Black Lightning
Black Lightning is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character, created by writer Jenny Blake Isabella with artist Trevor Von Eeden, first appeared in Black Lightning #1, during the Bronze Age of Comic Books. Although his precise origin story has varied over the years, he is generally depicted as a metahuman superhero who uses the ability to generate and control electricity to defend his community - and the world - as Black Lightning. Although not the first black superhero to be featured in DC Comics stories, Black Lightning was DC's first African-American superhero to headline his own series.
In his earliest stories, Black Lightning was depicted as a schoolteacher from the crime-ridden Suicide Slum area of Metropolis who acquires electrical superpowers from a technologically advanced power belt that he put to use to clean up crime in his neighborhood. Over time, Pierce establishes himself as a successful superhero in the DC Universe, and later stories depict him as having "internalized" the belt's powers as a result of his latent metagene. Later retellings of Black Lightning's origins simplified his story by depicting him as a metahuman with the inborn ability to manipulate and generate electricity. The character later went on to father two superhero daughters, Thunder and Lightning, and work closely alongside Batman as a founding member of the Outsiders superhero team.
DC originally commissioned Isabella to create its first black character following on from Isabella's successful work for Marvel Comics with Luke Cage. However, only 11 issues of the series were published before DC ran into financial trouble in 1978 which led them to cut back the majority of their titles. The character went on instead to be featured prominently in books like Justice League of America in DC's new slimmed-down offering of titles, exposing him to more readers, with the character being remembered for providing critical perspective on established superheroes like Batman and Superman. Early elements of the character were controversial, and later removed or toned down. For example, in early stories, he wore an afro wig and spoke in an exaggerated Harlem jive vernacular to disguise his secret identity.
For many years, Black Lightning did not feature in media adaptations of DC Comics stories, with the similar character Black Vulcan being created for DC's Super Friends cartoon in the 1970s to avoid the series making royalty payments to Isabella. Nevertheless, Black Lightning was clearly influential on other comic book writers, and "whether directly or indirectly," likely established the recognized trope of black superheroes commonly exhibit electricity-based superpowers, including later original characters such as Static. The character has been adapted into various media, including animated television series, video games, and comic strips. Cress Williams portrays Black Lightning in a self-titled series and the Arrowverse series The Flash and Legends of Tomorrow. Black Lightning had proven a popular character for DC and was ranked 85th overall on IGNs "Top 100 Comic Books Heroes" list in 2011.
Creation
In her blog, Isabella wrote that the character's background as a teacher at his former high school was inspired by the sitcom Welcome Back, Kotter. The superhero name "Black Lightning" originated from a Wonder Woman cover displayed on Julius Schwartz's wall, in which she asks another superhero to "stop this black lightning before it splits that building in two". Isabella liked the reference to lightning and wrote: "The words 'black lightning' sounded cool to me in the era when so many movies included 'black' in their titles, so I decided that's what I would name my creation."Publication history
The original candidate for DC Comics' first headlining black superhero was a character called the Black Bomber, a white racist who would turn into a black superhero under stress. Comics historian Don Markstein later described the character as "an insult to practically everybody with any point of view at all". When the editor who had approved the Black Bomber left the company before the character had seen print, Jenny Blake Isabella was asked to salvage the character. Isabella convinced editors to instead use her Black Lightning character, which she had been developing for some time.Isabella wrote the first 10 issues of Black Lightning ; Trevor Von Eeden designed the character's original costume, and drew the first 11 issues. Only one issue scripted by O'Neil came out before the series was canceled in 1978 as part of a general large-scale pruning of the company's superhero titles known as the DC Implosion. Issue #12 was published in Cancelled Comic Cavalcade and World's Finest Comics #260.
Black Lightning made a number of guest appearances in various titles over the next few years, including a string of issues of World's Finest Comics written by O'Neil, then shifted to Detective Comics and a two-part story in Justice League of America in which he declined an offer of membership. In 1983, with his powers restored, he regularly appeared again as a member of Batman's spinoff superhero team, the Outsiders. When The Outsiders ended, he returned to making occasional guest appearances.
