Black Lightning

Created by Tony Isabella & Trevor Von Eeden

Thanks to contributor John Wells

In his eighteenth year, Jefferson Michael Pierce participated in the Olympics and believed that life could never get any better than this. At twenty-two, he came away from the Decathalon with a gold medal. Surely, this must have been his fifteen minutes of fame. And then came his twenty-seventh year. And his twenty-ninth. At thirty-five, well, as a child, he’d vowed to escape his Suicide Slum roots but, in his wildest dreams, Jeff Pierce had never imagined he part of the Presidential Cabinet. Of course, he’d never imagined he’d be Black Lightning, either.

Born and raised in Metropolis’ Suicide Slum, Jeff had lost his father when he was only three, the result of a shooting by an unknown gunman at the grocery store where he worked. “Mom did the best she could to raise me by herself,” he recalled, “but it was pretty rough until Peter (Gambi) opened up his (tailor) shop underneath our apartment. Within a year, Peter was more like a member of the family than a neighbor … and it was good to see Mom smile again. Peter made her an equal partner in his shop. The two of them saw me through high school — two Olympics — and a teaching degree from Kent State.”

Jeff ended up teaching at a high school in New Carthage but returned to Metropolis for his mother’s funeral. In his time away, Jeff had married a young woman named Lynn Stewart. He and Lynn were together for a short time but bore a daughter, Anissa. Jeff considered his future career as Black Lightning a necessary sacrifice to help provide for Anissa the freedom to live a normal (i.e., non-metahuman) life. But at the age of eleven, the girl also manifested metahuman powers. She discovered that she was able to alter the density (and thus, the weight) of her body. Regardless, Anissa conceded to her parents' wishes and pursued a pre-med degree instead of costumed adventuring. Jeff was so protective of his daughter that he never mentioned her to anyone. When Jeff and Lynn divorced, Anissa went to live with her mother. (Outsiders v.3 #1)

“Lynn left because she thought I couldn’t get angry enough — at least not at all the terrible things in the world. She said all I ever really cared about was getting out of this crummy neighborhood and never looking back. Maybe she was right. Then.” (Secret Origins #26)

Black Lightning v.1 #1 (1977)

Upon his return to Metropolis, he noticed that nothing had changed in Suicide Slum. Pierce decided it was time to make a difference and, indeed, back at his old alma mater of Garfield High School, Jeff quickly made an impression when he kicked a drug pusher off the premises and followed suit by humilating three members of the criminal organization known as the 100. In retaliation, the gunmen killed Earl Clifford, one of Pierce’s students, and left his corpse in the GHS gymnasium. A distraught Jeff related the tragedy to Peter Gambi, who urged him to fight back in a persona that wouldn’t invite counter-attacks on his students. Presenting him with a predominantly blue costume, Peter confessed:

"I guess I had this in mind from the minute I received your letter saying you were coming home. Put it on, Jefferson. These streets — the kids — they need a symbol — and you’re it!

"Justice, like lightning should ever appear to some men hope; And to other men fear.” It was “a poem written long ago based on words by Thomas Randolph. A poem that expressed the dual nature of justice. A poem whose meaning had been lost … until then. Gambi had remembered the poem. His skills brought it to life anew."

Equipped with a force-field belt that enabled him to generate lighting bolts, Black Lightning was born. while in costume, Pierce played to the era’s stereotypical perception of blacks by affecting a jive-talking speech pattern and wearing a mask/wig combination that gave him a large afro, simple devices that deflected suspicion from a well-educated school-teacher.

Black Lightning carved out a niche in Metropolis, ultimately gaining the trust of high-profile figures like Superman, Inspector William Henderson and reporter Jimmy Olsen. Along the way, he defeated several super-powered underlings of the100, from Merlyn (Black Lightning #2) to the Cyclotronic Man (#4-5) to Syonide (#6-7), as well as the gang’s gargantuan albino leader, Tobias Whale. (#1-8) There would be retaliation for Black Lightning’s actions but not against Jeff Pierce’s students. Rather, it was Peter Gambi who paid the price, leaping in front of a gun-blast meant for Black Lightning. Stripped of his force-field belt, the hero seemed destined for a similar fate but, in his fury, Black Lightning generated its effects from within his own body. In some unknown manner, he’d internalized the electrical power. The confrontation with the 100 had also exposed Peter’s darkest secret. The support and love that he’d showered on Jeff and Mrs. Pierce had been a kind of penance. He had been the man who’d killed Jeff’s father. (#7)

