DC is celebrating 50 years of Jefferson Pierce with DC Power: Black Lightning 50th Anniversary Special, a 48-page one-shot that goes on sale January 27, 2027, for $5.99. The publisher announced the book on October 21, and the headline name on the credits belongs to the hero’s creator, Jenny Isabella.
Isabella writes the main story with Brandon Thomas, with art by Fico Ossio. Thomas and Ossio both worked on Black Lightning: The Standard. Additional stories come from writers Danny Lore, Greg Anderson Elysée and Al Letson, with artists Karen S. Darboe, Darryl Banks and Sedat Özgen.
Guarding Metropolis
According to DC, the main story finds Black Lightning entrusted with protecting Metropolis while Superman is away, as an old enemy plots against him from the shadows. Jefferson also weighs whether he still has time to repair his relationship with his ex-wife, Lynn Stewart, before another battle for the world’s fate arrives.
The special leans on the relationships that have defined the character. DC says Jefferson fights alongside the Outsiders, including Katana, the Signal and Cassandra Cain, crosses paths with his daughters Anissa and Jennifer, and teams with Mr. Terrific and Steel. His vision in DC K.O. also looms over the book, pushing him toward a new role as mentor to a young hero.
“Brandon is mine”
“As the old lady of the team, I get to work with a bunch of talented ‘youngsters’ who love and respect my creation,” Isabella said in DC’s announcement. She also praised her co-writer in unusually direct terms: “As much as it can be said that someone who doesn’t own a character can have a chosen successor, Brandon is mine.”
Thomas said he learned how Isabella felt only weeks after they agreed to work together. “Any opportunity I have to contribute something to his and his family’s legacy will be embraced to the fullest, and doing so alongside his actual creator is something I never imagined possible,” he said, adding that the theme of the story “is quite simply love.”
Covers
The main cover is by Edwin Galmon and Andrew Dalhouse. Variants come from Fico Ossio and Tamra Bonvillain, from Trevor Von Eeden and Chris Sotomayor, and from Cully Hamner, whose cover glows in the dark. Isabella singled out the Von Eeden cover, calling him the first artist who drew Black Lightning and someone “justifiably considered a co-creator of the character and his world.”
The one-shot will be available at participating comic shops and digital retailers on January 27, 2027.
