title: MODOK

text: MODOK first appeared in "Tales of Suspense" #93–94 (Sept.–Oct. 1967), and became a recurring foe for the superhero Captain America, where he was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. Writer Mike Conroy stated "Inevitably, he (MODOK) returned to plague Captain America, whose physical perfection he so resented." MODOK reappeared in "Captain America" #112 (April 1969), 120 (Dec. 1969) and 133 (Jan. 1971). The character also featured in a storyline in "Sub-Mariner" #49 (May 1972), before becoming the major villain in an extended storyline in "The Incredible Hulk" vol. 2 #167–170 (Sept.–Dec. 1973). MODOK also participated in "The War of the Super-Villains" storyline in "Iron Man" #74–75 (May–June 1975). MODOK had a series of encounters with the superheroine Ms. Marvel in "Ms. Marvel" #5 (May 1977), 7 (July 1977) and 9-10 (Sept.–Oct. 1977). Constant battles against the Marvel heroes followed, including "Iron Man" Annual #4 (Dec. 1977); "Marvel Team-Up" #104 (April 1981) and "Marvel Two-In-One" #81–82 (Nov.–Dec. 1981). Following a failed bid to use fellow Hulk foe the Abomination to achieve his ends in "The Incredible Hulk" vol. 2 #287–290 (Sept.–Dec. 1983), MODOK is assassinated in "Captain America" #313 (Jan. 1986). The character's body makes a ghoulish return in "Iron Man" #205 (April 1986).


title: MODOK

text: During the "Taking A.I.M." storyline in "Avengers" #386–387 (May–June 1995), "Captain America" #440 (June 1995), "The Avengers" #388 (July 1995) and "Captain America" #441 (July 1995), MODOK is resurrected. More typical attempts to better the character's situation followed in "Iron Man/Captain America Annual 1998"; "The Defenders" (vol. 2) #9–10 (Nov.–Dec. 2001); "Wolverine" (vol. 2) #142–143 (Sept.– Oct. 1999); "Captain America and the Falcon" #9 (Jan. 2005) and "Cable & Deadpool" #11 (March 2005). The character then made three humorous appearances, in "Wha...Huh?" #1 (Sept. 2005); "Marvel Holiday Special 2006" (Jan. 2007) and "GLA-Xmas Special" #1 (Feb. 2006). After appearing briefly in the mutant titles "X-Men" #200 (Aug. 2007) and "The Uncanny X-Men" #488 (Sept. 2007), MODOK was featured in "Ms. Marvel" (vol. 2) #14–17 (June–Sept. 2007) and appeared in two miniseries: "Marvel 1985" #1–6 (July–Dec. 2008) and "Super-Villain Team-Up: MODOK's 11" #1–5 (Aug.–Dec. 2008). MODOK also featured in "The Incredible Hulk" (vol. 2) #600 (Sept. 2009); "Astonishing Tales" (vol. 2) #2 (May 2009) and the one-shot issue "MODOK: Reign Delay" #1 (Nov. 2009).


title: MODOK

text: MODOK later gained a counterpart and successor in MODOK Superior, who first appeared in "Hulk" (vol. 2) #29 and was created by Jeff Parker and Gabriel Hardman, who is depicted as the archenemy of Gwendolyn "Gwen" Poole in "The Unbelievable Gwenpool" #1–25 and 0 (June 2016–April 2018), "West Coast Avengers" (vol. 3) #4 (Feb. 2019), and '[MODOK: Head Games" #1-4 (Dec. 2020-March 2021).


title: MODOK

text: George Tarleton was a technician for the criminal organization Advanced Idea Mechanics (A.I.M.), founded by his father Alvin. He was born in Bangor, Maine. Having recently created the Cosmic Cube, the A.I.M. scientists used advanced mutagenics to alter Tarleton and created the super-intelligent man-mind MODOC (an acronym for Mental Organism Designed Only for Computing) to study and improve upon the object, alongside the JOD1E program. MODOC, however, becomes ambitious, kills his creators and takes control of A.I.M. Renaming himself MODOK (Mental Organism Designed Only for Killing), he comes into conflict with the hero Captain America, who is intent on rescuing S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Sharon Carter from A.I.M. MODOK becomes a recurring foe for Captain America, battling the hero on three more occasions, with the last encounter revealing the villain's origin. MODOK also battles Namor the Sub-Mariner and Doctor Doom, the latter intent on claiming the Cosmic Cube. MODOK reappears and abducts Betty Ross, changing her into the Harpy with gamma radiation at a higher level than that which turned Dr. Robert Bruce Banner into the Hulk in a bid to destroy the monster. MODOK then follows the Hulk and the Harpy to a floating aerie, where Banner cures Ross of her condition. MODOK and a team of A.I.M. agents arrive in time to kill the creature known as the Bi-Beast, the guardian of the aerie, but not before activating a self-destruct mechanism, forcing everyone on board to flee. MODOK also accepts the offer of the extra-dimensional mystic the Black Lama to participate in the latter's War of the Super-Villains, but fails to gain the prize - a golden globe that is supposed to give the winner of the war ultimate power - after being defeated by Iron Man.


title: MODOK

text: A.I.M. becomes dissatisfied with the lack of scientific advancement under MODOK's leadership and MODOK's obsession with seeking revenge against metahumans, ousting him from power as a result. MODOK attempts to regain control of the organization and prove his worth by unleashing a nerve agent on New York City, which is prevented by Ms. Marvel and the Vision. MODOK seeks revenge against Ms. Marvel, first attempting to mentally control the heroine and then hiring the Shi'ar assassin Deathbird to kill her; Ms. Marvel overcomes both of these obstacles and defeats both Deathbird and MODOK. MODOK's ambitions grow and he seeks world domination, but is thwarted by Iron Man and the superhero team the Champions. After an attempt to plunder the resources of the Savage Land and a battle with Ka-Zar and the Hulk, the character develops a new biological agent called Virus X. MODOK's attempts to test the agent on the homeless is prevented by the Thing, the Sub-Mariner and Captain America, although the villain escapes and the Thing almost dies when exposed to the virus.


title: MODOK

text: Abandoned by A.I.M. for these failures, the character revives long-time Hulk foe the Abomination, planning to use the monster against his superiors. The plan fails when the Abomination is revealed to be mentally unstable, although during the course of the storyline MODOK transforms Dr. Katherine "Kate" Waynesboro (an associate of Bruce Banner) into Ms. MODOK, a female counterpart (the first) of himself. Horrified by MODOK's callous disregard for life, Waynesboro demands to be restored to human form and MODOK willingly complies. Wishing to disassociate themselves from MODOK for good, A.I.M. hires the Serpent Society to assassinate the villain. They succeed, with Death Adder striking the killing blow. The Serpent Society returns MODOK's body to A.I.M., with the organization using it as a supercomputer. A rogue A.I.M. agent remotely operates MODOK's body in a bid to destroy Iron Man, with the battle ending with the body's destruction. Although MODOK had died, A.I.M. temporarily replaced him with his more loyal, and in some ways more effective, second female counterpart MODAM.


title: MODOK

text: During the "Taking A.I.M." storyline, MODOK is resurrected because A.I.M. needs him to assist with the creation of another Cosmic Cube. In one of the attempts to create the Cube, MODAM is killed (or at least disappears). Eventually MODOK is stranded in an alternate dimension, but manages to return with the unintended help of the supervillain team the Headmen. After attempting to steal a device that boosts mental power, MODOK agrees to aid the Headmen in their plans of conquest, but after taking control of A.I.M. once again, he reneges on the agreement in order to avoid an encounter with the superhero team the Defenders. MODOK next clashes with the Canadian superhero team Alpha Flight before being captured by a group composed of U.S. Naval intelligence and a drug cartel. MODOK is lobotomized and employed to infiltrate spy satellites and manipulate the stock market, but he recovers and exploits the situation until captured and taken into custody by S.H.I.E.L.D.


title: MODOK

text: In "GLX-Mas Special" #1, MODOK and A.I.M. fought Dum Dum Dugan and his S.H.I.E.L.D. squad, but were defeated by Squirrel Girl and her squirrel sidekick Tippy-Toe. MODOK then seeks a sample of the cybernetic species the Phalanx, and after brief encounters with the mutant superhero team the X-Men, battles Ms. Marvel once again, the heroine aided by fellow Avenger Wonder Man during an elaborate scheme by renegade A.I.M. branches to kill MODOK, with one of the rogues being MODOK's long-lost son, who seeks revenge for his abandonment. Employing an elaborate scheme and double-cross, MODOK restores his personal wealth and power and re-establishes himself as the leader of A.I.M. once again. MODOK was seen in Puerto Rico attempting to create an army of genetically enhanced monkeys called A.I.Monkeys to eliminate the recession in A.I.M., until he was defeated by Mister Fantastic, the Invisible Woman and the rookie Puerto Rican hero known as El Vejigante. It is also revealed that MODOK was involved in the creation of both the Red Hulk and the Red She-Hulk and belongs to the Intelligencia, a secret organization of genius-level supervillains.


title: MODOK

text: During the "Fall of the Hulks" storyline, it is revealed that MODOK is a member of the Intelligencia, who had a part in the creation of both the Red Hulk and the Red She-Hulk. They captured some of the smartest men and brought about the events that would lead up to the "World War Hulks" storyline. When several heroes are subjected by the Intelligencia to the Cathexis ray, which can transfer radiant energy from one subject to another, Amadeus Cho is affected as well. Unlike the others, who become "Hulked-Out Heroes", his mind expands and becomes so powerful that he gains the ability to warp reality within a 10-foot radius. Using this power, he reverses the process that created MODOK, turning him back into George Tarleton, who knows no better than to get away as quickly as possible. George Tarleton was taken into custody by the U.S. military and remains confined, where Bruce Banner occasionally calls on him to help defuse the "doomsday plans" that MODOK installed in the possibility that his master plan should fail. However, Tarleton appears to remember next to nothing of his former life as MODOK and, in fact, seems to be either traumatized or just an ordinary man again.


