The MASSIVE-VERSE now includes its own original animated short, courtesy of Tiger Animation and Black Market Narrative. Last week, discerning fans were treated to an exclusive animation of their beloved Radiant Black characters created by Kyle Higgins and Marcelo Costa.
Tucked within the pages of the recent Radiant Black #15 release was a QR code that sent readers to an exciting, animated Radiant Black video featuring the voice of Will Friedle.
“The first time I met Radiant Black in a comic book, I knew immediately what would happen: I would need to get caught up on all things Nathan and Marshall. And that’s exactly what I did,” said Seohoon Son, Executive Producer & CEO at Tiger Animation. “I have put a lot of thought into how to express Radiant Black’s actions, movements and effects for animation, as powerful as Kyle and Marcelo have imagined. Along with my Tiger Animation team, it has been an honor to work with Radiant Black and to get to know him even better in the process.”
After buzz proliferated across social media about the delightful find, IGN picked up the news with an exclusive scoop on the clever Radiant Black easter egg.
Higgins told IGN: “For as long as I can remember, superheroes have been an important part of my life. But while I pursued a career in comic books and filmmaking because of them, it was animation where I fell in love with them. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Batman: The Animated Series, X-MEN, Spider-Man, Gargoyles, Batman Beyond…say what you will about the ’90s, it was a pretty golden age for one of our favorite mediums.
“One of the goals with Radiant Black has always been to find ways to both celebrate the things that we love while also pushing the boundaries and conventions of what we think a modern superhero book can be. The opportunity to build an in-universe short film like this, working with an amazing cast of collaborators, has been very special.
“It also brings things full circle, giving Alec [Siegel] and myself the chance to revisit the world of C.O.W.L. and our short film that inspired it, The League. Rick Cramer and Reginald James even came back to voice Geoffrey and Blaze, some 15 years after we made the original short film with them. Oh yeah and then, you know, throw in Mr. Batman Beyond himself, Will Friedle? So schway.”
Higgins and Costa’s breakout hit Radiant Black took superhero storytelling to new heights when it launched—but Radiant Black isn’t the only character inhabiting the MASSIVE-VERSE. There’s a whole universe for readers to explore! Characters like Rogue Sun, Inferno Girl Red, The Dead Lucky’s Bibiana—and more yet to be revealed—all occupy the MASSIVE-VERSE. Each of them has a different story to tell, different adversaries to face… and they each occupy a very different corner of this shared universe.
Radiant Black #15 is on sale now at comic book shops and available across many digital platforms, including Amazon Kindle, Apple Books, and Google Play.
Don’t forget to check out the rest of what the MASSIVE-VERSE has in store with Ryan Parrott and Abel’s Rogue Sun, Cherish Chen, David Lafuente, and Miquel Muerto’s Radiant Red, and Melissa Flores & French Carlomagno’s upcoming The Dead Lucky on sale Wednesday, August 3.
