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So, as you've probably no doubt noticed... I've been bombarding the feed today with all things RADIANT BLACK @radiantblk. I know it's a Lot, but if you'll allow me a quick moment, I'd like to talk about what this book means to me.
RADIANT BLACK started when I was on Power Rangers. Not directly, mind you. But certainly in spirit. Like a lot of ideas, the central conceit is usually rooted in something personal. Something you find interesting.
Power Rangers was both an amazing and heart breaking experience for me, in many ways. I am immensely proud of what I accomplished on that book, with the people I did it with. You know who you are.
I also have zero interest in ever writing Power Rangers again.
That said, the tenets that inspired Power Rangers, I find endlessly fascinating. Just as I find the tenets that have lead to some of our greatest superheroes of all time, endlessly fascinating.
I took a very specific approach with Power Rangers -- I didn't write the property as it existed. I didn't write the property as I remembered it existing. I wrote the property as I remembered it making me /feel./
Epic scope with even more epic relationships. Kids not /that/ much older than me, grappling with high school clique drama, secret identities and one of the greatest adages of "modern" superhero storytelling -- with great power comes great responsibility.
I grew up, wanting to be a Power Ranger. I followed the show longer than anyone else in my class, to the point where it became just one more thing for the other kids to make fun of me for. That’s a set of really painful memories, that I don’t think I’ve ever talked about before.
In 3rd grade, Power Rangers was /the/ hottest thing on the planet. I was 8 and a rabid fan. Santa brought me the Megazord, which def took some kinda divine intervention -- I.E. a family friend worked at Toys-R-Us and /somehow/ managed to snag one a /day/ before Christmas.
My sister, the next door neighbors and I played Rangers every day — we made costumes and our own props. I duct taped two blue trash cans together and drew a face on them, to fill in as Zordon.
One of my earliest “films” was Power Rangers themed, where my dad and I created a poor man’s stop motion effect with toys, combining to form a Megazord.
And then, at the start of 4th grade, Power Rangers became epically unpopular. I didn’t understand -- how was it that this thing that had all the stuff I loved, suddenly /so/ uncool? I had gone through a version of this with Ninja Turtles. With X-MEN. And now Rangers?
I couldn’t do it again.
So, I pretended I didn’t watch it anymore -- only one kid knew that I still kept up with it. Then, one day, I was in the backyard, playing football. I called a timeout because I needed to use the bathroom. But really, it was because I had forgotten to hit record on the VCR.
But then, when I came back outside, everyone started laughing. "Is it Morphin' Time?" The other kid -- my "friend" -- who knew I still watched the show, had spilled my secret. And so, everyone ganged up on me. Because, you know, kids are assholes.
Not gonna go into what was said, but early 90s Illinois? Take a guess.
I never watched another episode.
Fast forward 13 years and I’ve moved to California. I’ve graduated from film school. I’ve made a big superhero noir. And it’s that superhero noir that has helped me start a career writing comic books.
Which, you know, should be a great thing, right? Considering my love of superheroes and storytelling?
Yeah, it wasn’t.
Here’s the thing I’ve learned. No matter who you are and no matter what industry you’re in, there’s going to be assholes. There’s going to be cliques. There’s going to be people who make you feel like you’re 8 and you still watch a show that’s epically uncool.
But you know what? That’s on /them./
And look, that’s easy for me to say /now./ After years of introspection. After years of working at my craft. After years of politics and trying to never say/like the wrong thing, for fear that someone powerful who I look up to but who treats me like shit, might treat me worse.
I truly believe that, outside of true monsters… we’re all just trying to do the best that we can. We’re all just massive balls of insecurity. Personally? I think the world would be a better place with just a bit more kindness. With a bit more empathy. With a bit more honesty.
And that's RADIANT BLACK for me.
I’m 35. I have plenty of insecurities. Flaws. Doubts. But, I also think that those same insecurities — and shitty experiences — give me something to say, that might resonate for you.
So, that’s what I’m going to explore. And I’m going to use the medium and genre that I love, to help me do it.
For a variety of reasons, I have zero interest in ever writing Power Rangers again. But that doesn’t mean that what Power Rangers has meant to me — both as an 8 year old fan, as well as a 30 year old writer — isn’t still relevant.
It’s those feelings — both good and bad — that I’ve tried to bottle and hold onto, because I know that they matter. I know that they’re universal.
