Syphon # 1
Image Comics
Story by: Mohsen Ashraf
Written by: Patrick Meaney & Mohsen Ashraf
Art by: Jeff Edwards
Colors by: John Kalisz
There is only so much one person can take. What leads up to that moment may be different for each one of us. Maybe it is a personal problem or the people in our lives. Sometimes, even just looking at the state of the world can drain you and drag you down. Suddenly, it all becomes just too much to take and we reach that breaking point. Maybe you haven’t gotten to that point yet, but the protagonist in Image Comics’ new series Syphon certainly has.
The issue opens with a woman named Katherine who I believe is best described as a “Lightworker”. For the unfamiliar, a lightworker is someone who works to help humanity.
By shouldering the burdens of others and taking away their pains both physical and even emotional these indviduals have dedicated themselves to making the world a better place. Of course, this is not a simple task – but one I believe has been vital to the continued progress of mankind.
Unfortunately for Katherine, it seems this power is not hers alone and someone has decided she is wasting this “gift.” Slaughtered while helping someone in pain, Katherine uses the last of her will to send her gift to the next lightworker.
Syphon # 1, written by Patrick Meaney and Mohsen Ashraf, is a brilliantly crafted story. Introducing us to Sylas, we discover an already burdened individual. Between his personal demons and those of his career as an EMT, he has seen a lot. After receiving the ‘gift’ from Katherine, Sylas life only becomes more complex. Now he has the ability to hear others suffering and the need to help them. The illustrations of Jeff Edwards along with the colors of John Kalisz bring out the troubles Sylas encounters in all their unmistakably and unfortunate detail. In a city full of people hurting and being hurt, would it be a shock if Sylas eventually becomes overwhelmed.
While he is initially happy to help, by the end of this issue, Sylas seems to have had enough. His life isn’t any better for this “gift.” Actually, it’s quite the opposite seeing as he is on the verge of a split with his girlfriend, too drained from performing his new work to want to have fun. This drain affects his attitude as well. To him, it appears no one is helping themselves so why should he continue to bear this burden.
Katherine’s murder seems to hint that at least one character in this comic is more than willing to help Sylas. For a lightworker this comic spotlights what happens when someone who is a giver of light can take no more.