"Black Lightning" Creator Tony Isabella & DC Comics Reconcile

[Robotman]

http://www.bleedingcool.com/2015/07/...ack-lightning/

maybe DC has big plans for Black Lightning.

[Iconic]

Now this is great news! I really hope they get it together with Jefferson Pierce. And if so, a name change couldn't hurt. Also, lets treat that new52 costume as if it never happened and lets move him beyond the nostalgia of Batman and the Outsiders.

[Starchild]

Now this is great news! I really hope they get it together with Jefferson Pierce. And if so, a name change couldn't hurt. It's not like BL is a household name. And treat that new52 costume as if it never happened.

Character>>Costume


And they should have done this a long time ago.

[bretmaverick2]

I am so glad to read those!

Geoff seems to have been the one from DC to reach out to Tony. Tony does deserve more from DC than he has gotten over the years. I'm glad to read that there is a TPB of Tony's original run is being collected. I hope sales are strong enough to get his second run collected as well.

Congratulations to Tony. Hopefully he will finally be fairly compensated. And thanks to Geoff and DC for finally reaching out and trying to set things right.

[skyvolt2000]

I am so glad to read those!

Geoff seems to have been the one from DC to reach out to Tony. Tony does deserve more from DC than he has gotten over the years. I'm glad to read that there is a TPB of Tony's original run is being collected. I hope sales are strong enough to get his second run collected as well.

Congratulations to Tony. Hopefully he will finally be fairly compensated. And thanks to Geoff and DC for finally reaching out and trying to set things right.

Is that by choice or by orders of higher up.

I'm thinking the higher ups ordered it. Makes no sense your first black hero with a series can't get a trade over petty behavior.

Maybe this will finally get him used more.

Now can we fix Vixen? Since no one has a grip on the black female market since Marvel doesn't have all of Storm's rights.

[Claude]

I am so glad to read those!

Geoff seems to have been the one from DC to reach out to Tony. Tony does deserve more from DC than he has gotten over the years. I'm glad to read that there is a TPB of Tony's original run is being collected. I hope sales are strong enough to get his second run collected as well.

Congratulations to Tony. Hopefully he will finally be fairly compensated. And thanks to Geoff and DC for finally reaching out and trying to set things right.

Say what you like about Johns The Writer - but Johns The Friendly Face Of DC seems to do a lot of good work with these kind of reconciliations.

[ABH]

Very happy to read that Geoff has spoken with Tony, and that there's a real desire to fix things there.

I'd love to see more of Black Lightning and hopefully a new Batman and the Outsiders team.

[WonderScott]

Yes to Black Lightning and Vixen in the Justice League. Or I'd like to see Jefferson Pierce have his own title and carve out a place for himself in Metropolis. Considering Gotham, DC needs to put more effort into building out Metropolis as a place other interesting vigilantes live/work/love. Black Lightning is a perfect candidate for that.

[kivatt]

Is Geoff Johns the hero DC needs?

[Robotman]

Now this is great news! I really hope they get it together with Jefferson Pierce. And if so, a name change couldn't hurt. Also, lets treat that new52 costume as if it never happened and lets move him beyond the nostalgia of Batman and the Outsiders.

i dont think they'll change his name but i kind of wish they would. he's inspired by Blacksploitaion films and his name definitely sounds like it could be a title to one of those movies. it sounds pretty outdated. it will always remind my of the hilarious SNL sketch where Sinbad portrayed Black Lightning and couldn't get into Superman's funeral. if they have big plans for the character in tv and movies i dont know how modern audiences will respond to a character called Black Lightning.
it also hearkens back to a sad time in comic's history where all black characters had the word Black in their code name. it works for Black Panther because he wears a black costume, panthers are actually black, and its connotations to the Black Panther Party.
but i guess Black Lightning could also be seen as a source of pride in one's ethnicity. that's not for me to decide. if they changed it to just Lightning that would sound pretty boring.
i dont think making his actual lightning black solves any problems. having a black hero who shoots black electricity could raise bigger questions.

[Frontier]

This is some great news, and good on Johns and DC for reaching out to Isabella to reconcile these issues .

I hope this means we can see more of Black Lightning in the future, both in comics and other media .

I wonder if part of the reason Johns reached out to him was because Johns wanted to use Black Lightning in Justice League or in something else?

[Triple J]

This is some great news, and good on Johns and DC for reaching out to Isabella to reconcile these issues .

I hope this means we can see more of Black Lightning in the future, both in comics and other media .

I wonder if part of the reason Johns reached out to him was because Johns wanted to use Black Lightning in Justice League or in something else?

And maybe in other media?

Let's hope so

[Starchild]

And maybe in other media?

Let's hope so

Those BL shorts on Cartoon Network are pretty awesome.

[K. Jones]

Not only does Tony Isabella deserve better here, and some total reconciliation ... but it wouldn't hurt DC to do what they're doing with Swamp Thing, Firestorm, Raven, and so on, especially in the case of Black Lightning, to go back to the source and get in touch with the original contextual intention, as well as some of the original vibe of the character. I'd see it as pretty win/win for the fans.

I like Black Lightning a lot, but frankly not that much has been done with him, particularly lately. As for iconic runs, the only thing I can really think of is when Mike Barr is writing him with the Outsiders, and then those few, rare non-Barr Outsiders runs that hew close to the Barr tone. Beyond his decent showing in the first half of Final Crisis, I actually can't think of any stories that stand out.

[FanboyStranger]

I'm thinking the higher ups ordered it. Makes no sense your first black hero with a series can't get a trade over petty behavior.

I wouldn't say it was petty behavior. It's been about a major creator rights issue for nearly 40 years, and Tony was one of the first who came out and fought for those rights. Much like Howard the Duck before Steve Gerber passed away, every time the character was used reopened old wounds. Hopefully, the matter can be definitively settled this time, and both Tony and DC will walk away happy. (And Trevor von Eeden, although his exact role in BL's creation is little harder to pin down.)

I'd really like to see a tpb of the '90s series. Eddy Newell was a tremendously underappreciated artist-- his stuff was maginficent, but so few people saw it.