REVIEW: ‘Silk,’ Issue #4

Silk #4 is published by Marvel Comics, written by Maurene Goo, illustrated by Takeshi Miyazawa, colored by Ian Herring, and lettered by VC’s Ariana Maher. Following the ending of the previous issue, the crime lord Silvermane tells Cindy Moon about the childhood of Saya Ishii, who happens to be his daughter! Elsewhere, Saya confronts the cat demon Kasha, who has been working behind her back to resurrect a Japanese deity.

This issue sees the focus turned on Saya, with Cindy taking a bit of a backseat until the issue’s end. While this would normally bother me, very talented writers have managed to tell tales that feature a hero in the background while focusing on a villain or side character. Goo is such a good writer; she actually managed to explain why Saya turned out the way she did while still maintaining that she is a corrupt corporate executive. Seeing as how many writers nowadays bend over backward to make their villains “sympathetic,” it’s nice to see that daddy issues don’t get Saya off the hook.

Goo’s script also manages to make use of a lesser-known Spider-Man villain in Silvermane. Often regulated to “crime boss who also happens to be a cyborg,” here he takes the role of Saya’s less-than-ideal father figure and as befitting a mobster who encounters a reporter, he tries to intimidate Cindy into keeping quiet. The fight between Saya and Kasha reveals that Cindy may be in for a bigger problem, quite literally since there’s an actual god involved in the narrative.

Artwise, Miyazawa and Herring cross between a furious battle and a slowly unveiling backstory. Herring’s color palette mostly comprises blues, including a light blue filter for the flashback sequences involving Silvermane. The present-day sequences take place mostly at night, which features a bluish-black sky. And Saya happens to have an army of drones that help her in battle, with energy fields that glow bluish-white. Even Maher’s letters take on a blue hint while Silvermane is speaking, shifting to red for Cindy’s dialogue and narration. Readers will also be pleased to know that the signature wit that has been a part of the series since the first issue remains present in this one.

Miyazawa’s art takes on frantic energy when it comes to the fight scenes. Kasha has been depicted as a ruthless opponent for Cindy, but she meets her match in Saya, who has literal cutting edge technology at her disposal. Pages feature the drones cutting deep into Kasha’s flesh and transforming into different shapes such as arrows and swords. Cindy is no slouch herself, managing to escape the clutches of Silvermane and his thugs via an application of spider-powered agility and pepper spray.

Silk #4 reveals the secret history of its main antagonist while also upping the stakes for Cindy Moon’s professional and superhero lives. The end of the issue hints at possibly the biggest battle of Cindy’s life, and I’ll be there to see how it all goes down.

Silk #4 will be available wherever comics are sold.