The post Underrated: Radiant Black (Not So) Secret Origin appeared first on Graphic Policy.
This is a column that focuses on something or some things from the comic book sphere of influence that may not get the credit and recognition it deserves. Whether that’s a list of comic book movies, ongoing comics, or a set of stories featuring a certain character. The columns may take the form of a bullet pointed list, or a slightly longer thinkpiece – there’s really no formula for this other than whether the things being covered are Underrated in some way. This week: Radiant Black: (Not So) Secret Origin.
I’m not the biggest fan of the Power Rangers, but I’ve always thought about picking up a trade or two to check out the comic series, but I never quite think of doing that when I’m actively looking for something new to read at the shop. A week or two ago, when I was reorganizing the backstock trades in the basement, my eye was caught by the cover of Radiant Black: (Not So) Secret Origin, and I quickly spun the book to check out the blurb, and the price. As it turned out, the book is one of those that Image publishes and prices low to encourage a person to check out the book (I mean at $10, you can’t really argue the value of getting six comics for the price of three or so). Now, I’m not going to regurgitate the blurb on the back of the trade, or write a summary in slightly different words, but I will just copy it directly from the publisher’s website because who doesn’t love to be efficient?
Visionary writer KYLE HIGGINS (Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, Ultraman) and artist MARCELO COSTA reinvent super heroes for a new generation! Nathan Burnett has just turned 30, and things aren’t great—he’s working (and failing) at two jobs, his credit card debt is piling up, and his only move…is moving back home with his parents.
But when Nathan discovers the ethereal, cosmic RADIANT, he’s given the power to radically change his fortunes…unless the Cosmic Beings who created them succeed in taking them back by any means necessary. Oh, and did we mention there’s a RED RADIANT who wants Nathan dead? The next must-read comic book series STARTS HERE.
Cloaked, on the surface, reminded me of the heroes that inspired Batman; the Shadow, the Spider and the Black Bat. Men who were mostly powerless and used handguns to dish out justice to criminals to varying degrees of lethality. This story takes the form of a man trying to discover the legacy of the city’s masked hero by hiring an ex-cop private eye to find out why the hero disappeared. It’s through this lens that we get glimpses of the hero’s activities during the years he was active, told through the people who knew him the most (which, given that he kept his identity very close, isn’t many).
The book is very much what it says it is; something that fans of Invincible and the Power Rangers will find enjoyable (or at least, those were the vibes I got most from the pages of the trade, but since I’ve not really read much of either of the names inspirations, I can’t really confirm or deny the statement). The only downside to the book is that it doesn’t really end… the final chapter is very much an origin story for one of the characters and not a final chapter which feels a little less than satisfying. If nothing else it encourages you to pick up the next book, and ultimately that’s what we’re looking for in a book; do I want to read the next book? And the answer is “oh yes.”
Join us next week where there will doubtless be another movie, series, comic or comic related thing discussed that is, for whatever reason, Underrated.