ACW #610 – Black Canary

Action Comics Weekly #610 (Black Canary)
“Bitter Fruit, Part 2”
Writer – Sharon Wright
Pencils – Randy DuBurke
Inks – Pablo Marcos
Letters – Steve Haynie
Colors – Gene D’Angelo
Editor – Mike Gold

Last week we started our newest feature… and, well… it didn’t really rock my socks.  In fairness, I decided I’d treat it as “prologue”, hopeful that the story might actually get cooking with this second chapter.


Does it?


Well, let’s find out together…


—

We open in Seattle, with a fella who has a Baron Winters-style chin-beard getting a call from… well, some dude.  The “dude” will be heading into town shortly, but has to find a route where he’ll avoid scales.  The chin-beard is then instructed to take out some folks, including a “Librado”, whoever that is (okay, we kinda know who that is).  Worth noting, the newspaper headline has to do with that suspended pilot.  At that same time, back at Sherwood Florist, Dinah invites roughed-up Rita inside.  She’s pretty evasive about how she got into such a state.

Dinah presses the issue, which causes Rita to storm out.  She only takes a few steps before returning… and completely spilling the beans about everything that’s gone down.  Ya see, her brother Luis borrowed some money on the street to make ends meet… and it’s time to pay up, only… they don’t got the dosh.

Rita tells Dinah about the loan sharks… and where they hang out.  I mean, for someone who didn’t want any help two seconds ago, she’s really letting it all hang out here.  Anyhoo, she leaves a little bit later… and hops into a van.  We can see that Chin-Beard is watching this all go down.

We jump ahead to, I assume, the next day… where some wheeling and dealing is going on inside a building marked with the Scales of Justice.  I suppose this might be the Headquarters of Immigration and Naturalization in Lincoln, Nebraska from last issue?  Suppose it could be something altogether different though!

At this point, Dinah is “suiting up”, putting together her all-new costume, and…

… BWAH-HA-HA!  Oh man… Jazzercize-Fans, you’ve just been vindicated!  Jazzercize-Haters, here’s your monkey’s paw wish come true!  Holy smokes… wouldja look at it!  Oh man, coffee nearly came out my nose.  Whew…


Anyhoo… we wrap up with a couple of Game and Fish Employees shooting at birds?  Wow, our writer does not seem to appreciate government employees!

—

What was that I said last week?  Oh yeah, I really miss Blackhawk.


That’s not to say that this feature is the worst thing ever or anything… I just feel like it’s not terribly well-suited for the anthology format.  At least not at this point.  Feel like we’re wasting too many pages on stilted conversation… while at the same time, we’re trying to introduce a cast of characters… and a mystery about a suspended pilot?  There’s just too much going on.


Let’s start with Chin-Beard.  He’s not so much introduced here, as he’s dropped into the story as though we’re supposed to recognize him.  Has he appeared in Green Arrow stories?  Is he someone we’re supposed to know?  What about the guy on the other end of the phone call?  At first, I assumed that Chin-Beard was part of the Immigration and Naturalization plot…


Speaking of which… whatever happened to the Immigration and Naturalization plot?  Is that what the Scales of Justice Building scene was referring to?  Does it have anything to do with those guys shooting gulls at the end of the chapter?


Speaking of those guys… at first, I assumed they were the Orange Pickers from the opening of last chapter.  Whatever happened to them?  This is just so disjointed… really doesn’t lend itself to these “bite-sized” episodic installments.


Let’s talk… that costume.  Yeah, I might’ve been a bit too rough on it during the synopsis… but, I was just really taken aback by the dramatic “no-nonsense” pose… especially with the “suiting up” montage leading up to it.  It’s just so over the top… especially when we consider this was supposed to be an upgrade from the (fireproof) Jazzercise suit.


I mean, she mentioned last issue that she still had the fishnets.  The cover of last issue featured her in those fishnets… and here we get “Working Girl” Dinah Lance?  I mean, check out those shoulder pads!  Maybe another artist would make it look less… I dunno, snickerable?  Even scrolling back up to refer to it is giving me the giggles.  It’s like I hear RuPaul’s “Cover Girl” every time I look at that panel.


Overall… Ya know, the jury’s still out.  I feel like it could be tightened up a fair bit… but, it’s still too early to tell.  How’s that for riding the fence?  I will say that… so far, I personally, ain’t digging it.


Tomorrow: We’ll be just shy of a quarter of way through the #ActionComicsDaily Project!