A review by nickpalmieri
Black Lightning, Vol. 1 by Tony Isabella, Trevor Von Eeden, Michael Netzer, Denny O'Neil

3.0

I've been trying to cull my comic collection and went after a lot of 70s DC books. Most of them, I only made it through an issue or two before deciding to ditch, as they're usually boring, overwritten, basic superhero stories written by the same five dudes. Black Lightning was different. When I started reading this, I didn't want to stop. It's far more interesting for the focus on Jefferson as a character and the ongoing threat of "The 100," I really like the serialization (especially over the first 8 issues), and the caption and dialogue style rarely approaches the excess of its contemporaries. Von Eeden's art also occasionally does something interesting with layout or design to set itself apart. The negative is that I wish there was a black writer to truly understand and impart that experience to the character, but what we get is thankfully not as stereotypical as most black characters from the time.

At the end of the day, it's still a 70s DC superhero comic. It's just better than most others.