Silk #1 // Review
Engagingly appealing spider-person Cindy Moon has had some time off, but Marvel is pulling her back into service in an all-new Silk series. First-time comic author Maurine Goo ushers Moon back to page and panel courtesy of talented spider-artist Takeshi Miyazawa (who did such an amazing job working with Spider-Gwen not too long ago.) Goo's first outing with Moon is ridiculously fun as it plays deftly with the work/life/mask balance of a very appealing and witty spider-hero in an intensely enjoyable opening issue. With a talented creative team, Moon is looking very, very good in her opening appearance of 2021.
Meet Cindy Moon. (Again.) She's living in Manhattan now. She spent ten years in a bunker. (She'll mention that a few times. It's cool.) She's starting a job working for J. Jonah Jameson on a publication called Threats and Menaces. He seems to like her. He calls her "Analog." It's her first day on the job, and she's accidentally posted a story that she didn't mean to post involving a weird multiple-homicide. Now her boss's life is in danger, and it's all her fault. The good news is that she's got superpowers and knows how to use them.
The dramatic potential of a superhero journalist always sounds a LOT more interesting than most writers manage to articulate in the comics. Maurine Goo does a brilliant job of allowing Moon's work as a journalist to bolster her work behind the mask in an opening issue that serves as a remarkably tight introduction to character and author. Moon's first day on the end job is peppered with quick heroics and an intoxicating sense of humor that launches her firmly in a very dynamic direction for the opening story of her new series. Hopefully, Goo can maintain this energy once the young adult novelist has had a chance to fully settle-into the 20-page script format.
Miyazawa could have easily given Moon the exact same poise and posture as he'd given Spider-Gwen in the past, but he's giving her a distinct look and energy that distinguishes her from the other spider-girl both in and out of the mask. Manhattan looks suitably detailed under Miyazawa's pen. There's a very organic feel about home and office for Moon that feels very immersive. Miyazawa's sense of action briskly shoots across the page, and Silk looks stunning in action whether she's beating someone up or investigating a crime scene. Miyazawa's delivery of the action always manages to find compelling and interesting angles, allowing Silk to feel like a refreshing return to the web for Marvel.
Moon was wearing a COVID-appropriate face mask long before it was cool to do so. The fact that just about every woman her age seen out and about is wearing a similar mask amps up the character's relatability in her new series. The expressiveness of the eyes and Moon's sharp sense of humor carry one of the funnier excursions into the Marvel Universe so far this year. With so many web-slingers swinging around Marvel Manhattan, it's nice to know that there's still life in a wall-crawling superhero sub-sub-genre that's been around for nearly 60 years now.
