What do you think?
Rate this book
Black Lightning (Collected Editions) #0
Black Lightning: Year One
Black Lightning begins! Get to know Jefferson Pierce, a.k.a. Black Lightning, before his starring turn in the CW’s Black Lightning TV show!
It’s been years since Olympic gold medalist Jefferson Pierce ran from a past plagued by his father’s murder and a superhuman power he couldn’t understand. In that time, decay has transformed his home, Metropolis’ Southside, into the notorious “Suicide Slum.”
Accompanied by his wife and daughter, Pierce returns to make a difference in his old community as the new principal of Garfield High School. But there’s a storm of lawlessness sweeping Southside, fueled by corrupt politician Tobias Whale, the mysterious Swann, and his criminal organization, the One Hundred.
Strengthened by his family, old friends and a Man of Steel’s support, Jefferson Pierce must now harness the electrical powers he once feared to become a beacon of hope…and strike down crime as Black Lightning!
Writer Jen Van Meter (JSA CLASSIFIED, Hopeless Savages) and artist Cully Hamner (BATMAN AND THE SIGNAL, RED) recharge the origin of DC Comics' most electrifying Justice Leaguer in this classic take! Collects Black Lightning: Year One #1-6.
It’s been years since Olympic gold medalist Jefferson Pierce ran from a past plagued by his father’s murder and a superhuman power he couldn’t understand. In that time, decay has transformed his home, Metropolis’ Southside, into the notorious “Suicide Slum.”
Accompanied by his wife and daughter, Pierce returns to make a difference in his old community as the new principal of Garfield High School. But there’s a storm of lawlessness sweeping Southside, fueled by corrupt politician Tobias Whale, the mysterious Swann, and his criminal organization, the One Hundred.
Strengthened by his family, old friends and a Man of Steel’s support, Jefferson Pierce must now harness the electrical powers he once feared to become a beacon of hope…and strike down crime as Black Lightning!
Writer Jen Van Meter (JSA CLASSIFIED, Hopeless Savages) and artist Cully Hamner (BATMAN AND THE SIGNAL, RED) recharge the origin of DC Comics' most electrifying Justice Leaguer in this classic take! Collects Black Lightning: Year One #1-6.
143 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 5, 2009
8 people are currently reading
138 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 39 reviews
April 14, 2015
I'm struggling to come up with titles that fit this week's narrow theme.
"Look in my eyes, I got the power,
Villains run from the static shower
Superhero static shock,
Superhero static shock."
When my son was little, one of his favorite cartoons was Static Shock. It was the DC Animated Universe’s kiddie look at Black Lightning as a teenager, when he was first adjusting to his powers. It was a lot of fun and the theme song kind of sticks in your head.
"Superhero static shock,
Superhero static shock."
“Daddy, the cartoon’s over. Please stop singing the song.”
*sigh*
Jefferson Pierce (aka Black Lightning) isn’t one of DC’s first tier heroes, but here he gets a solid and entertaining treatment. After being away from the south side of Metropolis for years due to tragic circumstances, Jeff Pierce is back in town to revitalize the high school and neighborhood. His ability to use his electrical powers has been and still is problematic, plus performance issues. Yikes! His neighborhood has been taken over by the criminal organization “The 100” and it’s gone to seed.
Right now, you’re probably saying to yourself, “It’s Metropolis. Where the hell is Superman?” "The 100" use magic and Superman is magic’s bitch. So, he’s no help.
The story has a decent flow to it as Black Lightning struggles with his past, his current power issues and his effort to do right by his family, friends and students.
”Criminals, get twisted,
This superhero gifted,
Superhero static shock,
Superhero static shock.”
“Quit it, Dad. The review’s over.”
"Look in my eyes, I got the power,
Villains run from the static shower
Superhero static shock,
Superhero static shock."
When my son was little, one of his favorite cartoons was Static Shock. It was the DC Animated Universe’s kiddie look at Black Lightning as a teenager, when he was first adjusting to his powers. It was a lot of fun and the theme song kind of sticks in your head.
"Superhero static shock,
Superhero static shock."
“Daddy, the cartoon’s over. Please stop singing the song.”
*sigh*
Jefferson Pierce (aka Black Lightning) isn’t one of DC’s first tier heroes, but here he gets a solid and entertaining treatment. After being away from the south side of Metropolis for years due to tragic circumstances, Jeff Pierce is back in town to revitalize the high school and neighborhood. His ability to use his electrical powers has been and still is problematic, plus performance issues. Yikes! His neighborhood has been taken over by the criminal organization “The 100” and it’s gone to seed.
Right now, you’re probably saying to yourself, “It’s Metropolis. Where the hell is Superman?” "The 100" use magic and Superman is magic’s bitch. So, he’s no help.
