Black Lightning is back. Both in the series and as a hero. He’s returned to Cleveland to bury his father. He still narrates the book talking to his father, but whatever. Writer (and Black Lightning creator) Tony Isabella has a lot of exposition to get out. Including one-liners name-dropping other heroes. Though only two of them are big time. The others… well, whatever.
Isabella doesn’t lay out the ground situation straightforward, he tries to bake information into the scene, which sometimes works, sometimes doesn’t. Artist Clayton Henry doesn’t have the right visual pacing for the script. He doesn’t do well with a lot of dialogue (and there’s often a lot of it).
Some of the series is ostensibly going to have to do with cops not liking vigilantes and especially black ones (or women, the white male cops don’t like women either). It’s nearly ambitious. Then the issue ends with Black Lightning framed for murder and on the run. Giving the cops an excuse.
There’s no character stuff for Black Lightning past the talking to dead dad.
There doesn’t seem to be much point to Cold Dead Hands, except maybe to have a Black Lightning comic out when the TV show premieres.
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