How can one silver coin change life forever? Ask Ryan, the lead guitarist of Running Red. Your Major Spoilers review of The Silver Coin #1 from Image Comics awaits!
THE SILVER COIN #1
Writer: Chip Zdarsky
Artist: Michael Walsh
Colorist: Michael Walsh
Letterer: Michael Walsh
Editor: Chris Hampton
Publisher: Image Comics
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: April 7, 2021
Previously in The Silver Coin: 1978: A failing rock band whose fortune suddenly changes when they find the mysterious Silver Coin.
Little do they know that fame comes with a cost, and a curse is always hungry.
THE TICKET
The Bee Gees were king in 1978, which is a real bummer for Ryan and the rest of his band, Running Red. No matter how hard they try, they just can’t find the one break that’ll make their out-of-date arena rock sound successful in the age of disco. While commiserating about the injustice of it all, Ryan finds a silver coin in a box of his absent mother’s things, taking it for himself as a curiosity. When he loses his picks, though, it becomes something so much more. Their sound finally gels, the music is compelling and perfect. And the blood from the cut on his fingers is a small price to pay, especially as the crowds start to pack the venue for their gigs. They even get some attention from a producer at Polygram Records, but Ryan starts to find himself driven to seek greater and greater heights.
And then, he finds he cannot stop playing…
ENGAGING FROM THE VERY FIRST PANEL
The Silver Coin #1 hits hard, and the art and story work in perfect concert throughout, drawing me in from the first panel and giving a pleasing sense of life to the characters. Walsh’s art perfectly encapsulates the dingy bars I remember from my youth, and the tension between the band members is compelling as well. It’s especially impressive to see Zdarsky and Walsh’s story is only 22 pages long, successfully establishing and resolving its plot (and setting up the MacGuffin for the ongoing series) in the length of a standard comic book. The last time I can remember a first issue this successful was also an Image Comic, ‘Ice Cream Man’, and it likewise managed to pull off horror, which makes me hope that we’re due for another horror renaissance, and I couldn’t be happier.
BOTTOM LINE: OMIGAWD, THAT ENDING…
The Silver Coin #1 is a truly impressive achievement in both art and story, creating a compelling premise with a mean-spirited ‘Outer Limits’ twist and a setup for the rest of the series that makes me want to see what’s coming, earning a dead-solid 5 out of 5 stars overall. As a fan of ‘The Twilight Zone’ and all manner of suspense/horror/uncanny stories, I feel like anybody who shares my appreciation of the dark and uncanny will find something to enjoy here.
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THE SILVER COIN #1
If 2020s Image becomes the horror anthology headquarters that '90s Vertigo used to be, I'll be thrilled, especially if its all as good as this issue.
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Writing10
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Art10
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Coloring10
Once upon a time, there was a young nerd from the Midwest, who loved Matter-Eater Lad and the McKenzie Brothers... If pop culture were a maze, Matthew would be the Minotaur at its center. Were it a mall, he'd be the Food Court. Were it a parking lot, he’d be the distant Cart Corral where the weird kids gather to smoke, but that’s not important right now... Matthew enjoys body surfing (so long as the bodies are fresh), writing in the third person, and dark-eyed women. Amongst his weaponry are such diverse elements as: Fear! Surprise! Ruthless efficiency! An almost fanatical devotion to pop culture! And a nice red uniform.