The Massive-Verse (M-V) is a fictional shared universe, created by Kyle Higgins as an offshoot/relaunch of the Image Universe (IU), which spans a line of comic books (Radiant Black and its spin-offs) published by Image Comics since February 2021, later retroactively established to have begun with C.O.W.L., first published in May 2014.
"Massive-Verse" | |||
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Publisher | Black Market Narrative (Image Comics) | ||
Publication date | February 2021 – present | ||
Genre | |||
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Main character(s) |
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Creative team | |||
Writer(s) | Various | ||
Artist(s) | Various | ||
Colorist(s) | Various | ||
Editor(s) | Michael Busuttil |
Publication history
In November 2020, it was announced that Higgins was writing another creator-owned book for Image Comics entitled Radiant Black, with art by Marcelo Costa. The series officially began publication in February 2021.[1] The series would grow so popular, that it would expand into its own universe of books dubbed "The Massive-Verse", serving to relaunch the Image Universe (IU).
The first crossover started with a one-shot crossover entitled Supermassive, written by Higgins, Ryan Parrott, and Mat Groom with art by Francesco Manna and Simone Ragazzoni and colors by Igor Monti released February 23, 2022. The comic served as a backdoor pilot for spin-off titles entitled Inferno Girl Red and Rogue Sun, with this comic marking the first appearances of the series' protagonists.[2]
The first of these new books to spawn out of this would be the title Rogue Sun written by Parrott and illustrated by Abel, with its first issue releasing on March 2, 2022 and Inferno Girl Red debuting on January 25, 2023, written by Groom and illustrated by Erica D'Urso and colored by Monti.[3][4] In February 2022, it was announced that another book connected to the Massive-Verse would release in August entitled The Dead Lucky, written by Melissa Flores and illustrated by French Carlomango.[5] The first direct spin-off of Radiant Black would release on March 9, 2022, entitled Radiant Red, with the miniseries written by Cherish Chen and art by David Lafuente.[6] Another spin-off, Radiant Pink, written by Meghan Camarena and Melissa Flores and illustrated by Emma Kubert, debuted on December 7, 2022.[7] C.O.W.L., was originally released in 2014 but has since been retroactively designated as part of the Massive-Verse.[8] In December 2022, it was announced that a new series, entitled No/One, would launch in March 2023, with Higgins and Brian Buccellato writing and Geraldo Borges illustrating.[9]
A second Supermassive event was released in May 2023 written by Higgins, Parrot, Groom and Flores with artwork by Daniele Di Nicuolo. This one-shot features Radiant Black (Nathan and Marshall), Rogue Sun (Dylan) and The Dead Lucky (Bibiana), along with a new character Thomasin (a previous Inferno Girl Red) as they hunt down the Holy Grail.[10][11] That issue includes a cameo from Medieval Spawn, possibly hinting at a further crossover down the line.
Main characters
- Radiant Black (Nathan Burnett) — The original Radiant Black, before a building collapsed on top of him that left him in a coma for 9 months. He eventually became Radiant Black again and is now sharing the Radiant with Marshall. Has the ability to manipulate gravity and shoot energy blasts.
- Radiant Black (Marshall Ward) — Nathan's best friend and the second Radiant Black after Nathan fell into a coma. Has the ability to manipulate gravity and shoot energy blasts.
- Radiant Red (Satomi Sone) — An Asian-American woman with financial debt. Has the ability of matter-absorption
- Radiant Pink (Eva) — An Hispanic internet streamer who has the ability to open portals.
- Radiant Yellow (Wendell George) — An elderly African-American man who has the ability to see every probability across time and space.
- Rogue Sun (Dylan Siegel) — The latest Rogue Sun following the death of his estranged father, Marcus Bell.
- Inferno Girl Red (Cassia Costa) — A teenage girl living in Apex City and the current Inferno Girl Red.
- Bibiana "Bibi" Lopez-Yang / The Dead Lucky — The former captain of the platoon "Dead Lucky" and has the ability to control electrical machinery and can see energy ghosts.
- No/One — A hacktivist/vigilante operating in Pittsburgh.
- Shift (Guy) — A recurring villain who antagonizes Radiant Black and leads his own crime syndicate that sells Radiant tech. Has the ability to "shift" between places.
