Black Lightning Comic Takes A Timely Stand Against The NRA

WARNING: This article contains SPOILERS up to Black Lighting: Cold Dead Hands #6

The final issue of Cold Dead Hands - a new Black Lightning mini-series - has taken a timely stance against The National Rifle Association (NRA) and the gun manufacturers and lobbyists working to keep guns selling in the United States of America. The comic also changes up the motivations of Tobias Whale, Black Lightning's arch-enemy from the original comics by Tony Isabella and Trevor Von Eeden.

Originally, Tobias Whale was an albino crime-boss who led The 100 - a gang that ruled the Metropolis borough known as Suicide Slum. Jefferson Pierce was a teacher at Garfield High School in Suicide Slum who donned a costume and a special electrical belt to protect his neighborhood as Black Lightning, eventually developing true metahuman powers. Much of this mythology was kept for the Black Lightning television series, though the action was relocated to the fictional town of Freeland, Georgia - and Jefferson Pierce was promoted to Principal of Garfield High.

The TV show has pulled few punches in its social commentary, but still can't match the comic's latest supervillain scheme.

The new Black Lightning mini-series, Cold Dead Hands, has reintroduced the character into the reality of DC Comics Rebirth. Jefferson Pierce is still a former Olympic athlete turned teacher, but now his hometown is Cleveland, Ohio. Tobias Whale has been changed more visibly, no longer being an albino. The final chapter of Cold Dead Hands revealed another change to Tobias Whale's background and motivations, with Whale now being a weapons designer and arms dealer with an insidious scheme to become rich off of the fears of the public.

Whale outlined his plans to Black Lightning, having trapped the hero in a field that negated his powers. As he beat Black Lighting near to death, Whale boasted of how he was selling his high-tech weapons to criminals and terrorists. Their activities would prompt under-equipped police officers and panicked citizens to demand that they be allowed access to the same weapons.

Whale specifically singles out The NRA, saying they would "demand the guns be available to all and their toadies in Congress will agree." All of this would add up to billions of dollars in revenue for Whale, as he licensed his designs to other manufacturing firms to meet the new demand for his weapons.

While Whale's scheme was likely meant to seem like a cartoonish bit of super-villainy, his fear-inspiring tactics do seem eerily reminiscent of The NRA's real-world response to the surge in public support for gun control following the school shooting at Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. The organization has encouraged the sales of bullet-proof backpacks, policies requiring teachers to carry handguns themselves, and undergo active shooter response training.

All solutions that would, logically, lead to more money heading to gun manufacturers and the NRA - and as Tobias Whale hopes, will increase the amount of guns sold, not decrease.

While some are likely to decry this development as the latest example of comic publishers DC Comics pushing for social justice, the truth is that this sort of thing occurred even before Black Lightning was introduced in 1977. Stan Lee took the side of student activists in the pages of The Amazing Spider-Man at the height of The Vietnam War. Joe Simon and Jack Kirby introduced Captain America punching Adolf Hitler at a time when American was not involved in the war, and The German American Bund was still lobbying for The United States to enter World War II on the side of the Axis Powers.

Even Superman was originally introduced as what we would today call "a social justice warrior," fighting crooked bankers and landlords trying to defraud people in the wake of The Great Depression. All things considered, Tobias Whale isn't living in a dream world... and a vigilante teacher wanting to protect kids from guns isn't exactly outlandish.

More: Black Lightning is Arrested in ‘The Book of Crucifixion’ Trailer

Black Lightning: Cold Dead Hands #6 is now available from DC Comics.