The Silencers (Moonstone)

(Moonstone, 2003-2004)
™ and ©2003 Steve Ellis and Fred Van Lente

Forget The Sopranos, give me The Silencers! Why be stuck with interesting mob characters when you can have super-powered interesting mob characters? The Silencers are the Provenzano family’s private team of super-enforcers who ruthlessly protect the “interests” of the family in the city’s five boroughs. Each of the 10 Silencers is endowed with a particular talent and is led by The Cardinal, who possesses a 100,000-volt electrical field around his body. So-named because he once studied for the priesthood, Cardinal was recruited into the Provenzano family to replace his dead brother and is obviously a favorite character of writer Fred Van Lente.

Steve Ellis’ pencils and inks create a dark and wonderfully moody landscape. His work provides this super-crime comic book with an unusual pace and style.

The story has plenty of intrigue and maintains an excellent balance of action and character development. Besides that, it’s over too soon, leaves the reader demanding to know what happens next, and is filled with characters that I can’t wait to learn more about. It’s time to cheer for the bad guys!

— Karen O’Brien

Jump to issue:

Notes

Writer

Artist