Titles
Ongoing and limited series
Title | Issues | Writer(s) | Artist(s) | Colorist(s) | Debut date | Finale date |
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C.O.W.L. | 1-11 | Kyle Higgins Alec Sigel | Rod Reis Elsa Charretier | Rod Reis | May 28, 2014[12] | July 12, 2015[12] |
Radiant Black | #1– | Kyle Higgins Megan Camerena Cherish Chen Joe Clark Laurence Holmes Alec Siegel | Marcelo Costa Ze Carlos French Carlomango Thobias Daneluz Eduardo Ferigato David Lafuente Stefano Simeone | Marcelo Costa Raul Angulo Tríona Farrell Rod Fernandes Mattia Iancono Natália Marques Igor Monti Miquel Muerto (#6) Stefano Simeone | February 10, 2021[13] | Present |
Rogue Sun | Ryan Parrott Nic Cotton | Abel Ze Carlos Marco Renna | Chris O'Halloran Natalia Marques Raul Angulo | March 2, 2022[14] | ||
Radiant Red | #1–5 | Cherish Chen | David Lafuente | Miquel Muerto | March 9, 2022[15] | July 6, 2022[16] |
The Dead Lucky | #1–12 | Melissa Flores | French Carlomagno | Mattia Iacono | August 3, 2022[17] | March 27, 2024 |
Radiant Pink | #1–5 | Meghan Camarena Melissa Flores | Emma Kubert | Rebecca Nalty | December 7, 2022[18] | May 24, 2023 |
Inferno Girl Red | #1–3 | Mat Groom | Erica D'Urso | Igor Monti | January 25, 2023[19] | March 22, 2023 |
No/One | #1–10 | Kyle Higgins Brian Buccellato | Geraldo Borges | Mark Englert | March 15, 2023[9] | July 17, 2024 |
C.O.W.L. 1964 | #1-4 | Kyle Higgins Alec Sigel | Rod Reis | August 2024 | TBA |
One-shots
Title | Writer(s) | Artist(s) | Colorist(s) | Debut date |
---|---|---|---|---|
Supermassive (2022) | Kyle Higgins Ryan Parrott Mat Groom | Francesco Manna Simone Ragazzoni | Igor Monti | February 23, 2022[20] |
Supermassive (2023) | Kyle Higgins Ryan Parrott Mat Groom Melissa Flores | Daniele Di Nicuolo | Walter Baiamonte | May 24, 2023[10][11] |
Supermassive (2024) | Stefano Simeone | July 10, 2024 |
Other
Title | Writer(s) | Artist(s) | Colorist(s) | Debut date | Finale date |
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Shift (4 part story in Image!) | Kyle Higgins | Daniele Di Nicuolo Francesco Manna Danilo Beyruth Geraldo Borges Chris Evanhuis | Walter Baiamonte Marcelo Costa Francesco Segala Gloria Martinelli Sjan Weijers | April 13, 2022[21] | July 27, 2022 |
Other media
Animated short film
In June 2022, to tie in with the release of Radiant Black #15, an animated short produced by Tiger Animation and Black Market Narrative entitled Versus | Radiant Black vs. Blaze was released, with Higgins directing and co-writing with Alec Siegel and Will Friedle providing the voice of Radiant Black. The short can be viewed on the official Black Market Narrative YouTube channel.[22]
Podcast
In December 2022, it was announced that, to tie-in with the release of No/One, an in-universe podcast entitled Who Is No/One? will release with each issue and will feature the voice work of Rachael Leigh Cook as Julia Paige, the host of the podcast, and Patton Oswalt as Teddy Barstow, the Metro Editor for The Pittsburgh Ledger. Loren Lester provides the voice of No/One, while Yuri Lowenthal, Tara Platt, Cristina Vee, Karl Herlinger, Todd Stashwick, and Walter Jones are also cast.[23][24][25] The podcast will also feature original art by Mark Englert and music by Kristopher Carter.[9]
Audiobook
In April 2024, it was announced an audiobook adaptation of Radiant Black would release later that year. Rider Strong is set to play the voice of Nathan with Friedle reprising his role as Marshall from the animated short. Higgins will serve as writer, director, and narrator for the adaptation.[26]
Release order
Year One
- Radiant Black #1
- Radiant Black #2
- Radiant Black #3
- Radiant Black #4
- Radiant Black #5
- Radiant Black #6
- Radiant Black #7
