Radiant Black returns with an all new arc in Radiant Black #31 from Kyle Higgins, Joe Clark and Eduardo Ferigato. It appears that while team Radiant was victorious in their campaign during the Catalyst, the emotional scars run deep.
Radiant Black #31
Written by Kyle Higgins and Joe Clark
Art and Main Cover by Eduardo Ferigato
Variant Covers: Riccardo Robaldo, Marcelo Costas
Page Count: 32 pages
Release Date: February 26, 2025
This review contains spoilers
In the aftermath of the previous massive event, Radiant Black #31 sees Marshall back on his earth five months after the Catalyst War. Despite his modest living situation, he’s trying his best to maintain Radiant Black’s status as Chicago’s premiere superhero. He responds to a series of emergencies of varying degrees of significance (and appreciation). However, reprieve arrives in the form of a dating profile notification.
After what he believes to be a successful first date, Marshall returns home to find Eva Reyes (aka Radiant Pink) raiding his fridge. After a brief catchup, Marshall receives devastating news: his date has rejected him, and despite his best efforts the public perception of Radiant Black is still mixed.
After being awoken from a night of hard drinking by Eva, Marshall responds to a distress call from an unhoused person asking specifically for him. After arriving at the scene, however, Marshall discovers it’s a trap and is caught in an explosion that blows up a wall and endangers the encampment below. Radiant Black manages to save the rest of the encampment from the debris as a mysterious figure watches in the distance. Radiant Black is once again met with criticism. He meets his government colleague Keiran on the ground, who reveals that everyone there was a refuge from the parallel dimension who escaped to their earth during the war.
Keiran once again seeds doubt into Marshall, as back at home, he doomscrolls various image boards all criticizing Radiant Black and questioning his effectiveness and mission. Eve asks if he’s going to be okay, and the meaning behind his ominous phone lock screen, with Marshall revealing his own self doubts after meeting the evil parallel him. The final page reveals the mysterious assailant from the encampment explosion, clad in armor, with machinations on Radiant Black.
There’s a good reason why Radiant Black has emerged as a reliable, independent alternative in superhero comics. Higgins and Clark have been able to infuse their characters and the world with a realistic gravity and emotionalism. It’s clear Marshall has undergone trauma in his time defending the world from his alternate self. His insecurities are not helped by the barrage of mistrust from the public, nor his crumbling social life and health. Marshall’s binge drinking is depicted with a tasteful subtlety that rings authentic.
Radiant Black #31, while the beginning of a new arc, isn’t exactly “new reader friendly”. Plenty of characters like Eva and Keiran appear without much fanfare or establishment. However, the five month time skip is a time tested narrative device that organically captivates the reader into the world, even without full context.
The art, while neither innovative or mind blowing, is still of decent quality. There’s a nine panel sequence of Radiant Black providing support while cleaning up a defeated mecha while responding to community emergencies that’s quite impressive. Eduardo Ferigato cartooning and expressions sell Marshall’s melancholy. Rod Fernandes’s colors and palette are as always superb, with lush blues and purples, only to erupt into violent yellows when the explosion kicks off.
One criticism that could be brought up against the art is the design of the newest mystery antagonist. His general look and demeanor feels akin to some kind of Red Hood expy, a character archetype that has become all too common in twenty-first century superhero comics. This may change with future issues, time will have to tell.
While Radiant Black #31 doesn’t give new readers an easy in, it is a stellar opener nonetheless. The nuanced characterization and interesting mystery hook surrounding the alternate earth refuges make it no wonder why the Radiant franchise has blossomed into what it has become.
