When the knight falls... a son will rise.
"You are the next... Rogue Sun."
"$&%^ me."
Rogue Sun is an ongoing superhero comic, written by Ryan Parrott, with art by ABEL. It is published by Image Comics and began in March 2022 note .
Marcus Randolph Bell is the superhero Rogue Sun, protector of the world and New Orleans' greatest superhero. He was also just killed. When Dylan Siegel and his mother, the family that Marcus abandoned, meet with Marcus' new family, the Bells, at the reading of Marcus' will, Dylan unexpectedly inherits his estranged father's powers and mantle. Now, Dylan is forced to confront his feelings on the man he grew up hating, solve the mystery of Marcus' murder, and become a superhero himself.
Rogue Sun is the second ongoing in the Massive-Verse, and the character Rogue Sun (Marcus' version) debuted in a one-shot formally launching the universe, Supermassive, which saw Marcus teaming up with Inferno Girl Red and Radiant Black.
The series went on hiatus in the lead-up to said one-shot's sequel, Supermassive (2023), where Rogue Sun met Radiant Black and Dead Lucky.
Tropes applying to Rogue Sun:
- Abusive Parents: Marcus' dad was abusive, and even once hit his wife while still using the Rogue Sun powers.
- Been There, Shaped History: Mourningstar is the source of all supernatural creaturesn on Earth. Its presence is so prominent that the Devil was named after it.
- Big Bad: After Marcus' murderer is dealt with, the primary threat to the Rogue Suns and world is revealed to be an otherworldly demon named Mourningstar, who empowers people with supernatural powers. Apparently all magical creatures can be traced back to it.
- Breaking the Cycle of Bad Parenting: After Dylan and Marcus are forced to truly work together and Dylan learns about Marcus' abusive upbringing, he tells Marcus that they should break the cycle of asshole dads making asshole sons. Marcus agrees and they decide to try to make a better go of the mentorship from then on.
- The Cameo: The first issue features a cameo by Radiant Black in a splash page showing events to come. It turns out this was in reference to Dylan meeting Radiant Black in Supermassive (2023).
- Casual Danger Dialogue: New Orleans' citizens are so used to Rogue Sun fighting supervillains, and have enough trust in him, that they just don't really react to it anymore. They just know to stay out of the general area he's fighting in, and Rogue Sun will handle the threat.
- Clingy Jealous Girl: Marcus claims Gwen was this during their relationship, assuming he was sleeping around when he told her he was doing his duties as Rogue Sun. Given that he left Gwen 15 years before the start of the series and was married to Juliette for 14 years before his death, it's unclear whether she was right to believe this, but she does directly call Juliette a homewrecker and accuse her of stealing Marcus from her.
- Colour-Coded for Your Convenience: When Marcus and Dylan return from within the Sun Stone by possessing Owen's old armour, the Rogue Sun armour is coloured white. This also happens to be when they'll be going up against Caleb possessing Dylan's body in the black Rogue Sun armour.
- Create Your Own Villain:
- Marcus essentially created the villain who eventually killed him through his horrible behaviour to Gwen and refusal to stay out of Dylan's life.
- Dylan himself does this when he critically injures one of Suave's henchmen, leading to the henchman's son, Hunter, gaining powers and swearing vengeance as the supervillain Hellbent.
- While she's not a villain, Aurie ends up causing a lot of problems due to Dylan's mistreatment of her and tarnishing of their father's legacy and name.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: Dylan's first bout against Hellbent is very one-sided, ending with the latter crushing most of the Rogue Sun armour and only leaving Dylan alive because the demon who empowered him wants something from Dylan.
- Death by Origin Story:
- Dylan inherits his powers specifically because Marcus died, and his story revolves around trying to find out who killed his father.
- Dylan only starts taking being a superhero seriously after the death of Reggie.
- Domestic Abuse: Owen Bell was an outright abuser who hit his wife and son. With Marcus, it was because he thought Misery Builds Character and he needed to tear down Marcus to make him better.
- Et Tu, Brute?: After Dylan finds out that Aurie and Brock stole the Sun Stone so Aurie could cast a spell on it, he's really mad at Brock, the sibling he'd reached something of an understanding with.
- First-Episode Twist: The first issue ends with Marcus' spirit revealing himself to Dylan.
- Freudian Excuse Is No Excuse: Marcus' murderer turns out to be Gwen Siegel, his ex-wife and Dylan's mother, who was trying to protect Dylan from his father's influence. After Marcus told Gwen he was leaving her and Dylan, Gwen grew to resent Marcus, especially after learning he remarried. Marcus eventually came back, wanting to be in Dylan's life, but Gwen warned him away, but Marcus doesn't take no for an answer. Desperate and angry, Gwen made a deal with Marcus' enemies to gain the power to kill him. Once Dylan learns about this, he says that Gwen just didn't trust him to make his own decisions and thought he would also abandon her like Marcus had, and he was just her excuse to finally hurt Marcus back for leaving her.
- Fusion Dance: When Marcus and Dylan both return from within the Sun Stone by using Owen's armour, both are in control of the resulting Rogue Sun.
