Jefferson Pierce

This page is similar in name or subject to other pages. See also Black Lightning for a complete list of references to clarify differences between these closely named or closely related articles.

"Justice, like lightning, should ever appear to some men hope, to other men fear."

―Black Lightning

Jefferson Pierce
Aliases:	Black Lightning Jefferson Michael Pierce
Continuity:	DC Comics Black Lightning
Notability:	Main character
Type:	Superhero
Gender:	Male
Race:	Altered human
Location:	Suicide Slum, Metropolis Chicago, Illinois Freeland
Associations:	Justice League of America The Outsiders
Known relatives:	Lynn Stewart Jennifer Pierce Anissa Pierce
Status:	Alive
First:	Black Lightning #1
Actor:	Cress Williams

Jefferson Pierce is a fictional comic book superhero who goes by the code name of Black Lightning. He is the main character in his own line of titles published by DC Comics and was introduced in the first issue of his own ongoing Black Lightning comic book series in April, 1977. He also headlined a second Black Lightning title, which ran for thirteen issues from 1995 to 1996 as well as a Black Lightning: Year One six-issue limited series in 2009 and the Black Lightning: Cold Dead Hands series in 2018. The character was adapted into a live-action Black Lightning television series in 2018, which aired on the CW Network. He was played by actor Cress Williams in the series.

Biography

Jefferson Pierce grew up in Suicide Slum, a neglected part of Metropolis which got its name from the idea that people only escaped the degradation of the slum by killing themselves. His father was accidentally shot during a mob hit, and times were quite tough for Jeff and his widowed mother. A month or so later, an Italian tailor named Peter Gambi opened a shop beneath their apartment and helped them through their financial difficulties. Peter was there to care for Jeff while his mother worked long hours to support them. Over time, Peter Gambi began to fulfill Jeff's need for a positive father figure in his life.

Growing up, Jeff pushed himself in athletics and in his studies, with an aptitude for English and poetry. He even penned a few lines which stuck in Pete Gambi's memory: "Justice, like lightning, should ever appear to some men hope, to other men fear." At the age of 18, Jeff managed to make it to the Olympics, gaining fame from the media profiles which highlighted his rise from Suicide Slum. Jeff wanted to send a message to everyone back home that you could get out of Suicide Slum.

Having won medals and attention, Jeff received scholarships and endorsement offers which allowed him to go to college and receive both an English major and a teaching degree. Four years after he left for college, he again went to the Olympics and this time won the Decathlon. The gold medal winner then began a teaching job upstate in New Carthage but returned to Metropolis for his mother's funeral.

In his time away, Jeff had married a young woman named Lynn Stewart. He and Lynn were together for a short time but bore a daughter, Anissa. Jeff considered his future career as Black Lightning a necessary sacrifice to help provide for Anissa the freedom to live a normal life. But at the age of eleven, the girl also manifested metahuman powers. She discovered that she was able to alter the density (and thus, the weight) of her body. Regardless, Anissa conceded to her parents' wishes and pursued a pre-med degree instead of costumed adventuring. Jeff was so protective of his daughter that he never mentioned her to anyone. When Jeff and Lynn divorced, Anissa went to live with her mother. Lynn was disappointed with Jeff for not being the community activist that she was. He only seemed to care about getting himself out of the ghetto.

Upon his return to Metropolis, he noticed that nothing had changed in Suicide Slum. Pierce decided it was time to make a difference and, indeed, back at his old Alma mater of Garfield High School, Jeff quickly made an impression when he kicked a drug pusher off the premises and followed suit by humiliating three members of the criminal organization known as The 100. In retaliation, the gunmen killed Earl Clifford, one of Pierce's students, and left his corpse in the GHS gymnasium. A distraught Jeff related the tragedy to Peter Gambi, who urged him to fight back in a persona that wouldn't invite counter-attacks on his students. Presenting him with a predominantly blue costume.

Equipped with a force-field belt that enabled him to generate lighting bolts, Black Lightning was born. while in costume, Pierce played to the era's stereotypical perception of blacks by affecting a jive-talking speech pattern and wearing a mask/wig combination that gave him a large Afro, simple devices that deflected suspicion from a well-educated school-teacher.

Black Lightning carved out a niche in Metropolis, ultimately gaining the trust of high-profile figures like Superman, Inspector Bill Henderson and reporter Jimmy Olsen. Along the way, he defeated several super-powered underlings of the 100, from Merlyn to the Cyclotronic Man to Syonide, as well as the gang's gargantuan albino leader, Tobias Whale. There would be retaliation for Black Lightning's actions but not against Jeff Pierce's students. Rather, it was Peter Gambi who paid the price, leaping in front of a gun-blast meant for Black Lightning. Stripped of his force-field belt, the hero seemed destined for a similar fate but, in his fury, Black Lightning generated its effects from within his own body. In some unknown manner, he'd internalized the electrical power. The confrontation with the 100 had also exposed Peter's darkest secret. The support and love that he'd showered on Jeff and Mrs. Pierce had been a kind of penance. He had been the man who'd killed Jeff's father.

During this time, Jeff's ex-wife Lynn was hired as a teacher at Garfield High and eventually figured out that Jeff was Black Lightning.

Lightning next met a man who would become one of his biggest allies in crime-fighting—the Batman. Together they investigated a series of student abductions (which included Dick Grayson) and met Superman and Black Canary before the case had closed. This led him to meet Green Arrow as well; these two acknowledged a kindred spirit.

It seemed that Black Lightning was ready to hit the big leagues. After meeting Green Arrow, his new friend nominated Pierce for membership in the Justice League of America, but Lightning rejected the honor. The JLA respected his decision and B.L. soon teamed up with Superman to solve the murder of a girl named Trina Shelton, who was shot and killed by a stray bullet during an altercation between Lightning and some muggers. As a result, Pierce lost his internalized powers due to a psychological block.