The story has a decent flow to it as Black Lightning struggles with his past, his current power issues and his effort to do right by his family, friends and students.
”Criminals, get twisted,
This superhero gifted,
Superhero static shock,
Superhero static shock.”
“Quit it, Dad. The review’s over.”
June 15, 2019
An untold early tale of Black Lightning as he moves back to Suicide Slum in Metropolis with his wife and young daughter. If you've seen the show, this has a lot of similarities in the basic setup although this is firmly set in the DCU with appearances from Clark Kent and Talia al Ghul. It's not a bad story but the writing was very choppy at times. I could barely follow the nonsense with the 100 now using magic and the lead guy was trying to create some ritual to (I think?) take over Black Lightning's body. That whole part of the story was very confusing. Cully Hammer's art is chunky and gritty. It's a good pairing for a street level character.
June 26, 2018
An okay read! So after watching and really enjoying the Black Lightning TV series, I thought I'd give some of the comics a read. So as the Year One title suggests, this book serves as a origin story for the character. Jefferson Pierce moves back home with his family to Southside in Metropolis, only to find it to be a crime ridden, corrupt place.
To start with what I liked, I did enjoy how dark and mature the story was, it sets the tone very well and shows even Metropolis with Superman guarding it, has its grey areas. I can also see where the CW got the inspiration for the show, as this book definitely shares similarities to it, even down to some of the set design that must have been taken straight from some of the comic pages! I also liked the reason they gave as to why Superman doesn't just swoop in and save the day, and end the book in 2 pages.
As for the bad, I wasn't too hot on the artwork; It is nice and clean in its coloring, but the overall look is not that great, but I guess it does suit the gritty tone of the book. The writing is mostly good, but some of the dialogue can feel choppy at times. I also didn't really enjoy the villain that much, his sections of the book were often the most boring to read sadly.
But overall this is a decent origin for the character!
To start with what I liked, I did enjoy how dark and mature the story was, it sets the tone very well and shows even Metropolis with Superman guarding it, has its grey areas. I can also see where the CW got the inspiration for the show, as this book definitely shares similarities to it, even down to some of the set design that must have been taken straight from some of the comic pages! I also liked the reason they gave as to why Superman doesn't just swoop in and save the day, and end the book in 2 pages.
As for the bad, I wasn't too hot on the artwork; It is nice and clean in its coloring, but the overall look is not that great, but I guess it does suit the gritty tone of the book. The writing is mostly good, but some of the dialogue can feel choppy at times. I also didn't really enjoy the villain that much, his sections of the book were often the most boring to read sadly.
But overall this is a decent origin for the character!
March 29, 2020
Turned out to be better than I had expected. Really liked Jefferson Pierce's character and his motivation. It is awesome how both the writer and artist have added cameos and references here and there to give this book a continuity with the main DCU.
The writing isn't all that great. There are parts where it is very sloppy and convoluted. If that weren't the case, we would've got a much better story.
The writing isn't all that great. There are parts where it is very sloppy and convoluted. If that weren't the case, we would've got a much better story.
January 21, 2018
I can't say why I bought this as I've never read Black Lightning books before. I've seen him turn up in the odd JLA story, but I've never read the stand-alone titles. Maybe it piqued my interest because of the upcoming TV show; I don't know.
What we get is a great story grounded in an urban ghetto, about a strong, principled, passionate and tireless crusader for justice. His stance is beautifully summed up in this paraphrase of a famous quote: "Justice, like lightning, should ever appear to some men Hope, to other men, Fear."
Which, if you think about it, could be Batman's theme.
But it ain't -- it's Black Lightning's. BL is a high-school teacher named Jefferson Pierce who has returned to his home in Metropolis, which has become known by the reassuring name of "Suicide Slum." And it's a pretty damn bad place. Gangs rule, violence is common, people are scared and thoroughly without hope. When Jefferson arrives at his school, he finds a student body who basically care about nothing, not even themselves.
He starts to turn this around and, inevitably, there is pushback. So Jefferson starts to pushback himself, reluctantly using powers he's tried hard to forget.
I liked this whole storyline. I would guess that a lot of people won't like it; they may see endemic problems being solved too easily, and I accept that. I've certainly never lived in that kind of slum environment, so I don't know.
But I saw it as a parable. There is an embodiment of evil behind all the violence, which is what BL ends up fighting -- sometimes aided by Superman. Because there is a locus to the violence, if you defeat that then everything's rosy, right? Well, possibly. The volume ends before we can find out the lasting effects of the story.
If I have one criticism, it's the framing device. Each story has a background narrator, and in each story, it's a different one. This sometimes makes it hard to follow the story, as you're trying to figure out who the character is, keep their narrative in focus from frame to frame, whilst following the main story. It's far from a fatal flaw, just a bit distracting. It's an interesting device, though.