A letter from Peter was delivered to the grieving young man at Gambi’s funeral, posthumously promising an explanation for his actions. “You know, I’ve been staying awake nights trying to figure out who Peter was before he came into my life,” Jeff said. “I came up blank. I don’t know what crimes were in his past — or even how the belt he designed gave me super-powers. But he gave his life to give me a dream — and dreams are hard to find these days.” Tearing the unopened letter to shreds, the young man let the scraps fall over the broken Earth. “Rest in peace, Peter.” (#8)

During this time, Jeff’s ex-wife Lynn was hired as a teacher at Garfield High (#3) and eventually figured out that Jeff was Black Lightning: “Do you honestly think a mask and a wig can fool a woman who’s seen you in your birthday suit ?" (#9)

Alliances

Dissin' the JLA!
Justice League of America #173 (1979)

Lightning next met a man who would become one of his biggest allies in crimefighting — the Batman. Together they investigated a series of student abductions (which included Dick Grayson) and met Superman and Black Canary before the case had closed. This led him to meet Green Arrow as well; these two acknowleged a kindred spirit. (World's Finest #256-261)

It seemed that Black Lightning was ready to hit the big leagues. After meeting Green Arrow, his new friend nominated Pierce for membership in the Justice League, but Lightning rejected the honor. (JLofA #173-174) The JLA respected his decision and B.L. soon teamed up with Superman to solve the murder of a girl named Trina Shelton, who was shot and killed by a stray bullet during an altercation between Lightning and some muggers. (DC Comics Presents #16)

Perhaps from psychosomatic reasons stemming from guilt, Lightning’s powers disappeared after Shelton's death. He returned to teaching (Detective #490-491, 494, 495) but still crossed paths again with the Dark Knight who admitted "I am impressed." (Brave & Bold #163)

Batman and the Outsiders

The Batman kept Pierce in mind when he also grew frustrated with the Justice League. Hoping to rescue his friend Lucius Fox from war-torn Markovia, the Dark Knight recruited Jeff to infiltrate the country, posing as Fox’s brother. Inevitably, he was forced to become Black Lightning and ended up being captured alongside Batman. Batman was convinced that the loss of Lightning's powers was psychological, and so he began to verbally prod at Jeff and brought his electrical powers back to life once more. (Batman and the Outsdiers #1-2)

The next four years saw a new confidence envelop Black Lightning, as he forged new friendships with the Outsiders, found a teaching post at Gotham City’s Edison High (BATO #4, 6), gained a bit of closure in Trina Shelton’s death after a confrontation with her parents (BATO #9-10), revisited the Olympics (BATO #14-15) and even had an amicable reunion with Lynn Stewart, (Outsiders v.1 #4, 9-14), now the president of a public relations firm.

from the cover of Black Lightning v.2 #1 (1995)

After several years the Outsiders disband (Outsiders #28) and Jeff settled into a teaching job in yet another city. (Secret Origins #26) His powers went berserk upon the detonation of the Dominator’s Gene-bomb (Invasion! #3) and Jeff could no longer deny that "the power was part of me — there was no doubting it any longer. It had been given to me for a reason." Reflecting on his newfound goals, he explained that he’d moved to the so-called Brick City, a neighborhood in his father’s hometown. “I knew I couldn’t save the world — but I could save one neighborhood — and maybe even the future." (Black Lightning v.2 #5)

The ongoing menace of a gang known as the Royal Family figured into a school shooting that left Jeff critically wounded and one of his best friends, teacher Walter Kasko, dead. (#4) During Jeff’s physical and emotional recovery, he reflected on his career as Black Lightning and the deaths of so many along the way. (#5)

Despite the Outsiders' falling out with Batman, Jeff renewed his ties with him to help clear him of charges that he was a serial killer. (#11-13) After the Outsiders, Black Lightning kept a low profile, but continued to appear occasionally alongside his friends and allies. (Day of Judgment #4) When seven "heavy hitters" reformed the Justice League, Black Lightning became a Reserve member. (JLA #27) His efforts during the Mageddon crisis, in particular, were critical as he taxed his abilities like never before, attempting “to tap the electrical field of the planet.” (#41)

Increased Visibility

When Lex Luthor was elected President of the United States, Pierce chose to retire temporarily as Black Lightning and accepted an appointment as President Lex Luthor's Secretary of Education. This surprised many of his former allies but in truth, Pierce saw this as an opportunity to keep tabs on Luthor. (Superman #166, Superman: President Lex)

In the meantime, his now-22-year-old daughter, Anissa graduated in pre-med at the medical school. She had done this only to satisfy her parents and the very next day, she set out to fight crime, much to the disapproval of her father who had always pursued his own adventures so that his daughter would not have to. She drew the attention of the former Titans member Arsenal, who after the demise of the Titans sought to assemble a new team of Outsiders. She accepted his offer, reasoning that her father might feel better about her crimefighting if she was in the company of others. (Outsiders v.3 #1)