title: MODOK

text: Unknown to everyone, the doomsday plans left behind by MODOK actually serve as a distraction. The plans themselves are coordinated by a 'cluster' of brains, cloned from MODOK's own, who act as one non-sentient supercomputer. This cluster is destroyed by the Red Hulk and the doomsday plans are stopped. However, one of the cloned brains, rather than being utilized as an organic computer, is allowed to develop naturally and then uploaded with MODOK's mind. This new MODOK (who has the appearance, genius-level intelligence and mental powers of the original MODOK, but apparently "none" of his weaknesses) calls himself MODOK Superior and prepares to make his "own" mark on the world. Cooperating with the Intelligencia once again, MODOK Superior and the Intelligencia attempt to study the body of a Spaceknight, which had crashed on Earth for unknown reasons. When the Avengers attempt to stop them, the body is revealed to be the latest vessel for the consciousness of Ultron. In the battle with the Avengers, MODOK Superior takes on Thor, claiming he has the power of a god - and being immediately struck down.


title: MODOK

text: During the "Fear Itself" storyline, MODOK Superior reviews the attacks by Skadi and tells his followers that she is actually the Red Skull's daughter Sin, who has tapped into the powers of the Asgardians. He then views from his surveillance that the Red Hulk is fighting the Thing (in the form of Angrir: Breaker of Souls). When he learns that Zero/One and the Black Fog are also after the Red Hulk, MODOK Superior plans to get to the Red Hulk first. MODOK Superior prevents the Black Fog from killing the Red Hulk. MODOK Superior becomes intangible to keep himself from getting attacked by Angrir (who shoots down Zero/One's Helicarrier). MODOK Superior has his encounter with Zero/One and both of them declare a truce to help fight the soldiers of the Serpent. During that time, MODOK Superior starts to develop a crush on Zero/One. In the prologue to the "Avengers vs. X-Men" storyline, MODOK Superior targets an ex-A.I.M. scientist named Dr. Udaku who was being escorted to the Pentagon by Wakandan forces. Before MODOK Superior could burn Dr. Udaku, the Scarlet Witch arrives and fights MODOK Superior, while smaller MODOK pawns surround the Scarlet Witch. In the nick of time, Ms. Marvel and Spider-Woman arrive and help to defeat MODOK Superior and A.I.M. MODOK Superior and some rogue A.I.M. Agents joined up with S.H.I.E.L.D. in order to make a deal to take down Andrew Forson (the then-current leader of A.I.M.).


title: MODOK

text: After a brief retirement, MODOK Superior returned and opened up a group of assassins called the Agents of MODOK (Mercenary Organization Dedicated Only to Killing) where they killed evil people. However, he made the mistake of recruiting Gwen Poole when she killed his top assassin and took credit for his kills. When he found she was not a superhuman and had no special training, he attempted to eliminate her, but she turned on him and sent him into space with an injured eye and damaged equipment. She then took over his agency for a brief time, but when her plans defeated a group of alien arms dealers and did not get them any money (having turned the client, an old Doombot who escaped from a fight in the past with Squirrel Girl, against them) the agency was disbanded and everyone went their separate ways. After reuniting, the agency faces off against MODOK Superior when he returns from space, who elects to flee rather than fight.


title: MODOK

text: MODOK Superior and a group of A.I.M. members attacked a HYDRA airship to capture Shiklah, who was in its custody. Deadpool saved her, and stole MODOK Superior's chair. MODOK Superior was taken to the hospital, where he vowed vengeance on Deadpool for stealing his chair. During the "Secret Empire" storyline, MODOK Superior appears as a member of the Army of Evil and took part in the attack on Manhattan in retaliation for what happened at Pleasant Hill during "." MODOK Superior resurfaced in a new form during a confrontation with the newest incarnation of the West Coast Avengers (of which Gwen is a member), appearing as an attractive, long-haired man, calling himself BRODOK (Bio-Robotic Organism Designed Overwhelmingly for Kissing) and insisting that he was now reformed. The team eventually exposed his scheme to turn various citizens of Los Angeles into giant mindless monsters and defeated him, reverting him back to the traditional appearance that George Tarleton had.


title: MODOK

text: During the "Iron Man 2020" story arc, the War Machine was about to be experimented on by some Deathloks on Lingares when he is saved by someone. When War Machine catches up to the rest of Force Works and gives them their equipment, they discover that his rescuer is MODOK Superior. He states that he wants to add his brainpower to Force Works as its newest member. It turns out that MODOK Superior was the one behind the Deathloks of Lingares and manipulated Force Works into taking out Ultimo's head so that he can take control of it and ultimately become Ulti-MODOK. After the bearded Deathlok was beheaded by the U.S. Agent, War Machine temporarily turned into a Deathlok to control the remaining Deathloks into fighting Ulti-MODOK. When Quake briefly opened a lava-filled chasm, Ulti-MODOK fell into it, with the Deathloks following him down into it as well.


title: MODOK

text: In the "M.O.D.O.K.: Head Games" storyline, MODOK Superior begins to have vivid hallucinations of a family life with a human wife and son, named Jodie and Lou, and a similarly robot daughter named Melissa. Believing that he is malfunctioning, and threatened with his life by Monica Rappaccini and the rest of A.I.M., MODOK Superior sets out to "fix" himself. After being briefly killed and resurrected by Gwen, his search for answers leads him to his childhood home where he is reunited with his father, and A.I.M.'s true founder, Alvin Tarleton. Alvin reveals that he forced his son George to undergo the process of becoming the original MODOK against his will as contrary to his origin, George was a rather inept employee at A.I.M. His wife Jodie was a manifestation of a program, called JOD1E, that was meant to sequester him. Now empowered with the knowledge of his true upbringing, MODOK Superior traps his father's consciousness into his phone and uses the bodies of leftover Super-Adaptoids to create solidified and weaponized versions of his imaginary family.


title: MODOK

text: Formerly, George Tarleton was subjected to a mutagenic process that granted him hyper-intelligence, sacrificing his body for the world's largest brain. He possessed enhanced intuition, pattern solving, information storage/retrieval, and logical/philosophical structuring. MODOK's ability to predict probable outcomes of tactical and strategic scenarios is so extraordinary that it bordered on precognition. His hunches are heightened to the degree that they were almost always correct. He can recall every moment with this perfect memory. However, his creativity remains at an average human level.


title: MODOK

text: Courtesy of A.I.M. technology, MODOK wore a headband that enables him to focus his mental power into devastating energy beams. He has psychic abilities, enabling him to contact others through telepathy, mentally control individuals or large groups, and generate force fields strong enough to withstand minor nuclear explosions. A side effect in this mutation was also the growth of Tarleton's head due to that point where his body could no longer support its weight. Now, he relies on an exoskeleton and a hoverchair called the Doomsday Chair for movement. The Doomsday Chair is also equipped with destructive weapons, including missiles and lasers.


title: MODOK

text: His organs also wore out quickly, necessitating the use of harvested clones, which were utilized to sustain him. As the leader of A.I.M., MODOK had advanced technology, vast resources, and a personal army at his disposal. Currently, MODOK Superior also has the same appearance and powers as Tarleton, but not his weaknesses.


title: MODOK

text: A version called "MODOC" (Mental Organism Designed Only for Conquest) appears in the title "", briefly turning the Avengers into (superior) versions of itself before being defeated.


title: MODOK

text: Over the course of her two series, Carol Danvers (Ms. Marvel) had several interactions with A.I.M. and MODOK; among others, she was both saved from being disincorporated by 24 embryonic MODOCs who had been outfitted with reality-altering powers when working in unison and separated into two separate entities to fulfill her fondest wish. Also, reference was made, by A.I.M. personnel, to many actual MODOCs who, apparently, really "did" function in the way that MODOK was originally supposed to have done (namely, as docile organic supercomputers).


title: MODOK

text: MODOT (Mobile Organism Designed Only for Talking), formerly Nobel Prize hopeful Dimitri Smirkov, appears in the third "Howard the Duck" miniseries and, unlike his predecessor MODOK, can walk without the aid of a hoverchair. He had no designs of world conquest, but instead was only interested in making money; this may be because the branch of A.I.M. that created him did so specifically so he could "talk" the head office into increasing their budget. He ended up practically ruling the airwaves, influencing millions of viewers through 100 android hosts, anchormen and reporters, all controlled directly by him.


title: MODOK

text: Iron Man has an encounter with MODOG (Mobile Organism Designed Only for Genocide) in the second volume of "The Invincible Iron Man". Iron Man dispatches him with ease, dumping him in outer space.


title: MODOK

text: The miniseries "U.S. War Machine", published under the mature-audience Marvel MAX imprint, showcases another version of MODOK salvaged by S.H.I.E.L.D. when it is discarded by A.I.M., apparently a victim of racial prejudice.


title: MODOK

text: The Ultimate Marvel version of the character features in the title "Ultimate Vision", experimenting with a Gah Lak Tus probe on an A.I.M. space station. Although he starts the story as the amoral genius cyborg George Tarleton, after he is infected by Gah Lak Tus, he is eventually reduced to a disembodied head.


title: MODOK

text: Another version of MODOK appeared in "" #2, when Doctor Faustus revealed that he, too, was a cyborg and harbored a tiny MODOK inside his hollow head.


title: MODOK

text: At least four versions of MODOK, apparently based around Elvis Presley, were created by the Beyond Corporation to defend their secret weapons factory, State 51. They were defeated by the Nextwave Squad. Their principal mode of attack seemed to involve shooting cheeseburgers at their target.


title: MODOK

text: The following issue revealed that the Beyond Corporation was being run by a disguised infant MODOK, apparently conceived by a MODOK and a MODAM. This MODOK escapes the Nextwave Squad, but it is subsequently killed by its master Devil Dinosaur.


title: MODOK

text: A version of the character features in "Iron Lantern" #1, a one-shot issue (one of 24) that is part of the Amalgam Comics imprint, which is itself part of the four-issue miniseries "DC vs. Marvel". MODOK is crossed with the DC Comics character Hector Hammond to form H.E.C.T.O.R. (Highly Evolved Creature Totally Oriented for Revenge), who is the leader of the Weaponers of A.I.M. (a cross between DC's the Weaponers of Qward and Marvel's A.I.M.)


title: MODOK

text: An alternate version of MODOK is seen being eaten by zombified versions of the She-Hulk and Hawkeye. Later, it is discovered that this universe's Ash Williams had watched this MODOK being devoured.


title: MODOK

text: An alternate version of MODOK appeared in "Earth X". In recent history, MODOK, like every other telepath on the planet, was killed when the Red Skull's powers first manifested. MODOK's hoverchair, ironically, was later recovered by the Skull's army and the Skull used it as his personal throne.


title: MODOK

text: In the pages of "Avengers of the Wastelands" which takes place on Earth-21923 and serves as a sequel to "Old Man Logan", MODOK is among the villains that attack Danielle Cage's group in Osborn County. He was killed by Viv Vision.


