In The Other History of The DC Universe by John Ridley, acclaimed novelist, screenwriter (12 Years a Slave), and a longtime comics writer (The American Way), has created an alternative narrative about the iconic superheroes of the DC universe, told from the point of view of DC’s Black and other superheroes of color, among them John Stewart, Vixen, Cyborg, Katana, Renee Montoya, and others. Ridley tells this alternative history via the character Jefferson Pierce, who becomes Black Lightning, a Black hero with electrical superpowers manifested, Ridley suggests, by Pierce’s mounting internalized rage at American racism. In this 11-page excerpt, Pierce, a former track star and later a high school teacher in Suicide Slum, Metropolis’ blighted urban neighborhood, tells his own story and ultimately the history of other heroes of color in the DC universe, outlining their problematic racial relationships with Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, and DC’s other white superheroes. The Other History of The DC Universe by John Ridley, with art by Giuseppe Camuncoli and Andrea Cucchi, is being serialized now and will be collected into a hardcover collection by DC in November 2021.