DC Direct Action figure (2007)

Black Lightning came out of retirement to help the Outsiders battle Sabbac. (Outsiders v.3 #9) Follwoing this battle, he begged Anissa to give up adventuring, but to no avail. If anything, she was inspired by her father's heroics. When Jefferson returned to the White House, Luthor's successor, President Pete Ross asked for Pierce's resignation as Secretary of Education because the government feared the political implications of having a known super-hero on staff. Jeff complied. (#10)

Black Lightning's next year would be one of his most tumultuous. He began by reuniting with his Outsiders friend, Metamorpho to clean up an old Outsiders case involving the "human bomb " called Fuse. Katana also joined them on this case. (Ousiders v.3 #26-27)

His affiliation with Green Arrow would be his most pivotal. First, his neice, Joanna, was killed after becoming a lawyer in one of Arrow's cases. (Green Arrow #27-30) At the conclusion of this, Black Lightning was responsible for the death of Joanna's killer, Martin Somers — or so he believed. In truth, Deathstroke had seen the whole incident and made the killing blow himself, but he allowed Lightning to believe he'd caused the death. (Ousiders v.3 #45)

Jeff blamed Ollie in part for Joanna's death (the two of them had been intimate) but they were soon forced into action together again when attacked by Dr. Light. Light was acting in retaliaion to the Justice League's erasing his memories years before. (Identity Crisis #2, 6) Jefferson then revealed to Ollie that the Department of Defense had evidence of the JLA's habit of mindwiping villains (which he discovered while serving on Luthor's cabinet).

Dr. Light managed to surprise the heroes and critically injured Green Arrow's young protege, Mia. Jeff was forced to attempt to jump start her heart with his powers. Though Mia was saved, Oliver's home, Star City was not. Dr. Light detonated bomb that took out an entire city block. (Green Arrow #54-59) The ensuing chaos ultimately led to Queen's election to the office of Mayor of Star City.

Following this and the sacrifice of the Superman of Earth-2 and others in the "Crisis," Jefferson Pierce turned himself in for killing Martin Somers. His friends and family tried unsuccessrfully to dissuade him, but he turned himself over to Checkmate, who put him in Iron Heights Prison under the identity of "Derek Cooper." Meanwhile, Nightwing was approached by the Red Hood, who had evidence to acquit Black Lightning. The Hood had eavesdropped on a conversation between Luthor and Deathstroke, who admitted that he'd killed Somers just as Pierce's lightning struck too. Jeff's daughter Anissa hurried to bring her father the good news, but Pierce wouldn't believe it, and remained in prison. (Ousiders v.3 #44-45)

Anissa implored the Outsiders to free her father from prison, which they initially refused. It wasn't long before other inmates discovered the truth about "Cooper" and put a hit on Black Lightning. The gang leader called Skeet charged the young Captain Boomerang to kill him "Cooper." The Outsiders learned of this plot and finally agreed to get him out. (#46)

Pierce was also eventually convinced that he was innocent of his "charges," and realized the danger of being in Iron Heights. Boomerang had become his cellmate, but young Owen Mercer was not his father's son — he could not bring himself to kill Pierce and became his ally instead. Just as they plotted to escape, Nightwing sent the Outsiders into the prison. Things quickly got out of hand and Warden Wolfe responded by using his metahuman muscle-control powers to bring the prisoners under conrol. In his anger, his powers caused extreme pain and the Outsider called Shift conjures a gas to counteract the effects. Wolfe responded by increasing his control and killed dozens of guards and prisoners. Shift protected the Outsiders, Jeff and Boomerang from the effect. In this pivotal moment, the Outsiders decided to use this as a ploy to fake their deaths. They sent off a decoy craft which was destroyed. Jeff resumed his life while the world believed that Thunder and the others had died. (Outsiders v.3 Annual #1)

Joining the "Jive Turkeys" of America

Black Lightning renewed his career as a costumed adventuror and eventually met up with Hawkgirl on a case in St. Roch, Louisiana. He followed a trail from Metropolis about the recent super-villain activity involving the android body of the Red Tornado. (Justice League of America v.2 #1) Lightning and Hawkgirl brought one of the villains, Trident, to the Batcave, to show Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman evidence that the Star Conqueror had returned. (#3) He aided these heroes in saving the Red Tornado from exploitation by Professor Ivo and Solomon Grundy. (#4-6)

All the heroes participating in this case agreed to form a new Justice League, of which Black Lightning was a founding member. Ironically, it was Lightning who was sent to invite Batman to officially join the group. (#7)

Publishing History

Black Lightning, as related by Tony Isabella in The Comics Buyer's Guide #921 (1991) and #1093 (1994), had originated in another writer’s proposal, a character who, in Isabella’s words, was “a white bigot in his secret identity.” In 1976, Paul Levitz approached Tony about salvaging the character but Isabella found the two completed scripts to be so horrendously misguided that he suggested an entirely new hero. Isabella and penciller Trevor Von Eedon’s Black Lightning became one of DC’s major launches in the first months of 1977 and the first two issues (plus #6) set up most of the back story.

