Black Lightning
45 years ago - Jefferson Pierce is born in Southside Metropolis, the son of renowned reporter Alvin Pierce.
38 years ago - 7-year-old Jefferson's father Alvin begins researching real estate developer Victor Swann and his plan of building an arena in Southside Metropolis.
31 years ago - 14-year-old Jefferson's father is gunned down in an assassination set up to look like a mugging by Victor Swann, who then disappears. His metagene is triggered by the trauma, and his father's friend Peter Gambi teaches him to suppress and control it.
28 years ago - 17-year-old Jefferson wins gold in the Olympics before going to college on a full athletic scholarship, studying education.
26 years ago - 19-year-old Jefferson first meets Lynn Stewart.
24 years ago - 21-year-old Jefferson wins gold in his second Olympics, graduates and becomes a teacher.
22 years ago - 23-year-old Jefferson marries Lynn Stewart when she graduates and begins law school. They have their first daughter Anissa Pierce.
20 years ago - 25-year-old Jefferson becomes a high school principal, establishing his reputation for turning around schools and communities.
15 years ago - 30-year-old Jefferson is given a grant by the Thomas Wayne Foundation to return to Southside Metropolis as the principal of Garfield High. When a student, Earl Clifford, is killed by the 100 for helping him, he begins using his powers at night to work against them, eventually using a costume made by his old friend Peter Gambi as Black Lightning. he breaks ties with Gambi when he discovers his role in his father's death. When Jefferson is told about the origin of the 100 and of Victor Swann by Talia al Ghul, he manages to defeat him, forgiving Gambi when he gives his life to protect his family. Jefferson begins his crusade against Tobias Whale, attacking his drug distribution network. Lynn Stewart takes Anissa Pierce & his newborn daughter Jennifer Pierce and moves back to Cleveland to keep the kids safe.
12 years ago - 33-year-old Jefferson's work against Tobias Whale leads to Lex Luthor withdrawing support from his organization and instead moving it to Bruno Manheim's Intergang.
11 years ago - 34-year-old Jefferson finally succeeds in sending Tobias Whale to prison.
10 years ago - 35-year-old Jefferson turns down Justice League membership. putting his career as Black Lightning behind him. Lynn Stewart moves back to Metropolis.
8 years ago - 37-year-old Jefferson resumes his career as Black Lightning when he is recruited by Batman into the Outsiders, despite Lynn Stewart's protests. His daughter Anissa Pierce manifests powers, and they make an agreement that she won't become a superhero until she finishes high school. Floyd Lawton turns himself in in exchange for his promise that he protect his daughter Zoe Torres.
7 years ago - 38-year-old Jefferson and Lynn Stewart are divorced, unable to stay married while he continues as Black Lightning.
6 years ago - 39-year-old Jefferson again retires as Black Lightning when the Outsiders are disbanded. His relationship with Lynn Stewart improves, but they choose to remain separated.
4 years ago - 41-year-old Jefferson accepts a posting by President Luthor's as Secretary of Education. His daughter Anissa Pierce, upon graduating high school and starting college, starts using her powers as Thunder. He tries to discourage her, but she loves it.
3 years ago - 42-year-old Jefferson's daughter Jennifer Pierce's metagene activates. She makes the same promise as her big sister Anissa Pierce to put off any superheroics until after she graduates college.
2 years ago - 43-year-old Jefferson assists in defeating Lex Luthor's presidency & joins the Justice League. He meets Virgil Hawkins & Richie Foley, who are able to help update his costume's technology.
1 year ago - 44-year-old Jefferson leaves the Justice League with Nathan Adam to begin a Justice League Task Force for the American government.
One of the best things about Black Lightning, beyond the fact that he was one of DC's earliest heroes of color, is the fact that he's a hero before he even puts on his costume. He's a school teacher and principal who dedicates his life to helping the kids in his area succeed, and the stories have always done a great job of putting that side of the character first. Almost everything else about him has changed over the years, but he's always, always been a former Olympic athlete and dedicated educator, whose entire motivation is completely centered on protecting the future of his community. That's just a cool character.
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Black Lightning's Comic HistoryBlack Lightning, DC's first completely original black superhero to headline his own self-titled series, showed up for the first time in Black Lightning #1 in 1977, the career-defining creation of series writer Tony Isabella. He was very different in his original incarnation; He had no superpowers at first. By the second issue, he started using electrical charges generated by an electromagnetic belt, but at first he was just a teacher and former Olympic athlete who chose to create a heroic identity to protect his city from the 100, a criminal organization, and their leader crime lord Tobias Whale. The Lightning theme of his heroic identity was just that; a theme. It was based on a poem he had written when he was younger.
