When we last left Silk, we learned a little about the manyao and saw Cindy Moon help K-pop singer Luna Snow battle the manyao’s henchman at Luna’s concert. But now the manyao has set her sights on Silk! Let’s see how things continue in Silk #3, written by Emily Kim, drawn by Takeshi Miyazawa, colored by Ian Herring and lettered by Ariana Maher.
Silk #3 begins with a hilarious page that features Cindy’s brother being startled by his sister’s sudden appearance at the dinner table as he sets the food on the table while singing “Cry for Me” by the K-pop group Twice. Those who have kept up with Cindy’s adventures know she occasionally uses her Spidey-powers to enter buildings by window. Once again, Emily Kim’s sense of humor shines in the dialogue as Albert exclaims, “Gah, can’t you use the door like a normal person?!” Cindy replies, “Normal, shmormal.”
Following dinner, Albert and Cindy discuss Cindy’s attempts at finding herself. Cindy feels like she is in a rush to figure herself out because everyone else seems to be getting further ahead in their lives, but Albert tells her not to worry because she has her whole life to figure things out. Given how Cindy originally spent her teens and twenties locked away in a bunker, it is no wonder she feels she has to play catchup.
Speaking of playing catchup, J. Jonah Jameson sure hates being behind in getting the news at Threats and Menaces. Cindy’s boss gets so worked up at how social media is quicker at reporting on Silk that he aggravates his arthritis. When Cindy sees this, she remarks, “Growing old seems like a constant battle against becoming obsolete.” This is a thoughtful comment given how she is currently dealing with a youth-stealing manyao.
Later on, we see Cindy helping her friend Rafferty pack up boxes at Rafferty and Lola’s apartment. It is great to see Rafferty again because she hasn’t been seen since she and Lola got married in Silk’s second series. It would’ve been even better to see Rafferty and Lola talking to Cindy together, but it could be that Lola’s job is keeping her away. As seen in the previous series, Lola works at the United World Defense Council in some sort of tech-related position.
Anyway, Cindy learning that Rafferty and Lola bought a house to live in ends up making Cindy feel more troubled about being stuck in a rut. As demonstrated in her internal red-lettered monologue, Cindy thinks, “Everyone is literally moving on with their lives while I’m still doing the same things I did when I got out of the bunker.” At the same time, talking with Rafferty also helps Cindy notice that the manyao is targeting people with a lot of followers on social media.
It is at this moment that Cindy looks at Rafferty’s phone and sees a food blogger named Amir being attacked by the manyao. Although Silk is too late to save Amir, she finally comes face to face with the manyao for the first time. It is here that Ian Herring’s colors, Takeshi Miyazawa’s art and Ariana Maher’s lettering stand out in two events going on at once.
First is the fight that happens between the manyao and Silk. The panels take on a blue background as the fight goes on, but also briefly change to grays as the second event occurs in the form of a flashback. In addition to the blue-gray paneled backgrounds, there is also intricate lettering.
As the flashback goes on, the manyao discusses her past and how she originally used her ability to transfer life energy between organisms to help heal people. However, when she was branded a witch and banished from her home, she decided to become the villain people thought she was. As interesting as this all is, it would’ve been nice to see an actual name for the manyao to call her by.
As things return to the present, the fight has moved to a different location and the manyao reveals she now steals “worship energy,” i.e. the rush of adoration people get from being admired by many people. She also sneers as she calls people weak for becoming obsessed with other people via social media without really caring about them. Silk replies that people aren’t weak for loving something or someone intensely, but I agree with the manyao somewhat.
While there is nothing wrong with loving or enjoying something a lot, my experiences in fandom and social media have shown me some people are willing to harass or cause harm to real people over the thing or person they love. This is part of what people call parasocial relationships, and while it is easy to say, “Just be kind to everyone,” the issue is more complicated than platitudes can fix.
As we go back to the fight between Silk and the manyao, Silk asks what the manyao plans to do after she drains the worship energy from everyone. Just as Silk thinks she’s gotten the upper hand, the manyao uses Silk’s webs to drain the “worship energy” from her. The issue’s shocking final page sees the manyao looking young again and Silk aged to an old woman. Not sure how Silk will get out of this, but it will be interesting to see how aging will affect Silk’s powers 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.
