Title pretty much sums it up. Watched a video recently where someone was asked to name a black superhero that didn’t have lightning based powers and while I could name a few it made me realize just how prevalent the trope is.
But why?
Edit: Y’all I’m not asking for examples of black heroes that don’t have lightning powers. I’m asking why it’s a trope to begin with 😮💨
Started really with Storm in 1975, although, yeah, her powers are weather control, not specifically lightning, but lightning is definitely her power move.
Before Storm, you had Black Panther, Black Goliath, and Luke Cage, not electrical powers.
But AFTER that…
Black Lightning - 1977
Black Lightning is a great character, but Tony Isabella holds the rights to him so it gets complicated doing stuff with the character.
As a result, you get Black Lightning knock offs that can be used without the rights entanglement.
Black Vulcan - 1977 (Super Friends animation)
Static - 1993 (comics), 2000 (animation).
I personally think that it started with the fact that the contrast of the yellow lightning worked really well against black skin in the comics.
Then I’m assuming that it became a trope.
Ink contrast?
It probably also helps that the dense clouds appear black, and dense clouds mean a more severe storm. I wonder if the ink contrast is more of a perk than the primary reason, compared to darkness being a convenient power metaphor for storms.
It’s really not worth that much thought.
Strong disagree. Prevalent literary tropes are always worth dissecting, because they reveal a lot about the cultures that construct them, and provide us with insights into how to be better people.
In this case, the quantity of black lightning heroes may indicate that non-white skin color is / was perceived as such a defining feature of the character, beyond any potential personality facets, that any other power simply wasn’t considered.
If nearly every white comic hero were The Hulk, it would also be shit, and worth raising questions about.
It’s not prevalent and the hulk is green.
Oh yeah. And it rarely leads to “better people” lol
Probably not the worst explanation.
That’s high praise on Lenny
This article does a pretty good job of explaining the history of black superheroes with electrical powers.
To summarize, the popularity of Black Lightning along with copyright issues lead to the creation of a few copycat heroes (ex: Black Vulcan in Super Friends, Juice from Justice League Unlimited). There’s also the possibility of electricity being a versatile power and the popularity of Storm from X-men and Static.
Someone in the comments section also noted that it could also be an artistic choice since the colors of electricity would contrast better with black characters than lighter skin characters. That seems like a stretch to me but that is another theory.
A pornstar from my country (decades ago) said that she preferred working with black men because of the contrast on screen. Totally unrelated tidbit, but it makes sense to me that the same goes here.
Big Black Contrast.
Great article!
I also think the contrast reason is very plausible for the early designs as colors and contrast are a massive part of design in comics.
The question may be better phrased as the complimentary of what you asked.
Not why do all these black superfolk have lightning powers, but instead why are so many superfolk with lightning powers black?
I suspect the answer is kin to why so many characters with fire-themed powers have red hair, or why so many superheroes with facial hair are wizards.
about your edit: Posting anything on social media is an invitation to contradict your premise, regardless of how emphatically you say what the real point of your post is.
Hey I watched a video on this years ago :3
I think it basically boiled down to they all have lightning powers, because the first black hero did, and then everyone copied it (and also good contrast or something)
Frozone
Edit: There’s a 2-year-old thread on that other site that asked the same question and received lots of examples. I get that tropes and stereotypes exist, but I’m not sure black superheroes and lightning fits the bill.
https://www.reddit.com/r/comicbooks/comments/1gpxcn2/black_superheroes_without_electric_powers/
That guy from Mystery Men who could turn invisible if nobody was watching… he was black, wasn’t he?
I don’t think clear is a skin color.
Yes, Invisible Boy was black
Now if that isn’t a great metaphor for institutional racism, I don’t know what is
Except that he was only invisible when nobody was looking at him.
Wait till you see the red heads being turned into black characters pattern.
… Who besides Wally did that happen to?
Iris West, hawkgirl, jimmy olsen, Starfire, batwoman, Jim Gordon, Mary Jane
That is just the ones I can think of off the top of my head.
Note I don’t mind them at all changing the race of a character. But swapping gingers for another race just doesn’t seem like progress to me. Just shows they are only willing to make superficial changes. Instead of making awesome characters that just happen to be black or any other race or identity. Them writing a black sidekick or supporting character makes them just one dimensional.
I would like characters of all color, shapes, sexual preferences where their trait they don’t have a choice in becomes their whole personality.
That’s why old school star trek got it. Uhura was not on the bridge to tell black stories. She was there to be apart of the team that just happened to be black. It could have been better in terms of screen time but the core idea is still relevant today. A more modern example of them doing this really right was Brooklyn 99 with Captain Holt. That show showed him being a Captain and a father figure first. Him having a husband and being gay was shown as being what it is, Normal.
The fact that you’re getting so many replies about other characters should be a sign the premise of the question is faulty. You’re asking people to stop giving you examples that contradict your confirmation bias.
It’s not confirmation bias but rather slight functional illiteracy from commenters. The original question is basically asking what’s the connection between black superheroes and having electrical powers; or in other words why is it a trope.
Nowhere in the title or the short note did OP ask people to name black superheroes without electrical powers. He only says that he saw a video that asked people to do that.
Even if you ignore the note, the title itself isn’t asking for examples of exceptions but rather for an explanation. It’s kind of like if someone asked why so many members of Congress are old and white, and the responses were just listing non-white and/or younger representatives.
Except I stated that I know other black characters exist that don’t have lightning powers. I know not all black superheroes have lightning powers but there’s enough of them that I’ve noticed it’s a trope.
I don’t really think it is. I know you don’t want a list of non lightening but like I can’t think of any except black lightening and static shock who sorta seemed to be just a teenage copy of black lightening. I guess you can include storm but her powers are around the weather which lightening is just one aspect. Honestly hers is the only real lighening as the others are electric powers. Just in recent movies we have black panther, falcon, luke cage, war machine, and cyborg showing up in films. Not sure if John Stewart has shown up in dc’s green lantern related stuff but anyone who read comics will be familiar with him.
Miles Morales is an interesting example of the trope though, as the other spider-heroes don’t have the electrical powers while he does.
On Spider-Man, Electro isn’t black in the comics but was in Amazing Spider-Man which is also maybe a hint of the trope.
Yeah I still don’t see it as much a trope. Much like the storm its like ok he got another power above and beyond the main spider powers. I mean its like someone mentioned that then green lanter has electric powers. I don’t think I saw the amazing spider man with the black electro but then again while I never thought it would happen Im kinda done with the main comic and sci fi ip.
Blade
I’m not asking for examples of black superheroes who don’t have lightning powers. I’m asking why it’s a trope to begin with.
I think there’s only a handful and can’t really be called a trope when you’ve had just as many examples of black superheroes without lightning powers.
There’s a few white ones too. Thor for example. Shazam. Flash. Wonder Woman
Apropos of, well, this thread: If you aren’t aware of Black Lightning by The Bellrays, then you really ought to be.
Storm (not lightening based, just a part of her power set), Bishop, Cecilia Reyes - just off the top of my head.
I’m not asking for examples of black superheroes who don’t have lightning powers. I’m asking why it’s a trope to begin with.
Yeah, I commented before reading the whole post. Apologies.
