Silent Screams Review (New Talent Showcase 2017)

This is a Poison Ivy story by Owl Goingback, Matt Merhoff, Dave McCaig. Since it’s a short one and part of an anthology I’ll stick to the bare essentials of the plot so I won’t spoil anything.

So in short: Poison Ivy is battling an ancient vampiric demon who poses a threat to every living creature, from plants to animals. Most of you probably know mr Goingback from his horror novels. His stories combine mythology, the occult, folk history, myths and legends with classic horror themes. And this is exactly what he delivers here, in his first step into the superhero genre.

Silent Screams is a moody, dark horror tale that brings back memories of “Warren Comics”. I enjoyed how mr Goingback incorporates the story of Nahemah into the superhero genre. After you read the story I suggest reading a bit more about who Nahemah is and what she is capable of, as well as her position in the Gnostic universe. It gives an extra depth to the story if you make the connection: early in her history, Poison Ivy could be a  Nahemah-like character. This detail makes the story a lot more interesting and I think mr Goingback choosing her as the antagonist was deliberate.

Matt Merhoff and Dave McCaig do an excellent work with the art. They create a constant rise in tension by starting the story in big, open spaces and climaxing it in a tight, claustrophobic cadence. The color palette intensifies this claustrophobic feeling. Woods are scary, dark and mysterious, a place where everything is possible and where evil things could be hidden. The art also feels like a homage or a nod to classic horror comics and I’m definitely looking forward to more of their work.

I’m a sucker for stories that use elements of religion, occult and mythology in new and creative ways. I think there is a lot of untapped potential in them as source material and it’s a shame we don’t see more of them. This story also answers the question of “If Poison Ivy becomes a hero, who are her enemies?”. I would definitely buy an ongoing series with Poison Ivy doing detective work and fighting ancient demons and evil entities inspired by religion and mythology. Combine it with a modern twist and how these stories reflect today’s problems and you have pure gold.

The only two things that I didn’t like are:

a) The price. Since this is an introductory anthology it should have had a lower price so that new readers could affordably sample the work of the creators featured. I understand that anthologies are often pricier because a lot more people are involved but DC could ie offer individual stories as digital downloads/chapters.

b) Poison Ivy repeatedly saying that she doesn’t care about the children felt out of character. Her love for kids is something that’s been well established and is part of who she is. Perhaps in the past Ivy didn’t care about humanity but this is not who she is now. Mr Goingback explained to me that Ivy knows that it’s too late about the children (so she needs to remove her sentiments in order to fight the demon) and that it was the plants who called her. I think that if this point was a bit more clear, it would have elevated this story from an excellent to a perfect one.