SUPER RATING: 3 His lightning bolts seemed like they could do anything he wanted. Some days they blew things up, some days they tied up bad guys like a rope, and once he wrapped one around himself and traveled through time. But once you start seeing him use them and randomly hitting his friends and innocent bystanders, you start to realize that once he makes a lightning bolt, whatever happens is out of his hands. So yeah, he's as big a fuck up as everyone else, just with a higher potential for random property damage. Black Vulcan's main duty on the Super Friends was being the one to remember his globe helmet when they went into space. That way, if the writers ever remember that people can't breathe in space, there'd be at least one person on the team who wouldn't asphyxiate and explode. Behind the Capes: A Special Investigation The Super Friends wanted to get in on the 70's blaxploitation movement. Dolemite, Shaft, Superfly, even a-then-two-year-old Vanilla Ice, all empowered and challenged black stereotypes. When Black Vulcan was first introduced, Hanna Barbera tried to cash in on this in an episode named, "Black and Sexual: The Lightning Strikes." In it, Black Vulcan entered the Hall of Jusice and said to Wonder Woman, "Where's my fried chicken, bitch!?" Then he threatened to put on his rings, washed his cadillac with a lightning bolt, and a kung fu fight broke out. Although kickass, the episode was considered "offensive" and "confrontational" by most network translators, and the Black Vulcan character was notably toned down. When the corporate executives demanded his velvet bellbottoms be removed, no other suitable pants could be drawn in time. It's why the hero has worn only black briefs ever since. And now you know the rest of the story.