Anyway, I enjoyed this immensely.
What we get is a great story grounded in an urban ghetto, about a strong, principled, passionate and tireless crusader for justice. His stance is beautifully summed up in this paraphrase of a famous quote: "Justice, like lightning, should ever appear to some men Hope, to other men, Fear."
Which, if you think about it, could be Batman's theme.
But it ain't -- it's Black Lightning's. BL is a high-school teacher named Jefferson Pierce who has returned to his home in Metropolis, which has become known by the reassuring name of "Suicide Slum." And it's a pretty damn bad place. Gangs rule, violence is common, people are scared and thoroughly without hope. When Jefferson arrives at his school, he finds a student body who basically care about nothing, not even themselves.
He starts to turn this around and, inevitably, there is pushback. So Jefferson starts to pushback himself, reluctantly using powers he's tried hard to forget.
I liked this whole storyline. I would guess that a lot of people won't like it; they may see endemic problems being solved too easily, and I accept that. I've certainly never lived in that kind of slum environment, so I don't know.
But I saw it as a parable. There is an embodiment of evil behind all the violence, which is what BL ends up fighting -- sometimes aided by Superman. Because there is a locus to the violence, if you defeat that then everything's rosy, right? Well, possibly. The volume ends before we can find out the lasting effects of the story.
If I have one criticism, it's the framing device. Each story has a background narrator, and in each story, it's a different one. This sometimes makes it hard to follow the story, as you're trying to figure out who the character is, keep their narrative in focus from frame to frame, whilst following the main story. It's far from a fatal flaw, just a bit distracting. It's an interesting device, though.
Anyway, I enjoyed this immensely.
March 19, 2024
Art by Cully Hamner really makes this appealing to me, though Jen Van Meter's script is just fine.
I'm interested in other storylines, in Tony Isabella's runs, but this one is a fine GN, done-in-one.
Your mileage may vary.
I'm interested in other storylines, in Tony Isabella's runs, but this one is a fine GN, done-in-one.
Your mileage may vary.
June 17, 2024
Issue #1
“Can’t let you have all the fun turning Southside around.”
Already I see the elements of a modern retelling of the original black lightning run. But now that we know who the character is and how much he has grown over the years, it allows for a lot more setup to occur than what was originally planned.
For example we already get to see that Pierce has a family and a daughter unlike in the original run, but it is still keeping those elements such as his relationship to Gambi and the black lightning motto of Justice. There are some things you just can’t take away, like Pierce’s Olympic gold medals.
And it also allows for a lot more structure when it comes to the setup of the 100 and Tobias Whale. And unfortunately as black lightning story in suicide slum usually starts, we already have a dead student who was just trying to help him.
Issue #2
THE WIG HELMET IS BACK!!! That suit Pierce gets at the end of this issue is so well done. Fully inspired by his original classic suit. But what makes it even more special to this story is how his entire family is fully aware of who he is, and fully accepting of him trying to go out into the community and change things as Black Lightning. That moment around the dinner table where he tries to admit to them what he has been doing and they stop him, acknowledge him, and set him up to continue was such a special moment. But really they should be giving him pointers on how to spray paint lighting bolts lol.
But Superman seems to get weaker when he approaches south side huh? I don’t remember that from the original run. Seems like a bit of a cop out. Especially because Clark Kent seems perfectly fine…
But I do have to say, I love it when Clark Kent, investigative journalist, just shows up working the job. Like for example in the Chronos comic, Clark is undercover randomly at a bar that chronos pops into and they have a nice convo. This comic does fit a bit better with it also taking place in metropolis though. And Clark evaluating the leaves headed, respectful, patient man that Jefferson is, was such a cool set of panels. I absolutely loved his impression of Pierce, and that teacher side of Pierce we got to walk through a day in the life of, as it was just so spot on.
Issue #3
As much as it’s worth I still absolutely love Gambi. Especially the aesthetic in this run. Gambi making Kevlar laced black lightning suits and black lighting gear in the back of his cracked and worn down tailor shop. No special underground bat cave. Just Gambi and his sewing machine. But we then get to that point of where a lot of Gambi’s devotion and help comes from. From his deep regret and admiration for Pierce’s father and the hand he had in his death. I do hope we get to see them come back together in this run, but this hard hitting moment has become such a standard in the BL mythos that I hope to see a full discussion fleshed out here.
But this issue did have some odd moments, where it felt the story was jumping around without too many bridges in the story for a nice progression. The biggest example is with us going from one panel with Pierce meeting with Henderson for the first time and Henderson laying out his cards, and then immediately cutting to a scene where Jeff and Lynn are being bombarded by journalists because Lynn is tied to some bribery with a judge, but luckily Lois is there to find all the real details about the story. As I type it out and think about the transition, it’s not terrible, and getting to the end and finding that creature of a man who works for the 100 who killed the judge and used him to lure BL. The story starts to make more sense. But it still gave me major whiplash when first reading it.
