Black Lightning is one of DC’s first African-American heroes and a longtime member of superteams like The Outsiders and the Justice League of America. Black Lightning, aka Jefferson Pierce, will also be the first person of color to headline a live-action DC CW superhero TV series.
Jefferson Pierce was created by Tony Isabella and Trevor Von Eeden in 1977’s Black Lightning #1.
Below you’ll find a guide to Black Lightning comics and where to start with reading the character’s appearances in the DC Universe.
Black Lightning Comic Book Reading Order
Origins and Year One
Collects: Black Lightning Year One #1 to #6
Note that this is a modern take on Black Lightning’s origins. If you want to start with his 1977 debut, skip ahead to the collection below.
Collects: Black Lightning #1 to #11, World’s Finest #260
Justice League of America #173 to #174
Green Arrow recruits Black Lightning for the Justice League of America.
Black Lightning And The Outsiders
Collects: Brave and the Bold #200, Batman and the Outsiders #1 to #13, New Teen Titans #37
Batman and the Outsiders Vol. 2
Collects: Batman and the Outsiders Annual #1, Batman and the Outsiders #14 to #23
Batman and the Outsiders continues in issues until issue #32 before rebranding to Adventures of the Outsiders from issues #33 to #38.
Collects: Black Lightning #1 to #13
Tony Isabella returned to a relaunched Black Lightning in the mid-90’s for another short-lived run on Jefferson Pierce.
Black Lightning Enters the 2000’s
Collects: The Adventures Of Superman #108-110, Secret Files &Amp; Origins: President Luthor #1, Superman #108-110, #162-165 And Superman: Lex 2000 #1
President Lex Luthor names Jefferson his Secretary of Education, and he reluctantly accepts.
Outsiders Vol 01: Looking for Trouble
Collects: Teen Titans/Outsiders Secret Files #1, Outsiders #1 to #6
Black Lightning bounces in and out of the 2003 relaunched Outsiders, with a team led by Nightwing and adding Jefferson’s oldest daughter, Thunder! Consider this more “Black Lightning family” than directly Black Lightning comics.
Outsiders Vol 02: Sum of All Evil
Collects: Outsiders #7 to #15
Collects: Outsiders #16 to #23
Teen Titans/Outsiders: The Insiders
Collects: Teen Titans #24-26 And Outsiders #24, 25 And 28
Outsiders Vol 04: Crisis Intervention
Collects: Outsiders #29 to #33
Black Lightning is involved in Batman’s machinations with Brother EYE and the OMAC project.
Collects: Outsiders #34 to #41
Outsiders Vol 06: Pay as You Go
Collects: Outsiders #42 to #46, Outsiders Annual #1
Collects: Checkmate #13-15, Outsiders #47-49
Crossover with Greg Rucka’s run on Checkmate.
Black Lightning and the Justice League of America
Green Arrow: Heading into the Light
Collects: Green Arrow #52, #54 to #59
Black Lightning works with Ollie to track down Dr. Light and hold him accountable for his crimes in Identity Crisis
Justice League of America Vol. 1 The Tornado’s Path
Collects: Justice League of America #1 to #7
Black Lightning spends the back-end of the 2000’s as a full-fledged Justice Leaguer.
Justice League of America, Vol. 2: The Lightning Saga
Collects: Justice League of America #0, #8 to #12, Justice Society of America #5 to #6
Justice League of America: The Injustice League
Collects: JLA Wedding Special #1 and Justice League of America #13-16
Justice League of America Vol 4: Sanctuary
Collects: Justice League of America #17 to #21
Justice League of America: The Second Coming
Collects: Justice League of America #22 to #26
Justice League of America: Worlds Collide
Collects: Justice League of America #27 to #28, #30 to #34
Collects: Batman #682-683 in addition to Final Crisis #1-7, Superman Beyond #1-2 and Submit #1
Black Lightning stars in one of the limited, and most meaningful Final Crisis tie-ins, in the “Submit” one-shot.
Collects: Batman and the Outsiders Special #1, Outsiders (2007 to 2011) #15 to #20
Black Lightning challenges for leadership of the Outsiders in the wake of Final Crisis.
Collects: Outsiders #21 to #25
The Outsiders: The Road to Hell
Collects: Outsiders #26 to #31
Collects: Outsiders #32 to #37
New 52 and DC Rebirth Black Lightning
DC Universe Presents Vol. 3: Black Lightning and Blue Devil
Collects: DC Universe Presents #13 to #18
Black Lightning got the short end of the stick in the New 52, finally appearing in DC Universe Presents #13 in an oddball team-up with Blue Devil.
If you’re a Black Lightning fan, the New 52 was not kind to you.
Black Lightning: Cold Dead Hands
Collects: Black Lightning Cold Dead Hands #1 to #6
Black Lightning has returned to the DCU in the DC Rebirth era with his very own six issue limited series by original series creator Tony Isabella.
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