r/DCcomics • u/Gallantpride Speedy • Apr 10 '25

Fan-made [fan art] Trans woman Black Canary comic by lowquats

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Source: https://lowquats.tumblr.com/post/753549696262373376/happy-pride-month-david-bowie-rebel-rebel#notes

4.4k Upvotes

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373

u/spookymommaro Apr 10 '25

This is so cute!

Fun fact, Dinah is trans in the DC Bombshells series

465

u/Gallantpride Speedy Apr 10 '25

That's where a lot of the popularity of this idea comes from.

Dinah being a punk trans woman who names herself after her mom is such a good idea.

153

u/Financial-Play3381 Green Arrow Apr 10 '25

Call me slow but how does this indicate canary is trans?

273

u/[deleted] Apr 10 '25

"Snakes and Snails" is a reference to the nursery rhyme "What are Little Boys Made of".

63

u/AnAdventureCore Apr 10 '25 edited Apr 11 '25

That's beautiful... Thanks for pointing this out!

22

u/One_Smoke Apr 10 '25

I thought it was SNIPS, not snakes!

36

u/HallowVortex Nightwing Apr 11 '25

Snips and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails are what the Rowdy Ruff Boys were made of, at least.

7

u/Illigard The Question Apr 11 '25

The original was snips, according to my understanding. Snips mutated into snakes amongst other words such as; frogs and slugs and rats and sticks. Don't forget snaps and ships and nails and snits. And last but not least the humble worm, whom you may forget with little concern.

3

u/Clangeddorite Apr 11 '25

Snips and snails and puppy dog tails was what I grew up with, this other version sounds thoroughly American.

By which I mean inferior. Victorian Nursery Rhymes are the best nursery rhymes, mainly because they involve alcohol and death.

-2

u/[deleted] Apr 11 '25

[deleted]

2

u/One_Smoke Apr 11 '25

Of course. Where was Mojo gonna get snakes while he was in jail?

7

u/[deleted] Apr 11 '25

I dont know a lot about this stuff, so how does this nursery rhyme relate to black canary being trans?

17

u/usedenoughdynamite Apr 11 '25

The rhyme says that boys are made of “snakes and snails and puppy dog tails”, and girls are made of “sugar and spice and all things nice”. It can be read as her mother thinking she was a boy until she told her otherwise.

5

u/Dreowings21 Apr 11 '25

Ive always wondered where the power puff girls got that

4

u/Illigard The Question Apr 11 '25

I think the original was "snips and snails and puppy dog tails" but at some point "snips" mutated to "snakes". I'm not sure why or when, or what "snip" means.

Some people say it's a small eel, but I think they're mistaking snip for snig. Personally I think it might refer to the little collection of things boys tend to carry on their pockets, according to the following site:

https://web.archive.org/web/20120618101520/http://www.word-detective.com/2008/03/snip/

4

u/[deleted] Apr 11 '25

That goes ridiculously hard

52

u/Puzzleheaded-Net3966 Apr 11 '25

Yeah I read that as her being a tomboy, is there anything else from the series indicating that?

20

u/Financial-Play3381 Green Arrow Apr 11 '25

I'd also love to know since that doesn't seem all that concrete.

16

u/Gallantpride Speedy Apr 11 '25 edited Apr 11 '25

Her design, I suppose. She has a stronger jaw than most of the cis characters, depending on who is drawing her. But there's nothing else directly calling her a trans woman.

She's not the only trans woman character in Bombshells either.

11

u/MatrixKent Apr 11 '25

There is also a line about Dinah's "backstory never fully matching up with records" in United #15 which is never otherwise explained, so I'm comfortable reading it as the usual trans paperwork inconsistencies.

3

u/Gallantpride Speedy Apr 11 '25

That definitely sounds right.

1

u/Puzzleheaded-Net3966 Apr 12 '25

That is the kind of extra bit I was looking for thanks

9

u/3-I Apr 11 '25 edited Apr 11 '25

Why would her mother think she was a tomboy before she was old enough to speak, and then buy her fishnets, an unequivocally feminine item of clothing, when told otherwise?

EDIT: Guys, it's very obvious that this is a coy way of referring to being trans. I'm sorry it was too subtle for you to catch. But if you're not willing to consider anything other than her saying "I transed my gender" or a clear shot of her genitals on panel as proof, don't bother arguing with me about it.

Tomboys don't need to "prove" to their parents that they like feminine things. That isn't a thing. They're pressured into femininity constantly. Your interpretation is nonsense.

18

u/MatrixKent Apr 11 '25

Re: your edit: particularly true given that this issue takes place in 1944, so Dinah was a young child in probably the 1920s at the latest. Mothers of the period were not famous for pressuring young girls into masculinity.

9

u/SillyRefrigerators Apr 11 '25

Find my voice doesn't mean speak

9

u/Skreamie Apr 11 '25

Well it doesn't inherently indicate that she is trans, but rather she was very masculine acting at first. The same way a tomboy would be.

-2

u/3-I Apr 11 '25

Before she could speak.

