At the end of the first issue of Silk’s newest ongoing series, a new villain revealed herself: a Korean witch who is sapping the youth out of people. Now, it is up to Silk to learn more about the witch so she can defeat her and restore the aged-up people to normal. In the meantime, Cindy Moon’s civilian life is also getting exciting as Cindy tries to learn more about herself by trying new things in between her super heroics and her news job at Threats and Menaces. Let’s see how things develop in Silk #2, written by Emily Kim, drawn by Takeshi Miyazawa, colored by Ian Herring and lettered by Ariana Maher.
First, it is great to see Cindy trying to find a hobby she enjoys even if she can’t find the right one yet. The issue opens with Cindy running late for a pottery class, accompanied by her signature red text inner monologue from letterer Ariana Maher. “So far, I’m not the Picasso of pottery, cooking, workworking or meditating,” she narrates. As I mentioned in my WWAC review of issue #1, we don’t know that much about Cindy’s interests. Personally, I’m still waiting for her to rediscover Pokemon.
Then again, Cindy only has so much time for hobbies since she is currently investigating aging teens and the creepy witch tied to them. While visiting the museum exhibit for the witch, Cindy learns she is a manyao Korean shaman who originally absorbed the energy of her worshippers and was defeated by her enemies and sealed away in a tomb. If this is any indication, it looks like Silk may have to team up with some folks to beat her.
One of those folks is K-pop singer Luna Snow, who is in town for a concert and emailed Cindy tickets because they are friends and allies who worked together as part of Agents of Atlas. While at a coding bootcamp, Cindy decides to invite cute male instructor Ivaan to the concert as her plus one. Given that Cindy hasn’t had a date since that time she went out with Johnny Storm in her first series in 2015, this is good progress for Cindy’s social life.
At the concert, writer Emily Kim’s wit shines in a relatable panel in which Cindy receives a text from her boss J. Jonah Jameson asking about an update on a news story. Upon seeing it, Cindy thinks, “How does anyone have time for a social life when they also have a job?” This makes me wonder if the concert is taking place on a weekday or weekend, but it is most likely the former judging by Jonah’s text.
At any rate, Cindy and Ivaan don’t enjoy the concert for long before the manyao’s henchmen attack Luna onstage. The excitement of the concert and the action of the fighting are augmented by Ian Herring’s colors. The yellows of the concert spotlight work with the light blues and whites of Luna’s ice powers and the red panel background representing Silk.
With some banter, Luna and Silk make quick work of the manyao’s henchmen with no casualties since the audience thought everything was done with dancers and special effects. Afterward, Luna and Silk have a brief chat in Luna’s dressing room about the manyao over lollipops. Luna asks Cindy if she wants her to stay and help, but Cindy declines her offer since she knows Luna is on tour.
It’s a shame that Luna isn’t staying, but I’m hoping she will make a return in a later issue because Cindy needs more female friends. Also, Luna and Cindy’s interactions during and after the fight were wholesome. Besides, it’s not like Cindy has another part of her social life that is busy at the moment. Unfortunately for Cindy, her date left while she went to go fight the manyao’s henchmen. Balancing work and life is hard, but balancing a work-life-superhero thing is even harder.
The issue ends with the manyao in a creepy abandoned house learning of her henchmen’s failure. Something is thrown out a window as the manyao seethes and reveals that Luna was targeted on purpose to serve as her power source. Since Luna wasn’t captured, the manyao has set her sights on Silk. This poses a danger for Cindy and those close to her, and I can’t wait to see how she handles it in the next issue.
Latonya Pennington
Latonya Pennington is a freelance contributor whose comics criticism can be found at Women Write About Comics, Comic Book Herald, Newsarama and Shelfdust, among others.
