Thursday, July 15, 2010

Who Is White Canary?

Full Review of Birds of Prey #3 to follow.

For tonight, knowing full well that Gail Simone reads this blog and will be laughing wickedly at me for attempting to play Batman, let us consider the mystery that has been given to us in the last three issues: Who Is White Canary?



CLUES FROM ISSUE #1

* Identified as "Asian, maybe. That hair." by Dinah.
* Certainly looks Asian in the artwork.
* Stands like royalty.
* Dinah immediately thinks it's either Cassandra Cain or Lady Shiva.
* Dinah identifies the fighter as "better than Shiva" after one punch
* White Canary is skilled enough to hold off both Black Canary and Huntress at the same time.
* White Canary identifies Dinah by her deceased master's pet name for her "Siu Jerk Jai"
* White Canary's costume conceals most of her upper body, leaving her legs bare.
* White Canary proves agile enough to catch Huntress' crossbow bolts and then use them hand-held weapons.


CLUES FROM ISSUE #2

* White Canary uses some sort of weapon that has a pointed handle, a string that is like a sectioned-off whip, with an arrowhead at the end of the whip.
* White Canary also has one thin braid at the back of her head which features an arrow head at the very end.
* Dinah feels that there's something familiar about the way White Canary hits her.
* Dinah dismisses Shiva as a suspect, saying that you never feel emotion in it when Shiva hits you.
* White Canary, based on the way she hits her, HATES Dinah.
* White Canary, at first, is good enough to fight Huntress and Black Canary at the same time to a stand still.
* White Canary is able to wound Hawk, who we are told has "skin like concrete".
* Hawk pulls out a lock of her hair, confirming that the Black Hair we see is real.


CLUES FROM ISSUE #3

* White Canary attacks with thrown arrowheads.
* She is able to hit Hawk with something that forces him to change out of his superhero form - possibly a poison.
* Black Canary's comment about threatening families seems to strike a nerve.
* This leads Dinah to once again dismiss Lady Shiva and Cassandra Cain as suspects.
* Again, Dinah notes the hatred in each attack and how fighting Dinah is personal to White Canary, for some reason.
* Dinah identifies White Canary - to herself, not the reader - following a combo attack involving White Canary jump-kicking her and then scratching her face with an arrowhead.
* White Canary identifies herself as "a poor village girl" and then asks Dinah "Where do you suppose I got the money for this operation?"
* White Canary also seemingly confirms some connection to The Penguin.



And now... the suspects!



1. Lady Shiva
PRO: Asian. Born in poor village. Definitely has the skills to do this. Assassin who would work for Penguin for the right price. Possible motive for revenge against Birds in general and Dinah in specific for making her question her life and choices. Gail Simone likes writing her. Knows Dinah's old nickname.
CON: Doesn't deal with poisons, preferring direct combat. White Canary's attacks "too hateful". Dinah dismisses her as a suspect twice. No real clear motive.

2. Cheshire
PRO: Asian. Poor village girl. Assassin for hire. Definitely has family issues. Definitely hates Dinah. Master of poisons who MIGHT have something that could take down even Hawk. Gail Simone likes writing her.
CON: Not a good enough fighter to hold off Black Canary for long. Would rather attack from a distance than up close. Also, already busy in new Titans book.

3. Shado
PRO: Asian. Assassin for hire. Definitely has family issues. White Canary costume would cover her distinctive tattoos.
CON: Archer, not an martial artist. Was not a poor village girl. No clear motive unless she's still harboring feelings for Ollie and resenting Dinah for dumping him - makes little sense unless she wishes to prove herself the better woman and she's never had that kind of ego.

4. Robert, Son of Shado
PRO: Asian. Brainwashed into becoming Assassin for hire. Definitely has family issues. Might nurse grudge against Dinah for coming between his mother and his father - never mind that Ollie didn't know about him until several years after the fact and Shado was not vocally bitter.
CON: Unless the "operation" White Canary couldn't afford was a sex change, this makes little sense.

5. Cassandra Cain
PRO: Asian. Was briefly an assassin for hire. Definitely has family issues. Definitely has the skills to do this.
CON: Was not a poor village girl. Dinah dismissed her as a suspect. REALLY doubt Gail Simone would have her become a villain YET AGAIN. No reasonable motive or explanation for her being able to take down Hawk.

