Black Lightning and I have had a long, sordid relationship…at least if you consider one 32 page comic basis for a long relationship of a sordid nature. Prior to this issue, I had read very little of this Black Lightning character, but I gotta say that after reading through this issue, he definitely registers into my “interesting” column. I had a good time reading through this issue, and I found the story engaging. I really enjoyed the contrasting characters: Black Lightning’s rationality coupled with Tatooed Man’s rage and dislike of superheroes. The contrast was nice and when faced with such bitter hatred and ignorance, Black Lightning comes off as cool headed, calm, and most of all determined. His presence in this book is the epitome of hero, and he proves this again and again and again. Instead of confronting Tatooed Man’s prejudice, he subverts it and uses it to spurn his family forward to safety. The only downside is that it’s almost predictable the way these prejudices play out in the closing pages of the story. Within this Final Crisis laden universe, it’s nice to see the resistors stand tall without compromising who they are. Black Lightning risks it all to save a family and makes that a priority over all else. A true hero. And, as nerdy as this sounds, the teacher in me loved the first few scenes where Black Lightning focuses on saving books and papers, stating that they’re humanities last “treasures.” With a knowing, teacherly nod, I sighed, thinking, “Ain’t that the truth…” This also makes the last page more impactful as the final events play out.

The art in this issue is pretty good. There’s a couple of great splash pages in the issue, and the panels are paced nicely and laid out well. I would say that there’s nothing that stands out as overly amazing, but it made the issue as a whole enjoyable to read. There were a couple panels toward the end of the story (particularly the final fight sequence) that didn’t make sense to me, and Tattooed Man’s power could have been more clearly illustrated (considering I had never heard of this guy before). Overall, the art was solid.