Review: Silk #7
Previously in Silk #6
The last days of Silk are filled with amazing acts of kindness and heroism, and many tears.
Allow me to, not for the first time and definitely not the last, express my frustration at the way artists leave titles. I totally get why it happens and I’ve come to accept it’s the nature of the business, but that doesn’t make it less annoying.
I can deal with the fact that the way the characters look on the cover almost never matches the way they look on the inside (note: the women are almost always sexier on the cover), but when the artist and the way the main character looks changes during an arc, it really takes me out of the story.
For this final issue of Silk until Secret Wars ends, Tana Ford takes over for artist Stacey Lee, who had drawn the first six books. This isn’t a matter of Ford’s work being bad - I can barely draw a recognizable stick figure so you’re never going to hear me critique someone’s illustrations based on anything other than what I like and whether or not it affects my enjoyment of the story.
For instance, I tend to love bright colors and sleek panels (huge fan of Land’s work in this issue of Spider-Woman). If an artist takes over a title and starts using subdued tints and shades which affect the mood of an exciting issue, I wouldn’t enjoy it. Here, Ian Herring’s choice of colors fit within an issue filled with painful memories and regrets. But Ford’s characters looked nothing like I’d come to expect - especially Cindy.
I spent the first few pages just trying to reconcile this new Cindy, who looks so much younger than I thought the character was supposed to be, and who doesn’t even look Asian anymore. I was legit confused in the first page, and thought I was witnessing a white teenager meet with her therapist. To be fair, it also took me a few moments to remember Cindy cut her hair last issue.
Just look at these flip cards for comparisons of the character:
Once I got over the differences, the story was pretty amazing.
The incursion is imminent and that means people are either losing their minds, making peace, or making amends. J. Jonah Jameson wasn’t able to find Cindy’s family, but he did find information on a gang member named James Park, who once gave the name “Albert Moon” to the police. Cindy doesn’t want to believe her brother could be on drugs and in a gang, but Jameson has seen the end of the world enough times to know the real deal when he sees it, and tells her she may not have another chance to learn the truth.
Cindy (as Silk) races across town to the halfway house where James Park lives. Despite the broken hand with limited web abilities, she stops to help citizens in various emergencies along the way - even though this means she may not get to her brother in time.
The panels depicting this did an excellent job of providing insight into how the world was falling apart, and reminding us there isn’t a selfish bone in Cindy’s body. When it looks like she might not get to James Park in time, she’s saved by Harris Porter (Pokemon Dude). She advises him to spend whatever time is left with his young daughter.
Finally, she finds his room, and it is Albert. His walls are covered with newspaper clippings of Silk’s exploits over time. As the world ends, they hold each other and Cindy apologizes for everything.
And I cried grown-ass woman tears.
Overall Thoughts:
- I spent more time than I intended talking about the art in this issue. Again, I don’t feel qualified to call it bad, but it is different and didn’t work for me. The main concern being that Cindy doesn’t look Asian-American.
It was a nice to see Porter out there trying to do what he can to help others as the world ends - even though his costume might cause people to flee in fear before they accepted his assistance.- I’m guessing Albert joined a gang hoping it would help him find Cindy (Silk) since he knew she wouldn’t be able to find him. But what the hell does that mean for her parents?
- Seriously, those last frames were beautiful and heartbreaking. A fitting end until we see what comes out on the other side of Secret Wars.
