| Title | : | Silver Scorpion |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | - |
| Format Type | : | Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 144 |
| Publication | : | First published November 6, 2012 |
Based on the creative ideas of a group of disabled students from America and Syria, the Silver Scorpion tells the story of an Arabic teenager, Bashir Bari, who loses his legs in a tragic accident triggered by violent gangsters. Consumed with anger and grief, Bashir retreats into a world of isolation, resentful of the pitiful looks and whispers of strangers. When he accidentally witnesses the murder of Tarek, a mysterious local metal smith, Bashir is unwittingly chosen as the new guardian of an ancient power that has remained hidden for centuries. With new abilities allowing him to manipulate the metal around him, Bashir must now decide how to use this gift and balance the line between justice and revenge.
From Liquid Comics and the Open Hands Initiative.
Silver Scorpion Reviews
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I was delighted to download a copy of this graphic novel from Net Galley.
The history of the creation of Silver Scorpion is an amazing one. The Open Hands Initiative sponsored a Youth Ability Summit for American and Syrian differently abled teenagers which took place in Damascus in 2010. These young people created a Middle Eastern protagonist in a wheelchair who undergoes a metamorphosis into a superhero. The Open Hands Initiative partnered with the digital publisher Liquid Comics and Dynamite Entertainment to realize their vision.
I was impressed with the character of Bashir, the young Syrian sculptor who becomes the Silver Scorpion. Bashir lives with his uncle Tamim, who is a scrap metal dealer. According to the sources I consulted, Tamim in Arabic means strong, solid and impeccable. Tamim in Hebrew is used to describe a fully-committed spiritual relationship with God. The character Tamim is a wise mentor for Bashir. He provides stability through Bashir's transformative ordeal.
There have been other comic book heroes who sit in wheelchairs, but have extraordinary abilities. Marvel's Professor X, the leader of the X-Men, is probably the most famous of them. He was born Charles Xavier and became a powerful telepath. Another comic book hero in a wheelchair known as Oracle, the leader of the female superheroes called Birds of Prey, was a tremendous inspiration to a great many people. She didn't have any superpowers, but she was a former librarian and wielded the formidable power of information. Unfortunately, Oracle is gone. I have seen her tombstone and have mourned her. The Silver Scorpion can't replace Oracle, but I do recognize him as a successor who can play a similarly important role.
What happens when our heroes are in wheelchairs? I hope that what happens as a result of this graphic novel is positive change like the transformation of Bashir into the Silver Scorpion.
For my complete review see my October blog post "The Silver Scorpion Challenges Biases and Bridges Cultures" at
http://www.maskedpersona.blogspot.com -
A graphic novel that tells the origin of the Silver Scorpion character. After a tragedy leaves one boy dead and another in a wheelchair, he receives an amulet that allows him to control metal. He vows to fight the gang that is terrorizing the city.
A fairly interesting premise, even if it is one that is familiar. A nice start to the series. -
A very good contemporary story. The art work is quite good and the coloring added much to the mood of the story.
The characters are well rounded and sympathetic under the circumstances.
A very good start to what appears to be a good series. -
Narrative logic was clearly not a priority in this comic book. I tried ignoring the plot holes and contrivances and mindlessly enjoy the action but I couldn’t. The story was just too ridiculous to tolerate.
The Characters
+ Bashir
Starting with the worst offender, I didn’t understand why Bashir wore a flying, mini-fridge looking wheelchair in his superhero form. With his power, he was completely capable of crafting metal legs to walk, soar in the sky, kick with super strength, etc. I know the guy who gave him the power strongly advised against it, saying it would draw evil attention, but Bashir became The Silver Scorpion anyway. He started saving people, fighting organized crime, and appearing on TV. Clearly, Bashir did not listen about the attention part but apparently he chose to listen about the leg thing. Talk about missing the point!
I think the comic was trying to say, “hey, this kid in a wheelchair can become a superhero even in a wheelchair.” However, the power bestowed upon Bashir made it entirely possible for him to have legs, super-legs. It was a perfect example of the elephant in the room. As a result, Bashir’s character suffered severely for it, and it was not like he was a great character from the start.
Bashir was a jerk. He made rash decisions. He trusted too easily; who is to say the super-powered girls were good guys and not bad guys in disguise. Bashir did improve on the jerk part eventually, but he was still too headstrong for his own good. As the saying goes, “courage without wisdom is foolishness,” and Bashir was quite a fool.
+ Bashir’s uncle
The other characters were not that much better. I’ll be blunt; Bashir’s uncle was a bad parent. He recklessly allowed Bashir to become a superhero. Bashir is only the family his uncle has, and the only parent Bashir has. Did no one, Bashir or his uncle, think that super-heroing was dangerous? That Bashir had no training or experience of any kind rescuing people or fighting crimes, that he could die from if he make one wrong move, or his Uncle could be taken hostage if Bashir’s identity was revealed?
