Silk #3 is published by Marvel Comics, written by Maurene Goo, art by Takeshi Miyazawa, colors by Ian Herring, and letters by VC’s Ariana Maher. Cindy Moon finally comes face to face with Saya Ishii, but the CEO of Fujinet is far more formidable than she anticipated.
Previously, Cindy continued investigating the gang murders, and the clues finally led her to some answers as she stumbles upon an ancient mythological demon humanoid-cat. Kasha, the demon cat, who was summoned by Saya Ishii, is attempting to recruit their competition with a simple offer, join or die. After Cindy battles Kasha she realizes she’s must unite the gangs in order to save them, if she can get them to put their criminal differences aside.
Meanwhile, in Silk #3, Kasha continues his recruitment from within Queens, but his every advance is spurned. Cindy, tired from seeing blood in the streets, decides to attempt to sneak into the apartment of Saya Ishii to find evidence to incriminate the technology mogul. However, when she arrives at the building she’s greeted and invited up the penthouse for an interview, and Cindy must engage in a game of mental chess in order to seek the truth.
Goo continues to create a highly entertaining story with multiple layers of plot, and within this issue, some of those plot points come crashing together. What this issue lacks in action more than makes up for with the mental gymnastics battle between Saya and Cindy.
I’d be a fool not to mention it, but Goo includes a scene in this issue where Jameson and Silk sit and exchange conversation in his apartment. While that’s all I’ll say on the context of the scene, the relationship developing between Cindy/Silk and Jameson is unabashedly pleasant to see. Jameson who has often been depicted as this solemn grump, has let this young woman into his life and actually is sharing some of his wisdom with her. It’s not something I expected, nor thought I wanted to see, but man, it was quite a touching scene.
The choice to include Japanese mythology really gives the story an added level of intrigue, and Goo is definitely going to explore this more as the series moves on. Additionally, the ending reveals a truth about the fraternal lineage of Saya that no one will be expecting!
The artwork from Miyazawa is really clean and at often very simplistic. Odd compliment for an artist, but sometimes the visuals get bogged down with a hyper-focus on capturing every detail. An example of this is the facial work in the illustrations of this series. Miyazawa focuses a lot more on the shape and position of the eyes, the eyebrows, and the mouth, which results in a clear emotive expression.
Additionally, the fight sequences are always top-notch stuff.
The colors from Herring do an outstanding job of capturing the tone of the scene. The fight scenes in particular really stand out. Herring strikes a very consistent balance which serves to elevate the art.
Maher’s lettering is solid, and as a reader, I really appreciate the dialogue color change for Cindys’ inner voice. Also, the unique font given to Kasha lends a mythical element to his already unique visual style.
In the end, this was a fun issue. Perhaps not as electric as the prior two issues, but it’s obvious that Goo is laying down the groundwork and backstory the series needs in order to build. The development of Saya as a character gives me big old Kingpin vibes, and I love that Goo is creating this world for Cindy to own.
Silk #3 is available now wherever comics are sold.
‘Silk’ Issue #3
TL;DR
In the end, this was a fun issue. Perhaps not as electric as the prior two issues, but it’s obvious that Goo is laying down the groundwork and backstory the series needs to build. The development of Saya as a character gives me Kingpin vibes, and I love that Goo is creating this world for Cindy to own.