OH ALSO. WHY IS TALIA HERE? What does Ra’s and the league of assassins have to do with any of this?? That’s absolutely wild!
Issue #4
Huh… so let me get this straight. So the reason Superman had a hard time going to suicide slum, and why Talia is involved, and really why everything is bad and everyone hurts each other… is because there is a centuries old man who has expanded his lifespan by staking claim to a section of land and then feeding off the painful emotions of the people who live there. And now Jefferson is caught up in that web and now has staked a claim on it, giving him the opportunity to possibly take it over and defeat the entity… what the absolute #%$!.
What happened to Black Lightning stories being at least a bit grounded? (Pun not intended) I mean I know he has been apart of the outsiders, which can get a bit out there, and he had lightning powers. But this is BL starting out and Gambi is DEAD, to gang violence threatening his family the same way it did to his father. That was such a beautiful moment with Gambi’s last stand to make sure what happened to Jeff’s father doesn’t happen again… and you want to chalk all that up to a mystical evil dude getting an extended life span off the complicated emotional pain of others?? That’s a bit out there tbh.
Issue #5
This issue had the biggest confrontation yet with BL vs the magical entity plaguing Southside and I have to say I’m still not a fan of the whole idea. For part of this existing being a Superman deterrent, it sure did seem to dip out immediately when Superman tried to throw a punch. So that reasoning isn’t holding up very well.
I also really don’t like the Whale characterization. He has really been put down as a character. Instead of the original BL run Tobias Whale, or even the cw version, as an albino man who demands respect from the people around him and disrespects and puts down anyone who gets in his way with his raw strength; instead we seem to get one more inspired by mayor kingpin, but even weaker as he is more of a pawn to this supernatural entity other then his own desires. It kinda sucks to see him this way, I miss Tobias being the most disrespectful person on the planet.
But I do have to say that the trick at the beginning with Jeff and his brother in law to trick everyone into seeing BL and Jeff in the same room was pretty smooth, but does question why he would bring Frank into his circle, especially with how close he is to Tobias and the 100. Even if he is acting on Jeff’s best interest, any information could put him or his family (which includes Jeff’s) in danger.
Issue #6
We ended up finishing off quite strong. I really enjoyed the first half of this issue. With Henderson building a police presence and instilling the belief of the “serve” part in protect and serve, by immediately getting his officers out into the community.
But then this issue starts to take a turn when Pierce is forced to confront the entity for a final ritual to try and take over black lightning. Which of course gets rapped up as fast as you can in 22 pages and Tobias Whale ends up completing the ritual to take on the magic, turning him into the giant white Tobias that we know from the classic runs. Albeit with a bit more disfigurement to him. Not the best explanation tbh for Tobias looking like that, I kinda always see magic as just a cop out.
Final thoughts: while I did love seeing a classic black lighting run brought together with newer art styles, this run quickly falls into a new territory for black lighting with a tale of magic sweeping the land of Southside causing everything to be how it is. And while diving into new territories usually may not be a bad thing, this comic run shows why it may be better to stick to a more grounded source material especially for street heroes like black lighting. And it overall left me a bit disappointed with how little we ended up getting and how quickly it had to be wrapped up.
“Can’t let you have all the fun turning Southside around.”
Already I see the elements of a modern retelling of the original black lightning run. But now that we know who the character is and how much he has grown over the years, it allows for a lot more setup to occur than what was originally planned.
For example we already get to see that Pierce has a family and a daughter unlike in the original run, but it is still keeping those elements such as his relationship to Gambi and the black lightning motto of Justice. There are some things you just can’t take away, like Pierce’s Olympic gold medals.
And it also allows for a lot more structure when it comes to the setup of the 100 and Tobias Whale. And unfortunately as black lightning story in suicide slum usually starts, we already have a dead student who was just trying to help him.
Issue #2
THE WIG HELMET IS BACK!!! That suit Pierce gets at the end of this issue is so well done. Fully inspired by his original classic suit. But what makes it even more special to this story is how his entire family is fully aware of who he is, and fully accepting of him trying to go out into the community and change things as Black Lightning. That moment around the dinner table where he tries to admit to them what he has been doing and they stop him, acknowledge him, and set him up to continue was such a special moment. But really they should be giving him pointers on how to spray paint lighting bolts lol.
