Radiant Black vol. 1: (Not So) Secret Origin

Kyle Higgins has written many comics for Marvel and DC, but he’s probably best known for his multi-year run on BOOM!’s “Power Rangers” comics.  After the success he had there, it was only natural that he’d transition to creator-owned work, and “Radiant Black” is the result of that.  I’ve got only a surface level of familiarity with that licensed sentai series, which is likely the main reason why “Radiant Black” has always looked like a version of “Power Rangers” with the serial numbers filed off.  That’s not necessarily a bad thing, so long as you’re willing to actually take some risks and do things that the source material never would.  This is a roundabout way of me saying that, based on this first volume, “Power Rangers” with the serial numbers filed off is actually pretty cool.

We start out by being introduced to Nathan Burnett and his crushing debt.  He’s an aspiring writer who is working as a freelance driver while he tries to make things come together.  After failing to secure a loan that would’ve allowed him to stay in the city, he’s forced to move back to the suburbs and in with his parents.  This isn’t as bad as it sounds as he’s able to reconnect with his friend Marshall after a night of drinking.  It’s after they stumble out of the bar that night that Nathan sees a glowing orb in front of him, and when he reaches out…

…he’s enveloped by a fancy spacesuit and has some pretty sweet gravity powers to go along with it.  After a close encounter with some cops, Nathan flies away with Marshall and the two of them start trying to figure out what he can do with these new powers.  Which is something that they’d better do quickly, because it turns out that there’s another individual with a red suit in Nathan’s town as well.  Someone who has decided to use their powers to rob banks.

There’s nothing initially that sets “Radiant Black” apart from your average superhero/sci-fi story.  I’ve read plenty of stories where ordinary guys get incredible powers and then have to feel their way through their use as they decide what kind of hero they’re going to be.  That said, this series still managed to come off as a decently engaging read in spite of this.  It’s mainly for the same reasons that the first volume of “Fire Power” drew me in despite not offering much new either.  Which would be the fact that both titles do the fundamentals very well.

Nathan is an immediately sympathetic protagonist, what with his debt and all, and the series doesn’t try to grind him down further with his move back home.  His parents are understanding about his situation, and while Nathan’s dad may come off as the overly strict type, he’s shown to be appreciative of his son’s efforts.  Marshall is also a good best friend, encouraging and razzing Nathan in equal and affectionate measure.  Even the cops are shown to be pretty appreciative of Nathan’s abilities after they find themselves on the wrong side of them.  We also get plenty of scenes showing our protagonist trying to make a go of his writing career, just to let us know that there’s more to him than just his suit.

While the series handles its characters and community well, it’s also pretty solid with the superhero action as well. Main artist Marcelo Costa has an angular style that reminds me of Ryan Ottley’s, which isn’t bad company to be in.  He’s not quite on the same level, but Costa handles the action scenes with the appropriate intensity, and he’s also good with keeping the many conversation scenes visually interesting.  Issue five, however, is handled by a guest artist, Eduardo Ferigato, who has a comparable style.  What’s surprising, though, is that he’s given the biggest action scene in the volume and crushes it as we get an appropriately kinetic battle scene as two Radiants go at it.  I don’t know if Ferigato will be back for future issues, but I certainly wouldn’t mind seeing more of his work here.

All of this isn’t what makes “Radiant Black,” cool in my opinion.  Unfortunately I can’t get too much into that as that would constitute a major spoiler for this volume.  Let’s just say that the series pulls something that I wasn’t expecting to see and then decides to run with it.  This is still Early Days in the comic, so it’s possible that Higgins could walk things back.  That would be disappointing since I think the twist has the potential to make this series more interesting than it initially came off as.

The final issue of this volume does do much the same thing, in terms of subverting expectations.  It’s an origin story for one of the characters introduced earlier, and it shows you how people will do bad things for those that they love.  Or are committed to loving.  Or that they don’t want to dump because that would mean admitting that they’ve made a mistake.  This issue was co-written by Cherish Chen and features art from Darko Lafuente, who makes a very good impression here.  Chen does a great job of making the central relationship feel believable, while Lafuente brings a softer style that can still bring the drama when things start going wrong.

I find myself wanting to see more stories that subvert my expectations as I get older.  So much stuff out there plays it straightforward and safe, which would’ve been fine for me twenty years ago, but not now.  While this first volume of “Radiant Black” doesn’t completely reinvent the wheel, it did a good job of surprising me and using my expectations against me as well.  Better still is that it does this while introducing a likeable and interesting cast that I want to know more about.  Let’s see if it can keep this up in vol. 2.