Radiant Black is a 2021 superhero comic book by writer Kyle Higgins and artist Marcelo Costa, published by Image Comics.
Nathan Burnett is thirty years old and already a failure — he failed at becoming a successful writer in Los Angeles and only managed to wrack up over thirty thousand dollars in credit card debt. And now he's forced to move back in with his parents in his hometown of Lockport, Illinois.
But one night, while out drinking with his childhood friend Marshall, Nathan encounters some sort of miniature black hole... and when he touches it, it somehow gives Nathan a cool black and white costume and gravity powers! But while the "Radiant" might seem like a blessing at first, it doesn't belong to him... and he isn't the only one who has one.
The series is the first entry in what would later become the Massive-Verse, which would formally launch in February 2022, a year after the launch of Radiant Black with the Supermassive special, which features Radiant Black teaming up with Inferno Girl Red and Rogue Sun.
In addition, a spinoff miniseries, Radiant Red, launched in March of 2022. It is written by Cherish Chen, who also co-wrote Radiant Black #6, Radiant Red's spotlight issue. After that, spinoff mini Radiant Pink was launched in December of 2022, with Meghan Camarena returning to write, joined by Melissa Flores, after co-writing Radiant Black #12, Pink's spotlight issue.
The Supermassive (2023) one-shot saw Radiant Black meeting the new Rogue Sun, along with new superhero Dead Lucky.
Tropes in Radiant Black:
- A Day in the Limelight:
- Issue #6 is focused on Radiant Red, detailing how Satomi Sone got her powers and ended up robbing banks and meeting Radiant Black. It noticeably is co-written by Kyle Higgins and Cherish Chen, and features a different artist than usual, Darko Lafuente.
- Issue #12 is focused on Radiant Pink and how she got her powers, as well as how she met Radiant Yellow. It is co-written by Kyle Higgins and Meghan Camarena, with art by guest artist French Carlomagno.
- Amazingly Embarrassing Parents: It's less that they are embarrassing and more how embarrassing it is to move back in with them. Although Nathan's mother seems especially keen on him coming back home, saying "My baby's home!"
- Anti-Villain:
- Radiant Red is just a woman trying to get out of the shitty financial situation that her partner and his gambling addiction put them both in. She noticeably never injures civilians intentionally, and only started a fight with Nathan when it seemed like he was threatening her. When she and him end up inside a collapsing café, she tries to help him hold it up while civilians evacuate, and only leaves because he pushes her out.
- Doppler is a woman who has a hand injury that keeps her from playing music. The suit she uses helps, and the criminals she works for pay for her therapy. Just like Red, she's not out to hurt anyone either.
- Armor-Piercing Question: In issue #10, Marshall ventures into existence to bring Nathan back to life. Marshall is repeatedly asked why he wants to bring Nathan back and insists it is because Nathan is his friend. Marshall insists again and again that his motive is simply to bring his friend back, until he snaps and admits to believing that Nathan deserves to live more than him because Nathan actually tried to make something of himself while Marshall did not.
- Bequeathed Power: It's implicit that the Radiants got their powers from the deaths or incapacitation of their previous owners. When Nathan ends up in a coma, Marshall becomes the new Radiant Black after cutting a deal to help him recover. After Marshall has a near death experience, Nathan gets the power back and they end up able to use it between them one at a time.
- Car Cushion: Invoked by Radiant Yellow with his own car after foreseeing that Nathan wouldn't recover fast enough from a direct crash into the street.
- Clingy Costume: Nathan isn't sure how to remove the helmet — not even throwing up removes the helmet, as the vomit just...pours out of the solid faceplate. Marshall reminds him of how he used his powers by thinking about doing something, however, and so he thinks about removing the helmet and it vanishes.
- Cop Hater: Marshall openly expresses contempt for cops. His first two conversations with Officers Peters and Mills is nothing but hostile, even when they're trying to help him.