6. Sin
PRO: Asian. Was a poor village girl. Was being trained to be an assassin for hire. Definitely has family issues. Probably has the skills to do this. Might hold grudge against Dinah for "abandoning" her. Knows Dinah's old nickname.
CON: Reference to operation would almost certainly have to be some kind of surgery to enhance her age and that seems very unlikely. Seriously doubt Gail Simone would bring her back just to make her a villain.



Leave your own theories in the replies!

25 comments:

  1. I'm just waiting for you to list someone that's -not- Asian.

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  2. You laughed at my suggestion it was Query or Echo... whichever one was the Brunette. XP

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  3. New character and/or such a minor character we never noticed her.
    Possibly from the OYL story where Dinah picked up Sin?

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  4. It did occur to me it could be Sin's real mother. Or a deaged "Mother" from Sin's village. But Dinah wouldn't recognize the former and the later is just silly.

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  5. Somehow I don't think someone who henched for the -Riddler- suddenly graduates to master-level martial artist!

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  6. Could Sin have a sister?
    If she crashed out of the Shiva training program she could have been away during Canary's visit. Came back to find Sin gone, swore revenge?

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  7. Except the trick here is Canary 'recognized' her. Narrows down the options considerably.

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  8. That seems likely, actually, given that Shiva came from the same village and we know that Shiva's sister was originally trained in a similar manner to her sister, though not quite so harshly.
    Perhaps Sin has an older sister who was meant to be the next Shiva but was presumed dead, leaving her sister behind to become the next Shiva in her stead?

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  9. Well... if she thought she was Shiva based on the stance... and Mother trained all of them... and assuming Sin had much the same moves and practiced fighting with Dinah...
    That is a bit of a hole in the theory...

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  10. Yeah. I'm just guessing it might be involved somehow with the League of Assasins.
    Looking at a list of members, I see "Kitty Kumbata", who apparently was taught by Richard Dragon -and- Lady Shiva, dresses in white, and is insane.
    I doubt it so much, though. It's so completely out of left field.

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  11. White Canary... oh ew no..
    Gail Whyyyyyyyy

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  12. There are only two people alive AFAIK who know the name 'Siu Jerk Jai' (Sin might also know it)
    I'm leaning heavily towards Cheshire, but there are some things that don't fit, not least of which is the voice Gail writes her in isn't the voice she has in Secret Six.
    I really don't think Gail would create a new Asian female villain, especially not out of an existing 'good' guy like Sin/Cass.

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  13. And on that same note, Rose Wilson. Exact. Same. Reason.

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  14. I'm guessing Ms. Martian. 'Cause I can't think of anything thats worse than being in any of the current Titans related books...

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  15. It'll be revealed to be...
    Barbara Gordon!
    Dun. Dun. DUUUUN!

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  16. Makes sense to me. After all, if Connor Hawke can suddenly become White, why can't Rose suddenly become Asian and grow an eye back?

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  17. You're a wacky, wacky man.
    That's a complement, BTW. :)

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  18. I know, I know. White after Memorial Day...

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  19. There's also the fact I mentioned - Cheshire's not that good a fighter to hold off Huntress and Canary together for even a minute and she really hates fighting up close anyway.

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  20. There's also that. Maybe she leveled up?

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  21. It'd have to be a super-fast level-up. She's been rather visible of late, what with showing up in Rise of Arsenal and Secret Six recently, in addition to being part of Deathstroke's new mercenary team. She didn't seem to be much better in those stories. In fact, she was...
    * Beaten in seconds in single combat by a one-armed, doped-up Roy Harper.
    * Beaten up by a mob of thugs

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  22. White after labor day.. labor day...

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  23. I vote some League of Assasin trainee who hates Dinah because she took Sin.
    Was Dinah show kicking any female ass while training with the League

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  24. Gail has been talking about writing a trans character in the DCU on Twitter...

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  25. And *points to my latest post* she was with the counter-protesters at San Diego today, mocking the three Westboro Baptist Church members who showed up.

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