- Today's episode of The Dan Cave
is brought to you by the CW's Black Lightning.
(upbeat music)
Something shocking is coming to TV in 2018.
Now, the Flash may have a cool lightning bolt on his chest,
but he's hardly DC Comics' most electrifying superhero.
No, that honor belongs to Jefferson Pierce,
a.k.a, Black Lightning,
the first black character to headline a DC Comics title,
and one of the DCU's most underrated heroes.
And now, he's about to be the star of the newest edition
to the DC television universe on the CW.
But, unfortunately for many people out there,
Black Lightning has kind of flown under the radar.
They want to know who is he?
Why should we care?
We can we get super suits light that?
They look so sweet.
Well, today on The Dan Cave I'm going to tell you
everything you need to know about Black Lightning.
Now, before we get started let me specify that this is
Black Lightning's according to the comics.
The show's version won't necessarily be the exact same,
but it's still an important and fascinating context
for understanding this character.
Created by Tony Isabella and Trevor Von Eeden,
Black Lightning's an icon of bronze age comics.
First appearing in April 1977,
The Black Lightning number one,
Black Lightning was created in direct response
to the success of black superheroes,
like Luke Cage, Black Panther, and Black Goliath
at DC's biggest rival, Marvel.
DC should be thanking their lucky stars
they went with Black Lightning though,
because their only other concept
was one of the worst ideas in comic book history.
A character named the Black Bomber,
who was a white, racist, Vietnam vet,
whose exposure to an Agent Orange-esque gas
would transform him into a black superhero
during times of great stress.
Oh my god!
Thankfully, Isabella had already been developing
Black Lightning as an independent project
which he brought to DC,
which is to say, you are the real superhero here,
Tony Isabella.
Black Lightning is the alter ego of Jefferson Pierce,
a young black man who grew up in the Suicide Slum,
a bleakly named neighborhood of Metropolis
that earned its nickname from the idea
that the only way to escape it was to kill oneself.
Wow.
Dark.
While he was born with metahuman abilities,
he learned to control them at a young age
with the help of Peter Gambi, an Italian tailor,
who became a close family friend after the shooting death
of Jefferson's father.
As a teenager, Jefferson excelled in sports,
eventually going out to become
an Olympic decathlon athlete.
However, Jefferson wanted to give back to his community
that was struggling with drugs, gangs, and violence
by showing that everyone can get out of the so called
Suicide Slum if they want to.
So, after college, he returned to his hometown
to become the principal of his alma mater,
Garfield High School.
Wonder if he met a Monday he liked.
Unfortunately it proved difficult
to help the students in the classroom
because of the stranglehold gangs like the 100
had on town.
And please note,
this is not to be confused with another hit CW series
The 100, although that would be a really cool crossover,
and maybe a great future episode.
To add further fuel to the fire,
the gangs worked in conjunction with sleazy politicians
like Tobias Whale to keep Suicide Slum awash in drugs
and violence.
Now, Jefferson was very vocally opposed
to their influence on the school
and kicked one of the drug dealers off of school grounds,
shaming him and his cronies in the process.
Now, in retaliation the 100 brutally murdered
one of his students, Earl Clifford,
and left his corpse on display in the school's gymnasium.
You thought your pep rally was bad.
Distraught over his student's death,
Jefferson told Peter Gambi what happened
and his longtime friend suggested that he adopt a persona
that would let him fight back against evil
without bringing repercussions on those close to him.
And Gambi took things one step further
by making a specialized costume for Jefferson,
who was born a metahuman.
The suit was equipped with a force field belt
that helped harness his innate powers
of electro-kinesis that let's him manipulate
bio-electric currents in the human body,
shoot lightning blasts, and much more.
And thus, Black Lightning was born.
Named for both his powers
and a paraphrased Milo Sweetman quote,
"Justice, like lightning,
"should ever appear to few men's ruin,
"but to all men's fear."
