Black Lightning

Black Lightning (Eng. " Black Lightning ") is the title of a series of comic publications are issued by the U.S. publisher DC Comics since 1977.

The Black Lightning comics that are genre standard in the field of so-called " superhero comics ", a special American expression of sci-fi comics, settled, from today's perspective comic history, in particular be of particular importance, as it is with them to the acted first mainstream American comic book series of a large publishing house, which presented a dark-skinned character in the center of the action.

Publication data

The concept for the Black Lightning Comics goes back who developed the main character and the action scenario, the series in the mid -1970s to the writer Tony Isabella. The original visual designs for the characters and plot locations used was developed by the artist Trevor From Eeden, who was entrusted with the artistic design of the first series under the title Black Lightning.

The first continuous Black Lightning series was finally brought to the market in 1977. The series, whose first issue appeared in April 1977, but only reached eleven editions - ten of which Isabella and Dennis O'Neil wrote the last - before it was discontinued in 1978.

In the 1980s, Black Lightning was also one of the main figures of the team series Batman and the Outsiders in the author Mike W. Barr and Jim Aparo 1983-1988 in over forty editions joint adventure of Black Lightning with the " dark avenger " Batman, the shape-shifting Metamorpho, the samurai warrior katana and some other figures marked.

A second Black Lightning series was published by DC between 1995 and 1996. This series reached thirteen editions of which the first eight Isabella wrote. As a signatory Eddie Newell was employed. A planned for 2007 Mini Series - Black Lightning: Year One - the writer Jen Van Meter has been postponed to the year 2008, the release is not yet out.

Action

The plot of the Black- Lightning - stories starts with the introduction of Jefferson Pierce, an idealistic former Olympic decathlete, in the Suicide Slum, a bad neighborhood of the dazzling East Coast metropolis Metropolis, returns in which he once spent his youth. Pierce tried there to help the young people in to work out a better life as a high school teacher; as he wants, who escaped by his athletic talent the slum, to give something back.

To protect In trying some of his ward prior to contact with the criminal milieu gets Pierce in Volume 1 of the first Black- Lightning series of the crime syndicate the "100" in conflict: in order to do against these powerful mob something he asks his friend which Schneider Peter Gambi, who is also a brilliant inventor and engineer, to provide him an equipment that allows him to come to the "100": Gambi finally comes up with a special belt that gives Pierce electromagnetic " super powers " (it can henceforth his body surrounded by an electromagnetic field as a protective cover and electromagnetic shocks from his hands " fire "). In order to hide his identity gets Pierce also a dynamic blue-black- yellow suit, a mask and an Afro wig missed.

As a self-proclaimed protector of the poor and the weak, Pierce begins a "career" as a superhero: first he smashes in the first editions of his series, the "100". Later, he is a member of the " superhero team" of Outsiders and the Justice League discovered that the powers of his special belt in his body " gone over " and he does not need the belt to be able to rule over the electromagnetic energy can, puts his become outmoded from Afro - wig, is education minister in the government of U.S. President Lex Luthor and pulls his daughter Anissa on.