Radiant Black #39 doesn’t waste any time in dealing with the fallout from issue #38, showcasing how Chicago’s citizens are dealing with the so-called “invasion” from a parallel Earth. Some people have fully brought into the Franklin Group’s lie, cheering on its homemade hero Horizon and the troopers patrolling the streets. Others, particularly the Second Earthers conspiracy group, are willing to take matters into their own hands to solve the “problem”. Radiant Black is caught in the middle, and it’s only a matter of time until the sparks of conflict give way to a blazing inferno.
Reading through the story, I couldn’t help but think of the phrase “the world outside your window.” While that’s often been used to describe Marvel Comics’ storytelling approach, I genuinely feel it applies to some of the best comics out there. Saga, for all its sci-fi and fantasy trappings, is relatable due to its themes of family and love. Static became such a beloved character because he felt like an actual teenager dealing with genuine teenage issues, ranging from racism to sex. In Radiant Black #39, Kyle Higgins and Joe Clark’s script explores the dangers of misinformation.
The Second Earthers have been dangerous because not only are they fueled by nonsense conspiracy theories about secret portals in donut shops, but also because they have the weaponry to back up their threats. Thanks to the Franklin Group, they now think they have a right to kill the people they think will “replace” them. Take away the superheroics and the sci-fi trappings, and that rhetoric is dangerously close, if not outright paralleling real life radicals. The issues of AI are also brought up, as the Franklin Group’s leader Jack Marlow is using it to predict new targets – or as former Radiant Yellow Wendell George puts it, “prejudice dressed up as math.”
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Where Higgins and Clark really shine is in the dimensions they give to Marisol, Marshall’s girlfriend/potential crime-fighting partner. At first, the two are at odds over how much force to bring to the battle with the Second Earthers. But when things escalate, there’s a raw, emotional moment where Marisol breaks down in tears. It’s this human element that’s kept me glued to Radiant Black, and I’m glad it’s still intact.
Radiant Black #39 also sees co-creator Marcelo Costa joined by a new pair of artists in Giona Zefiro and Paulo Daniel Santos. Costa handles most of the book, including the climactic battle sequence toward the end – it’s close up, chaotic, and full of laser beams and gravity-based superpowers. Zefiro and Santos illustrate the conversation between Wendell and Marlow, building up plenty of tension between their glares, which is only enhanced by Rod Fernandes’s color art. Tying it all together is the superb lettering from Becca Carey, which changes in size and intensity based on a page’s emotional content.
Radiant Black #39 shows that you can tackle current issues in a way that’s both entertaining and profound, while highlighting the dangers of misinformation. It’s also proof that superhero stories should reflect the world outside our window, no matter what form it takes.
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