The Silencer #2 Review
Writer: Dan Abnett
Artist: John Romita Jr.
Colorist: Dean White & Arif Prianto
Publisher: DC Comics
Dan Abnett and John Romita Jr. slow things down a bit to do some world building and introduce their own spin on DC’s underworld. Unfortunately, this issue isn’t as strong as the debut issue. Wonky world building, annoying narration and lackluster character building brings this issue down.
Our main character, Honor, has this habit of narrating the entire scene unfolding before us. I found it particularly distracting during the opening fight sequence. It really didn’t add much but instead it interrupted the flow of the action. In a comic, it’s important to show and not tell but it’s particularly strange when it tries to do both. We see how calculated she is with her narration but the artwork does a fine job of displaying that already.
Part of the problem might be that the creative team is relying on internal monologue due to the fact that Honor still doesn’t have anyone she can talk to about her past. New characters are introduced to help alleviate this problem. Unfortunately, there is nothing interesting about these new casts of characters. They are merely spy/assassin movie archetypes with generic code names such as the “operator” and “aftermarket”. They merely move the plot along but that’s it. An antagonist is introduced but the entire conflict essentially comes down to Leviathan changing hands resulting in the old stock needing to go. The most compelling aspect of this book is Honor’s “normal life” but her family is given minimal attention. This part needs to be more fleshed out if we’re to care that about her old life coming back to haunt her.
Even if the book was lacking in several aspects, it was still a lot of fun. The creative team clearly had a blast with some of the ideas introduced. Maulmart immediately comes to mind as a perfect example. They’re not the most original ideas but it still works. Despite taking place in the DC universe, you probably wouldn’t really be able to tell without the Talia and Leviathan name drops. The creative team spends time creating their own version of the underworld that it feels somewhat disconnected. Hopefully, Honor gets to make her presence felt in the DC universe soon.
The art mostly works too. The action scenes in particular are tight and well executed. The colors really help to make them pop. While the action might be nice to look at Romita Jr produces some awkward faces for the slower scenes. While this book is fun, it has potential to be much more. Hopefully the creative is able to find a better footing with this new character.
Artist: John Romita Jr.
Colorist: Dean White & Arif Prianto
Publisher: DC Comics
Dan Abnett and John Romita Jr. slow things down a bit to do some world building and introduce their own spin on DC’s underworld. Unfortunately, this issue isn’t as strong as the debut issue. Wonky world building, annoying narration and lackluster character building brings this issue down.
Our main character, Honor, has this habit of narrating the entire scene unfolding before us. I found it particularly distracting during the opening fight sequence. It really didn’t add much but instead it interrupted the flow of the action. In a comic, it’s important to show and not tell but it’s particularly strange when it tries to do both. We see how calculated she is with her narration but the artwork does a fine job of displaying that already.
Part of the problem might be that the creative team is relying on internal monologue due to the fact that Honor still doesn’t have anyone she can talk to about her past. New characters are introduced to help alleviate this problem. Unfortunately, there is nothing interesting about these new casts of characters. They are merely spy/assassin movie archetypes with generic code names such as the “operator” and “aftermarket”. They merely move the plot along but that’s it. An antagonist is introduced but the entire conflict essentially comes down to Leviathan changing hands resulting in the old stock needing to go. The most compelling aspect of this book is Honor’s “normal life” but her family is given minimal attention. This part needs to be more fleshed out if we’re to care that about her old life coming back to haunt her.
Even if the book was lacking in several aspects, it was still a lot of fun. The creative team clearly had a blast with some of the ideas introduced. Maulmart immediately comes to mind as a perfect example. They’re not the most original ideas but it still works. Despite taking place in the DC universe, you probably wouldn’t really be able to tell without the Talia and Leviathan name drops. The creative team spends time creating their own version of the underworld that it feels somewhat disconnected. Hopefully, Honor gets to make her presence felt in the DC universe soon.
The art mostly works too. The action scenes in particular are tight and well executed. The colors really help to make them pop. While the action might be nice to look at Romita Jr produces some awkward faces for the slower scenes. While this book is fun, it has potential to be much more. Hopefully the creative is able to find a better footing with this new character.
A Look Inside