title: MODOK

text: A Dazzler-centered story, "Disco Highway", in issue #4 of the miniseries "X-Men: Serve and Protect", released in February 2011, features a character named MODORD (Mental Organism Designed Only for Roller Derby).


title: MODOK

text: During the "Secret Wars" storyline, the Battleworld domain of Killville is based on a reality where MODOK killed every known superhero, which resulted in its citizens being in constant danger from every supervillain and murderer in Killville.


title: MODOK

text: In the pages of "Spider-Gwen", which takes place on Earth-65, Captain America fights against MODAAK (Mental Organism Designed As America's King). The author based this character on American then-U.S. Presidential candidate Donald Trump.


title: MODOK

text: MODOK appears in the Iron Man paperback novel "Iron Man: And Call My Killer...MODOK!", by William Rotsler.


title: CVC Capital Partners

text: CVC Capital Partners is a Luxembourg-based French private equity and investment advisory firm with approximately US$133 billion of assets under management and approximately €157 billion in secured commitments since inception across American, European and Asian private equity, secondaries and credit funds. As of 31 December 2021, the funds managed or advised by CVC are invested in more than 100 companies worldwide, employing over 450,000 people in numerous countries. CVC was founded in 1981 and, as of 31 March 2022, has over 650 employees working across its network of 25 offices throughout EMEA, Asia and the Americas.


title: CVC Capital Partners

text: By the early 1990s, Michael Smith, who joined Citicorp in 1982, was leading Citicorp Venture Capital in Europe along with other managing directors Steven Koltes, Hardy McLain, Donald Mackenzie, Iain Parham, and Rolly Van Rappard. In 1993, Smith and the senior investment professionals of Citicorp Venture Capital negotiated a spinout from Citibank to form an independent private equity firm, CVC Capital Partners. In 2006, the US arm of Citigroup Venture Capital also spun out of the bank to form a new firm, known as Court Square Capital Partners. CVC operated offices in London, Paris and Frankfurt.


title: CVC Capital Partners

text: Following the spinout, CVC raised its first investment fund with $300 million of commitments, half coming from Citicorp and the rest from high-net-worth individuals and institutional investors. Now independent, CVC also completed its transition from venture capital investments to leveraged buyouts and investments in mature businesses. CVC would follow up with its second fund in 1996, its first fully independent of Citibank, with $840 million of capital commitments.


title: CVC Capital Partners

text: By 2000, CVC was one of the largest and best known private equity firms in Europe. In 2001, CVC completed fundraising for its third investment fund, which was the largest private equity fund raised in Europe at the time, just ahead of funds raised by other leading firms, Apax Partners and BC Partners. Also, around the same time, CVC expanded into Asia with a $750 million fund focusing exclusively on investments in Asian companies.


title: CVC Capital Partners

text: From November 2005 to March 2006, CVC gradually purchased 63.4% of the shares of the Formula One Group, owner of the Formula One auto racing championship.


title: CVC Capital Partners

text: In 2007, CVC expanded to the U.S., opening an office in New York City, headed by Christopher Stadler and overseen by Rolly van Rappard.


title: CVC Capital Partners

text: In 2012, CVC reduced its shares in the Formula One Group to 35.5%. The deputy team principal of Force India, Bob Fernley, accused CVC of "raping the sport" during the period of its involvement in Formula One.


title: CVC Capital Partners

text: In January 2013, Smith retired from the role of chairman and Koltes, Mackenzie and Van Rappard were appointed co-chairmen of the group.


title: CVC Capital Partners

text: In February 2015, CVC made its first investment from CVC Growth Partners in Wireless Logic, Europe's largest machine-to-machine managed service provider, acquiring it from ECI Partners.


title: CVC Capital Partners

text: In June 2015, CVC acquired the German perfume retailer Douglas AG for an disclosed fee from private equity firm Advent International.


title: CVC Capital Partners

text: In November 2015, CVC and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board both acquired American pet supplier Petco for a fee of around $4.6 billion.


title: CVC Capital Partners

text: In August 2016, CVC Capital Partners agreed to buy a 15% stake in PT Siloam International Hospitals TbK, among Indonesia's and South East Asia's largest corporate chains of hospitals


title: CVC Capital Partners

text: In September 2016, CVC Capital Partners agreed to sell control of the Formula One Group to John Malone's Liberty Media in a deal worth US$4.4bn. The two-part deal would see the US media group buy 18.7 per cent of the F1 parent company Delta Topco for $746mn in cash from a consortium of shareholders led by CVC. In 2017, a second payment of $354mn in cash and $3.3bn in newly issued shares in a Liberty Media tracking stock saw Liberty Media assume full control of Formula One once the deal was approved by regulators, the FIA and Liberty's shareholders.


title: CVC Capital Partners

text: On 25 October 2021, Irelia Company Pte Ltd. (CVC Capital Partners) bought the Ahmedabad-based Indian Premier League cricket franchise (Gujarat Titans) for .


title: CVC Capital Partners

text: In January 2015, CVC Capital Partners and Bencis Capital Partners were sentenced to pay fines by the Dutch Authority for Consumers and Markets after it charged the former Dutch portfolio company of the two firms, Meneba Beheer, with breaking competition rules through price fixing. The Dutch regulator ruled that the two firms must pay between €450,000 and €1.5 million after Meneba Beheer, which was itself fined €9 million by the authority, was involved in a collective agreement with competitors to keep prices stable between 2001 and 2007.


title: Black Lightning (TV series)

text: Black Lightning is an American superhero drama television series, developed by Salim Akil, that premiered on The CW on January 16, 2018 and concluded on May 24, 2021. It is based on the character of the same name, created by Tony Isabella with Trevor Von Eeden, featured in publications of DC Comics. Cress Williams stars as the titular character alongside China Anne McClain, Nafessa Williams, Christine Adams, Marvin "Krondon" Jones III, Damon Gupton, James Remar, Jordan Calloway, and Chantal Thuy. The series sees the retired Black Lightning return to his life as a superhero and follows the effects of his vigilante activity on his professional and family life.


title: Black Lightning (TV series)

text: Originally in development at Fox, the project was given a pilot production commitment in September 2016. In February 2017, Fox passed on the project and The CW subsequently picked it up with an order for a new pilot script. The CW officially ordered "Black Lightning" to series in May 2017. The first season premiered on January 16, 2018 and ran for 13 episodes. In April 2018, The CW renewed the series for a second season, which premiered on October 9, 2018 and ran for 16 episodes.


title: Black Lightning (TV series)

text: The show's third season, which premiered on October 7, 2019, featured the series' first tie-ins with the network's other DC Comics television series, known collectively as the Arrowverse, leading into Williams' appearance as Black Lightning in their "Crisis on Infinite Earths" crossover event, which resulted in the series' setting merging with that of the other Arrowverse shows. The fourth and final season premiered on February 8, 2021, ending on May 24, 2021.


title: Black Lightning (TV series)

text: The series focuses on Jefferson Pierce, the principal of Garfield High School in the city of Freeland, Georgia. Nine years ago, he was a superhero called Black Lightning until he retired after what his life was doing to his ex-wife Lynn Stewart and his daughters Anissa and Jennifer. Jefferson is forced to become Black Lightning again when The 100, Freeland's most feared criminal gang led by Tobias Whale, was taking over the city. Jefferson’s return as Black Lightning is caused when Anissa and Jennifer were captured by 100 members associated with Latavius "Lala" Jackson. After the incident, Anissa starts to develop her abilities and becomes Thunder while Jennifer starts to develop her own electrical abilities. In addition, Jennifer's boyfriend Khalil Payne gets swayed to Tobias’ side following a sniper injury and becomes Painkiller through cybernetic enhancements. In a showdown with A.S.A. member Martin Proctor, Jennifer defeats him with Proctor getting shot by Gambi. Proctor's briefcase enables Tobias to get access to its contents.


title: Black Lightning (TV series)

text: In season two, Jennifer works to improve her powers as Tobias works to translate the contents of the briefcase. With Freeland Police Department's Bill Henderson now knowing Jefferson and Anissa's superhero identities, they continue their fight against the 100. Meanwhile, Lynn works on the young metahumans in the pods that Proctor had while under the supervision of A.S.A. agent Odell who has swayed ex-Markovian scientist Dr. Helga Jace into helping out, unaware that she is secretly helping Tobias out. Following Khalil's apparent death, Jennifer becomes Lightning to help her father out. Tobias manages to get some of the contents translated which led to him getting control of the Masters of Disaster. As Jefferson and Jennifer defeat Tobias, who is later incarcerated in the Pit, Dr. Jace is handed over of Henderson and is later taken back to Markovia by the teleporting bounty hunter Instant. As the Pierces celebrate their victory, Odell reveals that he knows their secret identities. He tells them that the Markovians are coming to Freeland and that the A.S.A. is swearing them in for the inevitable war.


title: Black Lightning (TV series)

text: In season three, the A.S.A. has imposed martial law on Freeland while covering up to the media that there is a SARS outbreak. Having some of the people who are suspected metahumans placed in the A.S.A.'s facility, Odell plans to weaponize those who have metahuman abilities while having Commander Carson Williams, Major Sara Grey, and Sergeant Gardner Grayle working for him to impose the marital law. To make matters worse, Odell had Khalil revived and reprogrammed to serve him. While having been given a new suit by Odell, Jefferson does help against the Markovian soldiers working under Colonel Yuri Mosin. Lynn continues to work with the pod kids while getting bone marrow samples from an incarcerated Tobias while Jennifer meets a geokinetic metahuman named Brandon. After an incident that merges Jefferson’s Earth with Earth-1 and Earth-38, the Markovians managed to abduct Lynn and Tobias so that she can stabilize the metahumans in their possession. The delays cause Mosin's superiors to send their metahuman operative Gravedigger to take over the operation and use his mind control ability to make Lynn work faster. Jefferson rescues her with the help of Anissa, Jennifer, Brandon, Grayle, T.C., Khalil, and Erica Moran while taking Dr. Jace with them, but Tobias is left behind. When Gravedigger and the Markovians begin their invasion of Freeland, Odell orders Commander Williams and Major Grey to purge Freeland of those involved with the A.S.A. Henderson ends up in a mutual kill with a Markovian soldier when saving Black Lightning. While Commander Williams was killed by Lynn in self-defense and Major Grey was killed during her group's shootout with Peter and T.C., Jefferson defeats Gravedigger while Khalil thwarts Odell's departure and Tobias' plans to get access to Markovia's metahumans. Though Markovia's prime minister denies what happened in Freeland, the Pierces present the briefcase to a congressional committee as evidence of their and the A.S.A.'s experiments unaware that Gravedigger survived the Pit's self-destruct sequence.


