Review: The Silencer #1

She tried to get out, but they pulled her back in again. Who is she? She“s The Silencer, a former top assassin of The Leviathan, who had left the criminal life behind. She“s a new character brought to life by John Romita Jr. and Dan Abnett. This series is being launched as part of DC“ Dark Matter titles spun out from Dark Night: Metal.

The Silencer has given up the life of international assassin, gotten married and had a kid. As Honor Guest, she is happy to live a quiet normal life in the suburbs of Charlotte, South Carolina. Her six years of suburban bliss come abrupt to an end when another Leviathan killer spots her in a strip mall parking lot with her three-year-old son. Killbox (a cyborg killer, naturally) attacks and we get to see Silencer“s powers in action. She can create a bubble of silence when no sound can travel from one side of the barrier to the other. She quickly dispatches him with no one, especially her son, hearing anything.

When she gets home, her “old co-worker”“ Talia al Ghul stops by for dinner and a warning. The Leviathan has split in a power struggle and Talia is, at least for now, on the run. She“s stopped by to warn Honor that the other side doesn“t believe Talia (who once offered a $500 million dollar bounty to the person who could kill her own son) let her go out of friendship and she“s going to have to take the fight to them. At first, Honor doesn“t believe her, but then things change.

Romita and Abnett pack a lot of action and story into this first issue. Jim Lee has promised the Dark Matter titles will be artist led and it is clear that Eisner award winner Romita (Uncanny X-Men, Amazing Spider-Man, Kick-Ass, Superman) is in the driver“s seat and Abnett is playing catch up. Romita“s art is clearly the star of this book. He does an equally fantastic job with the big fights and the quiet moments at home. If you“re a fan of his, you want this title on your pull list.

Abnett (War of Kings, Nova, Superman/Batman, Ninjak) knows how to guide a strong artist through hitting all the beats that his plot needs and weaves together a story that serves the art and the reader. He does a great job handling the issue story and setting up the title for the full ride. It is not an easy task when so many readers will be unfamiliar with many elements in this book.

If there is one complaint, it is there are points where the exposition is too much. Some of the inner dialogue feels like an info dump. I wish that writers wouldn“t always spoon feed every detail. Let the readers figure stuff out from context.

This is a gripping title launch and I“d be interested in seeing where this goes. I can“t think of many comics that have been headlined by a woman killer who becomes determined to take the fight to her enemies, while trying to be a good mom.

[yasr_overall_rating size=”large”]

Artist: John Romita, Jr.
Writer: Dan Abnett
Inks: Sandra Hope
Colors: Dean White

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Andy Hall

Sent from the future by our Robot Ape overlords to preserve the timeline. Reading and writing about comics until the revolution comes. All hail the Orangutan Android Solar King!