Isabella, Jenna Blake (1951 - )
American comic book writer, editor, actor, writer and critic
Isabella (who writes under the names Tony Isabella and Jenny Blake) is the creator of Marvel Comics superhero Black Goliath, and of DC Comics' first major African-American superhero, Black Lightning. She was a columnist and critic for the Comics Buyer's Guide magazine where she wrote the column "Tony's Tips" for over a decade. The last column was June 22, 2010. Starting in 2013, she continued "Tony's Tips" online at Tales of Wonder. She also regularly writes about comics and her work on her personal blog https://tonyisabella.blogspot.com/.
As a teenager, she had many letters published in comic book letter columns under her earlier name of Tony Isabella, primarily in the pages of Marvel titles. She was an active member of the comics fandom, a member of CAPA-alpha (an amateur press association for comics), and a regular contributor to comics fanzines.
Isabella's fanzine work attracted the attention of Marvel editor Roy Thomas (whose earliest published writings had been in fanzines such as Alter Ego), and in 1972 Thomas hired Isabella as an editorial assistant. With Marvel's establishment of Marvel UK that year, Isabella oversaw reprints used in Marvel UK's nascent comics line. She briefly edited for Marvel's black-and-white magazine line.
As a writer, Isabella scripted Ghost Rider, the characters It! The Living Colossus in Astonishing Tales, Luke Cage in Hero for Hire and Power Man, the Living Mummy in Supernatural Tales, Tigra in Marvel Chillers, Daredevil, and Captain America. While writing the "Iron Fist" feature in Marvel Premiere, she co-created the supporting character Misty Knight with artist Arvell Jones. Isabella developed the concept of The Champions series and wrote the first several issues.
Isabella worked as a writer and story editor for DC Comics, and is known for creating Black Lightning, writing both the character's short-lived 1970s and 1990s series. After reaching an agreement with DC, Isabella returned to the character in 2017 with the publication of the Black Lightning: Cold Dead Hands limited series.
In 1987, Isabella wrote the first 11 issues of the Justice Machine series for Comico, co-plotting with series creator and penciller Mike Gustovich. The ongoing book became one of Comico's best-selling series, selling upwards of 70,000 copies of each issue at its peak.
In a February 9, 2025 social media post, Isabella came out as transgender with a meme reading "Keep Calm and Yes I'm Transgender". In a Facebook post, she said she would continue writing as both Jenny Blake Isabella and Tony Isabella. Her first story written under the Jenny Blake Isabella name appeared in the DC Pride 2025 anthology, an autobiographical piece setting out the path her life took to coming out as transgender.
