I Still Can’t Believe Black Canary Once Dated This Major DC Villain

Some relationships just weren’t meant to last. Black Canary (Dinah Lance) has had several relationships over the years in various comics, spin-offs, and more that may have taken us by surprise from time to time. Aside from her eventual marriage to Green Arrow, we were caught off guard to even see her become enamored with Batman himself at one point. This is why our minds were blown when we found Dinah in a short-lived relationship with a man who turned out to be one of Batman’s greatest foes in the DC Universe. The villain? The “Head of the Demon” himself, Ra’s al Ghul. No, seriously. Black Canary dated Ra’s al Ghul and we still can’t get over it.

A Relationship We Never Saw Coming

Though the relationship really comes to light in Birds of Prey #32 and #33, we initially hear murmurings of it in issue #31. In that issue, Barbara Gordon/Oracle (the technologically-advanced vigilante leader of Birds of Prey who fights alongside Black Canary) hears from a little birdie that Dinah is dating a rich European man. Well, Barbara has a sixth sense for these things and something seems a little off with this relationship and the mysterious European suitor from the start. And because we love Black Canary, we’re equally as worried! 

The older rich man that Dinah is dating is, in fact, Ra’s al Ghul. He attempted to seduce Dinah so that he could eventually convince her to join the League of Assassins alongside him, which would ultimately increase the likelihood of success at taking over the world and all things evil that he had in mind. 

[RELATED: Arrow: Did Ra’s al Ghul’s Daughter Have a Relationship With Black Canary?] 

At this point, Ra’s was more than eager to take advantage of Dinah’s unique situation to try and convince her to be with him and even have children with him. At one point in Birds of Prey #33, Ra’s declares, “But let us talk of the present. I wish to marry you, Dinah. We shall be wed and you will give me a son.” Dinah and Talia, Ra’s cherished daughter, both have an astonished look on their faces as Dinah gets up from the table and walks away from the conversation. When they speak in private, Dinah tells her lover that she’s not unhappy about him asking her to be his wife, but because she can’t have children. 

Now, as many of us know, Dinah’s back-story reveals that she was involved in a physical assault so severe that she lost her ability to conceive children and the loss of her Canary Cry, her ultrasonic, powerful scream that she uses to cause destruction of people and things. Ra’s, however, assures Lance that he can make her ‘whole again’ so that her ability to conceive is restored to her. 

Things Start to Turn Sour Between Ra’s and Dinah

Dinah starts to see the red flags appear in the relationship after a decently short amount of time with Ra’s. Even though she was looking at him with admiration early on, she soon discovers that Ra’s has an evil plan to reduce the world’s population and decides to call it off. As a result, Ra’s kidnaps Dinah and brings her to the Lazarus Pit, a supernatural pool with the ability to restore life and restore individuals to full health after they have become injured. His end goal is to destroy Dinah’s mind so that he can more easily convince her to join the League, but he fails in doing so when Oracle shows up and a battle ensues.

Dinah is eventually put into the Lazarus Pit to save her life from injuries, which restores her health (and ability to conceive). It also makes her regain her once-lost Canary Cry, which up until now, she emulated by utilizing Canary Cry Bombs. This is ultimately the end goal of this story arc, written by Chuck Dixon but, man, what a wild way to get there.

It is unsurprising that Ra’s end goal was to turn Dinah into a villain much like himself to take advantage of her and her powers. Ra’s has been known to do some extremely shady things in the past, including his appearing as Talia to seduce Batman in Batman Beyond and poisoning Kingpin’s wife in Batman & Spider-Man: New Age Dawning. Keeping these things in mind, we can say that Dinah Lance definitely dodged a bullet by exiting that relationship, right? 

What do you think? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section!