No Crime Boss Should Say “Hashtag Goals”

Written By: Maurene Goo
Art By: Takeshi Miyazawa
Colors By: Ian Herring
Letters By: VC’s Ariana Maher
Cover Art By: Inhyuk Lee
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: April 28, 2021

In Silk #2, Cindy Moon is invited to a meeting by Derick to find out who’s killing the gangs in Queens. Refusing as Cindy but tagging along from a distance as Silk, she finds out a massive cat demon is intimidating the gangs in Queens to join it or die. When JJJ decides the best thing to do is to get Silk to convince the remaining gangs to join forces against the cat demon’s plans, Cindy learns that human nature isn’t easy to overcome.

Was It Good?

It was frustrating. There are interesting bits in this story but some of the nonsensical plot points cancel out the good with a lot of bad. At best it’s a mediocre issue.

The big down from issue #1 was the art. It’s a little better in issue #2 but held back by the too soft and too muted colors. No pop. No energy. It’s simply bland art.

What’s It About?

[SPOILERS AHEAD]

Cindy Moon aka Silk is going over the gang killings from last issue. Derick, her senior partner, invites her along to a meeting with the Cannibals gang (It’s just a name. They’re not really cannibals) to find out what they know. Cindy refuses, but she later follows him as Silk.

Derick arrives at an arcade for the meeting, but murder and mayhem are already in process. The cat demon we saw at the end of the last episode is issuing an ultimatum – join or die. When the cannibals refuse, the cat demon slashes them to shreds.

Silk grabs Derick, webs him to keep his mouth shut, and stuffs him in an arcade closet. She charges at the cat demon to stop the killing and they begin a lengthy brawl.

The fight is visually okay, but the ending is pretty silly. The cat demon is outclassing Silk in terms of viciousness, speed, and strength. At the end of the fight, Silk is staggering and coughing from cracked ribs. Instead of finishing Silk off, the cat demon simply flees.

It makes no sense. If you have a superhero interfering with your business and you have that hero at your mercy, why flee? The cat demon says “this isn’t over.” It isn’t? Then, why are you just walking away, scary cat demon? She’s right there. She’s got nothing left to fight you off. What are you doing, scary cat demon? Finish her off!

The scary cat demon barges in on Saya Ishii, head of Fujinet, to explain they have a mutual problem — Silk is interfering with their plans. (Apparently, it’s not a problem the scary cat demon felt the need to resolve when it had the chance.) Ishii is unconcerned with SIlk since she’s new to the superhero scene and doesn’t pose much of a threat with a demon army at her disposal. The scary cat demon wishes Ishii was more like her father, but since her father is dead, Ishii doesn’t feel being like her father is “hashtag goals.”

Okay. Just for the setup and that last statement alone, this book she immediately be tossed in the trash. This reviewer can’t wait for the day when comics writers stop acting like they graduated from the Joss Whedon School for Writing Dialog Like Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Moving on.

Derick debriefs an uncharacteristically reserved JJJ in front of Cindy about the attack on the Cannibals. JJJ somehow concludes the only way to handle this is NOT to go to the police with this information, but to use Silk to negotiate a gang alliance against the cat demon. This seems like the kind of thing the Avengers could help with, or maybe Dr. Strange could help since this involves demons, but sure, let’s go with a Queen’s gang alliance.

Silk meets with all the remining gangs at a bathhouse??? Of course, the talks fail miserably due to bad blood and on-going grudges, so Silk heads home defeated.

The next day, Cindy heads to her therapist for her regular session, but she learns her therapist is on leave due to a “family emergency.” The substitute is a handsome man who gets Cindy’s heart all aflutter, and she’s suddenly much less troubled by not having access to her regular therapist.

Of course, the substitute therapist is not who he seems, and we conclude with the promise of more trouble to come.

Final Thoughts:

Despite a promising start in #1, Silk #2 falls down with lackluster art and nonsensical plot points. This is only a recommend for the hardest of hardcore Silk fans.

5/10