- Radiant Black #8
- Radiant Black #9
- Radiant Black #10
- Radiant Black #11
- Radiant Black #12
- Supermassive (2022) #1
Year Two
- Rogue Sun #1
- Radiant Red #1
- Radiant Black #13
- Rogue Sun #2
- Radiant Red #2
- Image! #1
- Rogue Sun #3
- Radiant Black #14
- Radiant Red #3
- Rogue Sun #4
- Image! #2
- Radiant Black #15
- Rogue Sun #5
- Radiant Red #4
- Image! #3
- Radiant Black #16
- Rogue Sun #6
- Radiant Red #5
- Image! #4
- The Dead Lucky #1
- Radiant Black #17
- The Dead Lucky #2
- Radiant Black #18
- Rogue Sun #7
- The Dead Lucky #3
- Radiant Black #19
- The Dead Lucky #4
- Rogue Sun #8
- Radiant Pink #1
- Radiant Black #20
- Rogue Sun #9
- Radiant Pink #2
- The Dead Lucky #5
- Inferno Girl Red #1
- Radiant Black #21
- Rogue Sun #10
- The Dead Lucky #6
- Inferno Girl Red #2
- Radiant Pink #3
- Radiant Black #22
- Rogue Sun #11
- No/One #1
- Inferno Girl Red #3
- Radiant Pink #4
- Radiant Black #23
- Rogue Sun #12
- No/One #2
- Radiant Black #24
- No/One #3
- Radiant Pink #5
- Supermassive (2023) #1
Year Three
- Rogue Sun #13
- No/One #4
- Radiant Black #25 & #25.5
- The Dead Lucky #7
- Rogue Sun #14
- The Dead Lucky #8
- No/One #5
- Rogue Sun #15
- The Dead Lucky #9
- Rogue Sun #16
- Radiant Black #26 & #26.5
- No/One #6
- The Dead Lucky #10
- Rogue Sun #17
- Radiant Black #27 & #27.5
- Shift #1
- No/One #7
- The Dead Lucky #11
- Rogue Sun #18
- Radiant Black #28 & #28.5
- The Dead Lucky #12
Reading order
- Radiant Black #1–9
- Image! - Shift #1–4
- Radiant Red #1–5
- Radiant Black #10–12
- Inferno Girl Red #1-3
- Supermassive (2022) #1
- Rogue Sun #1-6
- Radiant Black #13–18
- The Dead Lucky #1-6
- Rogue Sun #7-12
- Radiant Pink #1-5
- Radiant Black #19–24
- No/One #1-5
- Supermassive (2023) #1
- No/One #6-10
- The Dead Lucky #7-12
- Rogue Sun #13-18
"The Catalyst War"
- Radiant Black #25, 25.5, 26, 26.5, 27, 27.5
- Shift #1
- Radiant Black #28, 28.5, 29, 29.5
- Supermassive (2024) #1
- Rogue Sun #19-22
- Radiant Black #30, 30.5
Collected editions
Title | Collected material | Publication date | ISBN |
---|---|---|---|
Radiant Black | |||
Radiant Black Vol. 1: (Not So) Secret Origin | Radiant Black #1–6 | August 18, 2021[27] | 978-1534319165 |
Radiant Black Vol. 2: Team-Up | Radiant Black #7–12 | March 16, 2022[28] | 978-1534321090 |
Radiant Black Vol. 3: Rogues' Gallery | Radiant Black #13–18 | October 19, 2022[29] | 978-1534323285 |
Radiant Black Vol. 4: Two-In-One | Radiant Black #19–24 | July 12, 2023[30] | 978-1534324770 |
Radiant Black Vol. 5: Catalyst War Part 1 | Radiant Black #25 A & B, #26, #26.5, #27, and #27.5 | February 28, 2024[31] | 978-1534397255 |
Radiant Black Vol. 6: Catalyst War Part 2 | Radiant Black #28, #28.5, #29, #29.5, #30, and #30.5 | January 14, 2025[32] | 978-1534397248 |
Radiant Red | |||
Radiant Red Vol. 1: Crime and Punishment | Radiant Black #6, Radiant Red #1–5 | December 7, 2022[33] | 978-1534323209 |
Radiant Pink | |||
Radiant Pink Vol. 1: Across the Universe | Radiant Black #12, Radiant Pink #1-5 | July 25, 2023 | 978-1534324862 |
Rogue Sun | |||
Rogue Sun Vol. 1: Cataclysm | Rogue Sun #1–6 | August 24, 2022[34] | 978-1534322370 |
Rogue Sun Vol. 2: Hellbent | Rogue Sun #7-12 | May 17, 2023[35] | 978-1534324701 |
Rogue Sun Vol. 3: Knight Sun | Rogue Sun #13-18 | March 26, 2024[36] | 978-1534397231 |
The Dead Lucky | |||
The Dead Lucky Vol. 1: The Good Die Young | The Dead Lucky #1–6 | March 22, 2023[37] | 978-1534324664 |
The Dead Lucky Vol. 2: We Didn't Start the Fire | The Dead Lucky #7-12 | June 4, 2024[38] | 978-1534397224 |
Inferno Girl Red | |||
Inferno Girl Red Book One | Inferno Girl Red #1–3 | June 13, 2023[19] | 978-1534324817 |
No/One | |||
No/One Vol. 1 | No/One #1-10 | June 11, 2024 | 978-1534397217 |