JLA#27: Why Black Canary = Awesome

I had to work late today and couldn't get to my local comic store. However, I came across the following scan when I perused Scans Daily. It's from JLA#27. Here, Black Canary is calling the Big 3 on their shenanigans, namely, holding secret meetings in their other-dimensional "room":

Say what you will about Dwayne McDuffie's handling of the JLA book, but he absolutely nails this scene, especially with Dinah. Since Canary became JLA chairman, we've seen the twin subplots of her continuing evolution as leader versus the continuing machinations of the Big 3. Mc Duffie's been building up to this conflict slowly, with little things like the Vixen secret (originated by prior scribe Brad Meltzer but advanced by McDuffie), Batman's pursuing the Joker against orders, and the establishment of the secret room. But in JLA#27, it comes to a head.

One of my favorite aspects of Dinah's personality is that, quite frankly, she doesn't take any guff, no matter who directs it at her. In part this has been a necessary skill, considering she lives with Ollie. But to see her call out the "Trinity" like this is really impressive. She deals with their actions sternly, but also with a great deal of maturity. She doesn't display a bruised ego like, say, Hal or Ollie might. Instead, she logically argues how their actions undermine the team.

It's obvious to anyone reading JLA that Dinah is almost 100% correct here. There can only be one leader, and she was the one elected. I say "almost 100% correct" because of the line where she mentioned the OMAC's and Max Lord and that Superman just let them happen. Considering all those Satellite League mindwipes that she just "let happen", Dinah may be throwing stones from a glass house here.

Nonetheless, this scene stands out in my mind as one of Dinah's best moments ever. And this is coming from someone who's read the entire Gail Simone BIRDS OF PREY run.