With the powers of superhuman strength
and the ability to bend electricity to his will,
he began to fight back against Tobias Whale
and the 100 gang.
Now, in the early days, Jefferson used to don an afro wig
and use street slang while in his Black Lightning persona
in an effort to prevent anyone from realizing
he was actually a mild mannered high school principal
by day.
And slowly but surely,
Black Lightning began cleaning up the streets
of Suicide Slum,
putting a major dent in Tobias Whale and 100's plans.
While putting an end to Whale's reign of terror
was a feather in Jefferson's cap,
his quest for justice had one last tragedy.
Peter Gambi sacrificed his life for Jefferson
by leaping in front of a bullet
intended to kill Black Lightning.
This sacrifice was the final act in a life of penance
for Gambi, as it turns out.
During the battle
Black Lightning learned Peter's terrible secret,
he had been the man who killed Jefferson's father,
and spent the rest of his life paying for it.
After making a name for himself in Metropolis,
Black Lightning was offered a spot on the Justice League,
having impressed the likes of Batman, Superman,
Black Canary, and Green Arrow,
but he ultimately rejected the offer.
However, everyone loves a good team up book,
so Jefferson Pierce eventually became a founding member
of the Outsiders,
a team of superheroes who weren't bound
by the same do-gooder image and need to keep up appearances
like the Justice League was.
They were kind of this black ops group of superheroes
able to take on jobs the Justice League simple could not
for political reasons.
And, speaking of politics,
when Jefferson Pierce hung up his costume for a time
he accepted the role of Secretary of Education
of the United States,
serving under none other than President Lex Luthor.
Doesn't that sound better than what we have right now?
While this shocked many of his former allies,
Jefferson understood the value of the old adage,
keep your friends close and your enemies closer.
But, like many heroes, Jefferson could not resist
the siren song of spandex for too long.
And so he returned to his life of costumed vigilantism
to fight evil wherever it may lurk.
Although he initially rejected membership,
Black Lightning did go on to become a pivotal member
of the Justice League of America,
helping fight villains like Amazo and Solomon Grundy,
just to name a few.
Fun fact, Black Lightning is the only super powered
member of his family.
His two daughters, Anissa and Jennifer,
who will also be featured on the TV show,
both inherited electricity based powers
from their dad as well.
Not only that, but they followed in their father's
super heroic footsteps too.
Anissa, adopted the identity of Thunder,
and fought with the Outsiders,
while Jennifer joined the Justice Society as Lightning.
And based on the trailers we've seen so far
the powers might even manifest themselves
in the first season but to what extent only time will tell.
And that is everything you need to know
about Black Lightning.
But tell me, what's your favorite Black Lightning story?
What do you hope to see from the TV series?
Let me know in the comments below
and give me an electrifying thumbs up while you're there.
Be sure to like and subscribe
or else you might miss next week's show
about the story of an up and coming stock broker
who gets caught up in the world of insider trading
and underground hand to hand combat
with elite pugilists from around the world
in Wall Street Fighter.
Until next time, keep on digging.
Special thanks to the CW's Black Lightning
for sponsoring today's show.
One of DC Comics greatest characters
is finally coming to the small screen
in a brand new TV series.
Cress Williams stars Jefferson Pierce,
a high school principal who used to have a second job
as a superhero.
Now, with his city in peril he must come out of retirement
to fight injustice as Black Lightning once more.
Catch the series premier on Tuesday, January 16th,
at 9:00, 8:00 Central, only on the CW.
Let's open up the old mail bag, shall we?
@OrionSkymaster asks, where is that good chestnut?
You know, that old question.
That's a great question indeed, Orion.
The chestnuts will be back
and in blossom once they're in season
but not every episode pairs well with their bold flavors
and their musky tones.
So I guess the real ol' chestnuts
were the friends we made along the way.
But tell me, where do you think that ol' chestnut is?
Let me know in the comments below
and I'll see you guys next time.