But Superman seems to get weaker when he approaches south side huh? I don’t remember that from the original run. Seems like a bit of a cop out. Especially because Clark Kent seems perfectly fine…
But I do have to say, I love it when Clark Kent, investigative journalist, just shows up working the job. Like for example in the Chronos comic, Clark is undercover randomly at a bar that chronos pops into and they have a nice convo. This comic does fit a bit better with it also taking place in metropolis though. And Clark evaluating the leaves headed, respectful, patient man that Jefferson is, was such a cool set of panels. I absolutely loved his impression of Pierce, and that teacher side of Pierce we got to walk through a day in the life of, as it was just so spot on.
Issue #3
As much as it’s worth I still absolutely love Gambi. Especially the aesthetic in this run. Gambi making Kevlar laced black lightning suits and black lighting gear in the back of his cracked and worn down tailor shop. No special underground bat cave. Just Gambi and his sewing machine. But we then get to that point of where a lot of Gambi’s devotion and help comes from. From his deep regret and admiration for Pierce’s father and the hand he had in his death. I do hope we get to see them come back together in this run, but this hard hitting moment has become such a standard in the BL mythos that I hope to see a full discussion fleshed out here.
But this issue did have some odd moments, where it felt the story was jumping around without too many bridges in the story for a nice progression. The biggest example is with us going from one panel with Pierce meeting with Henderson for the first time and Henderson laying out his cards, and then immediately cutting to a scene where Jeff and Lynn are being bombarded by journalists because Lynn is tied to some bribery with a judge, but luckily Lois is there to find all the real details about the story. As I type it out and think about the transition, it’s not terrible, and getting to the end and finding that creature of a man who works for the 100 who killed the judge and used him to lure BL. The story starts to make more sense. But it still gave me major whiplash when first reading it.
OH ALSO. WHY IS TALIA HERE? What does Ra’s and the league of assassins have to do with any of this?? That’s absolutely wild!
Issue #4
Huh… so let me get this straight. So the reason Superman had a hard time going to suicide slum, and why Talia is involved, and really why everything is bad and everyone hurts each other… is because there is a centuries old man who has expanded his lifespan by staking claim to a section of land and then feeding off the painful emotions of the people who live there. And now Jefferson is caught up in that web and now has staked a claim on it, giving him the opportunity to possibly take it over and defeat the entity… what the absolute #%$!.
What happened to Black Lightning stories being at least a bit grounded? (Pun not intended) I mean I know he has been apart of the outsiders, which can get a bit out there, and he had lightning powers. But this is BL starting out and Gambi is DEAD, to gang violence threatening his family the same way it did to his father. That was such a beautiful moment with Gambi’s last stand to make sure what happened to Jeff’s father doesn’t happen again… and you want to chalk all that up to a mystical evil dude getting an extended life span off the complicated emotional pain of others?? That’s a bit out there tbh.
Issue #5
This issue had the biggest confrontation yet with BL vs the magical entity plaguing Southside and I have to say I’m still not a fan of the whole idea. For part of this existing being a Superman deterrent, it sure did seem to dip out immediately when Superman tried to throw a punch. So that reasoning isn’t holding up very well.
I also really don’t like the Whale characterization. He has really been put down as a character. Instead of the original BL run Tobias Whale, or even the cw version, as an albino man who demands respect from the people around him and disrespects and puts down anyone who gets in his way with his raw strength; instead we seem to get one more inspired by mayor kingpin, but even weaker as he is more of a pawn to this supernatural entity other then his own desires. It kinda sucks to see him this way, I miss Tobias being the most disrespectful person on the planet.
But I do have to say that the trick at the beginning with Jeff and his brother in law to trick everyone into seeing BL and Jeff in the same room was pretty smooth, but does question why he would bring Frank into his circle, especially with how close he is to Tobias and the 100. Even if he is acting on Jeff’s best interest, any information could put him or his family (which includes Jeff’s) in danger.
Issue #6
We ended up finishing off quite strong. I really enjoyed the first half of this issue. With Henderson building a police presence and instilling the belief of the “serve” part in protect and serve, by immediately getting his officers out into the community.
But then this issue starts to take a turn when Pierce is forced to confront the entity for a final ritual to try and take over black lightning. Which of course gets rapped up as fast as you can in 22 pages and Tobias Whale ends up completing the ritual to take on the magic, turning him into the giant white Tobias that we know from the classic runs. Albeit with a bit more disfigurement to him. Not the best explanation tbh for Tobias looking like that, I kinda always see magic as just a cop out.
Final thoughts: while I did love seeing a classic black lighting run brought together with newer art styles, this run quickly falls into a new territory for black lighting with a tale of magic sweeping the land of Southside causing everything to be how it is. And while diving into new territories usually may not be a bad thing, this comic run shows why it may be better to stick to a more grounded source material especially for street heroes like black lighting. And it overall left me a bit disappointed with how little we ended up getting and how quickly it had to be wrapped up.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 30, 2018
Black Lightning begins! Get to know Jefferson Pierce, a.k.a. Black Lightning, before his starring turn in the CW’s Black Lightning TV show!
