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THE SILENCERS #1
"Bitter Fruit - Part 1"
Mildly Recommended (6/10)
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Moonstone Books
Writer: Fred Van Lente
Artist: Steve Ellis
Colors: Steve Ellis & Dae Uyoo
Price: $3.50 US |
The Silencers is a bit of a departure from Moonstone, as it is neither based on a pre-existing property or put out in prestige format, instead being a super-hero genre property in standard comic format. It actually reads something like the flipside of Powers, examining how regular crime fits in with super-powers. There's definitely potential here, but the first issue is a little bit scattered, trying to introduce the concept and numerous characters at the same time, and Van Lente's approach is a bit too much on the heroic side for me, as if his heart isn't entirely in writing about super-criminals but instead about good guys in a bad spot. Ellis, however, surprises me by turning in some solid Oeming-esque artwork with terrific colors, and though it does occasionally have its storytelling glitches, it's interesting stuff, and gives me hope for his work on the upcoming Crimson Dynamo title.
Van Lente has packed a lot into this script, and it's honestly a bit too much. His focus is on Cardinal, and that focus helps, because Cardinal comes off as the most well-realized character. I wasn't wild about his role as basically a good kid who wants out, especially given the fearsome reputation he seems to have engendered judging by the opening sequence, but it's a reasonable enough viewpoint to take on the series. Van Lente runs into trouble when he tries to introduce the rest of the team, who never really come alive as people or even as sets of powers, with the exception of Kid Chaos, who is characterized largely by his reactions to Cardinal.
The plot is straightforward enough, but still manages to meander a bit. It's a good old-fashioned gang war story, as a new drug gang is moving in on the mob, and the Silencers are called in to track down the culprits and put a stop to it. In fact, it's not so much that the story isn't clear, it's that I'm not sure that a lot of this issue really has anything to do with that story. The introduction of Cardinal's desire to get out complicates the story unnecessarily and dilutes the crime flavor, and the sequences that are presumably meant to introduce the various characters before the Syndicate comes after them instead come off as generic fight scenes, because we don't know these characters yet.
I have previously seen Ellis's artwork mostly in black and white, and wasn't quite sure what to expect, but his work on The Silencers is pretty solid. The layouts are very reminiscent of Oeming's work on Powers, and though the characters aren't quite as angular and well-defined, it wouldn't be wrong to characterize the art style in general as Oeming-esque. Actually, even the colors remind me of Powers, combining bright four-color style with noir shadow, and Ellis and Uyoo have a lot to be proud of in that regard.
The Silencers is a nifty concept with pretty art and solid enough writing, but it needs more focus to really shine. If the book were to get just a little bit darker and accepting of the crime nature of the stories and the dialogue had a little more of the zing that Brian Michael Bendis brings to Powers, I think Moonstone could really have something here.
These comic books were not among this week's new releases.
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