Let’s get this part out of the way, the art in Silk #1 is simply gorgeous. It’s both playful and commanding at the same time, giving you a good feel for how the story and series is going to go: fun with a side dish of serious. Typical old school Spider-Man.
So, that said, the heart of the issue isn’t action based, unlike her introduction to the Marvel universe (See Spider-Verse, specifically Amazing Spider-Man 4). We get a little more back story on Cindy Moon (a.k.a. Silk) and a little glimpse into her head with her voice over being the main narrative of the story.
The driving force for Cindy in the first half of the issue is trying to find her place in the world after so many years in isolation. She gets a job at the Daily Bugle, a roommate, and tries to make her way into the hero business. Her first foray as a solo hero doesn’t go well and requires a bit of a rescue from Spidey himself – a fact she isn’t overly happy with.
The tone shifts slightly in the second half to Cindy putting herself back into isolation, this time self-imposed, and we get to see what her ultimate focus really is – finding her family.
Though some have tagged the issue and story as derivative, I disagree. Yes there are a few moments where the initial reaction is “I’ve seen this before” and even the final panel isn’t much of a surprise these days, but it also reminds me of what attracted me to the Spider-Man comics so many years ago: a hero with powers dealing with normal people problems. As cool as Batman and Iron Man are, the fact they rarely have to worry about their supply of baterangs or mini missiles, they could always buy or make more. Spider-Man also had moments where he was human and vulnerable because he didn’t have the money to make more web fluid or had to take normal photo gigs to pay rent, and in the beginning you saw him use his non-super power to augment his new powers (webshooters and trackers).
Silk doesn’t have those issues since she creates her own web (and different types) and her ‘silk-sense’ is more sensitive and attuned, but she does have real people problems. That very much reminds me of the old Spider-Man.
And while it probably makes me a little biased, it also makes me love this issue and (so far) this series that much more.
Last Updated on November 28, 2018.