Bashir’s uncle’s parenting instinct should have risen to overprotectiveness after the accident that caused Bashir to lose his legs. But it didn’t, and it was bad character development on the story’s part.
+ Aimee and Robina
The other members of Bashir’s little superhero team were not that good either. Aimee should know that a hood is a horrible way to hide her face in her superhero costume. At least she had a personality, even if it was a stereotypical rude American tourist. Robina on the other hand was bland and forgettable.
The Plot
I liked that it was fast-paced, but I did not like how the plot smackdown logic to accomplish it. Everything happened too conveniently.
Tarek was the guy who gave Bashir his Silver Scorpion power. I didn’t understand why Tarek did not use the power to fashion a bulletproof under-clothing to wear at all time so he wouldn’t die when the gangster shot him. Tarek knew full well he was going to be shot by gangsters inevitably. It was really contrived how Bashir got his power from Tarek when Bashir just met the guy.
Speaking of encounters, Bashir, Aimee, and Robina got along too quickly to be believable. The three shared their life story almost immediately after they met. It wasn’t “let’s get to know each other,” it was “let’s tell each other our most private matters and act as if we have always been best friends instead of strangers who only have known each other for about a day.”
Then, there was the issue of where the three got captured by the main villain. Of all the bad guys they fought, bad guys who shoot first, ask questions later, the main villain just happened to be a guy who only imprisoned them once he got what he wanted from them.
These examples are only a few of the countless things that happened too conveniently. Worse, the ending was open-ended with nary a conflict resolved. The story was simply about how the three young superheroes met and overcame their first hurdle as a team, and then “The End” followed by some art pages. There’s no volume 2.
In Conclusion
I rate The Silver Scorpion 2-stars for it was okay. I liked the art and the action, but that was about it. I was disappointed by the great lack of polish because it would have been easily likeable comic book otherwise. -
{Silver scorpion}
I think this was a really good comic book I've seen other comics but so far this one was my favorite can't wait for the next comic lights out -
Cool cast of characters, and nice idea for the superhero origin. However, the story felt lacking in the plot department (weak points and plot holes), so it could have been much better.
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I was super excited to read the first issue of Silver Scorpion by Ron Marz and Mukesh Singh. I had a brand new superhero to meet and I definitely had fun meeting Bashir of “the city”. Bashir, not long after squashing a scorpion with his foot in his uncle’s scrapyard and coming across a wheelchair, looses both of his legs as well as a friend thanks to a landmine. When he meets Tarek, a friend of his uncle, his world is on the verge of changing. The gift he is about to receive will turn him into Silver Scorpion.
As far as I could tell, this comic is full of Middle-Eastern people, so the culture factor was something fresh for me and something that had pulled me more towards reading this book. Bashir loves art and art itself plays very important roles in this issue. Not one to keep his mouth shut, he is the type of guy that won’t be intimidated by anyone and he can be mulish when he wants to be. His missing legs was a worry for me, but the action at the end was enjoyable. Flames everywhere and thugs running for their lives.
First posted at
http://www.bruceruadan.com -
It was very good
It has elements that makes it different from others even though it is about a hero fighting for other people. It's great to see a superhero in a wheelchair and because of the antagonist looking for the other pieces I would really like to read the the following issues. -
really interesting concept. I really liked how inclusive this comic which featuring Arabic characters and having the main protagonist be disabled was an intersecting twist. I really liked the characters and the origins plot and look forward to reading more of this character.
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Nice and quick day..
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Metal power
Great book great graphics. A story is told and then more elements are hinted at. Good enough for me to consider reading more. -
"When you lose one ability, it helps to focus on your others. You may have strenghts you never knew you had."
Setelah membaca komik ini impresiku adalah: kenapa gak aku baca dari dulu waktu dapetin judul yang ini ya? Karena emang bagus dan cukup meaningfull juga cerita di dalam sini.
Jadi ceritanya di sini yaitu tentang seorang pria yang karena suatu kecelakaan yang mengakibatkan dia harus pakai kursi roda. Sampai suatu hari dia nggak menyangka akan menjadi sosok yang membuat gempur yang mana dia menjuluki dirinya sendiri dengan sebutan "Silver Scorpion".
Genrenya memang semi-semi sci-fi gitu tapi di sini juga ada hal-hal yang bisa dijadikan pembelajaran dan aku suka bagaimana ada satu tokoh di sini yang selalu melihat dunia dengan sudut pandang yang bikin aku takjub deh.
Pokoknya kalian harus masukin komik ini ke list next read kalian. -
Great story!! I really liked it!
Good concept, story was told very well, in a way that invests the reader in the story. Great story, I recommend it to anyone who loves a hero.
