Larry Lance

From Hey Kids Comics

Larry Lance
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Larry Lance with Black Canary. Art by Carmine Infantino.
Publication information
Publisher DC Comics
First appearance Flash Comics # 92
(February 1948)
Created by Robert Kanigher
Carmine Infantino
In-story information
Team affiliations (Larry)
Gotham PD
(Kurt)
Team 7
Supporting character of Black Canary
Notable aliases (Larry)
Detective Lance
(Kurt)
Agent Lance

Larry Lance is a DC Comics character, associated with the superheroine Black Canary, a detective who was a love interest and later husband to Black Canary. His first appearance was in Flash Comics #92 (February 1948), created by Carmine Infantino and Robert Kanigher. When the Black Canary was reimagined in the mid-1980s as two characters—a mother and daughter—Larry became the husband to the elder Black Canary and father to the younger superheroine.

In the CW series Arrow he is named Quinten Lance. In this series he proves a major obstacle for Oliver Queen/Arrow proving a very strong if not superior intellectual opponent to Oliver Queen. It is his primary goal to catch the vigilante and starts to doubt the force he works in as his superiors believe that the vigilante is needed in Starling City.

Fictional character biography[edit | edit source]

Larry Lance[edit | edit source]

Larry Lance's original appearances pertained to being a civilian love interest for Dinah Drake (Black Canary's alter ego), a male "damsel in distress", and occasionally as a crime fighting partner and capable detective to Black Canary; similar to Lois Lane to Superman or Steve Trevor to Wonder Woman. Larry and Dinah later married and had a daughter.[1]

In Justice League of America #73 (August 1969), Larry plays a larger role as he tends to Starman after the hero is wounded in a battle with a cosmic powered villain called Aquarius. After a universe spanning battle in Justice League of America #74 Larry sacrifices himself to save his wife from a blast of cosmic energy directed at her by Aquarius. After his funeral Black Canary decides to migrate from Earth-Two to Earth-One with the former universe reminding her too much of her lost husband.[2]

Post Crisis[edit | edit source]

The post-Crisis version of Larry Lance remains largely unchanged, with minor alterations such as now being the husband to the first Black Canary and father to the second. in Birds of Prey #66 (June 2004) it is revealed that Larry befriended Jim Gordon in the past, while working together on the Gotham police force. They were both growing concerned over the influence of Mafia figures on Gotham society, such as the Falcones and Bertinellis. This conversation happened at a society event which was interrupted by a serial killer later dubbed 'The Blonde Slasher', who left a victim for Larry and his wife to find. Many years later, Larry's daughter caught the man. It was the great-grandfather of Lian Harper, the unrelated child Larry's daughter was raising. [3]

File:Kurt Lance.png
Kurt Lance as a member of Team 7.

The New 52/Kurt Lance[edit | edit source]

Following DC's 2011 relaunch, Larry does not appear and is not alluded to, but in the new continuity, Black Canary is once again a singular heroine and is established as on the run from the law for the murder[4] of her husband, Kurt Lance. Meanwhile in Teen Titans #8 (June 2012) a member of Amanda Waller's task force known as Team 7 is revealed to be Kurt Lance, alive and well, working deep undercover.[5] Starting in Team 7 #1 (November 2012) the events before his "death" are detailed, working as a government operative for Team 7 alongside Steve Trevor, Deathstroke, and the Black Canary (then going by her maiden name, Dinah Drake).[6]

File:Quentin Lance.jpg
Quentin Lance in Arrow.

Other Media[edit | edit source]

Arrow[edit | edit source]

Detective Quentin Larry Lance appears in the television series Arrow, as a police detective who is determined to hunt down the main character for his vigilante activities and is the father of Laurel Lance and the ex-husband of Dinah Lance. Towards the end of Season 1 he realizes that the vigilante is truly trying to help the city and reluctantly starts working with him. Sadly this realization demoted him from detective to beat cop at the end of Season 1 and into Season 2 but he continues to seek assistance from the vigilante when he needs it.

References[edit | edit source]

  1. Beatty, Scott (2008). "Black Canary". In Dougall, Alastair. The DC Comics Encyclopedia. London: Dorling Kindersley. p. 50. ISBN 0-7566-4119-5. 
  2. Justice League of America #74 (September 1969)
  3. Birds of Prey #66=67 (June-July 2004)
  4. Birds of Prey #1 (November 2011)
  5. Teen Titans #8 (June 2012)
  6. Team 7 #1 (November 2012)