WARNING: The following contains major spoilers for Supermassive, available now from Image Comics.
The world of Radiant Black has consistently been one of the most thrilling independent comic book universes in years, and it has just gotten bigger than ever in the Supermassive one-shot from Image Comics. Radiant Black is no stranger to cosmic adventures, but for the first time ever he has teamed up with heroes whose powers aren’t directly related to his. They might not be parts of a matching set, but Radiant Black’s new superpowered trio has come together as the series’ most incredible Power Rangers homage yet.
Supermassive (by Kyle Higgins, Ryan Parrott, Mat Groom, Francesco Manna, Melania Palladino, Simone Ragazzoni, Marcel Costa, Abel D’Urso, Erica D’Urso, Igor Monti, and Becca Carey) has introduced a whole new kind threat to the world, along with a couple of new heroes to go along with it. Inferno Girl Red, an interdimensional traveler, has been knocked violently off the course of her travels by an alien assailant before both of them end up on Earth. When the brash, abrasive hero Rogue Sun arrives to clean up the mess, Inferno is quick to eschew his overtly abrasive nature before their conversation is interrupted by the arrival of Radiant Black. As excited as Black is to finally meet other heroes, there is the obvious matter of the giant monster still tearing its way across the globe, inspiring the trio of heroes to work together in a way very reminiscent of the color-coded adventures of their powerful predecessors.
Debuting in 1993’s Mighty Morphin Power Rangers television series, the titular heroes have been contemporary icons of pop culture every since they first burst onto the scene. Despite being cobbled together with minimal original content and boasting generous clips from the popular Japanese Super Sentai television franchise, the Power Rangers have become something of a genre unto themselves. Apart from over two dozen iterations of the original television series, the Rangers have had a plethora of other media established around their mythos, and Radiant Black has always been among its greatest love letters.
Even though Radiant Black has previously teamed up with his own color-coded counterparts in Radiants Red, Pink, and Yellow, seeing him stand alongside two heroes with completely different powers opens up a whole new world of possibilities. It also calls back to the Power Rangers franchise’s longstanding history of rotating teams with their own unique stylings throughout the history of the franchise. Radiant Black, Rogue Sun, and Inferno Red Girl aren’t a perfect match for one another, but they are still able to use their powers in conjunction to save the day. Whatever the nature of these other heroes’ abilities, the fact that they exist at all means that the Radiants and their enigmatic enemies aren’t the only superpowered forces in their universe.
Considering everything that is headed Radiant Black’s way in the coming months, there has never been a better time for him to gain powerful new allies. Making those connections is one thing, but working together to save the world establishes just how capable these heroes are as a unit, despite their differences.
Even if these three haven’t become a permanent trio by the end of their first outing together, the foundation for an all new kind of team-up has been laid. With any luck, their new union will prove to be stronger than the cosmic forces that will soon threaten their shared universe.
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