Why doesnt black lightning have a series?

[SmokeMonster]

He is pretty much the first black modern DC hero
Im pretty sure he came before Marvel´s Black Panther too

he was a professor, one of the founders of the Outsiders and then he was secretary of something working on lex luthor´s cabinet when he was president.
personally
I always thought that his own daughters were way more interesting than him, on top of being his most interesting aspect.

I don't know...Doesn't sound terribly appealing to me. What's unique or especially awesome about him that would sell books? What makes his story worth telling?

[Kuwagaton]

It's also possible that DC has not been given indication that there is sufficient demand for a book about Black Lightning to be financially feasible, relative to other projects they can put their limited resources towards.

Who demanded the Omega Men? Not that DC really does anything that we know to gather sufficient evidence on the what people would try.

If that series-- which is as good as comes-- didn't suceed, why expect a new one?

Because that was like 20 years ago?

I dunno...I'm not sure if that's fair to DC. When the nu52 started, the had Mr Terrific, Static, Batwing, and Voodoo. Now, those comics weren't all great, but it's not like they're afraid to publish more than PoC title at a time.

I think the only one of those I liked was Voodoo. Which is kinda weird, to consider her a PoC. The others didn't have good creative teams at all, imo. Legion Lost, with Dawnstar and Tyroc, was basically squandered for no reason.

"There can be only one" unfortunately applies to what we see from comic buyers.

Yikes.

Also did every person have an opportunity to buy or even read the book?

Remember not every book is sold in a comic book store-no matter how well reviewed, sells out or whatever. I have seen this happen with Archie books-all those good reviews and folks constantly asking for Afterlife, Sabrina and others-some stores won't sell them.

Yeah. I've asked for comic shops to get in books for me before and have been met with excuses, only to watch the title die shortly after.

Jefferson Pierce's superhero name is "Black Lightning" because he's a black guy with lightning powers. And there's potentially a lot of bad PR involved with launching a series like that.

It's not that big a deal. And they can always change it, wouldn't cause a lot of outrage there.

[ed2962]

It is fair to DC because we didn't see another solo minority lead book after that. You can't use that excuse when your competition is not. Even if there were just minis-IDW, Dynamite, Valiant & Marvel have had more than one book with a POC in the lead.

You can't keep tossing out one because you are scared. And that has been Dc's issue for the last few years. I don't need a BL solo series. 2 issue shot will be fine.

I wasn't excusing DC, just trying to point out that they're not as timid when it comes to diversity as some people think. Not that certain titles/characters don't have problems...

[ed2962]

Voodoo is supposed to be mixed race/creole I thought?

However, I did read an issue of the Scott Lobdell Wildcats where wrote her as a Latina.

[Sandy Hausler]

http://tonyisabella.blogspot.com/201...ing-facts.html

Blog post is more about sharing "creator" rights with artist Trevor Von Eeden , but he confirms that DC does(is supposed) to pay him royalties when the character is used.

Meaning he was not a work-for-hire creation.

No, that is not necessarily what it means. Work for Hire has to do with who owns the copyright. If DC owns the copyright, but entered into a contract with Isabella to give him back end incentive to work on the project, it is still work for hire. Except for creator owned characters where the company just prints the book or licensed characters like Tarzan and Star Trek, I don't know of any comics published by the big two that are not work for hire. (Siegel and Schuster had a valid argument with Superman -- the character was created by them long before they sold it to DC -- but let's say for the last 50 years everything has been work for hire,)

Sandy Hausler

[Sandy Hausler]

He is pretty much the first black modern DC hero
Im pretty sure he came before Marvel´s Black Panther too

No, Black Panther was before him. The Falcon and Luke Cage preceded him as well. Even John Stewart preceded him. He was the first DC black character to have his own book -- and it was pretty good, as I recall.

Sandy Hausler

[Sandy Hausler]

No, that is not necessarily what it means. Work for Hire has to do with who owns the copyright. If DC owns the copyright, but entered into a contract with Isabella to give him back end incentive to work on the project, it is still work for hire. Except for creator owned characters where the company just prints the book or licensed characters like Tarzan and Star Trek, I don't know of any comics published by the big two that are not work for hire. (Siegel and Schuster had a valid argument with Superman -- the character was created by them long before they sold it to DC -- but let's say for the last 50 years everything has been work for hire,)

Sandy Hausler

There might be an exception. Denny O'Neill created the character Richard Dragon for a novel he wrote. DC later published a book based on that novel. DC appears to have rights to the character, but whatever it's deal with Denny, with respect to that character, it's not work for hire.

