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Post by takewithfood on Feb 19, 2018 22:57:14 GMT -5
Has anyone else been watching this? It's on the CW, and also on Netflix, but it's airing weekly so you can't just binge it; I think only 4 or 5 episodes are out at the moment.
I tried out the first episode. It's a pretty mixed-bag, but it's not completely awful I guess? Like you know how Luke Cage (it's hard not to make the comparison..) took a big drop in quality about half-way through? Imagine another drop after that... that's Black Lightning. I feel like it would have been a big hit about 10 years ago, but Marvel has just raised the bar too high.
Maybe it gets better, though.
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Post by Gris on Feb 20, 2018 5:00:22 GMT -5
I've been watching it and liking it quite a lot. Unlike Luke Cage that started slow but strong as a depiction of him returning to a borrowed home at Harlem being an outsider despite all and then turned into some convoluted dance about his powers and a ridiculous villain, Black Lightning seems to have its ideas sorted out better. Instead of that appeal of the Netflix seriousness and gravitas, or what passes as it for some of their worst like Iron Fist, Black Lightning presents the return of a retired superhero without stopping to explain and flashback feed every detail before setting things in motion. Shit is happening and it doesn't wait for our hero to explain himself to the audience, we just get to see it as in unfolds on the TV. The series plays (although probably not profoundly enough) the idea of him having created a shelter in the city with his school, turning as blind to the troubles of others as the ones he despises. He's interesting and somewhat nuanced, and the rest of the cast is quite nice and full of potential, although it's too soon to see how will it go.
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Post by WildKnight on Feb 20, 2018 8:51:05 GMT -5
I'm really digging it. It definitely has a lot of similarities (aside from the obvious) to Luke Cage, in terms of themes, music, etc, but it seems to more firmly embrace being set in a world of super heroes.
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Post by Savant on Feb 22, 2018 18:58:06 GMT -5
Any comparisons or contrasts to Static Shock?
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Post by WildKnight on Feb 22, 2018 19:58:37 GMT -5
Any comparisons or contrasts to Static Shock? Other than the fact that in general I find Static to be a much more interesting character? Not really. It covers a lot of the same ground (bad neighborhoods, minorities, drugs and violent crime, family, law enforcement, religion), but where Static was a kid, BL is a middle aged man with an ex-wife he's trying to reconcile with and a couple of daughters he wants to protect, so the perspective is considerably different in that regard. Ultimately I think a Static show would have fit better with the shows CW already has, but I will say that BL is different from Arrow and Flash BECAUSE it doesn't quite fit, and that's nice too.
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Post by Sylver Shadow on Feb 22, 2018 23:58:54 GMT -5
So keep in mind that Black Lightning is one of Static's mentors. But the problem I have is comic origin. Pretty much all black DC superheroes have the same story, they grow up in a bad, hood neighborhood and fight criminals the same way, including 2nd Green Lantern. The only different characters in this genre are Steel and Icon. One is Black Tony Stark and the other is an alien. I've never been a huge Black Lightning fan although I have to say I prefer they did Black lightning after he has kind of developed his superhero powers, but I've never really liked the comics which CW is actually portraying quite well. It just isn't for me. (And Thunder is a stupid superhero, I don't care if people hate me for that)
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Post by WildKnight on Feb 23, 2018 7:32:15 GMT -5
So keep in mind that Black Lightning is one of Static's mentors. But the problem I have is comic origin. Pretty much all black DC superheroes have the same story, they grow up in a bad, hood neighborhood and fight criminals the same way, including 2nd Green Lantern. The only different characters in this genre are Steel and Icon. One is Black Tony Stark and the other is an alien. I've never been a huge Black Lightning fan although I have to say I prefer they did Black lightning after he has kind of developed his superhero powers, but I've never really liked the comics which CW is actually portraying quite well. It just isn't for me. (And Thunder is a stupid superhero, I don't care if people hate me for that) I'm sure its true that Black Lightning was retconned into being a mentor for Static somehow, but when I was actually paying attention to comics, that wasn't the case. Even when Static first became part of the DC universe, that wasn't stated to be the case. I can't agree with your assessment of Stewart (GL2). I read a ton of GL comics back in the day, and while its true that Stewart was said to be from a bad neighborhood, I never really recall him or his stories being focused on street level crime
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Post by WildKnight on Feb 23, 2018 7:35:05 GMT -5
(Also, Stewart is GL3, not 2. Gardner was 2)
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Post by Sylver Shadow on Feb 23, 2018 22:52:22 GMT -5
Guy Gardner is 2 That's correct my bad, and that is true that Stewart isn't roped in the same storylines as others. I just feel that DC does a bad job of portraying "niche groups of heroes" Heroes of color, different ethnicities, orientations, whatever. They have bad representation. Like Vibe... Regardless, I guess Black Lightning could be worse, but I wished they had kept the afro helmet.
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