Review: Radiant Black #2

Kyle Higgins has an incredible ability to write and redefined characters such as Nightwing and the Powers Rangers in dramatic ways while still maintaining strong characterization. Unfortunately his newest book created with amazing artist Marcelo Costa is mired in pure mediocrity. It almost feels like the action scenes are just space fillers between Nathan spending quality time with his dad.

Nathan is discovering his new powers and becoming chummy with the local police but there is nothing original here. Having a hero basically become a pawn of the police hopefully is a set up for something slightly more rebellious. At present this just feels like a de facto voluntary Superhero Registration Act where Nathan uses his powers to take on his rebellious red counterpart and work for the cops for extra Uber tips.

The strangest part of the issue has to be Nathan using his status as an Uber driver to quickly trip on vital information about where his red counterpart hangs out. This sequence is completely unrealistic as if a random sampling of strangers could tell you the location of a specific person in the middle of Chicago.

The unfortunate part here is that all the creators involved are incredibly talented. The dialogue is witty and interesting, the art is strong throughout and the colors stand out in the spectacular action scenes. But this does not take away from the feeling that this is a book without any real energy, ironic for a character based on internalizing an energy field. There is simply no reason for readers to return other than trust that the arc will take a turn for something more dramatic to what this book currently is: a young man who is completely giving in to all the authority figures in his life.

Writing: 2 of 5 stars
Art: 3.5 of 5 stars
Colors: 3 of 5 stars

Overall: 2.8 of 5 stars

Writer: Kyle Higgins
Art: Marcelo Costa
Publisher: Image Comics

Author Profile

M.R. Jafri

M.R. Jafri was born and raised in Niagara Falls New York and now lives with his family in Detroit Michigan. He's a talkative introvert and argumentative geek. His loves include Star Wars, Star Trek, Superheroes, Ninja Turtles, Power Rangers, Transformers, GI Joe, Films, Comics, TV Shows, Action Figures and Twizzlers.