Black Lightning! Jefferson Pierce Appreciation Thread 2020

[Shamrock Holmes]

I'd rather he be aged up but not "too old for this sh*t" like the poster above me said. Only because I want his daughters to be of age in universe. Thunder should be 19 at the very least and Lightning could be in the YJ/TT age group. I also want Lynn to be explored more in the comics due to her possible relation to John but that would require another solo. I want to see John and Jefferson react to each other if that is indeed his sister.

It was a specifically stated part of Comic!Jennifer's origin that she and her father had an agreement that she wouldn't go into "the business" until she'd graduated college. In fact her debut panel Thunder specifically gives her age as 22.

Thunder.jpg.

Likewise, Jeff's stated ten-year tenure as a teacher at debut establishes a lower boundary of 32 at that point, Anissa was apparently 9ish, Jenn appears to have been born a year or so later. She has a 16-year old friend who "just got her drivers license" around the time of her debut as Lightning, but we don't know that she's quite that old (relative ages and flashback suggest around 14), the only definative point stated during JSA was that she was "underage".

IMO, the first two data points are also roughly compatible with the CW! version, although I believe Jenn is at least a couple of years closer in age to Anissa.

[Hypestyle]

how often has black lightning teamed up with Steel? Just wondering.

[chief12d]

I'd imagine the best compromise would be to have his daughters be adolescent when/if they reintroduce them, like Teen Titan age or a little younger (Young Justice age at oldest); that sweet spot Batman's been in with Damian. However I do like the idea of watching Jefferson develop into the older "dad" iteration of his hero career more than I care about Thunder and Lightning being reintroduced; I'd like to see him meeting Lynn, moving to Freeland, having career defining adventures, just really build a mythos around him. I think there needs to be a way to develop characters over an extended period of time in DC so we could have Jeff grow into his fatherhood, as it stands at DC you can only exclude them entirely or suddenly introduce them at the age where they can be useful.

That sounds good, but I'd prefer that they were a bit older like 9th said. Anissa as 20-21 and Jennifer as 16-17, so they're a bit more mature and perhaps less of a drain on the story. If they're children then you gotta deal with the whole growing into their powers thing that we've already seen on the show which takes away panel time that could be used on Jefferson himself. I wouldn't necessarily be opposed to seeing a version of that arc in the comics but I think it'd be much more interesting to see Jefferson with his family dynamic fully established with all the freedom that comes with that. Though I guess putting them with the Teen Titans has the same effect assuming they won't be appearing in both books simultaneously.

He also needs more formidable villains than the Whale, I suggest Dr. Polaris.

Agreed, though I wouldn't want DC to make a villain from outside his mythos a central enemy for him to fight. And I'd say this is one of the main things preventing BL from being a major hero at DC. His emphasis on protecting the community puts an artificial limit on taking on bigger threats. It pigeonholes him into dealing with gang-related violence, which wouldn't be a big deal if he could switch it up with enemies that really test him and his world. Black Panther is in the middle of a space opera arc and Blade is fighting a global vampire infestation over at Marvel, so I think it's time BL be allowed to cut loose and take on higher stakes villains. The landscape for black characters is changing and I think his appeal is hurt if he's exclusively dealing with vaguely superpowered gangs. Not saying he needs to blow up planets or anything like that lol but there's benefit to attaching high concept, heavy sci-fi ideas to the character.

[OpaqueGiraffe17]

Do you guys think Black Lightning will be aged up to his Pre-FP status as the new timeline approaches?
I always found it weird DC kept him younger at the same time his show aired. I always liked him more experienced.

Jeff is usually either a school principal or an accomplished teacher. So even when he doesn’t have Jennifer and Anissa around, I’ve kinda always saw him as an older guy. I mean I’m sure there are loads of teachers who are well under 30. But I don’t know, it’s not really a proffession people tend to associate with youth.

[Frontier]

Jeff is usually either a school principal or an accomplished teacher. So even when he doesn’t have Jennifer and Anissa around, I’ve kinda always saw him as an older guy. I mean I’m sure there are loads of teachers who are well under 30. But I don’t know, it’s not really a proffession people tend to associate with youth.

I mean, I had pretty young teachers, but maybe I just thought they looked young .

[docmidnite]

I mean, I had pretty young teachers, but maybe I just thought they looked young .

Considering 3 of my cousins are high school teachers in their mid-20's and my 28 year old sister teaches law in college I'm sure some of the teachers you grew up with were young (which was my experience growing up as well)

[lemonpeace]

what are the essential reads for Black Lightning?

[Frontier]

what are the essential reads for Black Lightning?

Black Lightning Year One and the original Tony Isabella books for one, I'd imagine.

[lemonpeace]

Dexter Soy & Veronica Gandini are definitely on my shortlist of art teams I'd want for a Black Lightning solo. I wish they could work with Jeff in a format/title where they could focus in and really get crazy with him. I think Black Lightning has outgrown working under anyone else, if he's gonna be in an Outsiders book it should be HIS book; not Batman's. DC's doing him a disservice by forcing Batman to loom over this book.

[Frontier]

Dexter Soy & Veronica Gandini are definitely on my shortlist of art teams I'd want for a Black Lightning solo. I wish they could work with Jeff in a format/title where they could focus in and really get crazy with him. I 5hink Black Lightning has outgrown working under anyone else, if he's gonna be in an Outsiders book or should be HIS book; not Batman's. DC's doing him a disservice by forcing Batman to loom over this book.

Frankly, I'm confused as to who Hill thinks this book is about.

[king81992]

Frankly, I'm confused as to who Hill thinks this book is about.

I thought that Isabella was over reacting when he said that the current title wouldn't be good for Black Lightning, but now I see that he had a point.

Since when did Jefferson need powerups from Batman? For the alleged leader of the team, he sure defers to Batman a lot.

[warzon]

Unfortunately I stopped reading this book 5 issue's ago I can't do 20 story arc's I start to loose instrested especially if it's just a whole lot of dialogue and no action.and Black Lightning does need his own Ongoing title their's not 1 BLACK HEROE with their own Ongoing in DC right now.

[Iconic]

Issue #16 sets the record straight on a few things with Jeff. He gets a lot of love in this one. Batman has nothing to do with what’s going down. A BL showcase.

[lemonpeace]

if DC were building a "Black Lightning Family" like the Flash Family or the Batfamily who would you recruit? Thunder and Lightning are obviously two staples as his literal family but who would you roll over to expand Jefferson's world?

look at it like your populating the city of Freeland, Georgia with characters, like it's his Gotham or Central City. including Black Lightning, Thunder, and Lightning, you need at least 7 characters minimum.

[Frontier]

if DC were building a "Black Lightning Family" like the Flash Family or the Batfamily who would you recruit? Thunder and Lightning are obviously two staples as his literal family but who would you roll over to expand Jefferson's world?

look at it like your populating the city of Freeland, Georgia with characters, like it's his Gotham or Central City. including Black Lightning, Thunder, and Lightning, you need at least 7 characters minimum.

I'd do what the TV show did and add Grace Choi (through Anissa) and the rest of the Outsiders like Geo-Force, Halo, Katana, Looker, etc.