Silk #1: Just Like Us Regular Folk

Silk’s back in her very own solo book, and she’s determined to make it on her own…ish. She’s moved in with her brother, working at Jonah’s brand new online news outlet, Threats & Menaces (a name that acts as a throwback to Jonah’s past regarding language pointedly Spider-Man related), and she’s out to make it on her own.

For those of you who don’t know who Cindy is, this a brief recap: Silk is Cindy Moon, a fellow student of Peter Parker’s, was bit by the same spider that bit Pete on that fateful day. Unlike Peter, Cindy was forced to grow up in a bunker, sequestered away from friends and family, to be trained by Ezekiel to control her powers, and protect her from Morlun, and the other Spider totem hunters. She’s been involved with Parker, but also Jessica Drew, the original Spider-Woman, Spider-Gwen, and the new Agents of Atlas, comprised of several of Marvel’s Asian and Asian American characters.

Maurene jumps out of the gate pedal to the metal, having Cindy foil a couple of bumbling burglars trying to rob a couture clothing outlet, where she scores some discounted swag from the owner, and some plucky banter with her brother.

Goo introduces Cindy’s supporting cast at lightning speed as well, with Spider-Man mainstays like Jameson, and Norah Jones, as well as a couple new faces, like Derick. Like classic Spider-Man tales, Maurene has Cindy dealing with standard PP street crime, with a hint of the supernatural, which is more inline to Jessica Drew’s early adventures.

They introduce a new possible antagonist, who might be connected to a gangland style murder, but it was left pretty vague.

The art team for this book is Takeshi Miyazawa and Ian Herring. Takeshi has an almost early Mahmud Asrar feel to his art here. It’s crisp, and stylish, and the colors go really well with the style. The characters are pretty distinct, and all feel current and fresh from a style/design perspective. I hope to see great things from this team.

I’ll be honest, I’ve only read Silk’s origin in Amazing Spider-Man, and her run in Agents of Atlas, but this is my first solo Silk story I’ve read, and it was good. I’m curious to why Cindy and Jonah are so familiar with each other, and where the new antagonist, Saya Ishii has up her sleeves.

I do enjoy that we have more Asian representation in comics, as diversity, and more female villains of color just tickles me, buuuut Maurene hasn’t hooked me yet. The story was quick, and didn’t have enough time to make me care for anyone thus far. All of the antagonists, from the most basic fashion thieves, to Saya, there’s no sense of danger. The art is fire, and definitely is a treat to look at. If you’re a fan of Silk and Jonah, you’ll really enjoy this. I’ll give the next couple issues a look to see if I’ll enjoy this book or not.