title: Black Lightning (TV series)

text: One year later in season four, Jefferson has stopped being Black Lightning. The 100 is in a turf war with the Kobra Cartel. Tobias is now working as a philanthropist much to the Pierces and Gambi's dismay. In light of Henderson's death, Mayor Billy Black swears in Ana Lopez as the new chief of police. Tobias causes trouble for Jefferson and his allies, such as having Mayor Black killed. Destiny of the Kobra Cartel enlists the assassin Ishmael to target Jefferson's allies in order to get the remaining metahuman kills he needs to get into the League of Assassins.


title: Black Lightning (TV series)

text: In September 2016, after going through several incarnations and various stages of development for over a year, Mara Brock Akil, her husband Salim Akil, and perennial Warner Bros. Television producer Greg Berlanti began pitching "Black Lightning" to television networks. The Akils wrote the script while serving as executive producers alongside Berlanti and his frequent collaborator Sarah Schechter. A week later, the project landed at Fox with a pilot production commitment. In February 2017, Fox opted to not go forward with the pilot, deciding that it was "not a good fit into its already crowded genre drama space" and the project was subsequently shopped to other networks. As the home to several of Berlanti's other television ventures, The CW emerged as the network that was likely to realize the series. The following day, The CW officially ordered a pilot for "Black Lightning". The original pilot script that had been written for Fox was discarded and instead, a short presentation was shot ahead of the network's final decisions regarding pickup orders.


title: Black Lightning (TV series)

text: The CW officially ordered "Black Lightning" to series on May 10, 2017 with Salim Akil to serve as showrunner. On April 2, 2018, The CW renewed the series for a second season, which premiered on October 9, 2018. On January 31, 2019, The CW renewed the series for a third season, which premiered on October 7, 2019. On January 7, 2020, the series was renewed for a fourth season, which premiered on February 8, 2021. On November 20, 2020, The CW confirmed that the fourth season will be the final season of the series.


title: Black Lightning (TV series)

text: In order to have an "authentic black voice" for its setting and characters, "Black Lightning" utilizes a predominantly African-American writing staff. Salim Akil shared that the writers are not all African-American but "have either lived this life or know someone who has." In writing the first season, showrunner Akil stated that he was most inspired by the original run of "Black Lightning" comic books and that Black Lightning being a black father who defies the "deadbeat stereotype" was part of the reason for the Akils wanting to tell his story. He described Jefferson and his family as "the Obamas of the superhero world" and compared the duality of Jefferson Pierce and his alter ego Black Lightning to the duality of Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X. As a character-driven family drama, "Black Lightning" does not follow a villain of the week format in order to better explore the characters, especially the villains. The Akils also indicated that the writers would not be treating LGBTQ representation as a "special issue" but that such characters would be included and depicted "the way anyone would be included in life." Salim Akil noted that topics such as the Black Lives Matter movement and other issues concerning race relations and police brutality would be addressed, but stressed that, "This is an American story, this is not a black story. We're going to be culturally specific, but universal in our themes so everyone can see themselves in these stories." The showrunner likened the narrative of the first season to the real story of the Tuskegee experiment.


title: Black Lightning (TV series)

text: The second season is organized into smaller arcs known as "books" to mimic the style of the comic book source material, with "consequences" being the theme of the season's first book. Specifically, Salim Akil said that the season would "deal with the consequences of having discovered the pod children; the consequences of Green Light hitting the streets; and the consequences of Jefferson's daughters discovering they have powers." Furthering the season's objective to "give a nod to comic books in a stronger way," the season introduces more metahumans, though showrunner Akil commented, "I don't want to introduce too many villains. I want us to settle in now that we know everyone [...] so now we can really tell some grounded stories about our villains, our heroes, the people in Freeland." He said that there would additionally be "other forces in Freeland and outside of Freeland" that would come into play as sources of conflict. Lead actor Cress Williams described the season as "harder hitting and a little bit darker" than the series' debut outing. On the relevant social issues that the season would address, Akil stated, "I wanted to talk about black people and therapy. We don't believe in that shit, but we're the number one people who need it." Meanwhile, Nafessa Williams shared that her character would continue to embrace her powers, elaborating that Anissa now "feels confident navigating the superhero world without her father, and she feels fully confident and able to do it on her own."


title: Black Lightning (TV series)

text: The third season's narrative begins approximately a month and a half after the season two finale. Cress Williams shared that the season would see the world of the series "getting bigger" in terms of its setting and characters. Salim Akil stated that, while everyday life in Freeland would still be a focus of the season, "we want our stories to talk about concerns not just for black folk but for people in general. We'll cover mental health and addiction issues that affect the whole country." Discussing Jennifer's ongoing struggle to control her newly-discovered abilities, actress China Anne McClain noted that, "When the season starts, we see that Jennifer is getting more powerful, stronger, and she's also getting more emotional. We can expect a combination of all three of those this season." Akil additionally disclosed that Jennifer being stronger than both her father and her sister on account of her unique ability to generate her own electricity would also raise the issue of who is ultimately in control amongst the three. Meanwhile, Nafessa Williams said of her character Anissa's journey, "Season one was about her understanding and discovering her powers, in season two she is kind of starting to perfect them and trust herself. Season three, [...] her ways of doing things and her mindset is different from her father's." Furthermore, Williams teased that Jefferson would be making "a really big sacrifice" this season that would reveal "a little bit more of his angrier side" and "[propel] him at the beginning of the season."


title: Black Lightning (TV series)

text: On February 24, 2017, Cress Williams was announced in the lead role of Jefferson Pierce / Black Lightning. On March 2, China Anne McClain and Nafessa Williams were cast as Jefferson's daughters, Jennifer Pierce and Anissa Pierce, respectively. Later that same month on March 10, it was reported that Christine Adams has been cast as Lynn Stewart, Jefferson's ex-wife. At the 2017 San Diego Comic-Con International on July 22, it was revealed that James Remar and Damon Gupton had joined the main cast as Jefferson's oldest friend Peter Gambi and unlikely ally Inspector William "Bill" Henderson, respectively. On August 10, rapper Marvin "Krondon" Jones III was added as a series regular, landing the role of main antagonist Tobias Whale. At the 2018 San Diego Comic-Con International on July 21, it was announced that Jordan Calloway had been promoted to a series regular for the second season after previously recurring during the first season as Khalil Payne / Painkiller.


title: Black Lightning (TV series)

text: On September 26, 2017, it was announced that Kyanna Simone Simpson would recur as Kiesha, Henderson's daughter and Jennifer's best friend. On October 5, it was reported that Jill Scott had booked a recurring role as the villainous Lady Eve. Later that month on October 12, Edwina Findley also joined the cast in a recurring capacity as Tori Whale, Tobias' younger sister. Chantal Thuy was added to the recurring cast as Grace Choi that same month on October 30, though she ultimately appeared in only two episodes of the series' first season. On January 16, 2018, it was revealed that Skye P. Marshall had been cast in a recurring role as Kara Fowdy, the vice principal of Garfield High School.


title: Black Lightning (TV series)

text: On August 8, 2018, it was reported that Myles Truitt would play Issa Williams during the second season in a recurring capacity. On September 5, Sofia Vassilieva was announced in the role of Looker, based on the DC Comics character of the same name. On September 21, it was reported that Kearran Giovanni would recur as Cutter, a British mercenary. On October 4, it was revealed that Erika Alexander had booked a three-episode recurring role as Jennifer's telepathic therapist, Perenna, though she ultimately appeared in a total of eight episodes. Robert Townsend and Bill Duke were added as recurring characters Dr. Napier Frank and Agent Percy Odell, respectively, on October 9. On November 13, RJ Cyler was cast in the recurring role of "gangly and awkward tech genius" Todd Green. On January 21, 2019, it was announced that Hosea Chanchez had been cast to recur as Marcus Bishop / Shakedown.


title: Black Lightning (TV series)

text: On October 10, 2019, it was announced that Wayne Brady would recur during the third season as Tyson Sykes / Gravedigger, a World War II-era "super soldier" and American-turned-Markovian asset. On January 19, 2020, Gupton revealed that he had been let go from the series and that the third season would be his last as a series regular. On November 13, 2020, Chantal Thuy was promoted to a series regular for the fourth season.


title: Black Lightning (TV series)

text: Black Lightning's costume was designed by Laura Jean Shannon. While the suit's design is meant to invoke protection from the character's vulnerabilities such as his age, and bullets in particular, Salim Akil stated that there were "a lot of iterations" of the Black Lightning costume, and that "at one point I had covered his face and his eyes, but what was more important to me was the emotion, and you need to see that. You need to see his eyes when his daughters have a gun pointed at them." A number of journalists noted similarities between the first superhero costume donned by Anissa Pierce, featuring a pink, purple, and blue color scheme with gold and black accents and a blonde wig, and the Thunder costume of the 2003 "Outsiders" comic book run. Shannon also designed the final Thunder costume, which was made from a sculpted armor material in order to stretch to the performer's comfort and serves as an homage to the most recent costume worn by Thunder in the comic books. The second season introduces the first official superhero costume for Jennifer Pierce as she takes on the moniker "Lightning" from the comic book source material. The costume echoes that of Anissa Pierce, in that it is a black body suit covered in yellow plating. However, the Lightning costume also features lightning-inspired designs. The third season features a new suit design for Jefferson Pierce as Black Lightning. In place of the previous suit's glowing blue and gold bolts across the chest, a textured gold design with blue and black weaving is featured throughout the torso, arms, and gloves. The mask is also slightly redesigned with dark red-tinted lenses. As Anissa Pierce officially takes on the name "Blackbird" as a second secret identity, she also receives a new costume for the alter-ego that consists of a black hood and a mask that covers the lower half of her face.


title: Black Lightning (TV series)

text: Filming for the series takes place in Decatur, Georgia and the surrounding Atlanta area. The short presentation that was given to The CW was filmed in March 2017, with production for the series officially commencing on September 7, 2017. Filming for the first season concluded on March 3, 2018. Production for the second season returned to Atlanta beginning on June 26, 2018. The back lot used during filming was the same one used by The CW's previous Atlanta-based television series, "The Vampire Diaries". Filming for the second season concluded on January 10, 2019. Production for the third season began on July 9, 2019. A week was carved out of the season's production for Williams to film his scenes for the Arrowverse crossover event "Crisis on Infinite Earths" in Vancouver, British Columbia. Filming for the third season concluded on January 20, 2020.


