Tony Isabella created Black Lightning with Trevor Von Eeden in 1977, and the writer is back for another six-issue series with artist Clayton Henry. DC announced on Friday Black Lightning: Cold Dead Hands releases Nov. 1. The mini does not align with the TV series premiering on The CW this fall. Jefferson Pierce is also a little bit different than you may remember. Head over to DC for an exclusive look.
Isabella told Player.One in May at East Coast Black Age of Comics Convention he was working on a Black Lightning series tentatively named Cold Dead Hands, and gave a few details. Firstly, Jefferson Pierce will be the youngest he’s ever been, at 28 years old. He doesn’t have children at that point in his life. It’s set in Cleveland. Isabella is also putting a new spin on one of Black Lightning's biggest enemies, Tobias Whale.
“In my new Black Lightning comic books series, which isn’t based on the TV series, because I started working on them independently, I’m basically changing all sorts of stuff. Because of the DC Rebirth thing, I can do whatever I want. Black Lightning is younger, he’s not married, he doesn’t have daughters, but he has cousins. And the older cousin is one of his students and I've already dropped a few hints that she’s got powers too. It’s set in Cleveland – we don't even try to disguise that fact anymore. There’s a redesigned Tobias Whale. We are getting rid of the whole Kingpin wannabe thing with Tobias Whale. He’s got the body of Lebron James. And then he’s got this whole Dick Tracy look because of the brow, a very tall head with these flesh ridges. But we are going to reduce the size of the head so it doesn’t look cartoony. He’s black, not an albino anymore. Between the ridges and the beady eyes, there’s a little bit of Whale going on there.”
Isabella also said he changed the gender of one of the main characters at the last minute.
“I had two other strong women in the stories too, but they were evil as shit so I knew I had to have somebody on the side of the angels,” Isabella said. “It took like 20 minutes to do it. I just did a search on the character's name and changed some of the dialogue in it because I realized I didn't have a strong woman character in this story. Women are about half our audience or more right now, plus I’m married to a woman.”
Check out the full solicit below and stay tuned to Tony Isabella’s frequently updated blog for news on Cold Dead Hands.
BLACK LIGHTNING: COLD DEAD HANDS #1
Written by TONY ISABELLA
Art and cover by CLAYTON HENRY
Variant cover by KEN LASHLEY
All-new mini-series by original creator Tony Isabella teamed with superstar artist Clayton Henry! Black Lightning is back and things are not the same! In his hometown of Cleveland, high school teacher Jefferson Pierce is a role model for his students. As Black Lightning, he’s fighting to keep them safe, even as his city’s streets are invaded by local gangs with deadly super-weapons. And wait until you see who their supplier is! Real-world issues in a superhero world! Expect the unexpected!
