Silk 3, by Robbie Thompson and Stacey Lee Silk is ..."/> Silk 3, by Robbie Thompson and Stacey Lee Silk is ..."/>
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Marvel Pick Of The Week – April 29, 2015 [SPOILERS]

By Matt Conner

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Pick Of The Week:

Silk 3, by Robbie Thompson and Stacey Lee

Silk is a character introduced in the early issues of Dan Slott’s latest Spider-Man relaunch, a classmate of Peter Parker’s who was bitten by the same radioactive spider he was but was kept hidden in a bunker for a decade. Cindy Moon eventually left the hideout and thoroughly charmed readers as she fought crime, helped defeat the bad guys in the Spider-Verse crossover, and had lots of (implied) sex with Peter. Her solo series has been a joy, accessibly written by Supernatural‘s Robbie Thompson and demonstrating Stacey Lee’s perfect action cartooning. In the first issue, Cindy Moon established her own identity with a job at a cable news channel, and in the second, she began investigating the disappearance of her family.

With the basic setup out of the way, issue three is the most straightforward superhero story this series has gotten, and it’s terrific. The first half of the book shows her fighting Dragonclaw, a flying costumed villain she calls “Puff the Jerk-Store Dragon.” Dodging his fire and rescuing herself from underneath a car leads to a flashback of her unhappy confinement in the bunker, and her loss of control in this section sets her apart from Spider-Gwen – both characters are charismatic and fun, but Gwen is more apt to flip around, dodge, and quip, while Cindy revels in her strength and web powers but is also barely holding back a decade of traumatic isolation.

The last few pages of the issue showcase the cat fight so powerfully depicted on that Dave Johnson cover. I love the Black Cat so much as Peter Parker’s edgy girlfriend, but her development into a criminal mastermind over the past two years has been a coherent and natural growth of a respected character. Though I’d love Silk to develop her own stable of nemeses, making Black Cat her Big Bad makes a lot of thematic sense. She got her powers from his spider, so it’s fair that she shares some of his antagonists. Both women have had intense affairs with Spider-Man, but neither is defined by this relationship, and they’re not fighting over him.

This is a great book for fans of Spider-Man, but if you’re not one of his fans, this is still an accessible, bright, engaging title employing a fun new character in traditional superheroics.

Honorable Mentions:

Daredevil 15, because every great Daredevil writer ends up burning Matt Murdock’s life to the ground, and because Mark Waid has resisted it so long, when he pulls the trigger this issue, it hurts so much.

Spider-Man And The X-Men 6, because even though Spider-Man’s announcement is a wildly wishful overread of Storm’s comment, I think he’s as cool as Wolverine.

Secret Avengers 15, because in a book that has consistently tickled me with its commitment to absurd and surreal moments, I have yet to see anything as good as a sentient bomb singing a Fiona Apple song to encourage itself.

Also, this is EXACTLY how I would take notes if I got to interrogate Spider-Woman.

Superior Iron Man 8, because this is the kind of foul, disgusting, grand-scale corruption that – who am I kidding, I VOLUNTEER! Never change back, sexy hedonist inverted Tony!

X-Men 26, because Storm, the master tactician, has a backup plan for when she has too many FEELS and I love her for it. I keep the same backup plan in the top drawer of my office file cabinet.

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