Black Lightning getting his own show was a big deal. Not only because he's the first black superhero to headline his own show on tv, although that's certainly a big deal, but also because for a long time, DC wasn't able to use him in adaptations. There was a dispute between DC and Tony Isabella over royalties, so DC would ignore Black Lightning in adaptations or use a stand-in character (such as Black Vulcan). By 2009, the dispute was apparently resolved because he appeared on Batman: The Brave and the Bold and then numerous adaptations after that.
The show (which debuted January 2018) was a huge hit with both fans and critics, although it did get some flak for the bulky suit Cress Williams had to wear. I understand the criticism, although it does make sense within the world of the show; as an older superhero who's been out of the game for almost 20 years, he needs to wear a costume that gives him more protection than a younger hero would.
His most recent outfit in the comics prior to the show was the one he got during The New 52, which, like so many other New 52 re-designs, is pretty hideous.
To coincide with the show, DC released a miniseries called Black Lightning: Cold Dead Hands in November 2017 (cover date January 2018) that gave Black Lightning a suit that looks an awful lot like his tv version.
It's not exact, but it shares several elements in common: the goggles, the blue top/yellow bottom lightning bolts, the blue "belt buckle", the blue streaks on the forearms, the fingerless gloves, to name a few.
You're probably thinking right about now that the math doesn't add up. If this suit debuted in November and the show didn't premiere until two months later, what am I on about? Well, Black Lightning was in development for a long time, first at Fox and then at the CW. So the first time the public saw the suit was all the way back in March of 2017, almost a full year before the series first aired.
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