It’s been years since Olympic gold medalist Jefferson Pierce ran from a past plagued by his father’s murder and a superhuman power he couldn’t understand. In that time, decay has transformed his home, Metropolis’ Southside, into the notorious “Suicide Slum.”
Accompanied by his wife and daughter, Pierce returns to make a difference in his old community as the new principal of Garfield High School. But there’s a storm of lawlessness sweeping Southside, fueled by corrupt politician Tobias Whale, the mysterious Swann, and his criminal organization, the One Hundred.
Strengthened by his family, old friends and a Man of Steel’s support, Jefferson Pierce must now harness the electrical powers he once feared to become a beacon of hope…and strike down crime as Black Lightning!
Writer Jen Van Meter (JSA CLASSIFIED, Hopeless Savages) and artist Cully Hamner (BATMAN AND THE SIGNAL, RED) recharge the origin of DC Comics' most electrifying Justice Leaguer in this classic take! Collects #1-6.
It’s been years since Olympic gold medalist Jefferson Pierce ran from a past plagued by his father’s murder and a superhuman power he couldn’t understand. In that time, decay has transformed his home, Metropolis’ Southside, into the notorious “Suicide Slum.”
Accompanied by his wife and daughter, Pierce returns to make a difference in his old community as the new principal of Garfield High School. But there’s a storm of lawlessness sweeping Southside, fueled by corrupt politician Tobias Whale, the mysterious Swann, and his criminal organization, the One Hundred.
Strengthened by his family, old friends and a Man of Steel’s support, Jefferson Pierce must now harness the electrical powers he once feared to become a beacon of hope…and strike down crime as Black Lightning!
Writer Jen Van Meter (JSA CLASSIFIED, Hopeless Savages) and artist Cully Hamner (BATMAN AND THE SIGNAL, RED) recharge the origin of DC Comics' most electrifying Justice Leaguer in this classic take! Collects #1-6.
August 22, 2010
Metropolis, like most major cities, has a black neighborhood that also happens to be under-served by not only the police department but also superheroes. Attention, Superman! When the Man of Steel as Clark Kent shows up, he does so after Jefferson Pierce aka Black Lightning decides to make his presence known to the scumbags tearing the neighborhood down, which captures the attention of the Metropolis police department.
Initially, this story of why Black Lightning emerges comes off as cliched in the sense that it is no different from others told: when white politicians and white heroes overlook the needs of an under-served community, a black hero emerges to save it. A plot twist in the story, fortunately, reveals the true nature of all the chaos in the neighborhood, bringing a supernatural element into the picture and saving what might have turned out to be a boring story.
Initially, this story of why Black Lightning emerges comes off as cliched in the sense that it is no different from others told: when white politicians and white heroes overlook the needs of an under-served community, a black hero emerges to save it. A plot twist in the story, fortunately, reveals the true nature of all the chaos in the neighborhood, bringing a supernatural element into the picture and saving what might have turned out to be a boring story.
April 25, 2019
While I enjoyed the build and origin of the hero of this story and his family, the art and use of the villains really put me off. Especially how weak and pathetic Tobias Whale was portrayed. Having the CW show fresh in my head may have influenced my thoughts a bit. If I hadn't seen such a strong portrayal of some of BL's villains already, I might have enjoyed it a little more. I'll hopefully get my hands on some different takes on this hero and give it another shot.
April 11, 2018
I just wanted to compare with the TV show. It is a nice comic book, but far from thrilling. The characters are much better portrayed in the show and the conflicts are more diverse. Anyway, a good way to get in touch with this character
April 19, 2014
Did not finish. Skimmed through endy bits. The writing was not that great. Really hard to follow most of the time.
May 30, 2018
Black Lightning begins! Get to know Jefferson Pierce, a.k.a. Black Lightning, before his starring turn in the CW’s Black Lightning TV show!
It’s been years since Olympic gold medalist Jefferson Pierce ran from a past plagued by his father’s murder and a superhuman power he couldn’t understand. In that time, decay has transformed his home, Metropolis’ Southside, into the notorious “Suicide Slum.”
Accompanied by his wife and daughter, Pierce returns to make a difference in his old community as the new principal of Garfield High School. But there’s a storm of lawlessness sweeping Southside, fueled by corrupt politician Tobias Whale, the mysterious Swann, and his criminal organization, the One Hundred.
Strengthened by his family, old friends and a Man of Steel’s support, Jefferson Pierce must now harness the electrical powers he once feared to become a beacon of hope…and strike down crime as Black Lightning!
