The Silencer #2 – Dan Abnett, Writer; John Romita Jr., Penciller; Sandra Hope, Inker; Dean White, Arif Prianto, Colorists
Ratings:
Ray – 7.5/10
Corrina: Not Quite There
WARNING: SPOILERS BELOW
Ray: Silencer #2, Dan Abnett’s assassin comic, falls into a consistent groove that keeps me interested, but never overly thrilled. The action is good, but the most compelling segments of the story are consistently the ones where no one is getting shot. The first seven pages of the issue, are, to be blunt, nonsense. As Silencer takes on assassins targeting her, we’re treated to a pair of the most ridiculous 90s villains I’ve ever seen. Breacher is bad enough but pretty standard. Bloodvessel, though, is absurd. A being made up of living blood contained in a bulky black-and-red suit of armor? That’s a concept that 90s Image writers are reading right now and going “I wish I’d thought of that!”. They’re dispatched pretty quickly, and that’s when the comic improves. I like what Abnett is doing here with exploring the Assassin underworld – the concept of services like “The Cleaners” has a lot of potential.
However, once again the issue gets far better when the assassins are off screen. As soon as Honor Guest returns home – with a fire-induced new haircut that she has to explain to her husband – I’m instantly more interested in how she conceals this craziness from her husband and son. Thing is, she is a good character, easily one of the more likable new leads we’ve gotten from DC in a while. Unlike Deathstroke, who’s a pretty horrible person whose awfulness trickles down to his family, Honor is a decent person who simply chose Hit-work as a part of her past. And she’s most dangerous when what she really cares about is threatened. But soon enough, she’s off on her own again, into the world of the Underlife, and she faces off with a shady new head of the organization who wants to pull her back in. There’s a lot of stock moments, such as the face-off that ends the issue, but it feels like there’s a very good comic in here trying to get out.
Corrina: Didn’t we just have a villain who played with controlling blood over in Flash? So it’s more recent. Anyway…
Honor Guest is an indeed a good lead, though she hasn’t quite risen to unique. For instance, her home scenes are cute, especially with her son and teaching him how to brush her teeth, but the big question on my mind is how much her husband really knows about her? Because she’s lied to him for years and that’s bound to exact a price. While it’s nice they have a satisfying sex life, I’d like to see more of how they connect emotionally with each other. So far, the scenes of domestic tranquility could be about anyone and I’ve yet to see hints of how the husband (see how generic the good husband he is that I can’t remember his name?) and Honor fell in love. What’s their bond?
But I did love the Cleaners and I also loved Maul Mart. Because, hey, what’s not to love about Maul Mart. Now I want a series where someone finds out that Maul Mart supplies many of the crazy weapons in the DCU and it’s time to tear it down, all the while being sought by the assassins of the world. Sounds like a job for Spyral, actually.
To find reviews of all the DC issues, visit DC This Week.
Disclaimer: GeekDad received this comic for review purposes