- Continuity Nod:
- One of Guy's gang mentions that he used to work for Morrow, the antagonist tech company in The Dead Lucky.
- When they're planning their takedown of Radiant Black, they also mention the other Radiants possibly showing up, along with "that fire guy in New Orleans".
- Decoy Protagonist: The first four issues are centered around Nathan as he adjusts to his powers and toys around with the idea of superheroics. Marshall takes over as protagonist when Nathan gets put in a coma.
- Evil Is Petty: After being defeated by Nathan and Marshall, a villain releases the blueprints for the technology that leeches the Radiants' powers online to undermine their victory.
- Five-Token Band: Radiant Black is white (both Nathan and Marshall are Caucasian), Radiant Red is Asian (Japanese) and Radiant Pink is Latina (Spanish).
- Friend on the Force: Two police officers witness Nathan's first transformation and quickly figure out his identity. They don't tell anyone about him and instead ask for his help dealing with another person using a similar suit with powers, who is using it to rob banks.
- From Camouflage to Criminal: The villain Accel is a Brazilian ex-soldier named João Dos Santos.
- The Gambling Addict: Radiant Red's fiancé is this, gambling away all of their savings and the money she'd put aside for grad school. This is what pushes her into robbing banks.
- Genre Savvy: Marshall also gets on top of Radiant Black's social media presence and encourages Nathan to practice with his powers.
- Having a Blast: Accel's suit grants him the ability to create explosions by accelerating atoms.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Nathan ends up in a coma saving civilians from a collapsing building.
- Idiot Ball: In the first issue, some cops tell Marshall to move off the train tracks...and Marshall tells them that he's going to stay on the train tracks until the cops leave because they can't tell him what to do. All while a train approaches. To be fair, though, he was drunk moments before. Nathan implies that he's constantly pulling stunts like this.
- Intergenerational Friendship: Eva and Wendell have one after they met when she needed to get her microphone fixed. He's the one who showed her the pink Radiant, knowing it'd give her powers, and helped her through a tough time. She's probably in her late teens/early twenties, while he's easily pushing 50.
- Jumped at the Call: Marshall is quite excited to have a superhero for one of his best friends. He also solemnly takes the tiny black hole's offer for power when Nathan seemingly dies.
- Late-Arrival Spoiler:
- Marshall becoming the second Radiant Black was a twist when it first happened. However, the covers after that feature Radiant Black with his helmet off, making it very obvious.
- Similarly, even though it's not really a spoiler at all, the Samus Is a Girl reveal that Radiant Red is a woman. The covers after that also feature Radiant Red with her helmet off, as well as lacking the artificial muscle mass she used to conceal her gender.
- Loser Protagonist: The default setting for the heroes.
- Nathan is a writer in crippling debt who is forced to move back home with his parents and, in his own words, blew his chance in L.A..
- Satomi is a woman secretly in even more crippling debt thanks to her fiancé being a compulsive gambler.
- Marshall is Nathan if he never even tried to make it. He never moved out of home and, as issue #9 shows, doesn't have much going for him at all. In issue #10, Marshall is forced to eventually confront his status as a Loser Protagonist, when he has to admit that he hates that he never tried to make something of his life like Nathan did.
- Make Some Noise: Doppler uses technology to generate sonic blasts.
- Most Writers Are Writers: For the first 4 issues, the main character Nathan Burnett, is a writer. He even comes from the same small town in Illinois as Kyle Higgins.
- Mind over Matter: Radiant Black's unique power is telekinesis.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Radiant Red isn't fond of killing, and we see her having this reaction after finding out that Nathan is probably going to die.
- Never My Fault: Radiant Red's fiancé's reaction to finding out that she discovered he'd secretly gambled away her graduate school money by forging her signature. He gets mad at her for having embarrassed them at the bank and potentially further damaging their credit. She immediately calls him out on it and shouts him down until he's begging for forgiveness.
