Which of DC's Black Characters Has the Most Potential to Achieve Trinity Status?

[Gurz]

I believe Mr. Terrific has a good potential. His original costume is very cool. I like these metal balls flying around him. He's smart, his brains and flying metal balls around him, So much can be done with both.

[Koriand'r]

Those writers were specifically focused on civil rights. We're not in the civil rights era, so a Black Paragon shouldn't be pigeonholed to that. It takes away dimensions of the character by limiting them to race alone.

No they weren't beloved, and no it doesn't. If you actually read their books instead of making assumptions it may just change your point of view.

[SecretWarrior]

Well, it's only like two or three people from what I've seen.

Nah, it's been written about for decades. You just haven't been paying attention.

For a post nine years ago:

1. . . . doesn't have the word "Black" in his name like so many other Black superheroes. There are many great characters who have a stigma attached to them because their names are clearly based on their race. Black Lightning, Black Goliath, Black Samson, Black Hood II, Black Eagle, Black Racer, Black Spider, Blackwing, and The Black Musketeers. Seriously, do we really need the word "Black" in every Black hero's name. We can't tell that they're Black just by looking at them? Who in the list above, would anyone call their favorite hero? None of them. Even the super-cool Black Lightning is held back by his name. Cyborg doesn't have this problem.

https://comicvine.gamespot.com/cybor...570434/?page=1

From 2008:

There weren’t any black superheroes for nearly thirty years of the genre’s existence. Eventually, in the sixties, black heroes started appearing. And they were very creatively named! In the next few years, you see the appearance of such heroes as the Black Panther, Black Goliath (especially creative, as he was a black man who took on the powers and costume of the superhero Goliath), Black Vulcan, and Black Lightning… More on him in a moment.

To add insult to injury, many of these black superheroes were not only ridiculously named, but were basically just patently ridiculous. In the competition for Worst Superhero Ever, two serious contenders come from this first wave of black superheroes in the late sixties and early seventies:

In one corner, you have Jack Kirby’s Black Racer, a black guy in a ridiculously colorful costume who serves as a harbinger of death. (And yet he’s not a villain.) Oh, and did I mention he gets around on cosmic skis?

In the other corner, you have the inimitable Mal Duncan, who has the dubious honor of being one of the few superheroes I remember thinking was stupid when I was five. Mal was an inner-city teen who became a member of the Teen Titans, basically the League of Superhero Sidekicks. Mal, however, wasn’t a sidekick. He didn’t have any powers. He didn’t have any demonstrable abilities, for that matter. Moreover, he didn’t even have a costume or a secret identity. He was just the Teen Titans’ token black friend, basically. Eventually, they gave him a magic horn, and he became the incredible Hornblower. Worst name ever. One of the worst powers. And still not much of a costume.

http://leisurelyhistorian.witchcityd...-black-bomber/

Did you know Google allows you to set a range of years for your searches? Like you can limit it to posts from 2008-2009, for example?

There are so many examples of articles about this being written that I'm not going to waste my time posting all of them.

[SecretWarrior]

The name’s a bit of a stinker, yeah, but Black Lightning had some things to recommend him. Electrical powers are pretty impressive. He kept most of his adventures in his neighborhood– he gave back to the community. Moreover, dude was a teacher! How cool is a schoolteacher superhero?

Moreover, he was a lot better than the original idea the editors proposed, the Black Bomber. I’ll just quote Isabella on this one, he says it better than I could:

I will say that I created Black Lightning after convincing DC not to publish another “black” super-hero on which they had started work. The Black Bomber was a white bigot who, in times of stress, turned into a black super-hero. This was the result of chemical camouflage experiments he’d taken part in as a soldier in Vietnam. The object of these experiments was to allow our [white] troops to blend into the jungle.

In each of the two completed Black Bomber scripts, the white bigot risks his own life to save another person whom he can’t see clearly (in one case, a baby in a stroller) and then reacts in racial slur disgust when he discovers that he risked his life to save a black person. He wasn’t aware that he had two identities, but each identity had a girlfriend and the ladies were aware of the change. To add final insult, the Bomber’s costume was little more than a glorified basketball uniform.

