Black Lightning #6 (2022 Comic Book and Graphic Novel Reading Challenge)

Jefferson Pierce is on a rampage! Thugs have kidnapped Peter Gambi, the local tailor who has been like a father to Pierce since he was a lad. Behind the abduction are 3 super powered members of the 100. Their mission- to incapacitate and capture the Metropolis super hero known as Black Lightning! 

As the inner city's newest hero conducts his frantic search for his missing friend, Black Lightning reflects over his origin story. An unknown assailant murdered Jefferson's father in cold blood. Shortly afterwards, Peter Gambi moved into the neighborhood and hired Pierce to work in his tailor shop. Over time, Gambi became like a father to Jefferson. Gambi helped the young man through high school and college, earning a scholarship. 

After college, Jefferson would return to Metropolis to work as a school teacher. Noticing a super powered void in the more urban areas of the big city, Pierce would become a hero in his own right with help from Gambi. The tailor created a costume equipped with a special belt that generates a powerful force field and electrical charges. 

Though Peter Gambi might have filled the void in Jefferson's life after the death of his pop, and currently is a trusted ally, right before this issue ends, one of the villains reveals that Gambi is the man who murdered Mr. Jefferson! Could this be true? Or is this yet another mind game devised by the deadly gang lord, Tobias Whale?

This issue of Black Lightning was written by Tony Isabella. Isabella created the character after DC noticed the popularity of Marvel's Luke Cage and desired to cash in on their own black comic character. Originally, editors wanted Isabella to retool a ridiculous character called the Black Bomber. Literally this concept was like a superhero version of the film Watermelon Man in which a white supremacist when under direst changes to an African American and becomes a hero of the black community. Thankfully, Isabella with previous experience having worked on the Luke Cage series, convinced DC to abandon this idea. As a result, in 1977 a more wholesome black character who actively participated in his embattled community as both a 'cape' and a civilian was created in Jefferson Pierce, AKA Black Lightning.

One thing that might surprise fans is that the original version of Black Lightning was NOT a metahuman. Being a star decathlon athlete armed with gadgets and gizmos are what originally give Jefferson Pierce his spark. Before Black Lightning's first series was to become a victim of the DC Implosion, Pierce would eventually gain electrical powers. Retroactively, events from DC's Invasion story line would be revealed as the cause of Black Lightning's powers before eventually the character being retconned to be a metahuman. 

While Black Lightning wasn't DC's first black superhero, the character has evolved to become one of the foundations of not just the DCU's black community but the publisher itself. A popular live action series on the CW seemingly continues the story of the original series. Black Lightning would add a couple of new members to the local community's superhero population: his daughters Anissa and Jennifer; DC's Thunder and Lightning!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Completing this review completes Task #40 (By an author who shares your first or last name- in this case my first!) of the 2022 Comic Book and Graphic Novel Reading Challenge. 

Scooby-Doo Team-Up #46

The Mystery Gang are participating in career day at the school in which Jefferson Pierce teaches. There, the detectives witness an underclassman being targeted by members of the 100, Tobias Whale's gang. This sort of thing isn't usually what Scooby and his friends deal with. thus they stay out of the way. So Black Lightning appears instead to save the school from the bad influence. But when a pair of ghostly gangsters from the 1920s pop up at the same school, Scooby is on the case!

This is perhaps the most different Scooby-Doo Team-Up I have ever read. In the DC heroes crossovers, the gang will usually encounter comical versions of baddies like The Joker or Solomon Grundy. But here, Tobias Whale is extremely deadly. This issue's villain is no caricature. He's a carbon copy of the villain actor Marvin 'Krodon' Jones III plays on the CW hit Black Lightning. 

Though quite a bit grittier than any other issue in this series, I enjoyed this read. Sholly Fisch pushes the envelope about as far as one can with an all-ages title while staying true to both the Scooby-Doo franchise and the Black Lightning realm. Dario Brizuela continues to put out top rate art. The only thing that was a disappointment were the activity pages at the end of this book. 

Because of the Christmas holiday, DC delayed issue #45 until the beginning of January. This issue which came out at the tail end of January, has the same activity pages as issue #45. I feel a little cheated. I know that I don't buy this book for those extras. But apparently, I have gotten used to them and missed having them here because I disliked not being presented with an all-new set of things to do. 

I don't care if two issues came out in the same month, readers deserve all-new material if they're expected to pay the full price of $2.99/issue. Something to keep in mind for the future, DC. Reward your loyal readers. Don't be stingy especially when you need us the most!

A good read that is a little bit edgy for an all-ages Scooby-Doo romp.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Cursed Comics Cavalcade #1

This, the official 2018 Halloween special from DC Comics has it's roots in history. 

First is the amazing cover that pays homage to the EC Comics of the 1950s. EC is the benchmark for which all other horror anthologies are ranked. Nice work Doug Manke!

Then there's the title. Back in 1978, sales at DC were dismal and a slew of comic book titles were unmercifully cancelled. To finish up the titles' running story-lines and to finalize pay for the creators, artists and writers, a small hand full of ash cans titled 'Cancelled Comics Cavalcade' were produced. To find one of these two issues is to find a holy grail in which you'd have to mortgage a first child to be able to afford. If you were a fan of any of the books cancelled, it was a day full of horrors.

So that's where we get the cover and title of our book. What's inside is 10 spooky stories starring characters from the DC Universe. Some tales are set during Halloween; some are not. Just as the seasons vary, so do the quality of the stories. 

The Batman story involving horror-themed movies and the Robin/Solomon Grundy team-up are the best stories. Once again the Batman Family tales are the best. Is this because of some unfair bias on the part of DC to put better talent on these titles? Or are the Gotham City themed characters the best that DC has to offer?

In the almost perfect category is a New Orleans 1880s themed story starring Jason Blood and his counterpart, The Demon. Then there's a heartwarming tale starring Zatanna and her dad. Plus the Swamp Thing story was quite good though it was a bit too meta at times to thoroughly enjoy. 

The Black Lightning/Katana story was good but it wasn't great. For some reason, lately, nobody really seems to be able to do the character of Katana right. Black Lightning is obviously in this book because of his series of The CW. So why couldn't he have been given a solo story? Is it because Katana is currently a weak character? (I think she needs to show up on the TV show, but that's subject of a different review.)

Dragging up the rear was a poorly drawn Green Arrow feature that has a bunch of plot holes. Then there's the disappointing (because he's my favorite and this story sucked) Superman tale that have more holes in it than the Titanic. 

The Guy Gardner story was another tale that should have been better than it was. Plus, the art was a very pale imitation of the late Darwyn Cooke. And rounding out the book was....

And then there's that problematic Wonder Woman story. As if you could not tell, I forgot all about it and had to go back to see which story I was forgetting. It had great art. The monster was quite creepy. I was satisfied with the ending. Yet, I had completely forgot about this ghost tale.

Cursed Comics Cavalcade was a decent mix of horror themed adventures. But based on the title, I think it would have been cool to have had this special comprised of stories starring characters who were cancelled during the DC Implosion. Along with Black Lightning, we could have see scares starring Firestorm, Kamandi, Vixen, and Shade the Changing Man. To appease the DC Editors, you could still have a couple of Dark Knight capers as the anthology series Batman Family was cancelled during this time. 

It's a missed opportunity but hey, there's always next year! Come on, DC Comics! Give this idea a chance... if you dare!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.