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Growing up, Dinah Laurel Lance was surrounded by her mother's friends in the disbanded JSA and looked to them as uncles and aunts. Dinah wished to become a costumed heroine like her mother before her. Instead of encouraging the younger Dinah, her mother forbade it, thinking the world had grown into a darker, more dangerous place than when she herself fought crime. Dinah, however, was born with something her mother never had: a high pitched, ultrasonic scream that could shatter objects. It was discovered that Dinah was born with a metagene, and it was speculated that it might be a side effect of all the mystical energies the original Black Canary had been exposed to in the JSA for years.

With this weapon of sorts, the younger Dinah next sought out numerous fighters to help her hone her skills, including former JSA member Wildcat. Years of training and intense dedication paid off, and Dinah took on her mother's mantle, even though it was against the elder Dinah's wishes at first. Dinah's metagene power was dubbed her "Canary Cry". She took an active role in the 'Silver Age' of heroes, operating, like her mother before her, out of Gotham.

Shortly into the League's history she met Green Arrow (Oliver Queen). While Dinah couldn't stand him at first, they later became romantically involved despite the difference in their ages. Dinah remained a memebr of the League for roughly six years before it was dissolved. It was during that time her mother died due to radiation poisoning she experienced during an earlier battle with the villain Aquarius. Her mother's death affected Dinah deeply, and led her to accept that her time in the JLA was over.

She moved to Seattle with Green Arrow after the breakup of the Justice League. During this period, Black Canary took part in a failed operation to bust a drug ring. Kidnapped, Black Canary was tortured before being rescued by Green Arrow. The effects of this experience, both physical and mental, were severe. Dinah suffered not only the loss of her Canary Cry, but also her ability to have children. She persevered nontheless, keeping a fairly active presence as a crime-fighter, while running "Sherwood Florist", a flower shop. Eventually, she and Green Arrow parted ways due to a romantic indiscretion on Green Arrow's part. Green Arrow attempted to renew their romance after his resurrection during Kevin Smith's run on the title, but Dinah remains single.

For some time after leaving Green Arrow, Black Canary felt as though she lacked a true sense of focus and purpose. This led to her being asked by Oracle (Barbara Gordon) to become an operative of sorts for her. Black Canary took to this role with great satisfaction, although in the beginning there were a number of disagreements between the two. On one adventure, Black Canary was seriously wounded and then was immersed in a Lazarus Pit. This revitalized her metahuman power, restoring her Canary Cry as well as her ability to have children that had been impaired several years earlier.

For a brief period of time Black Canary was a member of the newest incarnation of the JSA. In fact, she is one of the few heroes in the DC Universe to hold memberships in both the JSA and the JLA.

Working with Oracle, Black Canary cultivated a covert team of female operatives called the Birds of Prey whose members include Huntress, Gypsy, and Zinda Blake, the original Lady Blackhawk.

Since they were both trained by the same sensei, Black Canary has fostered a friendship of sorts with Lady Shiva. Shiva, impressed by Black Canary's formidable martial arts prowess, offered to provide her with further training. Black Canary turned down the offer, thinking it would compromise her morality. Still, they kept an ongoing correspondence, with Shiva conveying recommendations to assist Canary in honing her skills.