After saving Nathan and disappearing for six weeks, Marshall gets his first real taste of what it means to be a hero.
WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Radiant Black #13, now on sale from Image Comics
Kyle Higgins’ Radiant Black series is an excellent example of how being a superhero always comes with a price; emotional distance from loved ones, hate from strangers, and often a decline in mental health.
The series’ latest issue, #13, “Accel” (by Higgins, Marcelo Costa, Raúl Angulo, and Becca Carey), picks up right after Marshall’s reappearance from his six-week absence. He has lost his job, largely been forgotten, worsened his relationship with his mom, and may even lose his favorite pizza joint. Finally, Marshall truly begins to feel the cost. At moments, he seems ready to break.
The issue opens with Nathan finally being allowed to go home after his long coma and physical therapy. Marshall, having lost his job at the local video store, has to perform in some commercials in his Radiant Black alter ego to try and pay some bills. Most of the products are hokey and poorly named, except for Uncle Pete’s Pizza. Marshall doesn’t have to pretend to sell this one. Things might not be going the greatest for him right now, but at least he has his favorite pizza place and his best friend back from a coma. For now.
The most evident effect of Marshall’s disappearance is that people have forgotten about him. When he vanished in issues #9 and #10, leaving a pile of booze and pills, Uncle Pete’s Pizza boxes, and his dog at the video store, most of his family and friends assumed he had killed himself. His mom was even been planning a memorial for him. Nathan’s parents are cold toward him, believing that Marshall abandoned their son despite reality being quite the opposite. Above all, Nathan is back together with his ex JJ, and although he knows it’s not intentional, Marshall feels left behind.
Marshall already doesn’t seem to have a great relationship with his mom. It doesn’t help that he left with no warning, forcing her to take care of his dog, Orson. Things get icy when she comes to drop the puppy off. Orson may be overjoyed to see Marshall, but the mother is not. She wasn’t thrilled he left without any word on when he’d be back. The fact that his departure also saddled her with a dog to care for only made matters worse. Marshal tries to reach out and make peace, but he’s hurt her too badly. There’s too much damage there for a quick apology.
When shooting commercials, Marshall sees a news clip of a costumed villain calling himself Accel. Accel meets with Epicfront, a group of YouTubers who have been renting out their super suit builds to villains. Unfortunately, Epicfront has run out of fuel cells, and Accel is getting desperate. Marshall wakes up on his couch, seeing on television that Accel has destroyed three of the four Uncle Pete’s locations. The fourth seems soon to join its brethren as the villain has taken shelter in it. Accel demands on live TV that Radiant Black come and face him.
Marshall rushes to the scene, realizing that Accel wants to be nearby the Radiant’s black hole to charge his super-suit. Not only that, but Accel is willing to kill Marshall to seize the Radiant as a never-ending power supply all for himself. Sure enough, as the fight rages, Accel becomes supercharged. With the increased charge comes an increasing intensity to the villain’s aggression.
Marshall is shaken and angry in equal parts. He’s done with this day, with how people have been treating him. The attack is the last straw. He keeps doing the right thing and suffering for it. Why bother? Marshall gives in to his rage and goes into “Cape Mode.” This overloads Accel’s suit and allows Marshall to dismantle it with telekinesis. Despite his defeat, Accel continues to snarl. He threatens to return in a new suit and take apart Marshall’s life until he can have the Radiant all to himself. In response, Marshall doesn’t hesitate. With a telekinetic surge, he snaps Accel’s neck.
Being a hero is rarely what a protagonist expects it to be, and Radiant Black #13 shows readers one way it can profoundly go astray. With all of the costs bearing down on him, Marshall gets a real taste of what his power can do and what it is doing to him. Justified or not, he has allowed himself to be pushed over the edge, to kill. The consequences of this decision will be the actual cost of Marshal becoming a superhero.
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