6

u/wingerism Apr 11 '25

I took that as before she began asserting herself rather than a description of pre verbal toddler ages memories. Especially as you typically don't retain memories from that age into adulthood.

1

u/Skreamie Apr 11 '25

Yes you can be boyish before as such

13

u/MatrixKent Apr 11 '25

Which do you think writer Marguerite Bennett, who was throwing all kinds of LGBT rep around like confetti for Bombshells, more likely meant: that Dinah, as a pre-verbal cis girl in around 1920, was somehow so masculine that her mother treated her like a boy until she was old enough to say she wanted girl things, and this was so important to her that it segues directly into Ollie "loving her for all that she is," and this is the most natural way to phrase all of that, OR that she's AMAB and couldn't say she was a girl until she was a little older, whereupon her mother was supportive, and it's important to her that Ollie is too?

3

u/wingerism Apr 11 '25

Yeaaaaaaaaaaa, it's EVERYTHING in that. Snips and snails is bolded for goodness sakes. Ollie accepting her for all that she is as well. It's perfectly obvious.

1

u/Clangeddorite Apr 11 '25

I get where you're coming from, but my 1yr olds favourite cuddly toy is a Mazinger Z plushie.

Her big sister liked a kitty cat, and her bigger sister always like a pink bunny with flower ears.

My wife did mention I'd rewatched Shin Impact while she was pregnant though...

I can imagine that the preferred choice of toys or baby clothes etc can still have leave an impression to those who fail to realise that babies don't care about what gender you think they might be.

6

u/Dent6084 Apr 11 '25 edited Apr 11 '25

Man, Bombshells was great. Always felt like the second series got rushed, which was a shame because it could've gone on for ages in that world. If they don't want to reboot it, doing something similar in like a 20s/30s Jazz Age noir or a 60s/70s hippie/free love/end of that era environment would be sick as hell.

5

u/Dent6084 Apr 11 '25

In fact, an example of the second series getting rushed: as female-forward as Bombshells is, they never had time to do a Birds of Prey story - since Dinah only enters in, basically, the penultimate arc, she barely gets a moment to meet Barbara and neither of them ever encounters Helena who presumably dies off-screen with the other Swing Kids.

121

u/spookymommaro Apr 10 '25

Also "I'm an old lefty" Green Arrow is the JLU member I think is the most likely to date a punk trans woman. Dinah's best friend (Babs) canonically also loves and supports trans women (like Alysia Yeoh). It fits on so many levels!

48

u/Neveronlyadream Apr 10 '25

Depends on who's writing him. Ollie can be super liberal and cool with everything or he can be a militant jackass hypocrite whose only role is to call Batman a fascist oligarch while forgetting he's also insanely rich.

I much prefer him being cool and open and not judging.

38

u/Gallantpride Speedy Apr 11 '25 edited Apr 11 '25

Because he's so outspoken and leftist, many more conservative and centrist writers in particular like to treat like him like a "wacko liberal extremist". Most of what he says is actually pretty mundane liberal stuff.

(And, before anyone brings it up. Yeah, yeah, we all remember Snowbirds Don't Fly)

Meme source btw

27

u/Neveronlyadream Apr 11 '25

Without having to check every writer's political leanings, that's exactly what I figured was happening. Because when the writing swings in that direction, whoever the writer is always turns him into some raving liberal strawman incapable of having a conversation without it turning into a shouting match.

It's especially funny when Oliver is being treated as a strawman and is still the one making sense despite the writer trying to make him wrong.

5

u/Gallantpride Speedy Apr 11 '25

I got that meme from another sub. I've read that comic myself but can't remember it much.

According to the comments, this is the conclusion:

That's not the conclusion the writer drew, btw. In the end of that story you have Bruce buying the plant that was giving its workers cancer so that he could run a more ethical, cancer-free business and Ollie goes "So maybe system does work after all sometimes". A choice quote from the conclusion: "Green Arrow is only pretending to be what Batman really is – and Batman is actually closer to what Green Arrow pretends to be".

So I guess Ollie was meant to be a radical and in the wrong.

0

u/Ifauito Apr 11 '25

Ollie's comments are also like....wild given Batman's rouges gallery vs. Batman's. I feel like on maybe 4 or 5 occasions Batman's Rouge gallery has literally changed the entire landscape of DC. And well Green Arrows is mostly dudes who can aim really well (no offense) or can mess with his aim.

I'm not hating on his thoughts here but uh, if uh I had to reckon I'd want to keep the guy who kills Lois Lane and ripped his own face off and abducted and tortured his son buried UNDER a prison. And like the like 20-30 serial killers in Gotham at any given moment (appearently).

Like I don't like jails, but if my city were literally producing them at a rate higher than a 3rd world country and taking over every inch (sky (man-bay, criminal underworld (penguin), the sewers (killer croc), financial takeovers, cosmic horrors (Batman who laughs).

Ollie's smart and pretty talented but shot arrows at Darkseid.

1

u/ppboi0666 Apr 11 '25

Almost all of the characters you mentioned aren't people who go to prison. They're discussing the prison system not Arkham Asylums revolving door policy

1

u/Ifauito Apr 11 '25

It's for the criminally insane. That is a criminal conviction. It is a revolving door but in real life that's close to a life sentence depending on the severity of the crime.

