One of the things that Brenden Fletcher has quickly established for himself as a writer, especially between Black Canary and his collaboration with Becky Cloonan on Gotham Academy, is giving (seemingly) antagonistic characters their own space and voice to expand them beyond being two dimensional villains. He's done it most effectively with Pomeline on Gotham Academy, but we see much of the same deft hand with Maeve here. Read Full Review

Brenden Fletcher is so good at breathing life into his characters that I even fell in love with the awful villain of this issue.  He scales back the story a bit and we get a Maeve origin and I couldn't be happier.  The art and story were top notch and the issue ends with Bo going from jilted ex lead singer to possible super villain.  Throw in a crazy white ninja saving the day and you got yourself a must read issue.  by the way, that's an order, not a description. Read Full Review

Black Canary is a pretty damn good book and this might be the best issue so far. Fletcher is building on levels of this story and we could be in for something special moving forward. Read Full Review

BLACK CANARY #4 seems like a skippable issue on paper. It's the backstory of a character who sounds minor, with a fill-in artist to boot. The issue completely defies those expectations, presenting a compelling origin that makes said formerly minor character seem incredibly important and lays the groundwork for numerous potential storylines going forward. Read Full Review

This issue focused on Canary and the band the least, but I felt it was still one of the stronger issues. Getting some background on a character proved to be a nice touch for the story. The events that occurred also set up the book for the long run for some of these loose threads to play out. Luckily for Ditto, she has some great friends that will go to the ends of the Earth looking for her. Miss Tavana aka Bo Maeve might want to look into getting herself a good support system around her because she's not making the best of decisions. There's still more questions than answers, but that has me coming back for more. I'm really digging this title and looking forward to it more and more. Read Full Review

Even with this month's altered artist credits, Black Canary continues to be one of the most consistently sharp, energetic, and entertaining new series of the DC You titles. Music and musicians are featured prominently in so many high-quality/hugely popular comics lately: The Wicked + The Divine, Spider-Gwen, Jem and the Holograms, and Phonogram all heavily emphasize the importance of music in characters' (and consequently, readers') everyday lives. Rock music (or its ideal, at least) lends nothing more than liveliness, passion, and honesty, and Black Canary revels in all three. The entire series' aggregate talent is only further accentuated by the stellar guest vocals (both on and behind the page): this issue is undoubtedly a must-listen. Erm, I mean, must-read. Read Full Review

Even with a guest artist Black Canary doesn't miss a beat. Of course, when your guest artist is Pia Guerra it's pretty easy to keep things humming, her clean lines bringing an easy energy and human humor to the proceedings. Read Full Review

Fletcher's scattered captions of Maeve's thoughts build in rhythm and meaning to a perfect convergence of words and pictures in the final panel, in which Loughridge's spectacular color work brings shock value to an otherwise predictable plot point. The introductory story arc hits new high points in characterization and pacing in "Black Canary" #4. Read Full Review

Fletcher's story did generate some interest in me for this character's adventures. though. Let me skip to the end and say that a certain head of an organization shows up and that signals that this is an important story arc. Despite the number of transitions that occur in this book, it is pretty light in its overall activity, and you're not made to feel like you are being overwhelmed to multi-task all of the various story threads. The scenes with Bo and her kidnapee are endearing, despite the Stockholm Syndrome it represents. Dinah and Bo never fight, so my hope is that that is coming in a BIG way!!! Read Full Review

She meets up with Amanda Waller and a group of soldiers, and in the exchange, a ninja lady clad in white fights off the soldiers and takes Ditto. We see Dinah, as she has found the room Meave and Ditto were just at, but she's too late. She turns around to find Ditto standing in the doorway, and the white ninja looking over them (I really hope this isn't Dinah's sister – White Canary from Arrow). On the final page, we see Meave has been taken in by Waller's crew. They inject her with a serum, and she lets out a cry, shattering the glass encasing the room. Read Full Review

Best issue of BC so far. The plot is flowing thick and fast, but it's failing to make me care about the characters at all. Dinah could fall of a cliff at this point and I'd be okay with it. That said, this is the most likeable Frankie's ever been. She only appeared for a single panel, but then maybe that's why.