Radiant Black x Lockport - a Pre-C2E2 Experience Review

Longtime friend of the site and contributor Eric Berry (@trekkieb47) was fortunate enough to attend the Radiant Black pre-event at this year’s C2E2 in Chicago, Illinois. The following is his review of the experience of meeting the team behind the Massive-verse – Kyle Higgins, Ryan Parrott, Mat Groom, Melissa Flores, and more!

NOTE: Attendees at this year’s Power Morphicon will have an opportunity to meet Kyle Higgins, Ryan Parrott, and Melissa Flores! Be sure to attend the Massive-verse at Morphicon panel on Saturday, August 27th at 2pm! Full schedule here.

C2E2 is the essential convention experience in the midwest and, every year since 2010, C2E2 has delivered some of the best entertainment guests and comic creators from around the world.

To match that hype, Kyle Higgins of Black Market Narrative announced the “Radiant Black X Lockport” event through the Black Market News Substack (https://kyledhiggins.substack.com/) back in June. If you’re not subscribed, definitely check it out as soon as possible so you don’t miss any news!

But why Lockport, Illinois? Lockport is a smaller city 30 miles southwest of Chicago, near Joliet. It’s where writer Kyle Higgins is from and is the setting for his Massive-Verse series, Radiant Black. In Issue 1, we meet Nathan Burnett, a down on his luck writer that’s in debt and has to move back in with his parents in, you guessed it… Lockport, Illinois.

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After getting drinks with his buddy Marshall, they discover the Radiant that turns Nathan into the hero, Radiant Black. The bar they frequent is Embers Tap House (https://www.emberstaphouse.com), a real location where the meetup took place. Kyle Higgins always goes big with his ideas and having the first meetup be at the actual location where the Massive-Verse kicks off is a great meta moment for fans of the comic. And in my opinion, this was the most fun I’ve had of any pre-C2E2 meetup or party.

The 50-mile drive to Lockport is not one I make regularly, but I couldn’t pass up the chance to meet up with some friends and also the creators in the Massive-Verse. At the event were Kyle Higgins (Radiant Black), Michael Busuttil, Eduardo Ferigato, Melissa Flores (Dead Lucky), Mat Groom (Inferno Girl Red), Ryan Parrott (Rogue Sun), Joe Clark, Alec Siegel, Laurence Holmes, and Ryan, Bill and TJ from Circle Guy News.

Arriving about a half hour before the event, I crossed the train tracks behind Embers and parked in the free lot. Which, if you’re familiar with Chicago, is a rare thing to experience. While catching up on the newly released Dead Lucky, I spotted Kyle and Mat arriving at Embers Tap House. Not wanting to miss any of the festivities I made my way to the building, walking up the same sidewalk Marshall and Nathan take before discovering Radiant Black.

Once there, I saw my friend Steven and we went inside. He did some scouting before I arrived and found out that we should head upstairs to the “secret speakeasy” where the start of the event was being held. The 933 Speakeasy is a bar straight from the past with a very 1920’s look and feel, minus the TVs that were playing various shorts that Kyle Higgins created. One of the videos playing was VERSUS – the first animated short that debuted in issue 15 of Radiant Black accessed by a QR code. As mentioned during the Massive-Verse panel at C2E2 on Friday: “ALWAYS scan the QR code”.

After having a brief conversation with Inferno Girl Red creator Mat Groom, Steven and I found a table. Then my other friend Josh arrived and joined us for a drink and we all caught up for a bit before exploring the rest of the experience.

Image Credit – John Avena

One of the rooms of Embers, called “The Boardroom”, was decked out in blacklights with lifesize cutouts of various Massive-Verse characters. One of the characters displayed was someone that no one knew about, a complete mystery and a tease for what’s to come.

Image Credit – John Avena

Image Credit – John Avena

The next room, called “Café D’or”, was dark and moody bathed in blacklight. Hung on the wall were individually framed pages of Radiant Black Issue 10, the infamous blacklight issue. Not having a blacklight at home aside from a Radiant Black Blacklight Keychain (given away at this event), it was incredible to see every page of the special issue in its full glory.

On one of the tables of this room was a glowing Yellow Radiant with… a QR Code. Remember what I said earlier about QR codes? Scanning the code took me to a special website (http://radiant.black/twine.html) which was a twist on a personality quiz to determine which Radiant I am. I got Yellow, and was directed to “show this screen to Circle Guy News” to receive a gold-colored limited edition Massive-Verse poster. Those who attended SDCC a few weeks before this received a full color version. Free merch? Awesome! But where was the Circle Guy News team?

Steven, Josh and I realized it was getting very empty upstairs, so we went in search of where the crowd moved to. Turns out the party gathered downstairs into the main bar area of Embers and everyone was already getting their posters signed. We got our posters and chatted a bit with Massive-Verse designer and editor Michael Busuttil. It was nice to catch up with Michael and get insights into the printing process for the black light issue of Radiant Black.

Most of the crowd brought comics and other stuff for Kyle and crew to sign. For an event this size, everything was well organized and everyone was friendly. The Circle Guy News team handed out Radiant Black blacklight keychains and posters for any latecomers. On display were the latest issues of the Massive-Verse comics as well as a light-up life-size prop helmet of Radiant Black along with the Black Radiant and another chance to scan a QR code. From Michael, we learned that Ryan Parrott and Melissa Flores were running a bit late, but when they did arrive they took the time to sign autographs and chat with the crowd.

Towards the end of the evening, Kyle hyped everyone up with some images on his phone of some future previews for upcoming issues. Most of these reveals would be covered in Friday’s Massive-Verse panel, but it was generous of Kyle to show them off for people who might not be able to go to the convention.

Then there was an announcement for the “biggest Rogue Sun fan” doing an actual fire dance outside behind the bar. I wasn’t expecting something like this, and I think it was a surprise to Rogue Sun creator Ryan Parrott as well. The 5-minute performance was exciting and a great way to top the evening full of friends, conversation and an amazing experience.

Before I left to make the trek back home, the crowd had thinned and I finally got to talk with Kyle Higgins and introduce my friends Steven and Josh. Josh said he wouldn’t be able to make C2E2 that weekend, so the Lockport event was his only chance to meet this impressive group of creatives.

Overall, it was a very exciting evening with some amazing creators, fans and friends. Like I said before, in twelve years of C2E2 this was the most fun I’ve had at any pre-C2E2 or pre-convention meetup.

A huge thanks to Kyle and his team for taking the time to craft an unforgettable experience for fans of the Massive-Verse. It will be hard to top this one and I am glad to know these creative individuals doing cool things.

Stay Radiant.