Black Lightning #4 – Brandon Thomas, Writer; Fico Ossio, Artist; Ulises Arreola, Colorist
Ray – 9/10
Ray: The creative team on this book has been putting together one of my favorite Superhero family stories in a while, and the emotions are sky-high as the Pierce clan grapples with the complex fallout from Amanda Waller’s war. Last issue saw Anissa Pierce essentially wind up in protective custody with the Justice League due to her rapidly evolving powers, something that her father didn’t take kindly to. The opening of this issue sees him actually taking shots at the Justice League, filled with a father’s righteous rage, but fortunately cooler heads prevail. Anissa actually winds up benefiting from intensive training with the League and starts to learn how to control her new powers, although the way we got here is far from ideal. I really like this series’ focus on mental health for superheroes, as it’s one of the few books talking about how these power changes have a psychological impact.
But this is far from the only plot in this issue, as young metahuman Isaac has disappeared – and has found himself in the custody of the Masters of Disaster, a group of young metas who are looking to take the fight back from the Sons of Liberty. This clash between anti-metahuman bigots and meta radicals obviously isn’t a new theme in comics, but Thomas is doing some very interesting things with it – especially since there’s now a politician with ties to the terror group making waves. Both daughters get their chance to shine alongside their father this issue, but the final showdown that ends this issue is easily the most explosive scene of this issue. There are some great villains in this book, and that goes a long way to creating a compelling book. Black Lightning has long been one of my favorite DC heroes, due to the more mature perspective he brings, and this series does a great job of building on that.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
