Did Black Lightning completely miss his chance to become an A-list character?

[The S0/\/\@7ic Si/\/\[]Dl370n]

I came across this in another thread:

Does a character like Hal Jordan get to be an A-Lister because he's in the Justice League?

No, it's because he was in the Justice League in the 60's-70s and on Superfriends.

I'm a HUGE fan of Isabella, though it's kind of worrying that he may have ended up completely screwing his own creation.

[Double 0]

I personally don't think any black DC character is in a position to be A-List, or will even get the chance to. And if it wasn't for the Netflix deal, I'd say the same for Marvel's (which is even worse because of Storm for instance should have been A-List a long time ago.)

[Starchild]

It's never too late for a character to reach A-list status. In 10 years, BL can be on par with Green Lantern. You never know. All it takes is the right person with the right vision.

[FishboneX]

I came across this in another thread:

I'm a HUGE fan of Isabella, though it's kind of worrying that he may have ended up completely screwing his own creation.

I remember there was a push right before the new 52 to establish him in the JL, as a highly respected and powerful hero. But now hes a teen, which isnt so bad, but he has none of the kinda-stature they were using with him before the reboot.

[The S0/\/\@7ic Si/\/\[]Dl370n]

I personally don't think any black DC character is in a position to be A-List, or will even get the chance to. And if it wasn't for the Netflix deal, I'd say the same for Marvel's (which is even worse because of Storm for instance should have been A-List a long time ago.)

As of right now, I'd say your probably right. But there might be a possibility that BL could have done just that as a result of the Superfriends era.

(Painfully) missed boat, I guess...

I remember there was a push right before the new 52 to establish him in the JL, as a highly respected and powerful hero. But now hes a teen, which isnt so bad, but he has none of the kinda-stature they were using with him before the reboot.

I hate that he's also lost his daughters in the process.

[MajorHoy]

I unfortunately don't think he ever had a chance . . . unless he was written exactly as any DC white character who only happened to have darker skin, or went about electrocuting everybody indiscriminately. Not enough people seem to be willing to invest in minority lead characters.

[The Odd Man]

His current and pre-52 costumes have been horrendous, that doesn't help. I'm partial to the original.

[Midnight_v]

What does the A-list even mean? Isn't Cyborg justice league and that kinda makes him A-list automatically right?

I mean what are the criteria?

[Carabas]

What does the A-list even mean? Isn't Cyborg justice league and that kinda makes him A-list automatically right?

I mean what are the criteria?

For me, the A-list criterium is that people who have never read a comic in their life (and probably never will) are aware of the character in a positive manner (as opposed to all the Aquaman fish jokes).

[Diana X Kal]

For me, the A-list criterium is that people who have never read a comic in their life (and probably never will) are aware of the character in a positive manner (as opposed to all the Aquaman fish jokes).

Even in Aquaman's case, I'm pretty sure he's still an A-list character.

[Kid A]

What does the A-list even mean? Isn't Cyborg justice league and that kinda makes him A-list automatically right?

I mean what are the criteria?

I dunno about "A-List" but Cyborg already has a lot of recognizability because of the Teen Titans cartoon.

[Carabas]

Even in Aquaman's case, I'm pretty sure he's still an A-list character.

In comics fandom? Sure. Outside of it? He's a joke.

[Desh]

I think there is something inherently wrong with him having the name he does. It's dated and weird, and I think it would present a problem with him today. It's not that I think people would make an issue because of it, but I think it would take people out of the story momentarily, get them to laugh, have difficulty taking him seriously, or ask "Why does he have to be called 'Black something' just because he's Black," and so on.

To be an A-lister, I think a character would need to be recognized as generally being a great superhero, not a "Black superhero," and Black Lightning, especially with his name, is too much of a "Black superhero" to me. Those are just my thoughts, though. I never often cared too much for heroes whose powers, titles, or abilities are rooted in their ethnicity somehow, like Katana and even Vixen. It's not that I outright dislike them, I just don't find myself connecting much with them. Instead of seeming like superheroes like Superman or Batman, they come across as ethnic superheroes, which is kinda' different to me.

[Midnight_v]

To me I feel like alot of people know "static shock" I guess it was a popular cartoon.

Edit: Another thing thats going to keep him out is BLACK ADAM.

Black lightning won't be realistically a household name this generation, if the ROCK actually goes through and makes a good movie.

Black Adam is a "Black-ish" character who has "lightning" powers, and is played by a guy with a huge fan base just... just naturally for many reasons.

[Robotman]

I think there is something inherently wrong with him having the name he does. It's dated and weird, and I think it would present a problem with him today. It's not that I think people would make an issue because of it, but I think it would take people out of the story momentarily, get them to laugh, have difficulty taking him seriously, or ask "Why does he have to be called 'Black something' just because he's Black," and so on.

Yeah I think his name does pose a problem. I've seen some fans view it as a point of pride. But mostly it's seen as an outdated and sad reminder of a rather unfortunate time when most black characters always had the word BLACK in their name. He was originally a take on blacksploitation films which also dates the character. Maybe they could change his name to Lightning. But then that's kind of boring.
I think he's also seen as a bit of "joke character" amongst the mainstream. Similar to Aquman's situation where comic book fans know he's great but the general public not so much. My first introduction to the character was in the hilarious Saturday Night Live sketch which featured the comedian Sinbad as Black Lightning. It was supposed to be Superman's funeral after the Death of Superman storyline and Black Lightning couldn't get in because nobody knew who the hell he was. As the sketch ended you can see BL in the background stealing shrimp from the snack table.
It's appearances like this and his doppelgänger Black Vulcan flying around in his speedo that don't help the character get taken seriously.