title: Black Lightning (TV series)

text: Kurt Farquhar composes the score for the series and Kier Lehman, the music supervisor for "Black Lightning", selects the series' featured songs along with the Akils. The rapper Godholly, who is the son of showrunner Akil, has provided original music for the series, including tracks such as "Black Lightning" from the main title sequence.


title: Black Lightning (TV series)

text: "Black Lightning" began airing on The CW in the United States on January 16, 2018 during the 2017–18 television season. The first season, consisting of 13 episodes, ran until April 17, 2018. The second season premiered on The CW in the United States on October 9, 2018. In November, it was announced that the series would move to airing on Mondays for the second half of the season after previously airing on Tuesdays since its debut. The 16th and final episode of the second season aired on March 18, 2019. The third season premiered on October 7, 2019. The 16th and final episode of the third season aired on March 9, 2020.


title: Black Lightning (TV series)

text: Having acquired the international distribution and streaming rights for "Black Lightning", Netflix aired new episodes of the first two seasons weekly in regions outside of the United States, including Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Ireland, most of mainland Europe, and South America. However, following the expiration of the deal between the streamer and the network, the third season's released date on Netflix internationally was postponed. In the United States, the first season was released on Netflix in its entirety a week after the season finale aired on The CW. The second season was similarly released in its entirety on Netflix in the United States two weeks after the season finale aired on The CW. The third season was released in its entirety on Netflix in the United States on March 17, 2020.


title: Black Lightning (TV series)

text: The complete first season of "Black Lightning" was released on Blu-ray and DVD by Warner Home Entertainment in Region 1 on June 26, 2018, in Region 2 on January 28, 2019, and in Region 4 in 2018. The set also features extra content including the series' 2017 San Diego Comic-Con panel, new featurettes, deleted scenes, and a gag reel. The complete second season was made available as a manufacture-on-demand DVD through the Warner Archive Collection on October 8, 2019.


title: Black Lightning (TV series)

text: On March 29, 2017, The CW released the first promotional image of Cress Williams as Jefferson Pierce in his official Black Lightning superhero costume. On May 18, the first trailer for the series was released. The main cast that were confirmed at the time, as well as executive producers Salim Akil and Mara Brock Akil attended the 2017 San Diego Comic-Con International on July 22 to promote the season. On December 12, The CW released key art for the series in the form of the season's first promotional poster featuring Williams, China Anne McClain, and Nafessa Williams as their characters. On January 4, 2018, The CW and Warner Bros Television released the first look at Nafessa Williams as Anissa Pierce in her official Thunder superhero costume. On March 25, the producers and writers of the season attended the 2018 WonderCon and screened the episode "Sins of the Father: The Book of Redemption" at their panel ahead of its official debut on The CW. The main cast of the second season as well as the Akils attended San Diego Comic-Con International on July 21 to promote the season. The first trailer of the season was released on September 6. On December 13, The CW released the first promotional image of China Anne McClain as Jennifer Pierce in her official Lightning superhero costume. Several of the main cast members of the third season attended San Diego Comic-Con International on July 20, 2019 to promote the season. The first trailer of the season was released on September 24.


title: Black Lightning (TV series)

text: The series premiere of "Black Lightning" debuted to strong numbers on The CW, according to Nielsen overnight data. Airing in the 9:00pm time slot, "Black Lightning"s pilot episode drew 2.3 million viewers in the United States and a 0.8 rating in the key demographic of adults 18–49. It retained all of its lead-in in the key demographic and more than 90% in total viewers from "The Flash". It was The CW's highest rated original series premiere in two years since the launch of "Legends of Tomorrow" in 2016. "Black Lightning"s second season debuted to series lows in viewers 18–49. The second season premiere drew 1.2 million viewers and a 0.4 rating, down from its first season premiere, average, and finale, as well as from the premiere of "Legends of Tomorrow" in the time slot the previous fall. In viewers 18–34, however, "Black Lightning" improved by 10% from its freshman finale and was even with the debut of "Legends of Tomorrow" from the previous season. With an 0.3 rating and 0.9 million viewers, the third season premiere of "Black Lightning" was down more than 20% across the board from the previous season's finale.


title: Black Lightning (TV series)

text: "Black Lightning" has received generally positive reviews from professional critics. On the review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, the series holds a 95% approval rating. The first season debuted to critical acclaim.


title: Black Lightning (TV series)

text: Reviewing for "Entertainment Weekly", Dana Schwartz gave the series premiere an "A−" grade, writing, "The Pierce family dynamic is so compelling that even if Jefferson Pierce had no powers beyond great motivational speeches, this show would be a worthwhile watch. "Black Lightning" balances humor with all-too-necessary social commentary [...] to make a refreshing addition to the superhero TV pantheon." Reviewing the first two episodes of the season, Daniel Fienberg of "The Hollywood Reporter" commended the series for its "solid action scenes, bass-pumping soundtrack, stylish treatment of Black Lightning's sizzling powers and character pragmatism." He praised the series' ability to "stand alone in welcome ways" and described the premiere episode as "smart and relevant and full of an attitude that's all its own." Reviewing the first four episodes of the series, "The Atlantic"s Pilot Viruet wrote, "There's an authenticity to the series—it's neither too pulpy nor too preachy—that's heightened by the strong performances from its predominantly Black cast, particularly from [Cress] Williams, who anchors the show's many conflicts." Nafessa Williams' portrayal of Anissa Pierce, Black Lightning's eldest daughter who becomes the superhero Thunder, also drew attention and praise from critics. As the first Black lesbian superhero on television, critics applauded the character's social activism and action scenes, as well as for being a "complex" and "fully realized" character outside of her superhero identity. Reviewing for "The A.V. Club", Kyle Fowle gave the finale an "A" grade, writing that the episode was "tonally bold, easily moving between being funny and politically poignant," while also setting up "plenty of intrigue" for next season. Fowle concluded that the episode was a "confident, compelling, moving end to a season that boasted all those same qualities throughout." Jesse Schedeen of "IGN" noted that the series' reduced episode count, focus on older superheroes and social issues, limited cast, and preservation of the main villain at the end of the season positively distinguished the series from other superhero programming.


title: Black Lightning (TV series)

text: "The A.V. Club"s Fowle gave the second season premiere an "A−" grade, adding, "One of the reasons the first season was so compelling was that the show made the political personal. That's once again evident here, as there's a wonderful sense of the larger community throughout the premiere." Kayti Burt of "Den of Geek!" gave the episode a rating of 3.5 stars out of 5. She explained, "There's a lack of thematic cohesiveness in this season premiere that is probably a result of trying to reintroduce so many characters and storylines at once, but the energy and potential for a strong second season is definitely there. "Black Lightning" continues to be one of the best, most important shows on television." In her review for "Collider", Allison Keene gave the season's early storylines 4 stars out of 5, writing, ""Black Lightning" is not without its own flaws, including occasionally disjointed or abrupt storytelling, but its clear desire to educate and inspire through compelling family drama continues to make it a show of consequence." Burt and "Syfy Wire" contributor Stephanie Williams praised the season for its efforts to de-stigmatize mental-health care, especially for Black women. Burt called Jennifer's therapy storyline "a powerful, vital representation of mental-health issues—not only within the superhero genre, but anywhere on TV." Again reviewing for "The A.V. Club", Fowle gave the season finale a "C+" grade. He named Jennifer's journey as "undoubtedly" the best part of the season, but felt that the second season as a whole "struggled to reach the heights of its first season" and that "storylines were introduced with full force before petering out,[...] stumbling towards lackluster conclusions." Dan Ashby of "Cultured Vultures" gave the whole season a rating of 7.5 out of 10, writing, "Season two of "Black Lightning" has some interesting storylines, a number of good fight scenes, a catchy soundtrack, and some important messages. Unfortunately, it all seems slightly uncoordinated and messy in its execution." In a more positive account from "Entertainment Weekly", Christian Holub gave the season finale a "B" grade, adding, "Season 2's penultimate installment was all over the place, but tonight's season finale did a good job of bringing enough of the threads together that I'm now satisfied to wait for season 3."


title: Black Lightning (TV series)

text: Reviewing the third season premiere for "Entertainment Weekly", Holub gave the episode a "B+" grade, writing, ""Black Lightning" has been able to do a really good job of showcasing real-life racial dynamics and structural inequities through its comic-flavored storytelling. And in season 3, the show is aiming directly at our real-life crisis of family separation and putting kids in cages. [...] After a bit of a sophomore slump, I'm excited to see where "Black Lightning" goes from here." Nicole Hill of "Den of Geek!" assigned the premiere episode a rating of 4 out of 5. She opined that, ""Black Lightning" does a good job of playing with these different concepts of power and showing how they interact, overlap, and cancel each other out. [...] I hope this season maintains focus and doesn't find itself branching out too far away from its central conflicts. If the following episodes consistently operate at this level, this will be an exciting season to watch." "The A.V. Club"s Fowle gave the premiere a "B+" grade and added that, "The first episode of the third season is just as politically charged as previous episodes, but this time around, things feel more relevant, more attuned to this specific time and place. "Black Lightning" has nodded towards real-life events before, but this premiere, centered around kids being rounded up, separated from their families, and locked in detention camps with no idea of when they'll get out or what they did wrong, feels particularly pointed."


title: Black Lightning (TV series)

text: Tai Gooden of "Syfy Wire" wrote, "The usage of religion, specifically Christianity, in "Black Lightning" strikes a fascinating balance between the science-centered A.S.A. organization and the fantasy element of metahumans whose powers essentially make them gods among men." Gooden pointed out that each episode title contains religious references, particularly the second season's multi-episode chapters named after themes frequently explored in religious texts, such as consequences, blood, and rebellion. Additionally, she highlighted the role of Reverend Holt in the series, whose sermons "are often interspersed with scenes that either complement or counteract a character's current struggle with faith and making the right decisions." She compared Khalil's arc to that of one who has lost their faith, and likened Tobias to a Devil that offers temptations. "The primary characters and community members tackle their personal and collective plights with bold protests, prayers, vigilante justice, and rogue missions, all of which are threaded together through overt and subtle religious references."


