Enemy Ace and Black Lightning

Without a doubt Marvel Comics changed the shape of comic books in the 1960s when it introduced The Fantastic Four.  

Marvel would go on to premiere several new titles in the early 1960s featuring characters with flaws and unique origins.  It would continue to produce some of the most imaginative and innovative comic books the entire decade.

DC Comics held the to superhero position for years before Marvel’s explosive growth.

DC’s character were innovative in their own right but lacked the character dynamics Marvel’s characters did.

The owners/editors of DC Comics took notice and began producing cutting-edge comic books that abandoned the pre-conceived image people had of comic books.

Such titles as The Doom Patrol, Animal Man, The Creeper, Hawk and Dove and dozens more proved that DC writers and artists could produce relevant and unique titles.

DC Comics was well known for its War Comics.  Most featured red-blooded Americans as the heroes fighting against the repressive regimes of the Nazi’s and the Imperial Japanese.

Then something unusual happened.

In issue #57 of Showcase Presents writer Robert Kanigher and artist Joe Kubert presented a unique hero/villain; Enemy Ace in his own series.

While not his first appearance (it was his forth) Showcase gave the creative team the opportunity to star the ‘Red Baron‘ in a full-length comic book.

In a unique twist, readers get to witness WWI through the eyes of the enemy.

Early in the 1970s Blackploitation movies were all the rage.  It all started with Shaft and soon afterwards dozens of such movies were produced.

Usually they starred a street smart, inner city, and tough-as-nails black man who set out to fight crime and tick off ‘The Man“.

Marvel Comics, never one to ignore a trend, introduced its own “In-The-Hood” black crime fighter with Luke Cage: Powerman.

DC jumped on the bandwagon with Black Lightning #1 with told the origin of Black Lightning.

A former Olympic athlete and current high school teacher Jefferson Pierce dons the Black Lightning outfit after one of his students is killed by criminals.

In later years Black Lightning would gain electrical powers to match his name.

Both Enemy Ace and Black Lightning are unique in their own right and deserve a place in comic book lore.