It’s a good time to be Jefferson Pierce. Not only is the character about to enter the live action realm thanks to the CW’s Black Lightning TV show, one of the character’s original creators is bringing him back in comic form too, giving us another new take on one of DC’s first major African American superheroes.
Image: DC Comics. Black Lightning: Cold Dead Hands #1 cover art by Clayton Henry.
Written by Tony Isabella — who created Pierce back in 1977 alongside artist Trevor Von Eeden — and with art from Clayton Henry, Black Lightning: Cold Dead Hands is a six-part miniseries that re-imagines Pierce as a young man, unmarried and without his two young daughters (who in the comics eventually become superheroes themselves). What hasn’t changed is that Pierce is still a teacher by day, vigilante superhero by night, using his powers to keep his students safe beyond his classroom and fighting back against the sinister Tobias Whale — the same classic villain he’ll face on TV, too.
It’s been a while since Black Lightning has had a really big moment in the spotlight at DC, so this is a pretty cool move — even if a lot of it seems to be born out of capitalising on interest in the CW show. But hey, if it means we’re getting more Black Lightning from one of the people who helped create him 40 years ago, then that’s a fine price to pay.
Black Lightning: Cold Dead Hands begins this November.
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