While this series was being published, The ongoing animated series Superfriends looked to add a black character to its second season. Licensing agreements with Tony Isabella prevented Black Lighting from appearing, so instead they used "Black Vulcan", another lightning-wielding black person, who was... at least legally distinct? |
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What's notable about Black Vulcan is that he was much more liberal in his use of his powers... just like everyone on that show. When Black Lightning appeared next in 1983's Batman and the Outsiders, he was still more into punching people, but you started to see him use his electrical powers more often. After a small hiatus, when his second solo series started in 1995 he was WAY more into his electrical powers, with charges cascading off of him practically full time. This would later be retconned back into his origin, making him a metahuman with electrical powers the whole time.
There was a brief period here where we didn't see much of Jefferson until he turned up as president Lex Luthor's secretary of education. (part of the appeal of that story was that Luthor actually appeared to be doing a good job as president, selecting extremely qualified people for his cabinet) Eventually, Luthor's term as president ended when he was revealed to, surprise surprise, actually still be evil. This was followed by a new Justice League series where Jefferson finally took the place he had turned down back in his original run, and became a full-time Justice League member. During this new resurgence in popularity, we got an absolutely stellar six-issue miniseries in 2009; Black Lightning: Year One, by Jen van Meter. She just knocked it completely out of the park with her worldbuilding, creating a fantastic take on the world of Southside Metropolis and Jefferson's place in it, turning him into a modern-day folk hero. More than anything else, this is the character we really want to dig into. |
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Our Black Lightning StoryThere are some amazing elements that have been established both in his original comic and in Van Meter's year one story that we absolutely want to include. Just on the surface, it has some really classic legend-building sensibilities, as his family encourages him not to hide in the shadows, but to have a flashy, right in the public's eye identity that gives the people someone to rally around. Of course they also rally around Jefferson himself, which is a really great way to set him up as this towering figure of the community.
Beyond the implementation of his origin story, there is an interesting dichotomy to Jefferson in the fact that his career as Black Lightning is never exactly the focus of his life; he's always more focused on being an educator... but then at the same time, he would also go on to join the Outsiders, and to continue his heroic career even as it costs him his marriage. This is a man of great principle and responsibility, but he's also decidedly human. He clearly loves being a superhero, but he can see that really enacting true change requires more than just superheroics. There are very few jobs more heroic than teacher, which really makes Jefferson one of the most instantly heroic characters in all of DC. And then, of course, he's also one of the only active superheroes with adult children... |
Black Lightning, Super-DadAnissa Pierce first appeared in Judd Winnick's 2003 Outsiders series, introducing the idea that Black Lightning actually had adult children with superpowers of their own. Her little sister, Jennifer, showed up later in the pages of the Justice Society of America. She was actually a retooled version of a character from Kingdom Come... immediately making her less interesting. Taken alone, you could make the argument that neither character really NEEDS to be in our continuity...
But then you have these DC Nation shorts, which are freaking adorable. However the characters of Anissa and Jennifer were invented originally, they totally work with Jefferson and help establish him as a veteran hero with a great history, so we'll be coming up with a way to bring his daughters into the timeline. |
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Black Lightning's CostumeWithout meaning to, we've built three separate eras into Jefferson's career, which match up nicely with the three different costumes he's worn over the years. First, we have his early years, as told in his original series and in the 2009 Year One series. This is his original light blue costume with the afro wig built into its cowl. While originally this costume had its signature deep V, It's hard to argue with the redesign from the Year One series that made it a jacket over a black t-shirt.
The black, red, and yellow costume he wore in his brief 1995 series is one of my favorites, even though he didn't wear it much. It's a bit 90's and edgy, but this works for Jefferson during his tenure with the Outsiders, when his relationship with his wife was under strain. After his time in the Luthor White House, when Black Lightning saw a resurgence in popularity and joined the Justice League, He started wearing what was basically a black jumpsuit with blue lightning details on his shoulders. This costume would look kind of basic if he was a new superhero, but you can actually see how a more mature, veteran hero would wear something like that. His focus isn't on the costume, but on what he does when he wears it. |
Black Lightning's FutureAs we close out our timeline, we've recently had Black Lightning on our new Hall of Justice based Justice League. We wanted this new team to feel immediately correct, and that means characters with history and pedigree, and Jefferson brings that in spades.
We didn't keep him there, however. Primarily because Jefferson is very well remembered for turning down membership in the Justice League. He would absolutely step up when asked, but generally speaking he's a person who focuses his attention on the sort of heroics that don't require a colorful costume. That's why he actually works so well as a founding member of the new government-based JL Task Force. His time as a member of the cabinet certainly establishes him as someone the government would work with, but more importantly he wouldn't allow this organization to simply be a tool of the government or military. He would work to ensure that it was truly a force for the betterment of people everywhere. It's a great role for one of DC's most iconic heroes. |
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