MARCO SPEAKS SPIDEY: SILK #4 REVIEW

After a couple reviews covering alternate versions of the Champions and Gwen, I am back to regular programming. It was a fun vacation, exploring another version of the Marvel Universe, but it feels like home returning to our little mainstream world. Actually, I was highly anticipating this issue of Silk, to finally uncover the truths behind Saya, her dad Silvermane, and the evil, sinister cat-demon Kasha. What we, readers, got this week is a very thorough origin story of Saya. It was all here: Her childhood, youth, education, motivation and reason for being the way she is… we actually got very little Silk in this chapter, but in the larger scheme of things, this was necessary since it appears our favorite heroine will be teaming up with Saya in the very near future.

OFFICIAL MARVEL COMICS DESCRIPTION:

SILK #4

STORY BY: Maurene Goo

ART BY: Takeshi Miyazawa

COVER BY: Pyeong-Jun Park

VARIANTS BY: Alex Garner, Betsy Cola, JeeHyung Lee, Jenny Frison, Jung-Geun Yoon, Kael Ngu

INTERVIEW WITH AN EVIL CYBORG!

• Silk learns the truth about Saya Ishii from a chat with Silvermane!
• But he’s not about to let her live to tell the tale…
• Meanwhile, Saya goes toe-to-claw with the cat demon, Kasha!

DADDY ISSUES!

PROS:

• The main positive for this issue would definitely be the meaty origin story of Saya. Silvermane is able to tell the full story of Saya in a well-paced, interesting manner that never really bores the readers or makes them question the importance of such narration. You can sense that the creative team put a lot of thought and care into the development of Saya as a villain… hero… still can’t quite put my finger on it, but whatever her destiny is, it’s going to be electric!
• Saya’s genius and her use of technology won me over instantly. Her phone being used as a weapon, and her menacing drones doing the dirty work make her a unique kind of threat. And I found it really cool when she explained that she, herself, IS the battery for her high-tech devices and weapons. Long-term, I think it will be wildly entertaining to see a master reporter and detective collaborate with a top scientist and businesswoman. They can do great things for the world, together, and Silvermane sees the potential in both women, even though he has a weird way of showing it.
• Silvermane is definitely not going to win any ‘Dad of the Year’ awards any time soon, but at the very least, it gave Saya proper motivation to do what she is doing… at the end of the day, she is a genius who wants to outdo her father, who she actually believes is dead and six feet under. That’s her way of getting back at him for being such a lacking parent.
• The ending was a nice little peek into the next issue, as I believe we will be seeing Saya teaming up with Silk to fight Kasha, and perhaps even Silvermane as well, if the need arises.

CONS:

• It was a long wait for this next issue of Silk, and I was honestly anticipating more in-costume action, battling demons and cult members, but she took a more passive role this time around. But I guess this just builds more excitement for when all parties finally meet and start creating chaos for the city.

FINAL GRADE: B +

Now that we know what makes Saya’s mind tick, she has become more relatable. Plus, we also got a taste of her powers and capabilities…. This genius of a woman is surely not somebody to be messed around with. Silvermane said it himself… perhaps Silk is worthy and deserving enough to be called a match for Saya. I think both strong and powerful women will be tested in the next issue, and perhaps a new friendship will be forged, a new bond will be born between the two girls. They are going to need some teamwork and coordination if they are going to stop Kasha and the demon threat that is being summoned by the cult. It looks like the city needs to worry about way more than just gangsters getting killed by a mysterious monster. The stakes are being raised mighty high in this issue, and it is only going to get more epic from this point.