- Good Costume Switch: After Dylan and Marcus reconcile a bit and decide to put their differences aside to save their family, they don a suit of white Rogue Sun armour.
- Grand Theft Me: The end of the second arc sees Caleb taking control of Dylan's body after the latter temporarily allowed it in a fight.
- Green-Eyed Monster:
- Brock Bell is really mad that his father left the Sun Stone to Dylan, and wants it. However, he doesn't actually do anything about that, since his dad dying is what occupies him.
- Gwen Siegel is jealous of Marcus' new family, and has a long-simmering resentment of him for leaving her and Dylan.
- Happily Married: Marcus is almost always portrayed as abrasive, rude and a Jerkass, usually being distant at best such as with his children. The one person we see him have a warm and loving relationship with is his second wife, Juliette.
- How Do I Shot Web?: Dylan's debut as Rogue Sun sees him fly into and bounce off of walls in an alley. The criminals he's fighting are not impressed, to say the least.
- Hybrid Power: The second issue opens with Dylan facing a werewolf-vampire hybrid who effortlessly defeats him. The only thing that saves Dylan from death is a timely sunrise that scares the hybrid away.
- I Take Offence to That Last One: When Vanessa tells Dylan that she's mad at him for being a bully and an asshole, he denies being a bully.
- It's Not You, It's My Enemies: When Marcus left Gwen and Dylan, she told herself that he was doing it for her their protection. She was disabused of that belief when she learned Marcus had remarried.
- Jerkass Has a Point:
- Aurie calls out Dylan on being a terrible Rogue Sun a fair amount. The first arc makes it vehemently clear she's not wrong to do so.
- In a flashback, Marcus shows up on Gwen's doorstep wanting to be part of Dylan's life. When she laughs him off, Marcus says she's losing control of him and Marcus himself could end up having to stop Dylan as Rogue Sun. While he's not entitled to be in Dylan's life and is condescending about it, it's hard to argue that Gwen has done a bad job raising Dylan given how he is.
- Kick the Dog: When Aurie tries to tell Dylan that Marcus would leave the people he loved to protect them, Dylan just replies that it's what a deadbeat dad would say. That same issue, after she's helped him deal with a werewolf and asks if her father's spirit is with him, and Marcus tells Dylan to tell her he's not there, Dylan tells her that Marcus told him to tell her he's not there.
- Knight In Shining Armour: Caleb, the first Rogue Sun. He wasn't born into high-standing and wasn't an actual knight, but once he gained the Eogur Sun powers, he used them to protect the innocent and was a merciful hero who cared about those he saved. Fittingly, he mentions that he was also called the "Knight Sun".
- Knight in Sour Armour:
- Despite the knight motif, Marcus is a standoffish douche who talks down to others and assumes every new super-person is a bad guy from another dimension. He punches first and asks questions later, and, according to his murderer, he died alone with no allies by his own hand.
- Dylan is even worse. He's an angry teenager who refuses to listen to reason, will insult pretty much everyone and sometimes needs to be egged into protecting the innocent.
- Caleb himself has become this by the end of the second arc and beginning of the third. While he genuinely means well, the never-ending battle between good and evil and the deteriorating legacy of the Sun Stone bearers has left him bitter to the point of allying with Mourningstar just to end the conflict. Even prior to this he had no qualms with taking over Dylan's body to try to be a better Rogue Sun
- Legacy Character: Dylan inherits the powers and mantle of Rogue Sun from Marcus, who himself inherited them from his father.
- Like Father, Like Son: As much as he denies it, it is very quickly made clear how much Dylan is like his dad. He's a Jerkass, likes to pick fights and has trouble with relationships.
- Monster of the Week: New monsters usually feature for a few instalments (issues, in this case), sometimes only one. The only villains who've lasted longer than that are Marcus' murderer and Suave. Examples include:
- Billy Bludmoon, a werewolf-bat who mostly serves as a way for Dylan and Aurie to interact.
- Finnegan Root, a primordial witch doctor who Brock talks to, and facilitates Dylan bonding with his half-brother.
- Demonika, an emotional vampire unleashed by Aurie to take the Sun Stone, and the reason why the murderer reappears.
- Lord Viathan, a sea monster who's just there for Dylan to punch while dealing with another, bigger threat.
- Ornate, the above mentioned more serious threat, whose time-based powers justify the choose your own adventure format of issue #7.
- Love Makes You Evil:
- When Dylan disrespects Marcus' memory one too many times and uses him against her, while telling her he wants to send Marcus' spirit away, Aurie has enough and releases Demonika to take the Sun Stone from Dylan. While she binds Demonika to not kill, this doesn't stop her from doing everything short of that and attacking civilians.
- Gwen's motive for killing Marcus is because he wanted to be involved in Dylan's life, and she thought he'd be a terrible influence. Although Dylan also says that she was using that as an excuse to hurt Marcus after he left her.
- Hunter is the son of one of Suave's henchman and, after Rogue Sun puts him in critical condition, forms a pact with a demon to help his father and kill Rogue Sun.