Writer Jen Van Meter (JSA CLASSIFIED, Hopeless Savages) and artist Cully Hamner (BATMAN AND THE SIGNAL, RED) recharge the origin of DC Comics' most electrifying Justice Leaguer in this classic take! Collects #1-6.
It’s been years since Olympic gold medalist Jefferson Pierce ran from a past plagued by his father’s murder and a superhuman power he couldn’t understand. In that time, decay has transformed his home, Metropolis’ Southside, into the notorious “Suicide Slum.”
Accompanied by his wife and daughter, Pierce returns to make a difference in his old community as the new principal of Garfield High School. But there’s a storm of lawlessness sweeping Southside, fueled by corrupt politician Tobias Whale, the mysterious Swann, and his criminal organization, the One Hundred.
Strengthened by his family, old friends and a Man of Steel’s support, Jefferson Pierce must now harness the electrical powers he once feared to become a beacon of hope…and strike down crime as Black Lightning!
Writer Jen Van Meter (JSA CLASSIFIED, Hopeless Savages) and artist Cully Hamner (BATMAN AND THE SIGNAL, RED) recharge the origin of DC Comics' most electrifying Justice Leaguer in this classic take! Collects #1-6.
August 30, 2021
This wasn't a bad read, especially for fans of the Black Lightning TV series. There are many elements of the TV show that seem to have been taken from this series. This isn't really a surprise as the newer versions of this book have a photo cover taken from the TV series. This isn't something that was translated directly to the show, as we get appearances from Talia Al Ghul and Superman.
Even though this was labeled as Year One, it didn't really come across as that type of story. I suppose I'm not familiar enough with Black Lightning's origin, but he was already married with children here and this was supposed to be his first year in action? In any case, he moves back to his hometown as Principal of the high school only to be met by crooked councilman Tobias Whale and an organized crime group known as The Hundred. The group is actually something more than organized crime, and the main villain isn't Whale but the leader of the Hundred.
This wasn't bad, and as I said I recognized some of the characters and events from the show. It just didn't feel like a "Year One" story to me, though.
Even though this was labeled as Year One, it didn't really come across as that type of story. I suppose I'm not familiar enough with Black Lightning's origin, but he was already married with children here and this was supposed to be his first year in action? In any case, he moves back to his hometown as Principal of the high school only to be met by crooked councilman Tobias Whale and an organized crime group known as The Hundred. The group is actually something more than organized crime, and the main villain isn't Whale but the leader of the Hundred.
This wasn't bad, and as I said I recognized some of the characters and events from the show. It just didn't feel like a "Year One" story to me, though.
October 1, 2022
I've been a Black Lightning fan for years, in most forms, and while this was a really good primer to teach the background of the character and the start of the story, I didn't like the "revisionist" version of the bad guy gang at all. Yes, it explains part of why Superman hadn't helped to clean up the Suicide Slum earlier, but by adding magic into the story, it changes the story itself. In addition, if I happened to be Superman, and noticed that there was a whole area of Metropolis where something affected my powers, I think I'd consider calling in someone, somewhere, who could investigate. Maybe that's just me...
I did like the one scene in which Principal Pierce manages to throw suspicion off the possibility of him being Black Lightning, and I enjoyed several of the other ways in which he set things up, but this version got rid of one character much too quickly, and endangered several others beyond belief. So, while very good, this wasn't close to perfect as a story.
I did like the one scene in which Principal Pierce manages to throw suspicion off the possibility of him being Black Lightning, and I enjoyed several of the other ways in which he set things up, but this version got rid of one character much too quickly, and endangered several others beyond belief. So, while very good, this wasn't close to perfect as a story.
July 29, 2018
This story did have a few clever or inspiring panels in it, one in particular with Superman and a girl with a folding paper airplane, and Jefferson is a character you always want to root for. That said, I thought the pacing here was a little off at times between issues, and I didn't really think this supernatural imagining of the 100 Gang was a great fit for a Black Lightning nemesis. Most of the conflicts are against mooks; even Whale is a mook through much of the book, and while it does set him up to be more formidable later, I wasn't into how it happened. It does seem like this Year One was at least referenced for the CW Black Lightning TV series, but ultimately I'm just not satisfied with what the character has been given for stories this last decade or two. Year One doesn't change that.
July 15, 2019
I started watching and really enjoying the Black Lightning tv show, so I wanted to read some of his comics. Year One seemed a good place to start, but --
While the artwork is dynamic and services the character and his world, the story itself is bumpy and bland. The narration (each of the 6 chapters is narrated by a different character) is so out of sync with what is happening in the frames of the actual storyline. And the magical villain, while an interesting explanation as to why Superman doesn't help, is generic in motivation and appearance. There are nuggets of the tv show here, but I think there are probably better Black Lightning stories out there that do more justice to this cool character.
