The other history of the DC universe, V.

The other history of the DC universe, vol. 5. 

V: 1981 - 2010: Anissa Pierce. 

- John Ridley, et al

The fifth and final volume tells us the tale of Anissa, eldest daughter of Jefferson (alias Black Lightning), who under the name Thunder became a super heroine in her own right. Aiming to be role model for queer women of color everywhere, Anissa had to grapple with a very different world that the one her father swore to defend, while dealing with judgment from past generations —including her own family. 

A very rare case of a volume that both makes a nice bookend with the first of the series and is a more than fine tale on its own right. The Pierces, parents and daughters, help illustrate the shifting state of the world from the second half of the twentieth century to the early twenty-first. Where Jefferson used his religious morals as a shield against the injustice of the world, Anissa questions those morals. “People’d used the word of the Lord to justify slavery. Dad had no excuse for using the same to justify his zealotry”. 

This volume, more than the previous four, delves as much into Superhero anecdotes as into real-life events. But twenty-first century DC comics, starting circa 2003, took a turn for the considerably more violent and exploitative. “I literally cannot describe what 36 burnt humans looks like.” A reflection of the increasingly difficult world that produces them. 

Pop culture is here used not just as a reference point, but as identity signals. Anissa reminisces about attending a Prince concert with her sister, while they were on their teens: “As amazing as the music was, the way he celebrated sexuality and androgyny, and the way he disregarded labels, is what attracted me to him as an artist. Back then, when I was still struggling with identity, people like Prince gave me permission to just create my own”. 

The world changes as time goes by, and so do we. New generations come, sometimes bringing conflict and sometimes repeating the same mistakes we did, under new terms. But sometimes, it’s this passage of time that gives clarity to the past and lets us face the present (and the idea of the future) with courage. Through these five volumes, Ridley and collaborators have created a unique and quite necessary tale to remind us the importance of thinking outside the box as it were. 

*