The battle for the power of the radiants rages on in Radiant Black #8. Last we saw Marshall and the other radiants, they were split apart by the mystery mercenary, who is after their abilities. Do Marshall and his newfound radiant friends stand a chance against a common enemy who knows more about their powers than they do? You’ll have to read it to find out.
What can I say? I love this series. Kyle Higgins and Marcelo Costa are creating a fantastic superhero adventure that combines Power Rangers, Tron, and Dragon Ball Z‘s influence on their unique creation. It’s got all the key ingredients to make it a comic that people ought to be reading.
Part of that success comes from its solid storytelling. Radiant Black #8, much like its predecessors, has a lot at stake. You feel like you’re on this journey with Marshall and his struggle to avenge his best friend Nathan while trying to manage his powers and not get killed by the sword-welding maniac that’s after him. So naturally, you want to see Marshall win.
However, failure is not an option for Marshall, because he won’t just be letting Nathan down, or the other radiants, but the entire world. Since the beginning, Higgins has made sure this book feels like a next-level event, and it shows. Mix that with the emotional drive, action-packed panel sequences, and spot-on dialogue, and you won’t be able to put this issue down.
This brings me to the villain in Radiant Black #8. What continues to make him intriguing and a massive threat isn’t just his sword skills; it’s the fact that Marshall and the other radiants have no clue who this person is. We don’t know his name. We don’t know where he comes from.
All that we know is that whoever it is wants Marshall’s and every other radiant’s abilities by whatever means necessary. This adds a great layer of excitement and fear to the book. Because if this lunatic successfully kills any of the radiants, what does he even have planned with their powers? Hopefully, Marshall and his new team won’t let that happen, but you never know.
As far as the art is concerned, Costa is killing it in this series. The book jumps around a lot, and I think that Costa does an incredible job of keeping things very simple but at the same time highly detailed. As a result, you’re able to follow the transitions from one location to the next with ease. Costa’s character designs of the radiants are some of my favorite parts of the artwork.
Radiant Black #8 raises the bar once again and continues to throw monkey wrench after monkey wrench at our crew of radiant heroes. Only time will tell if they’ll be able to work functionally enough as a cohesive unit to take down the masked vigilante who wants to murder each one of them. Issue #8 has the grit, action, and thrills that comic readers expect when reading an event-level comic book series. The second volume of Radiant Black looks to outdo the first, and I couldn’t agree more. Add this issue to your collection today.
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