- Poor Communication Kills: When Nathan decides to ask Radiant Red about the nature of their powers, he opens by being very casual and flippant, and jokes that if he found her, cops would be able to. She takes this as superhero banter and a threat and starts a fight.
- The Power of Hate: Marshall is almost an Instant Expert on using his powers, largely because he's completely focused on killing Radiant Red for nearly killing Nathan.
- Red and Black and Evil All Over: The end of the first issue shows someone robbing a bank in Chicago and they are wearing a similar costume to Nathan's... only it's red and black.
- Roaring Rampage of Revenge: After Radiant Red puts Nathan in a coma, Marshall drops everything to hunt them down and take them out.
- Samus Is a Girl: Radiant Red is a woman. The suit hid her figure.
- Seers: Radiant Yellow's power is to see the future.
- Shout-Out: Radient Red being revealed as a woman is both a Samus Is a Girl moment but may also be a nod to the Yellow Ranger who was female in Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers but male in Super Sentai. Due to many of the fight scenes being lifted directly from the Japanese series, this meant that the Yellow Ranger lacked female attributes when morphed.
- Super-Empowering: The Radiants can supercharge Doppler and Accel's suits due to the latter being created from similar technology to the former. In Radiant Black and Pink's first encounter with Doppler, they power up her suit beyond her control, causing her to unintentionally damage a nearby building and almost kill people.
- Surprisingly Realistic Outcome:
- The new Radiants want to team up with Marshall and Radiant Red to battle whatever the thing is that's hunting them. Marshall is unsurprisingly pissed off at the idea given that Radiant Red nearly killed Nathan and is only kept from making further problems because they get separated soon thereafter.
- After delving into existence, it turns out that Marshall didn't wake up immediately. He was gone for six weeks, so while there's interpersonal drama from it... there's the bigger issue, that drives the entire plot of issue #11 — Marshall missed work for six weeks straight without notice. He's fired, for obvious reasons.
- Take That!: Sheer is a hitman who peddles cyrptocurrency and is depicted as an obnoxious jackass barely tolerated by his partners. He is also not very bright, as seen by him posting an NFT announcing his plan to kill Radiant Black which is how Radiant Black finds him in the first place.
- Thinking Up Portals: The pink Radiant has this power.
- Transmutation: Radiant Red's powers work somewhat like this. They can absorb and transform matter they come in contact with.
- Tron Lines: Nathan's costume is black with glowing white portions.
- Unrealistic Black Hole: It looks like a miniature black hole and Nathan actually touches it, something which shouldn't be possible. Then again, it only looks like it, it could be something else entirely.
- Vomit Indiscretion Shot: After Nathan touches the mini-black hole and finds himself in the costume, he can't handle it and throw up by the side of the road. The helmet doesn't even come off — the vomit just somehow comes out of the solid faceplate. His friend Marshall even says, "Oh my god you don't have a mouth! How are you doing that without a mouth?!"
- Wham Episode:
- Issue #4 ends with Nathan seemingly dying and Marshall bonding with the mini-black hole.
- Issue #5 ends with two new Radiants appearing... along with a whole new type of being that is hunting them.
- Whole Episode Flashback:
- Issue #6 is about Radiant Red and how she got her powers, as well as how she found herself robbing banks and running into Radiant Black.
- Issue #12 is about Radiant Pink and how she got her powers, as well as how she met Radiant Yellow.
- The Workaholic: Eva is very busy with her streaming, which leads to her girlfriend breaking up with her when she learns that Eva also wants to be a superhero.
- Your Mom: Marshall dishes out variations of this to some passers by insulting him in issue #9.Passerby #1: Haha! The only person Marshall sleeps with is his mom.Marshall: Newsflash, bucko, she's still never gonna sleep with you.Passerby #2: Aww, did she pouw you those little Cheerios, Mawshall?Marshall: Nah, I poured 'em from the box your mom brought over! Here! Have some!Passerby #3: Fuck you, Marshall!Marshall: His mom already did that!
