Black Lightning Appreciation 2021

[9th.]

anyway, it also got me thinking about the potential that could come from the union of Black Lightning and Katana as characters and how they might influence each other:


which made me start thinking of how I might structure the Lightning Family idea I had. so...ya know...gots to see it through my boy, here's what I came up with:

core/literal family:
Black Lightning
Katana
Anissa/Thunder
Jennifer/Lightning
Peter Gambi - Gambi is one of the few Alfred-types that I think feels natural and the TV show makes a compelling case for Gambi as a mainstay of the family in any expanded capacity.


this take on Freeland, Georgia would adopt elements of Akashic Valley from the Painkiller back-door pilot (maybe make that an area in Freeland); blending Western (Suicide Slum/Metropolis, Los Vegas, and Atlanta/Georgia) and Eastern (primarily Japan, partially Hong Kong) aestethics. i still would want Freeland to be the metahuman capital of the America, so the Black Lightning family will focus largely on (but not limited to) Metahuman crime in their city, but now with elements of Japanese mythology and mysticism as well as seinen due to Katana’s influence. the roster of the Lightning family would be Metahumans with elemental based abilities (since Jeff has been described as an elemental from time to time) or magical/mystical. the Bat family are a collective of ninja detectives, the Arrow family are hunters, trackers and survivalists, the Super family are the powerhouse family, the Flash family are the speedsters and metahumans related to the speedforce: so my Black Lightning family would be the family that specializes in metahumans and natural forces (elementals and magic).

1. Grace Choi (meta/amazonian mythology) I feel Grace is Anissa's most prominent love interest and so should be her Lois Lane/Iris West but more like a partnership than a damsel. so I think it's important that she stays a part of the families inner circle once she and Anissa connect. my Anissa and Jennifer are on the younger side (mid and late teens respectively) so I would have Grace be the same and have her be both a metahuman AND and amazon; her strength and stats being amazonian and her enhanced senses being meta. to further push the Japanese influence, I would retcon her background to be Chinese and a descendant of separate tribe of Japanese amazons instead of the tribe that Artemis was from. Outside of Duke, who is trained by both, i would want Katana and Black Lightning to have separate proteges in the side and Grace would be one of Katana's protege

2. Duke Thomas (element: sun and shadow) - I love that Brandon Thomas picked up the ball from Bryan Hill's Outsiders run and deepened the connection between Black Lightning and Duke on as a protege-mentor relationship; and made Duke a protege to Katana as well. I seems like DC is more interested in Duke as an Outsider and with Jeff than they do with Duke as a Batfamily member, so I would pouch Duke from the Batfamily a lil and make him more of a Lightning Family member with strong ties to Gotham. it would boost Duke's profile by giving him some distance from the oversaturated Gotham collective, gives DC an out when they leave him out (which happens a lot) and it would bolsters the roster and profile of the Lightning family by having someone with a connection to Gotham. I would move Duke, his parents, and his cousin Jay out of Gotham and base them in Freeland, and port over the Gnomon stuff too.

3. Isaiah Crockett (element: heat and fire) post-New 52 I don't think they have properly reintroduced Hotspot before killing him in Heroes in Crisis, so I tweak his origin to make him a Freeland native and a pure Meta rather than half-alien. How I would square that would be by separateing the Pyre identity from Holocaust (from when he was in the DC universe), make him his own character and Isaiah's dad, named Leonard Crockett, then retcon him as a former villain/rival of Black Lightning who reformed. have Leonard go to the Tattoo man or Tobias Whale to bring Isaiah back to life and after he comes back he moves away from Hotspot and going by Joto again (because I'm African and I like African names). Have him start out with his own hero operation in Freeland, with his Dad as support, but over time he becomes part of the Lightning family in a similar capacity to like Steel or Batwing.

