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Black Lightning Reading Order

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Created by writer Jenny Blake Isabella (who writes under the names Tony Isabella and Jenny Blake) and artist Trevor Von Eeden, Jefferson Pierce made his first appearance in Black Lightning #1 (April 1977). This Afro-American schoolteacher from the crime-ridden Suicide Slum area of Metropolis gained electrical superpowers and started fighting crimes under the name Black Lightning as a response by DC Comics to the success of Marvel’s Luke Cage.

This didn’t work exactly as DC envisioned it, as financial difficulties put a quick end to the title, but Black Lightning survived and started to appear in other series and fight crimes as part of a team.

Originally, Tony Isabella had been tasked to retool a series called The Black Bomber with a strange and disturbingly bad premise that the writer described as DC’s first black superhero being a white bigot. He didn’t want to touch that and convinced DC to change the story. To draw the new title, the company recruited a young prodigy. Trevor Von Eeden was only 16 when he was offered the job–at the time, though, Von Eeden didn’t know if he got the job for his talent or because he was black.

Through the years, Jefferson Pierce’s origin story evolved. His powers first came from a technologically advanced power belt, and the schoolteacher also had an Olympic athlete background. He needed something like that because his powers were not the result of a mutation or a science experiment. This didn’t stay that way as it was later revealed that the character possesses a latent metagene.

At first, Black Lightning fought criminals in his neighborhood, especially the members of the criminal organization called The 100. His stories often addressed social issues head-on, from urban crime and gang violence to racial injustice. Black Lightning is not your typical superhero, he’s also a father–and his two daughters also became superheroes, Thunder and Lightning. Pierce is certainly a team player, and he worked alongside Batman as a founding member of the Outsiders superhero team.

In 2018, Black Lightning was adapted into a live-action television series on The CW, starring Cress Williams as Jefferson Pierce. The show ran for four seasons and also introduced his daughters, Anissa and Jennifer, as Thunder and Lightning, further expanding the Pierce family legacy.

Black Lightning Comics Reading Order

Black Lightning’s Comic Book Origin Stories

Let’s start with two comics. The first one collects all the issues from the original Black Lightning comic book series from 1977-1978.

The second one is a new take on the first year of Jefferson Pierce as Black Lightning–it was published in 2009, after the Final Crisis event.

Black Lightning and The Outsiders

Following the cancellation of his comic book series, Black Lightning briefly appeared in World’s Finest Comics, Justice League of America, and Detective Comics, then founded the Outsiders with Batman.

After Batman and the Outsiders #32, the series was renamed Adventures of the Outsiders. Issues #33 to 38 offered new stories (only available for now as digital comics, not collected elsewhere)

Even if it was published at the same time as The Adventures of the Outsiders, the series The Outsiders chronicled events a year after that series:

  • The Outsiders
    Collects The Outsiders #1-28, Annual #1, and Special #1. (Digital Only) The Outsiders #27 & 28 are part of the Millennium comics crossover event.

Black Lightning’s 90s Comeback

For a while, Black Lightning was absent from DC Comics publications. But he came back in 1995 and moved to Brick City to continue his solo career–once again, Tony Isabella is the writer.

After that, as we entered into the 2000s, Jefferson Pierce appeared occasionally in other DC comics titles–like Superman (vol. 2) #166 in which he became Secretary of Education in Lex Luthor’s government.

The Outsiders reformed in 2003, but this time it was under the direction of Nightwing, and Black Lightning was not a regular member of the team. Nevertheless, his daughter (Thunder) was, and this prompted Jefferson to visit her occasionally. As a result, he appeared in multiple issues–and they may be hard to find nowadays.

The rest of the issues were then collected in TPBs, but it’s easier to find them now as Digital Comics.

In 2005, Black Lightning also teamed up with Green Arrow for a storyline, before a new Crisis happened.

Black Lightning: Member of the Justice League of America

Following Infinite Crisis, DC Comics decided to relaunch Justice League of America, and Black Lightning became a full-time member–up until Final Crisis.

 

Batman is gone, and Black Lightning is once again joining the ranks of the Outsiders.

Black Lightning Comics during the New 52 Era

In 2011, DC Comics relaunched its universe with the New 52 initiative. During that period, Black Lightning had little to do.

Out-of-continuity, during the Convergence event, we revisited an old iteration of Batman and the Outsiders.

  • Convergence: Crisis Book One
    Collects Convergence: Batman And The Outsiders #1-2, Convergence: Adventures Of Superman #1-2, Convergence: Green Lantern Corps #1-2, Convergence: Superboy And The Legion Of Super-Heroes #1-2, and Convergence: Hawkman #1-2.

Black Lightning Comics: From the Rebirth Era to the Dawn of DC Era

When New 52 concluded and the Rebirth era began, things didn’t get busier for Black Lightning at first. There still was a limited series, once more written by Isabella, with artist Clayton Henry.

However, when DC Comics decided to relaunch the Outsiders with writer Bryan Hill and artist Dexter Soy, Batman recruited Jefferson Pierce to become the leader of the new team, leading Katana, Orphan, and The Signal.

Following the end of the Rebirth era, Black Lightning appeared with The Signal and The Outsiders within the pages of the anthology book Batman: Urban Legends–in the stories “The Caretaker” (Urban Legends #1-3), “The Fearful” (Urban Legends #8-9), “The Signal and the Outsiders” (Urban Legends #18-19). Jefferson Pierce had a short story in DC Power – A Celebration (2023), but that’s mostly it for a while. As a matter of fact, during the Infinite Frontier and the Dawn of DC eras, the character was severely underutilized, only making cameos in the crowd of superheroes during events.

Black Lightning: The All In Comeback

With the launch of the All In Era, DC Comics launched multiple series starring neglected characters. Black Lightning was finally back as the star of his own comic series. Coming from writer Brandon Thomas and artist Fico Ossio, the story focuses on the Pierce family battling against new threats like the Masters of Disaster. Jefferson Piece is also a member of the newly founded Justice League Unlimited.

Did we forget an important issue? Did we make a mistake? Let us know in the comments!

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