title: Black Lightning (TV series)

text: Several journalists drew parallels between some of the series's storylines, particularly those involving police brutality and institutional racism, and events that have taken place in real life. Christina Radish of "Collider" and Charles Pulliam-Moore of "io9" felt that the character Issa Williams, a black teen who is held in a fatal chokehold by police as bystanders record the incident and plead for his life, was "reminiscent" of the 2014 death of Eric Garner. Pulliam-Moore also noted that, "The families of Freeland who are fighting to get their children back [from government custody] clearly call to mind all of the undocumented children who've been separated from their families, are being held in detention centers, and may very well never see their loved ones again." Additionally, "Entertainment Weekly"s Christian Holub compared Anissa's Robin Hood-esque crime-fighting philosophy and alternative costume, a black hoodie and mouth cover, to the philosophies and costumes of Antifa members.


title: Black Lightning (TV series)

text: While applauding Jennifer's therapy arc and the series's portrayal of mental health care, Kayti Burt of "Den of Geek!" cited the scene in the second season premiere episode in which Jefferson brushes off Lynn's suggestion that he should see a therapist as an example of double standards regarding age and gender. She commented, "The depiction of Jennifer's mental health treatment is so important, but, as a teen girl, Jennifer is allowed a degree of emotional vulnerability that adult men are not." Burt felt that this apparent point of hypocrisy intentionally served as a subject for the story to reflect upon. She said, ""Black Lightning" isn't ignorant to the many reasons for avoiding shows of emotional vulnerability, of the potential consequences of asking for help in a world that so often equates emotional vulnerability with weakness. It just also chooses to tell the other side of that story: the potential consequences of not acknowledging and actively working on your emotional and mental health issues."


title: Black Lightning (TV series)

text: In January 2017, when the series was still in development at Fox, executive producer Greg Berlanti stated that "Black Lightning" would not crossover with his other DC Comics television properties on The CW, nor would it exist in their shared universe, known as the Arrowverse. Despite "Black Lightning"s move to The CW, the network's president Mark Pedowitz said in May 2017 that the series "at this time, is not part of the Arrowverse. It is a separate situation." Showrunners Salim Akil later clarified that they were not ruling out eventual crossovers, but wanted to establish the series and its own world first. In August 2017, Pedowitz added, "If [the showrunners] wish to bring it in, that is their call. We had a long discussion with the studio, Mara, Salim, and myself. We were fine with them making it separate from the Arrowverse, they have a different point of view. If they end up wanting to go that way, that will be their decision." Salim Akil explained that the first season's references to the DC Comics characters Vixen and Supergirl, who are also featured in the Arrowverse, were simply a "fun" way "to tease the fans" and stressed that "Black Lightning" exists on a separate Earth from the Arrowverse series, such as Earth-1 from "Arrow", "The Flash" and "Legends of Tomorrow", and Earth-38 from "Supergirl". Additionally, he stated that any future crossover would involve the heroes of the other series visiting the Earth that is associated with "Black Lightning".


title: Black Lightning (TV series)

text: Discussing a potential "Black Lightning" crossover with the Arrowverse in July 2019, Cress Williams revealed that "there's been lots of talk [...] nothing official, but at this point, I wouldn't be surprised." Two weeks later in August, Williams confirmed reports that "Black Lightning" would be involved in the Arrowverse's "Crisis on Infinite Earths" crossover event. By the end of the event, the multiverse was rebooted and Earth-Prime was formed, which saw "Black Lightning"s Earth merged with the former Earth-1 and Earth-38, creating a universe where all of The CW series exist together. Williams reprised his role in the eighth season of "The Flash", for the in-season crossover event "Armageddon".


title: Black Lightning (TV series)

text: In November 2020, The CW reportedly began to develop a backdoor pilot for a spin-off of "Painkiller" with Jordan Calloway reprising his role from "Black Lightning". In February 2021, Sibongile Mlambo, Alexander Hodge, and James Roch joined the cast. Later in May, The CW passed the project.


title: William Penn

text: William Penn ( – ) was an English writer and religious thinker belonging to the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), and founder of the Province of Pennsylvania, a North American colony of England. He was an early advocate of democracy and religious freedom, notable for his good relations and successful treaties with the Lenape Native Americans.


title: William Penn

text: In 1681, King Charles II handed over a large piece of his North American land holdings along the North Atlantic Ocean coast to Penn to pay the debts the king had owed to Penn's father, the admiral and politician Sir William Penn. This land included the present-day states of Pennsylvania and Delaware. Penn immediately set sail and took his first step on American soil, sailing up the Delaware Bay and Delaware River, past earlier Swedish and Dutch riverfront colonies, in New Castle (now in Delaware) in 1682. On this occasion, the colonists pledged allegiance to Penn as their new proprietor, and the first Pennsylvania General Assembly was held. Afterward, Penn journeyed further north up the Delaware River and founded Philadelphia, on the west bank. However, Penn's Quaker government was not viewed favorably by the previous Dutch and Swedish colonists, and earlier English settlers in what is now Delaware, but claimed for half a century by the neighboring Province of Maryland's proprietor family, the Calverts and Lord Baltimore. These earlier colonists had no historical allegiance to a "Pennsylvania", so they almost immediately began petitioning for their own representative assembly. Twenty-three years later in 1704, they achieved their goal when the three southernmost counties of provincial Pennsylvania along the western coast of the Delaware were permitted to split off and become the new semi-autonomous colony of Lower Delaware. As the most prominent, prosperous and influential settlement in the new colony, New Castle, the original Swedish colony town became the capital.


title: William Penn

text: As one of the earlier supporters of colonial unification, Penn wrote and urged for a union of all the English colonies in what was to become the United States of America. The democratic principles that he included in the West Jersey Concessions, and set forth in the Pennsylvania Frame of Government served as an inspiration for the members of the convention framing the new U.S. Constitution in Philadelphia in 1787.


title: William Penn

text: As a pacifist Quaker, Penn considered the problems of war and peace deeply. He developed a forward-looking project and thoughts for a United States of Europe through the creation of a European Assembly made of deputies who could discuss and adjudicate controversies peacefully. He is therefore considered the first thinker to suggest the creation of a European Parliament and what would become the modern European Union in the late 20th century.


title: William Penn

text: A man of deep religious convictions, Penn wrote numerous works in which he exhorted believers to adhere to the spirit of Primitive Christianity. He was imprisoned several times in the Tower of London due to his faith, and his book "No Cross, No Crown" (1669), which he wrote while in prison, has become a Christian classic of theological literature.


title: William Penn

text: Penn was born in 1644 at Tower Hill, London, the son of English naval officer Sir William Penn, and Dutchwoman Margaret Jasper, who was widow of a Dutch sea captain and the daughter of a rich merchant from Rotterdam. Admiral Penn served in the Commonwealth Navy during the War of the Three Kingdoms and was rewarded by Oliver Cromwell with estates in Ireland. The lands given to Penn were confiscated from Irish Confederates who participated in the Irish Rebellion of 1641. Admiral Penn took part in the restoration of King Charles II and was eventually knighted and served in the Royal Navy. At the time of his son's birth, then-Captain Penn was twenty-three and an ambitious naval officer in charge of blockading ports held by Confederate forces.


title: William Penn

text: Penn grew up during the rule of Oliver Cromwell, who succeeded in leading a Puritan rebellion against King Charles I; the king was beheaded when Penn was three years old. Penn's father was often at sea. Little William caught smallpox at a young age, losing all his hair (he wore a wig until he left college), prompting his parents to move from the suburbs to an estate in Essex. The country life made a lasting impression on young Penn, and kindled in him a love of horticulture. Their neighbor was famed diarist Samuel Pepys, who was friendly at first but later secretly hostile to the Admiral, perhaps embittered in part by his failed seductions of both Penn's mother and his sister Peggy.


title: William Penn

text: Penn was educated first at Chigwell School, by private tutors whilst in Ireland, and later at Christ Church, Oxford. At that time, there were no state schools and nearly all educational institutions were affiliated with the Anglican Church. Children from poor families had to have a wealthy sponsor to get an education. Penn's education heavily leaned on the classical authors and "no novelties or conceited modern writers" were allowed including William Shakespeare. Foot racing was Penn's favorite sport, and he would often run the more than three-mile (5  km) distance from his home to the school. The school itself was cast in an Anglican mode – strict, humorless, and somber – and teachers had to be pillars of virtue and provide sterling examples to their charges. Though later opposing Anglicanism on religious grounds, Penn absorbed many Puritan behaviors, and was known later for his serious demeanor, strict behavior and lack of humor.


title: William Penn

text: After a failed mission to the Caribbean, Admiral Penn and his family were exiled to his lands in Ireland. It was during this period, when Penn was about fifteen, that he met Thomas Loe, a Quaker missionary, who was maligned by both Catholics and Protestants. Loe was admitted to the Penn household and during his discourses on the "Inner Light", young Penn recalled later that "the Lord visited me and gave me divine Impressions of Himself."


title: William Penn

text: A year later, Cromwell was dead, the royalists resurging, and the Penn family returned to England. The middle class aligned itself with the royalists and Admiral Penn was sent on a secret mission to bring back exiled Prince Charles. For his role in restoring the monarchy, Admiral Penn was knighted and gained a powerful position as Lord Commissioner of the Admiralty.


title: William Penn

text: In 1660, Penn arrived at Oxford and enrolled as a gentleman scholar with an assigned servant. The student body was a volatile mix of swashbuckling Cavaliers (aristocratic Anglicans), sober Puritans, and nonconforming Quakers. The new government's discouragement of religious dissent gave the Cavaliers the license to harass the minority groups. Because of his father's high position and social status, young Penn was firmly a Cavalier but his sympathies lay with the persecuted Quakers. To avoid conflict, he withdrew from the fray and became a reclusive scholar. Also at this time, Penn was developing his individuality and philosophy of life. He found that he was not in sympathy with either his father's martial view of the world or his mother's society-oriented sensibilities, "I had no relations that inclined to so solitary and spiritual way; I was a child alone. A child was given to musing, occasionally feeling the divine presence."


title: William Penn

text: Penn returned home for the extraordinary splendor of the King's restoration ceremony and was a guest of honor alongside his father, who received a highly unusual royal salute for his services to the Crown. Though undetermined at the time, the Admiral had great hopes for his son's career under the favor of the King. Back at Oxford, Penn considered a medical career and took some dissecting classes. Rational thought began to spread into science, politics, and economics, which he took a liking to. When theologian John Owen was fired from his deanery, Penn and other open-minded students rallied to his side and attended seminars at the dean's house, where intellectual discussions covered the gamut of new thought. Penn learned the valuable skills of forming ideas into theory, discussing theory through reasoned debate, and testing the theories in the real world.