4. Bushido (weapons master) - this is an older character but I would reintroduce Ryuku Orsono and have him be Katana’s protege. he was a super interesting character that was done dirty by Johns but his abilities are pretty cool (various weapons that are imbued with the soul of the warrior who wielded them, whose spirits guide him in battle) and would complements Katana very well.

5. Jakeem Thunder (thunderbolt wish magic) another protege for Black Lightning, similar to Duke. I picked Jakeem because with him now honing his own thunderbolt magic, I feel he needs more connections outside the JSA that'll allow him to grow in autonomy and I felt he'd fit nicely in with Black Lightning since he's always brushed up against magic. now with Katana in the mix, his magic affinity woukd fit more comfortably in with the niche of the larger family. I still also would retcon him as being related to Lynn and John somehow, maybe a cousin or something, because I do like the Stewart-Pierce connection and I want those ties to run deep.

6. Cyclone/Maxine Hunkel/Red Tornado (element: wind and air) I believe Cyclone and Jeff crossed paths on the All-Star Squadron and I don't think she's been used much in the DC since New 52, so I would reintroduce her as part of the Lightning family as an ally in protecting Freeland (like Azrael or Batwing); alternatively, they could go with the android Red Tornado. by introducing either Cyclone or Red Tornado, that would tie the Red Tornado legacy to the Black Lightning mythos and strengthen the elemental angle for the Lightning family since Red Tornado (I think Maxine too) is straight-up a true blue wind elemental.

7. Amazing-Man (element: various) one of the most slept on and forgotten black heroes at DC and I feel his legacy deserves a revival. I would have the Everett family have ties to Freeland, like they were one of first metahumans from the "Green Light experiments" (I'd do like the show and have it be DC's version of the Tuskegee study and the Crack era) in Freeland; explaining why Freeland has a high concentration of metahuman civilizations. I would link the Everett family to the Pierce family by having them both descend from the Green Light experiments and, keeping with the elemental theme, his powers allow him take on the powers of pretty much any element making him a powerhouse within the family dynamic.

family-adjacent
1. Henderson - Jefferson's Commissioner Gordon
2. Lynn Stewart/Stewart-Pierce - I maintain that no matter what Lynn should be John Stewart's sister so she can always keep the door open to GLxBL crossovers. I feel like if we are going to go all-in on expanding the Lightning family and their mythology then they should double down on the Stewart-Pierce connection, it just depends on if we're rebooting or not. if we're building the family as it is now, have Lynn be his ex-wife and mother of Anissa and Jennifer; but if we're rebooting then see my previous workaround and still keep her around as a bridge to John Stewart.
3. Painkiller - following the TV show, former villain but eventual ally to the family and love interest for Jennifer. he'll be Freeland's Red Hood, he's the rogue antihero of the collective.
4. LaLa/The Tattoo Man - just like the show but eventually rises up to be a Tobias style kingpin but he's more of a neutral entity who tries to keep the streets in check. occasionally works with Black Lightning as one of the few moral OGs in Freeland but does bump heads with Jeff. Painkiller is his right hand.
5. Blue Devil - Jefferson's partner early in his career and his partner when it comes to magical threats.
6. The remaining Outsiders - I would make The Outsiders more of Jefferson's team and part of his legacy. I would have Metamorpho, Geo-force and the other Outsiders regularly pop up and work with Black Lightning. all the Outsiders come to Jeff's aid, as a team or individually, when need be and are close to the Lightning family.

I hate you because now I actually want to read this and I know it's not going to be made anytime soon.

[LukeCagefan]

Black Lightning was really cool in Dark Nights of Steel #2

[Rac7d*]

Black Lightning was really cool in Dark Nights of Steel #2

They made him an idiot

[LukeCagefan]

They made him an idiot

What was idiotic? I liked his interaction with his son.

[4sake Baned]

What was idiotic? I liked his interaction with his son

Same here I would definitely did a few things differently with him like naming him AJ (Alvin Jacob/Jeff) & giving him flight/levitation along with water manipulation