Jefferson Pierce is back, and this time he’s not alone. DC Comics will publish Black Lightning, a new five-issue miniseries from writer Brandon Thomas and artist Fico Ossio, as part of the publisher’s recently-announced DC All In Initiative. The first issue of the series, which finds Black Lightning and his family in the middle of brewing tensions between humans and metahumans, will launch in November.
Here’s how DC describes the new Black Lightning series:
Black Lightning is back, and this time, it’s a family affair! Jefferson Pierce leads the Justice League’s new metahuman outreach initiative, helping those with powers before they can cause harm to themselves or others—but everything changes when its his own daughter, Anissa Pierce, who comes to him for help. With Thunder’s dangerous new powers and the new Masters of Disaster jeopardizing the coexistence between humans and Metas, Black Lightning is on the front lines of a culture war brewing in the suburbs of Metropolis!
Black Lightning is the latest DC work for both Brandon Thomas and Fico Ossio. Thomas has previously written the character as part of an Outsiders story in Batman: Urban Legends, along with other titles including Aquaman: The Becoming, Aquamen, and Hardware: Season One. For Fico Ossio, who’s previous DC work includes Mister Miracle: The Source of Freedom, the series is his first time tackling Black Lightning, and he’s putting his own visual stamp on the character.
“Working on this,” Ossio told The Beat, “I had the great opportunity to redesign the suit and look for Black Lightning, Thunder, and Lightning! I had a blast working on that and hope the fans enjoy our take on these characters. We brought back some of the Black Lightning classic design and gave more personality and uniqueness to Thunder and Lightning. You’ll see hints of Jefferson’s original costume, but modern and more like armor with sharp edges. This is BLACK LIGHTNING we’re talking about!”
Elaborating on where the series finds Black Lightning and his family as it opens, Thomas described how the series spins out of DC’s currently-running crossover event. “In the wake of ABSOLUTE POWER, everything’s changed for Jefferson Pierce and his family,” he said. “He’s embraced a critical front-facing role within the newly reborn Justice League Unlimited, and has also created a crisis response unit that confronts and defuses newly emerging Metahumans before their powers become a danger to themselves and others.”
As for the series setting, Ossio expressed his enthusiasm at breathing new life into a familiar locale. “Building this world is exciting,” he said. “Metropolis’ Suicide Slum (now Southside Heights) is a hotspot of activity as rogue powers are infecting residents at increasingly high rates.”
“This story is highly personal for Jefferson,” added Thomas, “because he’s doing this with the help of his youngest daughter Jennifer, and effectively combining his roles as both Super Hero and educator. His oldest daughter Anissa plays a key role in the series as someone whose powers have changed after ABSOLUTE POWER, and is in dire need of her father’s help. While the Pierce family struggles to hold it all together, a mystery rival consolidates power and legitimacy, weaponizing public sentiment that declares that ‘Waller was right’ to fear these power mad gods.”
Check out variant covers for the first issue by Sanford Greene (open-to-order), Taurin Clarke (open-to-order), and Juliet Nneka (1:25 incentive) below. Black Lightning #1 (of 5) is set to arrive in stores and digitally on Wednesday, November 13th.
I really enjoyed the 2023 version of this very same idea when it was called Unstoppable Doom Patrol: a Metahuman crisis intervention team that also spun out of a big event (Lazarus Planet) and had the team finding/supporting emerging Metahumans. A shame they couldn’t have just continued that series.
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