Black Lightning 5

Short Review: I knew there was a reason I didn't like superheroes..

So, this is the story that everyone with a liking for superheroes has being going gaga over for the last while. Jefferson Pierce, after having being shot by a gunwoman while another teacher sacrificed his life to save a schoolkid, muses on what makes people superheroes, and what events have shaped his life so far as Black Lightning. Far from producing the glory of superheroes, it just seems a cavalcade of stupid ideas, most of the recent ones being badly disguised crossovers from the minds of the marketing division. The moral, that everyone can be a hero at some times, is not so much presented as pounded into us (stop looking at the camera, damn you!), and Black Lightning himself comes across as some guy with a bad afro and a devotion to duty. The real attraction is Eddy Newell's black and white art, which is easily the most powerful I've seen this year (The only other obvious contender, Dave Sim, tends to pack an intellectual rather than an emotional punch), and it's somewhat of a shame that the flashbacks take up so much of the issue, as his colour art isn't up to the same standard, and the comparison makes them look even more dorky.