The latest outing of Black Lightning includes a fun reference to its Outsiders tie-in with Anissa (Nafessa Williams) sporting her comic book accurate costume.

Last night’s episode of Black Lightning was a jampacked one with a lot of backstory unraveling. Titled “And Then the Devil Brought the Plague: The Book of Green Light,” we saw the CW series juggling several subplots, including a few hints about the crime syndicate terrorizing Freeland and tackling character relationships - particularly the dynamics of Jefferson (Cress Williams), Tobias (Marvin “Krondon” Jones III ), and Gambi (James Remar). But somewhere along the episode’s lighter moments, it was able to sneak in a cool comic book Easter Eggs that fans of the DC’s Outsiders print run will definitely dig.

CBR spots the comic book callback with Anissa sporting a pink/purple/blue suit with gold and black accents while sneaking in her grandfather Alvin’s secret storage unit. What makes the debut great is that Anissa actually picked the costume herself. After wrecking the spandex catsuit she wore to Grace’s (Chantal Thuy) costume party and Jennifer (China Anne McClain) borrowing her more low-key black hoodie, Black Lightning devoted a fun montage featuring her shopping for a new suit. At one point, she even considered a bright cape with the same color palette giving us the impression that she was really going for a quirky-looking ensemble.

Thunder’s colorful garb was first seen in the pages of the comics in 2003 when DC relaunched its Outsiders title with a new set of younger characters such as Dick Grayson/Nightwing, Roy Harper/Arsenal, Grace Choi/Grace and Anissa/Thunder. The younger Pierce donned the similar pink/purple/blue garb complete with the wig which helps conceal her identity during its four-year run.

It’s more likely that Anissa’s bright costume won’t last for very long, however. Other than the fact that it seems a bit too loud for a superhero who wants to operate quietly, chances are that she would get a suit upgrade similar to his father once she finally assumes the persona of Thunder (as seen in the posters). Nonetheless, the small screen debut of her fun Outsiders suit from the comics is great treat for long-time fans. In fact, this is not the first time that Black Lightning referenced the Outsiders. A coupled of episodes ago, Grace gave Anissa a copy of Outsiders #16, which is a real DC comics issue rolled out in 1995 featuring a female-led version of Kobra. Whether that’s hinting about any possible future plot points for the show or not remains to be seen, but establishing that the Batman-backed superhero group exists in the narrative poses a lot of possibilities.

MORE: Black Lightning Premiere: Easter Eggs & DC References

Black Lightning takes a one-week hiatus but will be back on February 27 with “Three Sevens: The Book of Thunder” on The CW.

Source: CBR