Sandy Hausler

[Herowatcher]

Until DC starts making smarter decisions, IMO.

Black Lightning is a favorite of mine....I wonder if Mark Waid could handle him in a solo series?

[MajorHoy]

. . . It's also possible that DC has not been given indication that there is sufficient demand for a book about Black Lightning to be financially feasible, relative to other projects they can put their limited resources towards.

It would help if people read books that he was featured in. The DC Universe Presents book had an arc featuring Black Lightning and Blue Devil. It's issues didn't have a spike in sales.

I posted this elsewhere, but seems worth repeating here.

No. Black Lightning isn't popular enough to sustain his own comic book.

From the Top 300 Comic Books lists (which are based primarily on what dealers order from Diamond),
Oct. 2012 = 165th - DC UNIVERSE PRESENTS #13 - 14,405 copies
Nov. 2012 = 161st - DC UNIVERSE PRESENTS #14 - 13,537 copies
Dec. 2012 = 157th = DC UNIVERSE PRESENTS #15 - 12,561 copies
Jan. 2013 = 160th - DC UNIVERSE PRESENTS #16 - 12,001 copies

And, for the record, yes, I was buying his original series back when it came out in the late 1970s.

[Güicho]

No, that is not necessarily what it means. Work for Hire has to do with who owns the copyright. If DC owns the copyright, but entered into a contract with Isabella to give him back end incentive to work on the project, it is still work for hire. Except for creator owned characters where the company just prints the book or licensed characters like Tarzan and Star Trek, I don't know of any comics published by the big two that are not work for hire. (Siegel and Schuster had a valid argument with Superman -- the character was created by them long before they sold it to DC -- but let's say for the last 50 years everything has been work for hire,)

Sandy Hausler

So what you're saying is you don't really have any idea what your're talking about.
And (as per the link posted and others places he discusses it)) it is complex, but he does in fact have rights, to the character.

You said-

I don't think Tony Isabella has any rights to the character.

Sandy Hausler

[GlennSimpson]

Who demanded the Omega Men? Not that DC really does anything that we know to gather sufficient evidence on the what people would try.

Except that, as people have mentioned, there was a chance for Black Lightning to show is popularity a couple of years ago, in the DC Universe Presents series. This is Omega Men's chance.

If nobody buys Omega Men, then they will cancel it and move on to something else that hasn't been tried in a while.

They might come back to Black Lightning eventually.

[Don C]

Black lightning is awesome. He's powerful and interesting enough to get a shot at a solo series. Why can't get one? Or Atleast be the star of a team book?

There have been several Black Lightning solo series. I don't think any of them have gotten past issue 20. He just isn't popular enough to support an ongoing series.

[Kuwagaton]

Voodoo is supposed to be mixed race/creole I thought?

However, I did read an issue of the Scott Lobdell Wildcats where wrote her as a Latina.

Yeah, forever an asterisk by her status as a PoC.

Except that, as people have mentioned, there was a chance for Black Lightning to show is popularity a couple of years ago, in the DC Universe Presents series. This is Omega Men's chance.

If nobody buys Omega Men, then they will cancel it and move on to something else that hasn't been tried in a while.

They might come back to Black Lightning eventually.

Any character SHARING a single arc over a year into a dying anthology will fail to garner demand. If Marvel held off on continuing the story of Peter after Amazing Fantasy, he'd be a footnote.

Certainly, it's a little different than getting a book of his own launched and pushed as part of a new initiative.

[GlennSimpson]

Yeah, forever an asterisk by her status as a PoC.



Any character SHARING a single arc over a year into a dying anthology will fail to garner demand. If Marvel held off on continuing the story of Peter after Amazing Fantasy, he'd be a footnote.

Certainly, it's a little different than getting a book of his own launched and pushed as part of a new initiative.

Except Peter's story in Amazing Fantasy sold well enough to suggest he should get a solo book. It wasn't based on faith in the character, it was based on sales and feedback.

Black LIghtning's appearance in DC Universe Presents apparently did not sell high enough to give DC the same impression.

[Darth Kal-el]

Just as with a more recent example, Spider Gwen took marvel by surprise in an Edge of Spider Verse issue and quickly got her own book. Edge of the Spider Verse 2 is her Amazing Fantasy