It’s been a few years since Black Lightning had his own title, but the character returns with a new solo series from writer Brandon Thomas and artist Fico Ossio and it sees the hero, much as the rest of the heroes in the DC Universe following Absolute Power, dealing with not only the impact of his own personal experiences during Amanda Waller’s. machinations, but also a change in powers — not for himself necessarily, but for others around him. With the metahuman landscape changed, Jefferson Pierce finds himself leading the charge on a new outreach initiative to help those with their powers, but as is the case with almost all things Black Lightning, it’s not only a family affair but one that hits a little close to home when it comes to his own daughters, Thunder and Lightning. The net result is a kick off issue that feels both fresh and familiar for fans of the character while opening up a wider mystery about what is coming for the community-minded hero.
Black Lightning #1 opens with not only something of a recap of the basic events of Waller’s campaign against heroes but also reveals how what happened the night Amanda Waller won continues to impact Jefferson now that things have more or less righted themselves. Speaking with his ex-wife Lynn, Jefferson continues to struggle with the events of that night, particularly that he was at some point powerless to protect his daughters in the fight. It’s a moment that haunts Jefferson, but also appears to be driving him as well when it comes to the metahuman outreach initiative which we see him throw himself into along with his daughter, Jen, aka Lightning. The duo soon comes to the aid of a young man whose powers have manifested rapidly but even with their efforts, the story reveals something else. Everyone in the Pierce family is dealing with the fallout of what happened with Waller. Jefferson is perhaps overprotective, Jen is wanting to use her powers more, and as for Anissa/Thunder, she’s not even in Metropolis anymore, having gone to New Orleans and making very little contact with her family as a result. Soon enough, it’s revealed why. Anissa’s powers aren’t what they were before and Anissa has been hiding that from her family.
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What works best about most Black Lightning stories is its unique rooting in family and community, and Thomas does an excellent job of that with this issue. For Black Lightning, the issues of the community are personal, which is part of what makes him an effective hero and with his outreach efforts as well as his own continued concern over his family — as well as the young man they help, who happens to be a student at the school Jefferson serves as principal for — the story is very grounded in that. What is perhaps a little less clear in the issue is the social and cultural issues brewing in Metropolis’ suburbs between humans and metahumans. We get a glimpse of this when Black Lightning responds to an issue at the high school. The young metahuman is cornered by police who are really only escalating the situation, but we don’t really get much of a sense of just how significant or problematic this is at this particular point. After all, the arrival of Black Lightning seems to neutralize things effectively and quickly. It begs the question as to what the focus of the overall series is going to be — Jefferson’s family concerns or a larger, more social-based conflict. Not that the overall story going forward can’t have both — and given the reveal about Anissa at the end of the issue it seems like that is the direction things are going — but just in this first issue the direction doesn’t seem quite that clear.
In terms of the art in the issue, Ossio does a good job of making everything have an electric and kinetic feel, even when the page or panel isn’t especially action oriented. This in particular works very well considering that both Black Lightning and Thunder have energy-based powers and it certainly seems like several of the new metahumans popping up have energy-based powers as well. Between this and the way the story is presented, even with the denser moments setting up the mechanics of what is going on with the metahuman genes in this post-Waller situation, the story overall moves at a nice clip.
While Black Lightning #1 is a little light on the social and cultural aspects of the story, the issue leans into the strengths of the character overall. By centering the story and its mystery into the personal — specifically family — Black Lightning #1 creates a compelling story that not only resonates but helps further flesh out what the post-Absolute Power landscape looks like. It’s a solid read and it will be very interesting to see where things go from here.
Published by: DC Comics
On: November 13, 2024
Written by: Brandon Thomas
Art by: Fico Ossio
Colors by Ulises Arreola
Letters by Lucas Gattoni
Cover by Ossio & Arreola
