Bigger Than Capes

Written by: Michael Walsh
Lines by: Michael Walsh with Gavin Fullerton
Colours by: Michael Walsh & Toni Marie Griffin
Publisher: Image

Recently I reviewed the Fear Street trilogy, and in that article I mentioned that The Silver Coin is definitely something that I think will appeal to those who have enjoyed the films, and vice versa. This month’s issue of The Silver Coin really helps to hammer that fact home, much like Fear Street, this issue shows where the coin’s story really began, and wouldn’t you know it, it all began with a well meaning witch.

The Silver Coin #5 follows the story of Rebekah, a young woman in a small village in New England as she goes about her day, helping deliver a baby and checking up on the health of her friend’s goat Greta. However her day takes a fatal turn for the worst when a witch hunter arrives in the village and immediately suspects her of being in league with the devil himself.

It’s a story that you’ve probably read or seen something similar to in the past, but the sense of terror still rings true in this instalment of The Silver Coin. The witch hunter, Cotton Dudley, is a character that feels immediately terrifying, one glance at him and you know he’s not a good guy, a man with the power to destroy lives and turn a village against one of its own. Although it doesn’t take more than a few brief panels to show that the extent of Rebekah’s power is greater than it may initially seem. It may seem that the good witch versus the evil witch hunter is an idea that’s come up elsewhere, but that doesn’t take away from the tragedy in this issue, or the investment you’ll have waiting to see how every twist and turn plays out.

As we’ve seen throughout The Silver Coin, Michael Walsh’s artwork is phenomenal and can set the mood for any number of horror settings; this issue is set long before any of the previous stories and Walsh’s writing and artwork excels here. It presents Cotton as a monster in human form while also displaying the mundanity of life in the village and using a few small details to inject horror throughout the story, building to a climactic ending.

The Silver Coin was originally going to be a limited series and, although it’s now been changed to be an ongoing series, there’s some clear indications that this was originally intended to be the volume’s conclusion. While this story takes place first chronologically it feels like an ending, revealing the origin of the coin but never shying away from the horror we’ve come to expect. This would be a satisfying ending for the series, knowing that Michael Walsh has answered the question we’ve all been asking since the first issue. But make no mistake, I’m thrilled that there’s more to come in the world of The Silver Coin and I look forward to finding out what the future, or perhaps the past holds.