Black Canary Ignite OGN: The Most Powerful Weapon in the World

Black Canary has always been my favorite superhero, ever since I was a teenager. Dinah Laurel Lance and Barbara Gordon in Birds of Prey were my first introduction to comic books as a whole! Black Canary and Oracle working together was my dream team, whether handled by Chuck Dixon, Gail Simone, or the many other wonderful writers who took over the Birds of Prey team. Meg Cabot manages to handle a young Dinah Lance as a burgeoning Black Canary with the same flair and attitude she has as an adult. That makes me incredibly happy as a fan. 

I smiled the whole way through this graphic novel. It’s predictable in parts, but in an enjoyable, age appropriate way. The art is colorful and dynamic, and while the writing is on grade-level for middle schoolers, it is in no way too simple for any adult reader to enjoy. Dinah and her friends also look like real girls, not simply shrunken versions of adult women; this is a seemingly easy feat, yet one that few artists accomplish.

The story moves through several wonderful arcs; Dinah’s struggles are realistic to a girl of that age, just with added superpowers. Her relationship with her parents has some strain, but not in a way that is dark or grim. Her friends want her to spend her time doing things they like to do, instead of always going her own way. The teachers are a mixed of colorful personalities; as a former teacher myself, I appreciated that not all of the teachers in a middle-grade book were caricatures. Most importantly, Dinah messes up in normal, fixable ways, showing young readers that even superheroes have flaws.

However, as I thought about the story deeply, I found that the power of friendship and family was not the only moral to the story.

Ultimately, what Black Canary teaches us is the most powerful weapon is our own voices.

This may seem a subtle lesson from a middle-grade graphic novel. I may be reading too much into the narrative of Black Canary as a whole. It wouldn’t be the first time I’ve read far too deeply into things. However, in my opinion, if young people can pick up a Black Canary story such as Ignite and feel empowered? That’s a win in my book.