DC’s very first African-American lead superhero, Black Lightning only got 11 issues from 1977 -1978 before DC cut many new titles. Black Lightning got another reboot in the 2000s and has been and out of several continuities since. In 2018, as part of it’s television franchise on the CW network, Black Lightning once again received a new starring role. And, frankly, I think this is a truly excellent television series.
I started watching the series on the CW, but life and a wonky DVR left me playing catch up all the time. Now that Black Lightning is on Netflix, I’ve finally had a chance to become current…and it’s still a really excellent series.
The DCU on CW is embedded in the gritty hyperrealism that I’ve never much loved about modern American comics but, in the way that it feels very like the long shadows of Tim Burton and Frank Miller in Batwoman, it works for Black Lightning.
High school Principal Jefferson Pierce has retired as the superhero Black Lightning as the story begins. What starts as a drug war, becomes a war against an oppressive government. Along the way, we’re introduced to enemies and allies, of course. Among the allies are Pierce’s daughters, Anissa and Jennifer, who also develop super powers. It is Anissa, Thunder, I want to focus on here.
Anissa Pierce is a lesbian when the series begins, She has a girlfriend. She’s out to her family. That’s it. She’s out and as the story goes on, her sexuality is never once a point of contention (except for in on an alternate Earth, but this is DC and they can’t help themselves.) When Anissa is no longer with her girlfriend, she meets other women, sometimes sleeps with one. Eventually she ends up with another woman, Grace. And please understand that to write this paragraph I had to avoid about a dozen spoilers absolutely NONE of which had to do with Anissa’s sexuality. It’s simply a non-issue.
So, what is an issue? Nothing. It’s a great series that touches on all the buttons that make white people uncomfortable that it can possibly touch in a way that I really appreciate. It’s like a pokefest of “did THIS make you uncomfortable? NO? How about THIS?” and it’s fairly constant which is the fucking point of this particular form of addressing issues, isn’t it. The less this series is “for me,” the more I like it. The cast is almost wholly black, with a few folks who are Asian. There is one white ally guy is always in a support role. The white people who show up are, with that one exception, cringe-making. Good. We can be all the stereotypes, from confederate flag-waving racists, to Parking Lot Peggy calling the cops on a black woman standing near her vehicle.
Cress Williams and Christine Adams do a bang-up job of playing Pierce and his scientist wife, Lynne, but for me the joy of watching is Nafessa Williams as Anissa/Thunder and my hero, China Anne McClain as Jennifer Pierce/ Lightning. It’s kind of a pun to say she’s incandescent, but seriously, she’s breathtaking. The relationship between the sisters is entirely realistic, as well. Overall superlative writing. I found this interview of Nafessa Williams by Cortney Williams for The Grio, about her role, in which she discusses being able to play an out black women in a loving family. It’s worth the read.
Ratings:
Cinematography – 7
Story – 8
Characters – 9
LGBTQ – 10
Overall – 9
The things that hurt are supposed to hurt. The things that work best are supposed to work just like that. When there’s love, it’s lovely.
I grew up with Marvel and as I’ve admitted openly, DC has never been my boom, but I have to tell ya, with Batwoman, Thunder and Lightning on their television roster (and yes, I know about Supergirl, just haven’t watched any of it ,) I’m almost tempted to say I like the DCU on CW. ^_^; At least I can say, I like Black Lightning.
I can’t exactly say I’m a “fan” of the Arrowverse as a whole, but I do watch two of the shows – Supergirl and Batwoman. Sounds like I should check out this one, your review makes it sound like I’d really enjoy it.
As I’ve mentioned before, I’ve never been a fan of American comics, so I ended up watching these shows through a weird route. My favorite athlete on American Ninja Warrior, Jessie Graff, is a stuntwoman on Supergirl. So I started watching the show to watch her stunt work. It’s the kind of show I could just casually have on while eating lunch and not feel like I had to see every moment or catch every plot point, so I ended up just watching every season.
I have seen all of the crossover arcs between the shows, and it does seem like each show has its own distinct vibe – Arrow and Batwoman are darker/grittier, while Flash and Supergirl are sunnier and sometimes even funny, and Legends of Tomorrow is kooky and weird. So if you’re specifically looking to avoid the “dark gritty” thing, Supergirl is maybe up your alley. It can be pretty blunt in its tackling of social issues, but its heart is in the right place and it tries hard to offer positive portrayals of women and minority characters.
With this addition, there are important lesbian, bi, or trans characters on I think every show in the Arrowverse, which feels like a big deal. They aren’t always the most sophisticated shows (get comfortable with enormous plot holes) but it certainly feels like this is an area in which DC is doing much better than Marvel.
P.S.: I still feel Batwoman is missing the mark from how great it could be. It gets a lot of things right and makes a lot of frustrating missteps. Also, as far as American comics-based TV series, I can’t overstate how great the HBO “Watchmen” series was. Everyone involved in that knocked it out of the park, if you haven’t had the chance to see it.
Thanks for the rec. I also find American comic books hard now. I find TV hard now too, so it’s fascinating that I dislike American comic books less as TV shows. I tried Supergirl. I wanted to like it, but…didn’t. If it’s on Netflix, I might give it another chance as a binge. If not, eh, I don’t feel like I missed anything.
I know about Watchmen, but, 1) I don’t have HBO and 2) I really fucking don’t care about that series in a lot of layered, nuanced “Moore and DC can go fuck themselves” feelings about the whole thing. Even though it definitely, positively seems like this Watchmen vastly exceeds the original (and the whole) in many real ways, I can’t summon up any interest. I’m content to read thoughtful commentary on how smart it is and how it got everything right, with spoilers. ^_^
You put your finger on an important point. Queerness being an intrinsic part of the DCU is a major sea change. And, while the queerness in Supergirl gets a lot alk in the fan space, and Batwoman is just queer, I have yet to see a single not-black outlet talk about Black Lightning. Which really seems on-brand for white people. The queerness in Supergirl is queerbaity, and we’ll endlessly rehash that, but Black Lightning has an openly lesbian black superhero and it gets zero mention. AND it is a brilliant series, so here we are.
Supergirl is on Netflix, yes. I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it if you already tried it, though – it doesn’t change vastly in tone or quality as it goes on. I watch because I enjoy Melissa Benoist’s performance, for the stunts, and because it fills a specific junk-food TV niche for me. >< But it's definitely not can't-miss content in this age of great TV.
If you're not averse to spoilers, and haven't already read them, Joelle Monique did really great reviews of Watchmen for the AVClub.
For my part, I didn't pay much attention to Black Lightning because I was already suffering Arrowverse fatigue and the advertisements didn't really do a good job of telling people why they should watch this new show. It was kind of like, "Hey, you like our superhero shows? Here's a new one!" And that's it. Already being familiar with the general quality of these shows, not being a huge superhero fan, and already committing 2 hours a week (most of the time they could easily be cut to 30 mins and not lose much, if anything) to them I didn't even think about adding another. I have to think that could have something to do with it for others – CW didn't want to lean on "Hey, he's black!" for the marketing hook, but then failed to present much of anything in its place to attract viewers. Arriving this late in their lineup, with four other hour-long established shows to compete with in its space alone, makes for a big challenge to get noticed.
It might not change, but I do. ^_^