DC had wanted me to take over writing the book with the third issue. I convinced them to eat the two scripts and let me start over. To paraphrase my arguments…

“Do you REALLY want DC’s first black super-hero to be a white bigot?”

Also, what was going on in DC's offices.

[Iconic]

Regardless of the blaxploitation beginnings, Jefferson Pierce’s codename has been addressed by his ability to manipulate literal “black lightning”. It’s done. They even showed it in the latest season of Young Justice.

Things are addressed to fix all characters at some point.
GL’s being weak against wood. Gone. (Parallax also)
Superman only leaping. Fixed. Now he flies.
Batman and guns. Boom. What guns?
Adjustments get made all the time. This ain’t no different.

[SecretWarrior]

No they weren't beloved, and no it doesn't. If you actually read their books instead of making assumptions it may just change your point of view.

I have read their books. I took AA History classes in college as a sociology double-major. "Black Paragon" refers to the role of DC's most prominent black exemplar.

[SecretWarrior]

Regardless of the blaxploitation beginnings, Jefferson Pierce’s codename has been addressed by his ability to manipulate literal “black lightning”. It’s done. They even showed it in the latest season of Young Justice.

Things are addressed to fix all characters at some point.
GL’s being weak against wood. Gone. (Parallax also)
Superman only leaping. Fixed. Now he flies.
Batman and guns. Boom. What guns?
Adjustments get made all the time. This ain’t no different.

He doesn't still produce black lightning. It was a solution that didn't stick. He has no in depth connection to magic, so it doesn't make sense anyway. It's an outdated name and always will be just like Yellow Claw. Giving him yellow claws doesn't solve the thing.

[SecretWarrior]

I believe Mr. Terrific has a good potential. His original costume is very cool. I like these metal balls flying around him. He's smart, his brains and flying metal balls around him, So much can be done with both.

Too much like Batman, their most profitable character. He wouldn't bring anything new to the Grouping and would end up taking commands like Cyborg did in the New52 to make Batman look relevant.

[Iconic]

He doesn't still produce black lightning. It was a solution that didn't stick. He has no in depth connection to magic, so it doesn't make sense anyway. It's an outdated name and always will be just like Yellow Claw. Giving him yellow claws doesn't solve the thing.

I literally just told you that they just used it in the latest season of Young Justice: Outsiders. Nothing to do with magic.

[Koriand'r]

I'm watching the cast of Black-Ish on GMA 3 right now and wondering what the show would be called if it's name were changed. Outdated as it may be, black was beautiful in the 70's and it still is today.

[SecretWarrior]

I'm watching the cast of Black-Ish on GMA 3 right now and wondering what the show would be called if it's name were changed. Outdated as it may be, black was beautiful in the 70's and it still is today.

Black-ish is specifically a commentary on upper middle-class blacks who deal with not fitting old stereotypes. Hence, black-ish. The company's most prominent black character shouldn't be a character limited from the outset to addressing racial issues, any more than (White) Superman or (White) Batman are.

[SecretWarrior]

[SecretWarrior]

I literally just told you that they just used it in the latest season of Young Justice: Outsiders. Nothing to do with magic.

Have you seen "black lightning" in nature? It's not a science-based power, which was hinted at in Black Lightning Year One. It's just never been outright called that because some writers just write him as a metahuman. DC can't even figure out why he should have black lightning other than trying to make up for a stupid name.

[Iconic]

It’s like we don’t realize how corny a name Batman is today. It’s just been burned in our consciousness so much that it doesn’t register. How corny would it be if a man got mauled by a radioactive dog, gained powers, dressed like a dog, and fought crime under the guise of “Dogman”. The Bark Bite.

Batman is no different. It would seem so lazy. Wonder Woman. Aquaman. We know you’re a man. Why mention it in your name? They’re just old sensibilities that people have grown accustomed to over decades.

[Korath]

My heart want to say Naomi. My guts, Black Lightning.

Why not both ?