Writer- Robbie Thompson
Artist- Stacey Lee

Reviewed By- John Amenta

Marvel just ended their well received Spider-Verse story line, which incorporated Spider themed characters from throughout the Marvel Universes. If you thought at least one character involved wouldn’t be getting a solo title, you haven’t been reading comics long enough. Silk is the first of two breakout characters( Spider-Gwen is the other, that name is awful by the way) to receive an ongoing book. Both series feature newly created female characters, continuing the publisher’s efforts in offering more diversity in the leads of their series.

Silk, AKA Cindy Moon was introduced by Dan Slott at the beginning of the latest volume of Amazing Spider-Man, shortly before the Spider-Verse event started. A young woman of Peter Parker’s age, Cindy was bitten by the same spider that gave him his powers, but her life took a different path. Cindy spent many years locked in a bunker, convinced by Peter’s old mentor Ezekiel, that she would be able to protect herself from an oncoming danger. At the onset of ASM, she is released from her solitude, and eventually starts to use her powers to fight crime.

OK, now that we are caught up, how was her first issue you ask. The bulk of the issue catches us up to date on Cindy’s past with her family before she locked herself away. During her time away, her family disappeared and this is obviously going to be the impetus for her motivation in the series. Cindy wants nothing more to find out what became of them, and is using her new job as a reporter at The Fact Channel, to supplement her search. She contacts Peter several times and looks to him for advice on how to balance a life with a life of crime fighting. Meanwhile, Black Cat,whom has become a much more formidable villain recently, is on the hunt for Silk, whom she had issues with in the pages of ASM. In many ways the first issue emulated a typical tale featuring Peter,but supplanted him with this new character. As Cindy’s story basically parallels Peter’s(except a decade delay), it works well.

Stacey Lee’s art is rendered in a nice, big eyed cartoon style, and it fits the bill for this book well, The Spider books generally are not of the darker variety, so a softer art style works well here, where it may not work on a title like The Punisher. Writer Robbie Thompson is a veteran screenwriter for the CW show Supernatural, and shows a natural sense of storytelling rhythm in his use of flashbacks framed by the current events. The tone emulates Dan Slott’s work on the main Spidey title well enough that it fits easily in with that book without feeling unoriginal. The best compliment I can give Silk #1 is that it left me wanting to read #2.

3.5 Rooftop Hot Dogs out of 5