Dwayne McDuffie

Xero was Priest's. He actually pitched it as a Milestone book before he sold it to DC.

And a very good book it was... too bad we'll probably never see it again.

I heard the same and he was going to a bigot or racist.

Whenever I'm being interviewed about Black Lightning and related topics, I get asked about this character all the time.  I keep trying to come up with a shorter answer.  Here's my most recent attempt:

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DC had already purchased two scripts for a character called the Black Bomber. He was a white racist who, as a soldier in Viet Nam, had taken part in chemical experiments to help him blend into the jungle better. I am not making this up.

He showed no effects of the experiments until he returned home from Nam. Then, at odd times, he would turn into a super-powered black man. He had no knowledge of his dual identities, so he would never learn a thing from the experience. His super-hero costumed looked pretty much like a basketball uniform.

In both of the completed scripts, in his white identity, the hero risked his life rescuing someone he couldn't see clearly - such as a child in a baby carriage - discovered that he had rescued a black person, and say something like "You mean I just risked my life for a jungle bunny?!" That's an actual line from one of the scripts.

DC wanted me to "fix" these two scripts and then take over the book with the third issue. I was horrified. I tried to explain to them that these were two of the most offensive scripts I had ever read, that their offices would be burned to the ground if they published them, and that I would be throwing gasoline on the offices myself.  Who says I don't play well with others?

Finally, I boiled down my arguments against this character to one question: "Do you really want your first black super-hero to be a white racist?"

That convinced them. I was given three weeks to create a different black super-hero. I started by looking for a hero younger readers could identify with - a schoolteacher - and worked my way up to the super-hero stuff from there. Jeff Pierce came first; the name and the powers were the last steps in creating Black Lightning.

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And, of course, DC has thanked me for this by continually violating the letter and spirit of our original partnership agreement and, a couple years back, issuing an editorial edict that I could not be hired to write the Black Lightning Year One series or any other Black Lightning series.

No good deed goes unpunished.

Tony Isabella

You been blacklisted from Black Lightning? That's messed up.

What ever happen to the two Bomber's scripts?

Do you still have copies of them?

It might be interresting to see what remains of the Black Bomber.

If you got them the scripts would you concider posting them for those of us who are curious?

The two scripts were shipped out of the office to be preserved for all time as the historical treasures they are.  However, they have not turned up in decades.  If and when they do, I'll consider putting them online.

Tony

the first question after why would someone thank the black bomber was a good ideal, is who created the character and wrote the script?

or should their identity be kept secret to protect the innocent.

I believe it was Robert Kanigher that's credited with this "genius" idea.

I think the idea of a white racist who gains super powers by turning into a black man is one with a lot of potential, myself. I can see why you obviously wouldn't want it as a company's first black superhero, the concept would be gold in the hands of a good writer. The idea of someone who is willing to turn into something he hates to do something good alone is worth doing.

your right the ideal has potential and in the right hands could be used to make some good stories.

of course in the wrong hands it can just lead to some really bad comics.

Ray Milland and Rosie Greer should have starred in the Brown Bomber movie.