While the artwork is dynamic and services the character and his world, the story itself is bumpy and bland. The narration (each of the 6 chapters is narrated by a different character) is so out of sync with what is happening in the frames of the actual storyline. And the magical villain, while an interesting explanation as to why Superman doesn't help, is generic in motivation and appearance. There are nuggets of the tv show here, but I think there are probably better Black Lightning stories out there that do more justice to this cool character.
July 30, 2023
I really wanted to love this. It felt rushed and offered little explanation to his origins. The whole setting is good, former high school track star comes back home to help fix his old troubled neighborhood by teaching high school kids.
Insert his powers, he doesn’t know how he got them and he just runs with it. It’s basically a family hand me down ability.
Insert double life. Half principal, half vigilante.
Insert Villains, at first it was cleaning up the crime in the streets, but there’s a bigger problem behind all the petty criminals.
It’s cool but it’ll start to lose you a few times. The cameo of another DC hero helps give it a boost as well.
Insert his powers, he doesn’t know how he got them and he just runs with it. It’s basically a family hand me down ability.
Insert double life. Half principal, half vigilante.
Insert Villains, at first it was cleaning up the crime in the streets, but there’s a bigger problem behind all the petty criminals.
It’s cool but it’ll start to lose you a few times. The cameo of another DC hero helps give it a boost as well.
March 23, 2018
I enjoy the tv series that is on The CW following The Flash. Mr. Van Meter has done an excellent job with updating the origin story and keeping the elements from the original story intact. It is good to know that The 100's true leader is an ancient evil dating back centuries and Black Lightning stands between it and chaos.
The mini-series also shows the beginning of Tobias Whale, Black Lightning's enemy. The art complements the story and glad that it does. The book was very entertaining and enjoyable from start to finish and looking forward to the next volume when it becomes available.
The mini-series also shows the beginning of Tobias Whale, Black Lightning's enemy. The art complements the story and glad that it does. The book was very entertaining and enjoyable from start to finish and looking forward to the next volume when it becomes available.
September 10, 2021
I prefer the original series (I'm old, so sue me!), but this update for Black Lightning's origin is nearly perfect. Van Meter did a great job adapting Jefferson into the 21st century and I honestly cannot think of a better artist than Cully Hammer to accompany him.
There is one update that fits this new world better than the original: Tobias Whale's origin is much more in tune with the DCU of today than if the writer and artist had simply transferred the character whole cloth from his first appearance in the 70s. Excellent work.
Find it! Buy it! READ IT!
There is one update that fits this new world better than the original: Tobias Whale's origin is much more in tune with the DCU of today than if the writer and artist had simply transferred the character whole cloth from his first appearance in the 70s. Excellent work.
Find it! Buy it! READ IT!
December 17, 2025
I'm surprised DC doesn't promote this series more. It's nothing mindblowing, but it certainly does what it says on the tin. I'm surprised that it's actually aged rather well politically, and reminds me more of Milestone's 90s output than typical DC fare of 2009. The real highlight for me was the art, though. Cully Hamner's reimagining of Black Lightning's classic costume is honestly the best look he's ever had. It's a subtle change that turns the corny 70s disco fit into something a bit more timeless. I wish he would wear this in modern comics...
June 19, 2021
In the late 70’s my mother picked me up a Black Lightning comic. The cover had him fighting the Whale. I read it over and over because he was a cool new hero. I found him more often after that and in team ups. Now with a new tv show I figured it was time to see where he has come in the comics. Well written with some good art. He’s still a great hero.
January 19, 2018
I love the character of Black Lightening, but I wound the flow of the comic itself a bit disorienting making it harder to be absorbed in it. It did have some great moments, however. I will have to look og some of the best graphic novels for Black Lightening and give them a go.
June 21, 2017
Loved seeing Superman addressing his issues with race. Definitely a top notch graphic novel and story arc for Jefferson Pierce.
January 26, 2018
4.25. Some of the dialogue was confusing at times. I wish there was more about the origin of his abilities. Still really enjoyed it.
February 12, 2018
This was so deep! I wonder if they’ll use some of this storyline on the show cause it went somewhere I wasn’t expecting but that might explain some of the out there things that happen on the show.
June 3, 2018
Really enjoyed the story.Superman showing up was a unexpected surprise.
September 7, 2019
Slightly confused as the cover made me think we would be in the same universe as the television series, but no it was a different variation. Still a good story, and I will be continuing this tale.
February 17, 2020
Cool background and origin story. Also pretty excited that it ties into CW TV show - I’ll definitely be checking that out now!
September 21, 2020
Rounded up from 1 1/2 stars for it's all too brief moments of charm.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 39 reviews