Silk #1 Review

writer: Robbie Thompson / artists: Stacey Lee, Ian Herring / Marvel Comics (Deep, gravelly voice) Silllllkkkkk. We meet again.

[divider type=”space_thin”] Let’s quickly rehash the basics: an Asian American woman named Cindy Moon was locked in a bunker for ten years and has to learn to navigate her spider powers while solving the mystery of what happened to her family. Sounds awesome, right?  In fact, with the announcement of Cindy Moon/Silk’s shocking change from superhero newbie to supervillian extraordinaire, that awesome level got significantly boosted. Peter Parker’s former lover becomes a kickass spider lady on the dark side? I can’t lie, even I was hype to see how this transformation would occur. Reading the book itself, though, you’d think the creators would’ve forgotten that little tidbit seeing as how for the first half of the book we get more information on Cindy’s daily life than her decision to defect. And here’s where the main problem continues to show up.

Despite a strong original backstory and a relatively fresh character most of this comic’s written work is just chunks of Silk’s awkward narration mercifully interrupted by some passable dialogue. With the same forced pop culture references and dated jargon (including use of the word “rad” no less than four occasions) as in her previous debut, however, it’s no wonder every joke falls painfully flat. It’s hard to get a sense of who Silk is as a character, too. Is she the intense, serious person determined to do…