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. Isabella wrote the first 10 issues of Black Lightning before handing it over to Dennis O'Neil, and Trevor Von Eeden designed the character's original costume and drew the first 11 issues. Isabella convinced editors to instead use his Black Lightning character, which he had been developing for some time. When the editor who had approved the Black Bomber left the company before the character had seen print, Tony Isabella (whose previous writing experience included Luke Cage, a black Marvel Comics superhero with his own title) was asked to salvage the character. Comics historian Don Markstein later described the character as "an insult to practically everybody with any point of view at all". 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. Publication history Black Lighting made his debut on Black Lightning #1 (April 1977). The title character was portrayed by Cress Williams, who also went on to make appearances in the related TV shows The Flash and Legends of Tomorrow. The character and his stories were adapted for live-action Black Lightning TV series, which ran from 2018 to 2022. The character has been adapted into various media, including animated television series, video games, and comic strips. For example, in early stories, he wore an Afro wig and spoke in an exaggerated Harlem jive vernacular to disguise that he was in fact the highly educated schoolteacher, Jefferson Pierce.īlack Lightning has proven a popular character for DC and was ranked 85th overall on IGN's "Top 100 Comic Books Heroes" list in 2011. Early elements of the character were controversial, and later removed or toned down. This proved to be a blessing in disguise however, as the character went on instead to feature 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 was remembered for providing critical perspective on established superheroes like Batman and Superman. 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 later goes on to father two superhero daughters, Thunder and Lightning, and work closely alongside Batman as a founding member of the Outsiders superhero team.ĭC originally commissioned Isabella to create its first black character following on from Isabella's successful work for Marvel Comics with Luke Cage. Later retellings of Black Lightning's origins simplify his story by depicting him as a metahuman with the inborn ability to manipulate and generate electricity. 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. In his earliest stories, Black Lightning is 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 puts to use to clean up crime in his neighborhood. Although not the first black superhero to feature in DC Comics stories, Black Lightning was DC's first African-American superhero to headline his own series. 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. The character, created by writer Tony Isabella with artist Trevor Von Eeden, first appeared in Black Lightning #1 (April 1977), during the Bronze Age of Comic Books.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |