Silk #1 Review
Writer: Maurene Goo
Artist: Takeshi Miyazawa
Colourist: Ian Herring
Letterer: Ariana Maher
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Silk is back! And she hits the ground running with a strongly-executed (re-) introduction issue!
I should kick this off by offering big kudos to first-time comics author Maurene Goo. She's done a fantastic job on this script in terms of both plot structure and dialogue. It has a natural, organic feel, but it's so well-rounded and complete that it's clearly cultivated. And that's entirely OK. This script delivers the bespoke beauty of bonsai or an English park rather than a wilderness. It has a clear sense of what it needs to do, and it gets it done with commendable skill.
We open with a "business as usual" burglary-foiling that delivers a lot of humour. Then, we move smoothly through some scenes illustrating Cindy Moon's civilian status quo: happy home life with her brother, new job as a "real" reporter at Threats and Menaces, frosty relationship with Norah Winters, warm but problematic relationship with J Jonah Jameson.
The seeds of an ongoing superhero arc sprout in the back half, with Cindy's first crime story segueing neatly into a mystery that links a big tech company into a gang war and threats against Jonah's life.
A major storytelling asset throughout the issue is the beautiful artwork of Takeshi Miyazawa. He's in top form here, jumping smoothly from conversational to combative layouts as the story demands. He has a great eye for picking out the most important details for faces and costumes, making each character distinctive without overworking his pen. And of course, nobody does surprised faces quite as well as Mr. Miyazawa.
Ian Herring's colours also help draw the issue together as a unified story. He varies the warmth of the palette constantly. This helps track, not just the time of day and the tone of the various settings, but also the mood Cindy is feeling. It's a subtle but skillful demonstration of the way that every member of the creative team can contribute to characterization.
I admit that this comic treads a safe path for a first issue. "Here is how I hero, here's my home life, here's my civilian job, here's my next big case." But this potential problem is neutralized by strong storytelling. Right from the first scene, Silk stands out visually and verbally. Her creators make a great, and, I would argue, fully successful effort to present her in an engaging way.
She may be doing standard superhero business here, but she's already sympathetic enough to make me care about her particular experiences.
Another proto-critique: Jameson gets his misogyny knob turned up. I expect it's groundwork for social commentary and/or character friction in future issues. But so far, the goal of the gender conflict hasn't made it onto the page -- so I'll withhold judgment. And based on this outstanding debut, I'm confident that this creative team will handle the matter with wit and empathy.
Silk comes swinging back to protagonist duty in this talented, carefully-crafted debut. Her status quo is efficiently established and a promising mystery is teed up for immediate exploration. Most importantly of all, the great skill lavished on portraying the protagonist succeeds at making her instantly endearing -- and thereby building interest in how she tackles that mystery.
Artist: Takeshi Miyazawa
Colourist: Ian Herring
Letterer: Ariana Maher
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Silk is back! And she hits the ground running with a strongly-executed (re-) introduction issue!
I should kick this off by offering big kudos to first-time comics author Maurene Goo. She's done a fantastic job on this script in terms of both plot structure and dialogue. It has a natural, organic feel, but it's so well-rounded and complete that it's clearly cultivated. And that's entirely OK. This script delivers the bespoke beauty of bonsai or an English park rather than a wilderness. It has a clear sense of what it needs to do, and it gets it done with commendable skill.
We open with a "business as usual" burglary-foiling that delivers a lot of humour. Then, we move smoothly through some scenes illustrating Cindy Moon's civilian status quo: happy home life with her brother, new job as a "real" reporter at Threats and Menaces, frosty relationship with Norah Winters, warm but problematic relationship with J Jonah Jameson.
The seeds of an ongoing superhero arc sprout in the back half, with Cindy's first crime story segueing neatly into a mystery that links a big tech company into a gang war and threats against Jonah's life.
A major storytelling asset throughout the issue is the beautiful artwork of Takeshi Miyazawa. He's in top form here, jumping smoothly from conversational to combative layouts as the story demands. He has a great eye for picking out the most important details for faces and costumes, making each character distinctive without overworking his pen. And of course, nobody does surprised faces quite as well as Mr. Miyazawa.
Ian Herring's colours also help draw the issue together as a unified story. He varies the warmth of the palette constantly. This helps track, not just the time of day and the tone of the various settings, but also the mood Cindy is feeling. It's a subtle but skillful demonstration of the way that every member of the creative team can contribute to characterization.
I admit that this comic treads a safe path for a first issue. "Here is how I hero, here's my home life, here's my civilian job, here's my next big case." But this potential problem is neutralized by strong storytelling. Right from the first scene, Silk stands out visually and verbally. Her creators make a great, and, I would argue, fully successful effort to present her in an engaging way.
She may be doing standard superhero business here, but she's already sympathetic enough to make me care about her particular experiences.
Another proto-critique: Jameson gets his misogyny knob turned up. I expect it's groundwork for social commentary and/or character friction in future issues. But so far, the goal of the gender conflict hasn't made it onto the page -- so I'll withhold judgment. And based on this outstanding debut, I'm confident that this creative team will handle the matter with wit and empathy.
Silk comes swinging back to protagonist duty in this talented, carefully-crafted debut. Her status quo is efficiently established and a promising mystery is teed up for immediate exploration. Most importantly of all, the great skill lavished on portraying the protagonist succeeds at making her instantly endearing -- and thereby building interest in how she tackles that mystery.
A Look Inside
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