title: William Penn

text: At this time he also faced his first moral dilemma. After Owen was censured again after being fired, students were threatened with punishment for associating with him. However, Penn stood by the dean, thereby gaining a fine and reprimand from the university. The Admiral, despairing of the charges, pulled young Penn away from Oxford, hoping to distract him from the heretical influences of the university. The attempt had no effect and father and son struggled to understand each other. Back at school, the administration imposed stricter religious requirements including daily chapel attendance and required dress. Penn rebelled against enforced worship and was expelled. His father, in a rage, attacked young Penn with a cane and forced him from their home. Penn's mother made peace in the family, which allowed her son to return home but she quickly concluded that both her social standing and her husband's career were being threatened by their son's behavior. So at age 18, young Penn was sent to Paris to get him out of view, improve his manners, and expose him to another culture.


title: William Penn

text: In Paris, at the court of young Louis XIV, Penn found French manners far more refined than the coarse manners of his countrymen – but the extravagant display of wealth and privilege did not sit well with him. Though impressed by Notre Dame and the Catholic ritual, he felt uncomfortable with it. Instead, he sought out spiritual direction from French Protestant theologian Moise Amyraut, who invited Penn to stay with him in Saumur for a year. The undogmatic Christian humanist talked of a tolerant, adapting view of religion which appealed to Penn, who later stated, "I never had any other religion in my life than what I felt." By adapting his mentor's belief in free will, Penn felt unburdened of Puritanical guilt and rigid beliefs and was inspired to search out his own religious path.


title: William Penn

text: Upon returning to England after two years abroad, he presented to his parents a mature, sophisticated, well-mannered, "modish" gentleman, though Samuel Pepys noted young Penn's "vanity of the French". Penn had developed a taste for fine clothes, and for the rest of his life would pay somewhat more attention to his dress than most Quakers. The Admiral had great hopes that his son then had the practical sense and the ambition necessary to succeed as an aristocrat. He had young Penn enroll in law school but soon his studies were interrupted. With warfare with the Dutch imminent, young Penn decided to shadow his father at work and join him at sea. Penn functioned as an emissary between his father and the King, then returned to his law studies. Worrying about his father in battle he wrote, "I never knew what a father was till I had wisdom enough to prize him... I pray God... that you come home secure." The Admiral returned triumphantly but London was in the grip of the plague of 1665. Young Penn reflected on the suffering and the deaths, and the way humans reacted to the epidemic. He wrote that the scourge "gave me a deep sense of the vanity of this World, of the Irreligiousness of the Religions in it." Further he observed how Quakers on errands of mercy were arrested by the police and demonized by other religions, even accused of causing the plague.


title: William Penn

text: With his father laid low by gout, young Penn was sent to Ireland in 1666 to manage the family landholdings. While there he became a soldier and took part in suppressing a local Irish rebellion. Swelling with pride, he had his portrait painted wearing a suit of armor, his most authentic likeness. His first experience of warfare gave him the sudden idea of pursuing a military career, but the fever of battle soon wore off after his father discouraged him, "I can say nothing but advise to sobriety...I wish your youthful desires mayn't outrun your discretion." While Penn was abroad, the Great Fire of 1666 consumed central London. As with the plague, the Penn family was spared. But after returning to the city, Penn was depressed by the mood of the city and his ailing father, so he went back to the family estate in Ireland to contemplate his future. The reign of King Charles had further tightened restrictions against all religious sects other than the Anglican Church, making the penalty for unauthorized worship imprisonment or deportation. The "Five Mile Act" prohibited dissenting teachers and preachers to come within that distance of any borough. The Quakers were especially targeted and their meetings were deemed undesirable.


title: William Penn

text: Despite the dangers, Penn began to attend Quaker meetings near Cork. A chance re-meeting with Thomas Loe confirmed Penn's rising attraction to Quakerism. Soon Penn was arrested for attending Quaker meetings. Rather than state that he was not a Quaker and thereby dodge any charges, he publicly declared himself a member and finally joined the Quakers at the age of 22. In pleading his case, Penn stated that since the Quakers had no political agenda (unlike the Puritans) they should not be subject to laws that restricted political action by minority religions and other groups. Sprung from jail because of his family's rank rather than his argument, Penn was immediately recalled to London by his father. The Admiral was severely distressed by his son's actions and took the conversion as a personal affront. His father's hopes that Penn's charisma and intelligence would win him favor at the court were crushed. Though enraged, the Admiral tried his best to reason with his son but to no avail. His father not only feared for his own position but that his son seemed bent on a dangerous confrontation with the Crown. In the end, young Penn was more determined than ever, and the Admiral felt he had no option but to order his son out of the house and to withhold his inheritance.


title: William Penn

text: As Penn became homeless, he began to live with Quaker families. Quakers were relatively strict Christians in the 17th century. They refused to bow or take off their hats to social superiors, believing all men equal under God, a belief antithetical to an absolute monarchy that believed the monarch divinely appointed by God. Therefore, Quakers were treated as heretics because of their principles and their failure to pay tithes. They also refused to swear oaths of loyalty to the King believing that this was following the command of Jesus not to swear. The basic ceremony of Quakerism was silent worship in a meeting house, conducted in a group. There was no ritual and no professional clergy, and many Quakers disavowed the concept of original sin. God's communication came to each individual directly, and if so moved, the individual shared his revelations, thoughts, or opinions with the group. Penn found all these tenets to sit well with his conscience and his heart.


title: William Penn

text: Penn became a close friend of George Fox, the founder of the Quakers, whose movement started in the 1650s during the tumult of the Cromwellian revolution. The times sprouted many new sects besides Quakers, including Seekers, Ranters, Antinomians, Seventh Day Baptists, Soul sleepers, Adamites, Diggers, Levellers, Behmenists, Muggletonians, and many others, as the Puritans were more tolerant than the monarchy had been. Following Oliver Cromwell's death, however, the Crown was re-established and the King responded with harassment and persecution of all religions and sects other than Anglicanism. Fox risked his life, wandering from town to town, and he attracted followers who likewise believed that the "God who made the world did not dwell in temples made with hands." By abolishing the church's authority over the congregation, Fox not only extended the Protestant Reformation more radically, but he helped extend the most important principle of modern political history – the rights of the individual – upon which modern democracies were later founded. Penn traveled frequently with Fox, through Europe and England. He also wrote a comprehensive, detailed explanation of Quakerism along with a testimony to the character of George Fox, in his introduction to the autobiographical "Journal of George Fox". In effect, Penn became the first theologian, theorist, and legal defender of Quakerism, providing its written doctrine and helping to establish its public standing.


title: William Penn

text: In 1669, Penn traveled to Ireland to deal with many of his father's estates. While there, he attended many meetings and stayed with leading Quaker families. He became a great friend of William Morris, a leading Quaker figure in Cork, and often stayed with Morris at Castle Salem near Rosscarbery.


title: William Penn

text: Between 1671 and 1677 William Penn made trips to Germany on behalf of the Quaker faith, resulting in a German Settlement in Pennsylvania that was symbolic in two ways: it was a specifically German-speaking congregation, and it comprised religious dissenters. Pennsylvania has remained the heartland for various branches of Anabaptists: Old Order Mennonites, Ephrata Cloister, Brethren, and Amish. Pennsylvania also became home for many Lutheran refugees from Catholic provinces (e.g., Salzburg), as well as for German Catholics who had also been discriminated against in their home country.


title: William Penn

text: In Philadelphia, Francis Daniel Pastorius negotiated the purchase of 15,000 acres (61 km) from his friend William Penn, the proprietor of the colony, and laid out the settlement of Germantown. The German Society of Pennsylvania was established in 1764 and is still functioning today from its headquarters in Philadelphia.


title: William Penn

text: Penn's first of many pamphlets, "Truth Exalted: To Princes, Priests, and People" (1668), was a criticism of all religious groups, except Quakers, which he perceived as the only true Christian group living at that time in England. He branded the Catholic Church as "the Whore of Babylon", defied the Church of England, and called the Puritans "hypocrites and revelers in God". He also lambasted all "false prophets, tithemongers, and opposers of perfection". Pepys thought it a "ridiculous nonsensical book" that he was "ashamed to read".


title: William Penn

text: In 1668 Penn was imprisoned in the Tower of London after writing a follow-up tract entitled "The Sandy Foundation Shaken". The Bishop of London ordered that Penn be held indefinitely until he publicly recanted his written statements. The official charge was publication without a licence but the real crime was blasphemy, as signed in a warrant by King Charles II. Placed in solitary confinement in an unheated cell and threatened with a life sentence, Penn was being accused of denying the Trinity, though this was a misinterpretation Penn himself refuted in the essay "Innocency with her open face, presented by way of Apology for the book entitled The Sandy Foundation Shaken", where he himself proceeded to prove the Godhead of Christ. Penn said the rumor had been "maliciously insinuated" by detractors who wanted to create a bad reputation to Quakers. Later, he stated that what he really denied were the Catholic interpretations of this theological topic, and the use of unbiblical concepts to explain it. Penn expressly confessed he believed in the Holy Three as well as in the divinity of Christ. In 1668 in a letter to the anti-Quaker minister Jonathan Clapham, Penn wrote: "Thou must not, reader, from my querying thus, conclude we do deny (as he hath falsely charged us) those glorious Three, which bear record in heaven, the Father, Word, and Spirit; neither the infinity, eternity and divinity of Jesus Christ; for that we know he is the mighty God."


title: William Penn

text: Given writing materials in the hope that he would put on paper his retraction, Penn wrote another inflammatory treatise, "No Cross, No Crown: A Discourse Shewing The Nature and Discipline of the Holy Cross of Christ and that the Denial of Self, and Daily Hearing of Christ's Cross, is the Alone Way to Rest and Kingdom of God." In it, Penn exhorted believers to adhere to the spirit of Primitive Christianity. This work was remarkable for its historical analysis and citation of 68 authors whose quotations and commentary he had committed to memory and was able to summon without any reference material at hand. Penn petitioned for an audience with the King, which was denied but which led to negotiations on his behalf by one of the royal chaplains. Penn bravely declared, "My prison shall be my grave before I will budge a jot: for I owe my conscience to no mortal man." He was released after eight months of imprisonment.