- Off with His Head!: Caleb beheads an empowered William to even the playing field when he's teamed up on.
- Our Ghosts Are Different: Because Marcus died in the Rogue Sun armour, his spirit remained with it. Whenever Dylan uses the powers, Marcus can speak to and appear before him.
- Parental Favouritism:
- Marcus chose Dylan as his successor because he assumes whoever killed him was close to him and would know who his successor would be, and he loves his two other kids, Aurie and Brock, and didn't want to put them in danger. That left Dylan to be his successor by default specifically because he didn't love him.
- In terms of his actual favourite, it turns out to be Aurie. He told her his identity after she was mad at him, he let her help him with his Rogue Sun work and he even calls her sweetheart. In contrast, he found Brock to be unsettling and as mentioned above did not care about Dylan.
- Parental Neglect:
- Dylan was estranged from Marcus for 15 years prior to the start of the series. It's eventually revealed that for some reason, he wanted to be involved in Dylan's life again, and Gwen not wanting this is what led to his murder.
- Marcus apparently had a habit of this with the Bell family as well. However, he told his daughter that this was because of his Rogue Sun duties, even revealing his identity to her because she was upset that he missed her eighth birthday party, and she at least grew to understand compared to Dylan.
- Pet the Dog: After learning that Brock resents him for getting the Sun Stone and not caring about it, Dylan tells Brock that he's just keeping it warm until Brock is old enough. While it's to get Brock to calm down, nothing Dylan does indicates he won't hand it over to Brock one day.
- Pun-Based Title: Rogue Sun stars the wayward and estranged son of the prior superhero to go by Rogue Sun.
- Rescue Romance: Marcus and Gwen's relationship began after he saved her from a traffic accident... then immediately asked for her number.
- The Resenter:
- While she acts mature about Marcus' passing and tells Dylan to do the same, Gwen resented that he left her and was jealous of his new family.
- Aurie eventually feels this way about Dylan being Rogue Sun. She starts out all too willing to help him learn the ropes, but after he continually acts like an asshole to her and everyone else, and makes clear he has no respect for his powers, and goes as far as to use her dead dad against her, Aurie has enough and enacts a plan to take the Sun Stone from Dylan.
- Screw the Rules, I Make Them!: Marcus makes it clear that, due to his powers, Gwen cannot stop him from visiting Dylan. This comes back to bite him in a big way.
- Secret-Keeper:
- Gwen knew that Marcus was Rogue Sun and assumed he left her and Dylan to keep them safe.
- Marcus' family knew he was Rogue Sun, and his kids are eager to inherit the mantle. His wife, Juliette, and daughter, Aurie, even helped him with his work and have knowledge about his powers and magical artefacts.
- Apparently, Marcus knew the identity of Suave, a supervillain robber.
- Strong Family Resemblance: Dylan and Aurie look very similar to their father, Marcus, while Brock takes after his mother, Juliette.
- Taking Up the Mantle: Marcus' will specifically names Dylan as his successor as Rogue Sun, and Dylan accepts it after some hesitance.
- Too Dumb to Live: Reggie makes an earnest attempt to defend Rogue Sun from Hellbent when the latter gets the upper hand in a fight, by grabbing Rogue Sun's sword to fight Hellbent with. Of course, without any experience using swords or knowledge of Hellbent's abilities. The result is a very quick and casual stab through the chest.
- Unreliable Expositor:
- At one point, Gwen and Marcus go off about each other's faults and why their marriage collapsed, in the form of ranting at Dylan. Gwen says Marcus is a thief, while Dylan says Gwen always thought he was cheating on her. Neither has any actual evidence to back this up, and is mostly trying to insult the other to Dylan.
- Similarly, how Marcus and Juliette's relationship began is vague due to these two. Gwen insists that Marcus cheated on her with Juliette, but Marcus says she's clingy and jealous and was assuming he was cheating whenever he was doing Rogue Sun duties.
- Unreliable Narrator: Marcus' one positive memory of Owen is that Owen protected him after he got in over his head trying to free some dogs from a dogfighting ring ran by a rich family. When Marcus came to, the dogs were set free and the family's house was burned to the ground, and the family was never heard from again. However, he also remembers waking up at some point when Owen flew him home, and hearing Owen say he was proud of him when he thought Marcus was asleep, but neither of them ever brought it up again. Marcus admits that he's still not sure if that last part really happened or if he dreamed it all.
- Vampiric Werewolf: Issue #2's Villain of the Week is Billy Bludmoon, who comes from a clan of vampire-werewolf hybrids.
- Wham Shot: Issue #4 sees the green cloaked figure who killed Marcus take off their mask... it's Gwen.
- World of Jerkass: Almost everyone in the main cast turns out to be some kind of Jerkass by the end of the first arc. Some are manipulative, some are selfish, some are mean-spirited, and some do terrible things to further their goals. It's only Juliette who doesn't qualify as one at any point in the first arc and whom the story never treats as a suspect for Marcus' murder.