In 1995, a new Black Lightning series began with art by Eddy Newell and again written by Jenny Blake Isabella, who was fired after the eighth issue and replaced with Australian writer Dave de Vries. The series was canceled five issues after Isabella left the title, the decision having been made before these issues had seen print. Isabella said she believes the editor replaced her with a newer writer to consolidate his position in the company.
A "Black Lightning: Year One" six-issue limited series, written by Jen Van Meter and illustrated by Cully Hamner saw a bi-weekly release in 2009, and was nominated for two Glyph Awards in 2010.
As part of the New 52, a revamped version of Black Lightning appeared in DC Universe Presents that was paired with the Blue Devil.
Fictional character biography
Year One
A gold medal-winning Olympic decathlete, Jefferson Michael Pierce returned to his old neighborhood in the Southside section of the city of Metropolis with his wife Lynn Stewart and his daughter Anissa to become the principal of Garfield High School. Southside, as it was once known, was where his father—renowned journalist Alvin Pierce—had been murdered. Guilt over this event was a factor in his decision to leave the city of Metropolis. Suicide Slum was being torn apart by a local organized criminal gang called the 100, shady corporations, and crooked local politicians like Tobias Whale. A family friend and tailor, Peter Gambi, had taught a much younger Jefferson how to suppress his inborn metahuman abilities so that he would not accidentally hurt any of the people he cared about. Upon his return, Gambi suggested to Jefferson that he should use his powers to help the neighborhood, and refers him to a plaque with the paraphrased Milo Sweetman quote "Justice, like lightning, should ever appear to some men hope, to other men fear". Appalled by the public murder of his student Earl Clifford, Pierce tried to intervene on behalf of the schoolchildren but quickly learned that the 100 objected violently to any interference. Pierce adopts the costumed identity "Black Lightning" where he had the costume, mask, and wig made by Gambi.Years later, he would tell fellow African-American superhero Mister Terrific that he chose the name Black Lightning because he "was the only one of us around" at the time, and he "wanted to make sure everyone knew who they were dealing with."
Outsiders
After his own series was cancelled, Black Lightning lost his electrical powers, but continued fighting without them. The loss eventually turned out to be psychosomatic, a symptom of a crisis of confidence resulting from the accidental death of a female bystander named Trina Shelton during an altercation between Black Lightning and some gun-wielding thugs. Batman, wanting to recruit him to rescue Lucius Fox in Markovia, helped him regain his powers; this eventually led him to join Batman's team, the Outsiders. During his time with the Outsiders, a group of villains called the Masters of Disaster captured Black Lightning at the behest of the parents of Trina Shelton to avenge the death of their daughter; however, upon learning that he still regretted what happened and was willing to be executed by them, they risked their lives to save him. In Invasion!, the Dominators detonated a Gene-Bomb that wreaked havoc with anyone possessing the metagene by making them lose control of their powers. After the breakup of the Outsiders, Black Lightning moved to Brick City to continue his solo career.Secretary of Education
When Lex Luthor was elected President of the United States in 2000, he appointed Jefferson Pierce as Secretary of Education, with Pierce accepting as he concluded that he could do more good working within the system than outside it. He resigned amidst controversy over his "worst-kept secret in Washington" identity as Black Lightning and his alleged inadvertent killing of a criminally-minded corporate CEO, for which President Pete Ross then pardoned him.Making frequent guest appearances in several DC series, Pierce has appeared in Green Arrow. Pierce helped the Green Arrow track down Dr. Light in the Green Arrow "Heading into the Light" story arc. He also appeared in the new Outsiders, of which his daughter, Anissa, is a member. He came to fight the new Sabbac and help his daughter alongside Captain Marvel Jr. and the Outsiders. He had on an outfit that mixed his second outfit with the colors of the first. After teaming up with the Outsiders, incoming President Pete Ross asked him to resign as Secretary of Education, which he did.
At some point prior to his resignation, Pierce used his pull in Washington to deny the gangster Holocaust a permit to build a casino on Paris Island in Dakota. This would come back to haunt Pierce sometime later when the enraged Holocaust attacked him while he was giving the graduation speech at Ernest Hemingway High School.