Radiant Black #5

Radiant Black #5

Image Comics 2021

Written by Kyle Higgins

Illustrated by Eduardo Gerigato & Marcelo Costa

Coloured by Natalia Marques

Lettered by Becca Carey

The first arc of RADIANT BLACK ends here! Radiant Red is still out there. He needs to be stopped before anyone else gets hurt. But after the events of last issue left Lockport—and the world—reeling, is Radiant Black up to the task? And will he be in this fight alone?

This is an exciting series that’s for sure and it is easy to see why it’s gone back to print as often as it has. The more we see of this the more intense and interesting things become and while Nathan had a building on him last issue we pick up there this issue. The Radiant Red is a menace whether they want to be or not and this is the catalyst that Marshall needs to finally commit himself to the suit, its powers and his agreement to train and become the hero that those who made the suit want him to be. There is a lot going on here and I have to say that Kyle does a magnificent job in making it all feel like it fits normally without being rushed, too crowded or anything being glossed over.

I am a huge fan of the way that this is being told. The story & plot development that we see through how the sequence of events unfold as well as how the reader learns information is presented exceedingly well. The character development is extraordinary to see thanks to the dialogue, the character interaction and how they act and react to the situations and circumstances they encounter. Th pacing is superb and as it takes us through the pages revealing the twists & turns creating such a strong and powerful issue.

How we see this being structured and how the layers within the story continue to grow, evolve and strengthen as well as newly emerge is sensational to see. It’s in the layers that we see some of the intense characterisation that fuels what will go into the main arc while other moments simply add extra depth and complexity to the story. Then of course there’s the cliffhanger ending which ends the first arc sensationally and I cannot wait to see how this is going to continue. How everything works together to create the story’s ebb & flow as well as how it moves the story forward is perfectly achieved.

I do very much like the interiors here. The linework is really nice to see and how the varying weights and techniques are being utilised to create the detail work that we see is extraordinarily well rendered. I wish we’d see more backgrounds because when we do they work wonders in enhancing the moments, regardless, and how we see the composition within the panels bring us depth perception, sense of scale and the overall sense of size and scope of the story. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a remarkably talented eye for storytelling. The colour work is beautifully rendered as well. The various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work is rendered beautifully.

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Now the next chapter is all set and ready to go and it certainly took me by surprise. I think that’s one of the aspects of the book and how Kyle writes that I really appreciate. The surprises, being kept on my toes and never quite being able to predict what’s going to be happening next. It is a fantastic way to keep the reader coming back for more, to see if what you’ve thought might happen or simply to see what’s going to happen next.