By Cat Wyatt

The Silencer is a new DC series, based in the Dark Nights Metal universe. Honor Guest (yes, that really is her name) is one of the world’s deadliest assassins, and the description for the series felt the need to point out that this is true, even though we’ve never heard of her. Personally, I feel that the best assassins would be the ones that keep their names from being mentioned all of the time, and thus I’m willing to consider that further proof, rather than a reason to question the validity of the series.

The series starts off with a bang, and I mean that pretty literally (okay, it’s a blam, but let’s not get too nitpicky here). Honor is sitting in a diner (with a kid that I can only assume at this point is her child?) and she is very very clearly upset with the person across the booth from her (unfortunately our perspective is through this person, so I have no idea who they were or what they looked like).

Before we move on, I’d like to take a minute and talk about the clear influences for this series. Well, the one influence really. At first glance this series immediately made me think of the Punisher. First, there’s the name, which admittedly isn’t a very strong connection, but it is somewhat reminiscent, so I’m counting it. Then there’s the whole gun-toting bit, which again isn’t a very strong one, but it is still there. On the very first page is a clear reference to the Punisher, however. Seriously, how many times have we seen Frank Castle in a diner? Countless times. Given that none of the similarities hit the blatant rip-off point, I’m willing to consider all of this a hat tip. My opinion on this may change, based on any future events, but for the moment I don’t find myself annoyed by any potential connections (especially since it’s become pretty common for Marvel and DC to have ‘similar’ characters showing up on both sides of the line).

Back to the plot, and the past; the next page jumps us back a whole week in Honor’s story. While a week doesn’t sound like that much, it was actually a pretty jarring transition. It honestly took me a moment to realize this was the same character, as opposed to bouncing over to another relevant character. She’s happy, in casual clothes, shopping, and she has long blond hair. Her kid is with her, with helped to reinforce the fact that it is in fact the same character, which is good.It’s clear that while Honor may have been (and likely will become again) the world’s best assassin, she’s currently living a completely different life. If I had to guess, it looks an awful lot like she’s trying to live the idea soccer mom life, which I can actually understand why she’d want such a dramatic change in her life.

It also becomes pretty clear that there are certain forces out there that don’t want her to continue living in retirement. I’m not going to comment on how obvious an antagonist name like Killbox is, it really wouldn’t be worth the effort, considering he doesn’t get to exist in the comic for very long (here’s a hint: never threaten an assassin when her child is around).

The more I read this series (or at least this issue) the more clear it becomes that Honor is nothing like Frank Castle. For one thing, she isn’t simply human. She’s a metahuman, though I don’t know if she is naturally that way, or if she was modified (perhaps modified on top of any natural gifts?). I would have to read more of the series before I could say anything for certain. I’m concerned about the amount of abilities shown however – this could very quickly become an overpowered character, which would be at risk for becoming boring in my mind. We’ll have to see how they use these abilities in the future (and hopefully they won’t continue to add onto the list).

If you asked me to compile a list of characters I would never expect to see in this series, I’d probably throw Talia Al Ghul somewhere in the middle. Sure she’s connected to the league of assassins, but for some reason it never occurred to me that Honor would likely have been a part of one of these guilds (I guess I had just assumed that she was an independent sort like Deadshot).

As far as first issues go, this one was neither here nor there. It certainly has potential, but it also tried to cram way too much into a single issue. Introducing the character, her backstory, her family, and her abilities is a tall order, and I would have preferred to see them dished out a bit slower. I’m still concerned that Honor may become overpowered, especially since on top of her abilities she now has access to a suit (more on that in a minute) and other tech. I’m assuming something more serious is going to happen in the near future to Honor’s character, because so far everything I’ve seen could cause her to move and switch identities again, but is unlikely to make her willing to bring her kid along while she goes hunting - I mean, let’s be realistic here – why isn’t she leaving him behind in a safe location? The only answer can be that there is no safe place for him with the exception of being by his mother’s side.

I wasn’t a huge fan of the artwork in this issue. It’s rougher and a bit more on the blocky side, which can be done well when applied correctly. For example, it worked pretty well during the fight scene in the parking lot, but looked awful when Talia and Honor were talking in the car (their faces were absurd). The other part that really bothered me was how the suit looked on the final page. I seriously looks like they drew Honor in and then at the last minute decided to throw armor on over her, without spending any time coloring or detailing it. It’s a silver scribble over her. The final image of her wearing it is a bit better, but only marginally. There’s more detail, but it still doesn’t look right – more like somebody painted leather armor grey. It certainly doesn’t read as a high tech suit. I’m hoping this will change dramatically for following issues.

Score: 3/5

The Silencer #1
DC Comics