I don’t know anything about Black Lightning but I picked this up for a few reasons — I’ve rarely been let down by DC’s Year Ones, because I liked Jen Van Meter’s work on ‘Hopeless Savages.’, because I was surprised to see her on a superhero book, and frankly because I always give new comics by female writers a try if they come onto my radar. 

I’m glad I gave it a try.

This comic does an excellent job of setting up the story of Jefferson Pierce — his family, his community, his work as a principal in troubled high schools, and the legacy he’s torn about living up to.  It deals with a potentially cliched/offensive/exploitative subject in a smart, sensitve way, and I’m really interested in what happens next.

As with his work in “Blue Beetle,” Cully Hamner’s art is bright and eye-catching; also as in “Blue Beetle,” I got lost in some of the action scenes.  But there’s so much here to like that I’m reluctant to nitpick, and I definitely want to see more.