Sci-Fi Bulletin: Exploring the Universes of SF, Fantasy, Horror and Spy-fi!

Alasdair Stuart looks ahead to the next tales from the Absolute universe…

The DC Absolute universe has been the last thing anyone expected; a massive, crossover hit. Recreating the DC universe in a dimension built by the embodiment of evil in the DCU, its initial run of three hard luck heroes gave us the best Batman and Wonder Woman in years and a pretty great Superman. From there it got pleasingly weird with an SF horror take on The Flash and Green Lantern and the psychedelic brilliance of Absolute Martian Manhunter.

Now, a couple more characters are joining the fun, and by fun we mean horror. Launching on May 20th, Absolute Green Arrow comes to us from Pornsak Pichetshote and Rafael Albuquerque and spins out of the events of one-shot Absolute Evil. Don’t worry if you didn’t read that, all you need to know is Oliver Queen, billionaire socialist and vigilante is extremely murdered there. But it may not have taken. The description for Absolute Green Arrow reads as follows:

“A serial killer is slaughtering corrupt billionaires, and the only clue to his identity is the green arrows protruding from the victims’ bodies. Executive protection specialist Dinah Lance, also known as Absolute Black Canary, is assigned to uncover the murderer’s identity as she investigates a list of suspects drawn from the ranks of DC’s most dangerous archers. Each one is uniquely connected to a recently murdered Oliver Queen. A deadly mystery unfolds in this urban horror reimagining of the Emerald Archer’s mythos, brought to life by Eisner Award winners Pornsak Pichetshote and Rafael Albuquerque.”

The covers all prominently feature a black and green armoured archer with a metallic skull mask and burning eyes. Anyone who saw Arrow knows that there’s a lot of people this guy could be but honestly my bet’s on Ollie. It’s not the first time he’s been dead, it rarely takes, and that ‘corrupt billionaire’ victim list reads a lot like what Ollie’s liberal guilt, white privilege and rage would end up turning into in this universe. Regardless, the catharsis of seeing billionaires have one, last, VERY bad day is something it feels like we all need in 2026. A year which, somehow, is only just two months old.

So that’s a fun premise from the jump but the fact they’re folding Black Canary in there is even better news. Dinah Lance is, again, a figure who’ll be familiar to Arrow viewers. A legacy superheroine, one of the best martial artists on Earth and occasionally a punk rock singer, Dinah is the bloody-knuckled adult in the room Ollie’s usually shouting at people in. She’s really fun and if you want an emotional, smart take on her, I’d recommend the Tom King, Ryan Sook and co graphic novel, Best of the Best.

Like all female characters, and female martial artist characters especially, Dinah has a legacy of terrible body image and depiction to work off. We don’t have anywhere enough time to get into the frequently appalling depiction of women in comics specifically but there are four or five elements of Absolute Black Canary’s design that address those criticisms in fun, subtle ways as well as honour her past. Let’s look at them.

1. Short hair

Dinah having short hair is a common occurrence in the comics, and she often wears a long wig both to cover her identity and provide an easy target for opponents which opens them up for a counter attack when they go for it. Her having short hair, and specifically this sort of cut, speaks to her military background and the fact she’s a martial artist. Ollie (if that is Ollie) fights with weapons. Dinah is one. It also has some pretty distinct bisexual energy and speaks to her pragmatism. If Dinah doesn’t have long hair, opponents can’t grab it.

2. Dog Tags

The fact she’s wearing dog tags is interesting. The way the series describes her suggests this Dinah is ex-military, so it makes sense to assume they’re hers. It’s also possible they belong to Kurt/Larry Lance, her husband during her early years.

3. Build

This version of Dinah’s physicality seems to directly address the common issues with physically capable female characters in comics. She’s got broad shoulders, isn’t entirely breasts and waist and has actual muscle structure. Physically, her build looks closer to characters like Zarya from Overwatch, or, closer to home, a taller version of Yelena Belova from Thunderbolts*. She looks, in short, like someone who’s trained their entire life to be very good at violence.

4. Fishnets

There are two female DC characters whose early designs were defined by fishnet stockings: Zatanna, a (very cool) supernatural crime fighting magician and Dinah. Both are coming over to the Absolute universe, and both have had their designs modified in the same, really fun way, with the fishnets now being sleeves. For Zatanna, that’s a fun punky piece of style. For Dinah it’s got a more practical application. Literally anything will offer more protection to strikes to the legs than fishnets so again, design is defined by the nature and purpose of the character.

5. Gloves

Boxing has been one of Dinah’s primary martial arts for a long time and the fingerless gloves here neatly evoke boxing hand wraps, touch on the current (and more than slightly disturbing) rise in bareknuckle related fight promotions and are also clear motorcycle gloves. Once again, function and form, all together.

6. Canary Cry

Dinah’s a metahuman (the DC comics term for superhuman) and can project enormously damaging sonic screams. We don’t know yet whether this version also has that ability, but the black and purple concentric circles on her tank top look a lot like the patterns used to depict the Canary Cry.  It also looks quite a lot like the effect used to depict Count Vertigo’s powers, a fairly common Green Arrow villain. Could be something could be nothing.

We’ll find out when the series launches on May 20th.