Isabella was an advocate of the shared universe of DC comics and peppered Black Lightning with characters and locales that originated elsewhere. Gambi, for instance, was the brother of 1960s criminal tailor Paul Gambi, who had debuted in The Flash #141 and was named after fan Paul Gambaccini. Suicide Slum had originated in Joe Simon and Jack Kirby’s 1940s “Newsboy Legion” series while New Carthage was the locale for Dick Grayson’s Hudson University. Inspector Henderson had been a staple of the Superman radio and television shows of the 1940s and 1950s while Officer Jim Corrigan (no relation to the Spectre) had appeared in a few early 1970s Jimmy Olsen episodes.

DC’s line-wide purge of its weaker titles in the summer of 1978 claimed Black Lightning as one of its victims. It ended in June with #11, Denny O’Neil’s debut as scripter. Within six months, Black Lightning returned for his most-widely circulated appearance to date — a guest-spot in the nationally-distributed World's Greatest Super-Heroes comic strip, by Marty Pasko, George Tuska and Vince Colletta. In comic books, O’Neil continued the series in early 1979; his take on Black Lightning continued with stories in #259 and 260 that had originally been intended for Black Lightning #13 and 12, respectively, and closed with #261.

Who's Who #16 (1992) hinted that a new Black Lightning series was in the offing with an entry that included a never-seen-again costume illustrated by Mark Bright. The book wouldn’t come to fruition until Tony Isabella made a triumphant return to his creation in 1995, now paired with artist Eddy Newell. The official new costume included a red and black jacket and lighting coursing between the hero’s eyes, eliminating the need for a mask. Isabella and Newell’s reality-based series hoped to emphasize genuine political and social concerns even as metahuman threats such as Painkiller (Black Lightning #2-4) presented themselves.

Other Versions

In a noble effort to add diversity to the whitebread Super Friends cartoon, Hanna Barbera created three non-Caucasion heroes: Apache Chief, Samurai and Black Vulcan. For years, many wondered why they chose to create an African-American character with Lightning powers instead of simply using Black Lightning. Wizard magazine got the full scoop on Black Vulcan, including commentary from Tony Isabella. In a nutshell, if Black Lightning was used on the Super Friends, Isabella would have to be paid royalties. Hanna Barbera didn't want to do that and so they created a copy. No origin or background was ever given for this character.

There's also the young African-American hero, Static, who first appeared in comics then went on to his own TV cartoon. And Juice, a similar character who appeared on Justice League Unlimited. This character was part of an homage to the above-mentioned trio of "Affirmative Action" heroes from the Super Friends. They appeared in season three in the episode "Ultimatum."

Black Lightning was also the name of the horse owned by Johnny Thunder, one of DC's old West characters. The horse first appeared in All-American Comics #100 (August 1948).

Black Lightning can generate, conduct, sense and absorb and electrical energy. Initially these powers were derived from hardware, but were somehow internalized. After the detonation of the Dominators' "gene bomb," Black Lightning's powers were boosted.

He has also trained with the Batman to come up with new ways of employing electromagnetic power. He recently demonstrated the ability to create a shield with his powers.

Amazons Attack! #1-2  Brave & Bold #163 DC Comics Presents #16 DCU Holiday Bash II Detective #490-491  Justice League of America #173 Secret Origins v.2 #26 Superman v.2 #166  Superman/Batman #3  Superman: Lex 2000  Villains United: Infinite Crisis Special #1   World's Finest #256-259

Black Lightning vol. 1 , 11 issues (1977-78)   Batman & the Outsiders, #1-32 (1983-86)   Adventures of the Outsiders, #33-38 (1986)   Black Lightning vol. 2, 13 issues (1995-96)  Outsiders v.1, 28 issues (1985-88)  Justice League of America v.2, current (2007-)

Thunder  Dark Mark > Black Lightning  Wizard: Lightning Rod The Comic Treadmill: Black Lightning #1-5 Fanzing: Black Lightning

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