title: William Penn

text: Penn demonstrated no remorse for his aggressive stance and vowed to keep fighting against the wrongs of the Church and the King. For its part, the Crown continued to confiscate Quaker property and jailed thousands of Quakers. From then on, Penn's religious views effectively exiled him from English society; he was sent down (expelled) from Christ Church, a college at Oxford University, for being a Quaker, and was arrested several times. Among the most famous of these events was the trial following his 1670 arrest with William Mead. Penn was accused of preaching before a gathering in the street, which Penn had deliberately provoked to test the validity of the 1664 Conventicle Act, just renewed in 1670, which denied the right of assembly to "more than five persons in addition to members of the family, for any religious purpose not according to the rules of the Church of England". Penn was assisted by his solicitor, Thomas Rudyard, an eminent London Quaker lawyer, and pleaded for his right to see a copy of the charges laid against him and the laws he had supposedly broken, but the Recorder of London, Sir John Howel, on the bench as chief judge, refused, although this was a right guaranteed by law. Furthermore, the Recorder directed the jury to come to a verdict without hearing the defense.


title: William Penn

text: Despite heavy pressure from Howel to convict Penn, the jury returned a verdict of "not guilty". When invited by the Recorder to reconsider their verdict and to select a new foreman, they refused and were sent to a cell over several nights to mull over their decision. The Lord Mayor of London, Sir Samuel Starling, also on the bench, then told the jury, "You shall go together and bring in another verdict, or you shall starve", and not only had Penn sent to jail in Newgate Prison (on a charge of contempt of court for refusing to remove his hat), but the full jury followed him, and they were additionally fined the equivalent of a year's wages each. The members of the jury, fighting their case from prison in what became known as Bushel's Case, managed to win the right for all English juries to be free from the control of judges. This case was one of the more important trials that shaped the concept of jury nullification and was a victory for the use of the writ of habeas corpus as a means of freeing those unlawfully detained.


title: William Penn

text: With his father dying, Penn wanted to see him one more time and patch up their differences. But he urged his father not to pay his fine and free him, "I entreat thee not to purchase my liberty." But the Admiral refused to let the opportunity pass and he paid the fine, releasing his son.


title: William Penn

text: The old man had gained respect for his son's integrity and courage and told him, "Let nothing in this world tempt you to wrong your conscience." The Admiral also knew that after his death young Penn would become more vulnerable in his pursuit of justice. In an act which not only secured his son's protection but also set the conditions for the founding of Pennsylvania, the Admiral wrote to the Duke of York, the heir to the throne.


title: William Penn

text: The Duke and the King, in return for the Admiral's lifetime of service to the Crown, promised to protect young Penn and make him a royal counselor.


title: William Penn

text: Penn was not disinherited and he came into a large fortune but found himself in jail again for six months as he continued to agitate. After gaining his freedom, he finally married Gulielma Springett in April 1672, after a four-year engagement filled with frequent separations. Penn stayed close to home but continued writing his tracts, espousing religious tolerance and railing against discriminatory laws. A minor split developed in the Quaker community between those who favored Penn's analytical formulations and those who preferred Fox's simple precepts. But the persecution of Quakers had accelerated and the differences were overridden; Penn again resumed missionary work in Holland and Germany.


title: William Penn

text: Seeing conditions deteriorating, Penn decided to appeal directly to the King and the Duke. Penn proposed a solution which would solve the dilemma—a mass emigration of English Quakers. Some Quakers had already moved to North America, but the New England Puritans, especially, were as hostile towards Quakers as Anglicans in England were, and some of the Quakers had been banished to the Caribbean. In 1677 a group of prominent Quakers that included Penn purchased the colonial province of West Jersey (half of the current state of New Jersey). That same year, two hundred settlers from the towns of Chorleywood and Rickmansworth in Hertfordshire and other towns in nearby Buckinghamshire arrived, and founded the town of Burlington. George Fox himself had made a journey to America to verify the potential of further expansion of the early Quaker settlements. In 1682 East Jersey was also purchased by Quakers.


title: William Penn

text: With the New Jersey foothold in place, Penn pressed his case to extend the Quaker region. Whether from personal sympathy or political expediency, to Penn's surprise, the King granted an extraordinarily generous charter which made Penn the world's largest private (non-royal) landowner, with over . Penn became the sole proprietor of a huge tract of land west of New Jersey and north of Maryland (which belonged to Lord Baltimore), and gained sovereign rule of the territory with all rights and privileges (except the power to declare war). The land of Pennsylvania had belonged to the Duke of York, who acquiesced, but he retained New York and the area around New Castle and the Eastern portion of the Delmarva Peninsula. In return, one-fifth of all gold and silver mined in the province (which had virtually none) was to be remitted to the King, and the Crown was freed of a debt to the Admiral of £16,000, equal to roughly £ in 2008.


title: William Penn

text: Penn first called the area "New Wales", then "Sylvania" (Latin for "forests" or "woods"), which King Charles II changed to "Pennsylvania" in honor of the elder Penn. On 4 March 1681, the King signed the charter and the following day Penn jubilantly wrote, "It is a clear and just thing, and my God who has given it to me through many difficulties, will, I believe, bless and make it the seed of a nation." Penn then traveled to America and while there, he negotiated Pennsylvania's first land-purchase survey with the tribe of the Lenape people. Penn purchased the first tract of land under a white oak tree at Graystones on 15 July 1682. Penn drafted a charter of liberties for the settlement creating a political utopia guaranteeing free and fair trial by jury, freedom of religion, freedom from unjust imprisonment and free elections.


title: William Penn

text: Having proved himself an influential scholar and theoretician, Penn now had to demonstrate the practical skills of a real estate promoter, city planner, and governor for his "Holy Experiment", the province of Pennsylvania.


title: William Penn

text: Besides achieving his religious goals, Penn had hoped that Pennsylvania would be a profitable venture for himself and his family. But he proclaimed that he would not exploit either the natives or the immigrants, "I would not abuse His love, nor act unworthy of His providence, and so defile what came to me clean." To that end, Penn's land purchase from the Lenape included the latter party's retained right to traverse the sold lands for purposes of hunting, fishing, and gathering. Though thoroughly oppressed, getting Quakers to leave England and make the dangerous journey to the New World was his first commercial challenge. Some Quaker families had already arrived in Maryland and New Jersey but the numbers were small. To attract settlers in large numbers, he wrote a glowing prospectus, considered honest and well-researched for the time, promising religious freedom as well as material advantage, which he marketed throughout Europe in various languages. Within six months he had parcelled out to over 250 prospective settlers, mostly rich London Quakers. Eventually he attracted other persecuted minorities including Huguenots, Mennonites, Amish, Catholics, Lutherans, and Jews from England, France, Holland, Germany, Sweden, Finland, Ireland, and Wales.


title: William Penn

text: Next, he set out to lay the legal framework for an ethical society where power was derived from the people, from "open discourse", in much the same way as a Quaker Meeting was run. Notably, as the sovereign, Penn thought it important to limit his own power as well. The new government would have two houses, safeguard the rights of private property and free enterprise, and impose taxes fairly. It would call for death for only two crimes, treason and murder, rather than the two hundred crimes under English law, and all cases were to be tried before a jury. Prisons would be progressive, attempting to correct through "workshops" rather than through hellish confinement. The laws of behaviour he laid out were rather Puritanical: swearing, lying, and drunkenness were forbidden as well as "idle amusements" such as stage plays, gambling, revels, masques, cock-fighting, and bear-baiting.


title: William Penn

text: All this was a radical departure from the laws and the lawmaking of European monarchs and elites. Over twenty drafts, Penn laboured to create his "Framework of Government", with the assistance of Thomas Rudyard (especially for the final six drafts), the London Quaker lawyer who had assisted his defence during the Penn-Mead case in 1670, and was later deputy-governor of East New Jersey. He borrowed liberally from John Locke who later had a similar influence on Thomas Jefferson, but added his own revolutionary idea—the use of amendments—to enable a written framework that could evolve with the changing times. He stated, "Governments, like clocks, go from the motion men give them." Penn hoped that an amendable constitution would accommodate dissent and new ideas and also allow meaningful societal change without resorting to violent uprisings or revolution. Remarkably, though the Crown reserved the right to override any law it wished, Penn's skillful stewardship did not provoke any government reaction while Penn remained in his province. Despite criticism by some Quaker friends that Penn was setting himself above them by taking on this powerful position, and by his enemies who thought he was a fraud and "falsest villain upon earth", Penn was ready to begin the "Holy Experiment". Bidding goodbye to his wife and children, he reminded them to "avoid pride, avarice, and luxury".


title: William Penn

text: Under Penn's direction, the city of Philadelphia was planned and developed. Philadelphia was planned out to be grid-like with its streets and be very easy to navigate, unlike London. The streets are named with numbers and tree names.


title: William Penn

text: In 1684 Penn returned to England to see his family and to try to resolve a territorial dispute with Lord Baltimore.


title: William Penn

text: Penn did not always pay attention to details and had not taken the fairly simple step of determining where the 40th degree of latitude (the southern boundary of his land under the charter) actually was. After he sent letters to several landowners in Maryland advising the recipients that they were probably in Pennsylvania and not to pay any more taxes to Lord Baltimore, trouble arose between the two proprietors. This led to an eighty-year legal dispute between the two families.


title: William Penn

text: Political conditions at home had stiffened since Penn left. To his dismay, he found Bridewell and Newgate prisons filled with Quakers. Internal political conflicts even threatened to undo the Pennsylvania charter. Penn withheld his political writings from publication as "The times are too rough for print."


title: William Penn

text: In 1685 King Charles died, and the Duke of York was crowned James II. The new king resolved the border dispute in Penn's favor. But King James, a Catholic with a largely Protestant parliament, proved a poor ruler, stubborn and inflexible. Penn supported James' Declaration of Indulgence, which granted toleration to Quakers, and went on a "preaching tour through England to promote the King's Indulgence". His proposal at the London Yearly Meeting of the Society of Friends in June 1688 to establish an "advisory committee that might offer counsel to individual Quakers deciding whether to take up public office" under James II was rebuffed by George Fox, who argued that it was "not safe to conclude such things in a Yearly Meeting". Penn offered some assistance to James II's campaign to regulate the parliamentary constituencies by sending a letter to a friend in Huntingdon asking him to identify men who could be trusted to support the king's campaign for liberty of conscience.