Review: SILK SPECTRE #1

Before Watchmen: Silk Spectre #1
Written by Darwyn Cooke and Amanda Conner
Art by Amanda Conner and Paul Mounts
Lettering by Carlos M. Mangual
Published by DC Comics
Review by William R. Davis Jr.



The announcement of Before Watchmen guaranteed only one thing to DC readership: Controversy. While Minutemen featured minor characters in the Watchmen universe, Silk Spectre #1 would begin the transition into books featuring characters extensively developed by Alan Moore. While Silk Spectre is my least favorite character, the choice of Amanda Conner and Darwyn Cooke piqued my interest immediately. Amanda Conner's stylistically unique contributions to the world of comics include Power Girl, Vampirella, and Gatecrasher. Her artistic talents are a distinct contrast from original artist Dave Gibbons, and before the first issue of this series was released I knew that aesthetically Silk Spectre would not be traditional Watchmen fare. The recurring emotional asides depicted as an animated and cartoony expression of teenage angst are indeed a drastic departure from the original work that would undeniably bring Alan Moore to tears, but this is not a negative assessment of the art. In fact, Silk Spectre #1 does a slightly better job than Minutemen of taking Before Watchmen beyond homage. Silk Spectre took chances, but the finished product is a deeply flawed one, albeit visually pleasing.

The script reeks of cliche. You could replace Laurie Jupiter with Joey Potter, take the superhero out, place them squarely in Dawson's Creek, and this story would work. Sally Jupiter's miserable failure at parenting is the most compelling aspect of the writing, but the main focus of issue one is not the original Silk Spectre, although her presence does play an integral part in the plot development. The entire book centers around the emotional damage caused by her self fixated quest to live vicariously through her younger daughter. Any strength in the dialogue and storyline solely resides here. Beauty fades, and the attention starved twilight years of a post porn/media star go to dark places where one would expect to find the plot of a Watchmen series. I know that after reading Minutemen, an entire four issues devoted to Sally Jupiter staging photo ops and banging it out in Tijuana would make a horrible comic, but something more imaginative; less sterilized and pre-packaged, is needed to justify a prequel here. Again the art is flawless, but after only one issue the story is on life support. Laurie Jupiter is a confused, frustrated, teen girl with a crush on the school jock. The popular girls are mean, and it just so happens that the before mentioned star quarterback sees something deeper in the social outcast and instantly falls in love. I'm serious, that's the plot. Even the lone fight scene with Sunshine, Lollipops, and Rainbows soundtrack seemed more of a homage to Zach Snyder than Alan Moore, and anyone who has seen the film would know, this makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. The saddest part about Silk Spectre #1 is that more than likely, Sally Jupiter will not be a part of issue two.

There is no telling where the story will eventually go, but wherever the series takes us better be a drastic departure from the staus quo. To give you one final and very telling example of the merciless cliches found throughout, (SPOILER ALERT) after only three quarters of a date the school jock professes his undying love to Laurie, and the two misunderstood youths decide to runaway together for destinations unknown. In the final panel they hitch a ride in a day glo VW bus bound for San Francisco ala the merry pranksters. I fully expected these final panels to be cluttered with the lyrics to If You're Going to San Fransisco, but apparently the creative team decided that concept was worn out with Sunshine, Lollipops, and Rainbows and decided to end their borderline plagiarism there. I cannot dismiss the overall negativity of this critique, but the addition of even one more cliche would have took this review from negative to scathing. If the current formula endures I might be able to save everyone some money. Laurie and Jocko go to San Francisco, become superheroes, and then the big cliffhanger...wait for it...her one true love is killed. Shut up crime. Suffice it to say, I am not terribly excited for issue two. The art was masterful, and that redeeming factor kept this book from being a complete waste of money. And while Minutemen succeeded to a much greater degree, chances were taken here and I ultimately respect the bravado. Amanda Conner's pencils alone salvaged a disappointing, borderline absurd followup to Minutemen. I will be buying the rest of the series only out of a morbid curiosity, nothing else.