by Matt Sernaker, Managing Editor

The last two years of Radiant Black stories have been building to this. We’ve known that Catalyst was coming for the Radiants, but Nathan, Marshall, and the gang are about to find out just how screwed they really are. Get ready, because Radiant Black #25 – “The Catalyst War – Part 01” from Kyle Higgins and Joe Clark is a MASSIVE(verse) game-changer. Be warned, spoilers are ahead!

Official Synopsis:
The Radiants were stolen. An empire vaster than space has come to claim them. The end of the world is here. THE CATALYST WAR begins. The RADIANT BLACK event two years in the making begins here!

Creative Team:
Writers: Kyle Higgins & Joe Clark
Pencilers: Marcelo Costa & Eduardo Ferigato
Inkers: Marcelo Costa & Paulo Daniel Santos
Colorists: Rod Fernandes & Raul Angulo
Letterer: Becca Carey

Following the events of Radiant Black #24, readers were given the opportunity to vote for who should wield the Radiant moving forward: Nathan or Marshall. I personally was on Team Nathan, but both characters have had truly interesting character arcs that I would have enjoyed either outcome. Well, in typically Kyle Higgins fashion, things weren’t exactly as they seemed (we will come back to this in a bit).

The history of the Radiants, the Colossals, and the Catalyst Empire will be revealed in this milestone issue. Radiant(s) Black, Yellow, Red, and Pink are united for story time, and diving into the original purpose of their powers and their unique connection their giant robot friends. The Premier (Radiant Green?) is coming to Earth, and they will stop at nothing to reclaim that which was taken from them. Whoever ends up holding the powers of Radiant Black will need to face off against this threat…or all will be lost.

Now back to the twist. This is your LAST CHANCE to avoid spoilers.

The creative team twisted expectations when it came to the results of the vote… and we all won.

Depending on which cover you bought (Version A or B), a different story plays out with Nathan and Marshall each wielding the Radiant Black powers for The Catalyst War. That’s right… we seem to be getting DOUBLE the Radiant Black stories! This isn’t the “Choose Your Own Adventure” style story that we recently saw in Rogue Sun (although Ryan did a wonderful job with that issue), but instead it looks like we get to experience divergent paths that could lead to different outcomes for the Massive-Verse. Now that you’ve read this revelation, you might want to go call your Local Comic Store and have them pull both issues for the duration of this arc…because we have no idea how this is going to play out.

Radiant Black #25 (Versions A and B) push the characters into new territory and provide engaging new lore elements that will surely enhance the overall mythology moving forward.

Rating:

ComicsOnline gives Radiant Black #25 – “The Catalyst War – Part 01” (Versions A and B) – 5/5 commitments to the new way.

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