Crush of the Week #1

I’ve been meaning to start this feature for quite some time, having done a mini one on my Tumblr a couple of months ago. And then I promptly forgot about it in favor of doing so much homework. Lame of me, I know.

However, this is the official start to Pop Culture Sushi’s Crush of the Week! After I’ve read my pull for the week (maybe not all of them, but gotten through enough to decide that someone is worth my love and adoration above all others for the week) I’ll talk a little about what I’ve read, who my crush is, and why that character is so fantastic.

This week, I picked up: Minutemen #1 (from the Before Watchmen series), AvX #5, Earth 2 #2, World’s Finest #2, Age of Apocalypse #4, and Avengers Academy #31. Out of these, I read AvX and Minutemen. And despite having quite a few more to read, Minutemen’s Silhouette has officially won Crush of the Week.

She’s the one on the far left.

If you’ve seen the Watchmen movie or read the book, you’ll recall that Silhouette was a minor character, a member of the Minutemen who were long gone by the time that story had taken place. One of the reasons I was so excited about Before Watchmen is because I was aching to read stories about the Minutmen. Dollar Bill, Hooded Justice, the original Nite Owl… the whole team just fascinated me in the original book so to be able to read stories about the old gang was wildly exciting.

I was not disappointed. Seriously. Go out and read Minutemen. It’s well worth the four bucks. Go do it right now. I’ll wait.

In the meantime, I’ll just enjoy this. Mmmmm.

It’s not just because she dresses like a WWII-era dominatrix (though it helps). Mostly, it’s because, according to the very excellent story written and drawn by Darwyn Cooke, she’s one of the few Minutemen who seems to be doing good for the sake of doing good. All while hiding her sexuality which, of course in those days, was a pretty big deal. Not at all the progressive world we live in today.

Completely progressive.

Her back story is suitably tragic for the Watchmen universe. Silhouette survived Nazi-occupied Austria, lost much of her family to the riots in Linz, and was tortured by Nazis before she escaped Europe. She is alone, angry, and has a lot to hate. But instead, she becomes the gruesome superheroine who actually does some good for a world that has shown her nothing but ugliness.

It makes her ultimate death by bigots all the more haunting.

She is what proves that Before Watchmen can work. Because in just 3-4 pages, she opened the door to a world that’s bigger than the one Alan Moore created. Now, before the haters hate, I’m not saying it’s going to be a better world, or the world that the very talented and popular Moore created. But it’s bigger. Watchmen’s story was told. But Silhouette’s wasn’t told. Dollar Bill’s wasn’t told. Hooded Justice’s wasn’t told.

I’d have gone to see this movie.

I’m excited to see Silhouette’s story told. She’s powerful, compelling, and has nothing but potential for a fantastic story. I can’t wait to read next month’s Minutemen and see more Silhouette! She’s my Crush of the Week and I’m sure she’ll turn up on this list again.