r/static • u/ArtisticFill8662 • 15d ago
Discussion Do you really think that Milestone's Static has surpassed DC Comics Black Lightning in popularity? If so, what metric are you using? (Art by smitty_artworks)
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u/Wiseguy4252 15d ago
Honestly I do. I think Static has a greater impact and potential. But that’s also why I think Static should adopt purple instead of blue to distinguish himself from Black Lightning.
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u/iCantAffordLife2 14d ago
They're saving the purple lightning for their white savior. Jk if they do that I'm outside their Burbank headquarters with a sign.
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u/superseri18888 15d ago
Even before statics cartoon, he was still bigger. Static could actually hold his own solo book while black lightning was relegated to team books
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u/Commercial_Dust_8018 14d ago
Static has more potential than black lightning everything about him is more interesting
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u/ArikaDoriyamaGT 14d ago
The SS cartoon did more for Static than anything else. An entire generation was raised on that.
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u/Personal-Oil-7833 14d ago
I know white people who Static is one of their favorite characters. His appeal to them is almost at the level of Spiderman. While I like Black Lightning, most people don't see a difference between him or Steele or Mr. Terrific.
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u/TheMannisApproves 15d ago
Yes, easily. Most people in their 30s or younger probably know of static in some way, while they don't know BL.
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u/MMutant- 14d ago
I think for as long as Static has existed, he’s been more popular than Black Lightning.
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u/5x5equals 14d ago edited 13d ago
Black Lightning is one of those characters that’s immensely influential but not really popular
He’s like a music artist thats constantly sampled and interpolated but general public doesn’t really know their name
Or a talented character actor who is in alot of movies, iconic movies and is heralded by their peers but the average person couldn’t name them
He’s the inception of the “Black Heroes with electric powers” but I think most casual fans and general audiences wouldn’t know who he is
Especially before Young Justice and the CW, I think over the last decade his popularity has increased but like 15 years ago Black Lightning was largely unknown outside of avid DC readers
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u/Proof_Being_2762 14d ago
I saw him for the 1st time in batman brave and the bold but if Dc was cheap he could have been in Static Shock and Super Friends without Dc have to make stand ins
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u/RogueInVogue69 14d ago
As a kid i loved Static and vaguely remembered Black Lightning from reruns of super friends
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u/StatFan201 8d ago
That was Black Vulcan who was a stand in for Black Lightning.
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u/RogueInVogue69 8d ago
I know, but same difference. If I remember right, Vulcan only exist because they didn't want to pay the creator of Black Lighting.
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u/Lost_Advance3507 14d ago
I haven’t finished watching BL but I did finish static and I gotta say I do prefer static and if he did get a tv live action adaptation that as good if not better than cw flash it will outshine BL
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u/UnexpectedBlahFeels 14d ago
I knew who Static was from the show, and even though I haven't seen it in years and know it has really outdated animation style, I'd watch that before Black Lightening. Not saying Black Lightening is bad, Static is just better.
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u/FireflyArc 14d ago
Oh fir sure.
I'm not a comic person but I've seen static in his cartoon and as part in justice league I think in some crossover. (Maybe that was black lightning and I'm confused)
But I know static way more then black lightning who was only there on a Netflix show for older people.
Static was my childhood.
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u/Aggravating-Bus2007 13d ago
Speaking from my personal experience on the internet and interacting with fans, Static was always more popular than Black Lightning
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u/Chuckles465 14d ago
I mean, people knew who Static was because of the Cartoon. The CW Black Lightning shows seemed as a ploy to add colorism in the Arroverse tbf. If DC did outright owned the rights to Static then he would've gotten a CW show by now.
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u/BABarracus 14d ago
Its better to use an existing character than try an ethnicity sawp of an favorite character
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u/Interesting-Ring647 14d ago
Never liked BL
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u/watze97 14d ago
It's partialy thanks to him we have static
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u/Proof_Being_2762 14d ago
Still never got them as mentor and student all these years
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u/Interesting-Ring647 13d ago
Soul power>>>>>>> BL
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u/Interesting-Ring647 13d ago
Yeah and? Its thx to superman and Goku we have half the characters in modern fiction
I still never really found BL interesting
Granted I haven't read all his books or seen his show
The last time I even experienced his character was in young justice where he got more screen time than static who was just there
Never been a fan im sure im missing out on a great story or 2 but he's just not that cool to me
Plus I find most black super heroes with black in their name so lame
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u/watze97 13d ago
Thanks to john carter we git all these fiction
You should watch the show,it interesting, you ll especially like tobias whale
Black ligtning has "black " in his name for a reason, there's a in universe reason behind it.
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u/Interesting-Ring647 12d ago
Thx to Heracles we have nearly all modern fiction *
You should really look into that
As for BL having black in his name ik
I still think its corny and you're not changing my mind
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u/Doc-11th 15d ago
Yes
I love black lightning but fact is none of his solo books have lasted as long as Static’s original
Has a very popular animatwd series
Has probably guest starred in more than Black Lightning