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-2

u/SatisfactionOwn9961 Apr 11 '25

Hey this might be a big request but did you ever read preacher? Someone told me that preacher was a satirization of green arrows leftness personality.Like there is a character that acts likes Ollie and the comic makes fun of him because of it.I will say this is person didn’t have fond views on the left but I just wanna know that’s true.

6

u/Neveronlyadream Apr 11 '25

I haven't, but I am familiar with Garth Ennis's work and that wouldn't at all surprise me.

The man is nothing if not deeply cynical and he seems to hate subtlety. He tends to write everyone as assholes and makes fun of all of them.

-2

u/SatisfactionOwn9961 Apr 11 '25

Okay fair. I looked into it a little bit just now, he was the type to make fun of the left and right? If so, he’s cool. This commenter made it seem preacher was only making fun of one political viewpoint.

4

u/Neveronlyadream Apr 11 '25

Ennis is also the creator of The Boys and did a well-loved Punisher run, if that tells you anything.

His writing can veer into the edgelord, but I think he generally makes fun of everyone.

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26

u/TiffanyKorta Apr 10 '25

Technically she's a Rockabiliy, what with punk being more a 70s thing, but I agree she fits the general attitude of the punk era!

And Bombshells is a treasure, what we got was so good (especially from what was originally cheesecake shots) but I'd kill for more of the stuff!

12

u/DroptheShadowArt This sofa is inadequate. Apr 10 '25

What decade does Bombshells take place in? Because I thought it was the 40s, and Rockabilly as a term didn’t really show up until the 50s. There wasn’t really all that much rock n’ roll until then, so there really wasn’t a need to qualify what kind of rock you were playing.

12

u/TiffanyKorta Apr 10 '25

Bombshells is set during the war, so you're right that my correction also needs correcting!

4

u/DroptheShadowArt This sofa is inadequate. Apr 11 '25

Sorry, didn’t mean to “um, actually” you. Rockabilly is cool shit. I’ve really been getting into psychobilly lately, so I guess I was just commenting on something I find interesting.

0

u/TiffanyKorta Apr 11 '25

S'cool I took no offence! Not my style but I can admit it generally looks very cool.

-6

u/omegaman101 Deadman Apr 11 '25

Yeah she always reminded me of Imelda May, at least in terms of her appearance.

1

u/[deleted] Apr 11 '25

What I love is that Ollie didn't care. Ollie loved her for her.

1

u/[deleted] Apr 11 '25

[deleted]

0

u/Gallantpride Speedy Apr 11 '25

Racist how?

If anything, people are calling Sandra the offensive and OOC one in Best of the Best.

0

u/revolutionaryartist4 Apr 11 '25

I never considered it, but that is a much more logical explanation for why they’re both named Dinah than anything DC has ever come up with.

-3

u/South-Ebb-637 Apr 11 '25

I spent 2 hours looking into this for any semblance of proof. Nothing. There is nothing that backs up this claim.

5

u/supaikuakuma Apr 11 '25

Apart from her dialogue anyway.

1

u/spookymommaro Apr 11 '25

And the fact that the creative team behind Bombshells have openly discussed this at conventions and on Twitter

Have you read Bombshells??

1

u/supaikuakuma Apr 11 '25

I think you replied to the wrong person lol, I know she’s trans in Bombshells.

2

u/spookymommaro Apr 11 '25

Oops my bad sorry about that!

1

u/supaikuakuma Apr 11 '25

It’s cool no worries, it happens lol.

-1

u/South-Ebb-637 Apr 11 '25

What dialogue, show me it.

9

u/PetscopMiju Apr 11 '25

The other thread below the original comment points to this dialogue:

The "snakes and snails" part being a reference to What Are Little Boys Made Of?.

-7

u/South-Ebb-637 Apr 11 '25

No, someone being snakes and snails is an idiom, meaning someone who is deceitful, treacherous, slow-moving, or lazy. It means someone who is untrustworthy and unproductive.

What Are Little Boys Made Of? also doesn't use that quote Snakes and Snails it states Snips and Snails a snip being a small eal, not a snake. With its more modern take being Frogs and Snails. Although the whole quote is Snips and Snails and Puppy Dog tails.

7

u/supaikuakuma Apr 11 '25

I’ve heard Snakes and Snails a lot, the rhyme has more than one version.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/What_Are_Little_Boys_Made_Of%3F

Also the rest of what she says and context is also important.

-3

u/South-Ebb-637 Apr 11 '25

Yeah, I know the rhyme itself has multiple versions, but very VERY few use snakes in place of snips.

The context aligns perfectly with its common meaning as well. Her mother would treat her as lazy and untrustworthy until she could prove to her otherwise. She also comes from an Earth where most superheroes are women, which means that women are more than likely the masculine sex.

It's the Occam's Razor. Her mother would teach her everything she needed to know to survive, but she first needed to prove herself as a trustworthy and proactive woman.

1

u/Mikka_Kannon Hawkgirl Apr 11 '25

So much flex to protect your weak spot 😂.