrayed as a younger teenager in her relatively-recent Catwoman appearances.
Either way, with Red Canary already confirmed to appear in the upcoming Lazarus Planet event, and next spring’s newly-announced Green Arrow book expected to deal with the larger Arrow family, here’s hoping we won’t have to wait too long to find out Red Canary’s identity.
Who do you think Red Canary is in the pages of DC Comics? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!
