Writer – Steve Perry
Artist – Mike Witherby
Inker – Fred Fredericks
Colours – Evelyn Stein
Letters – Jack Morelli

The latest issue of Silverhawks by the creative team of Steve Perry and Mike Witherby begins with gambling and leads into a full-fledged story about it, this time putting the spotlight on the Copper Kid, more or less. It finds a shady fellow by the name of Percunius Wadsworth Wellington showing up at Silverhawk headquarters looking for a little help as the money for his mother’s operation, which he gambled to make up the shortfall he had, was lost – stolen by Poker-Face at the Starship Casino. To that end, he wants the team to go and get his money back but Stargazer flatly refuses as the Casino is out of their jurisdiction and any attempt to do so would get them in hot water. Enter the Copper Kid who is ready to act on his own and take matters into his own hands as he believes what Wellington is telling him and that maybe, they could be friends. This fourth issue, while playing it fairly easily with a light-hearted tale is a good one that is a slight improvement over the last book, a little more fun and a bit more interesting too. Here, there is no conventional bad guy, aside from Poker-Face that is, for the Hawks to go up against and thus it finds them hunting down one of their own. Be that as it may, the book does eventually get a happy ending but the Copper Kid does manage to outsmart both the Hawks, with a little help, and defeat the bad guys who stole Wellington’s money. While it did seem like Wellington was just playing the Kid, in the end, his innate goodness managed to make an appearance and he gained a friend in the process. The main drawback to all of this was the lack of Mon*Star again and any real confrontation between him and the Silverhawks. For being an escaped felon guilty of numerous crimes, he sure does not seem like a priority to the authorities, that being Stargazer and the Silverhawks. That being said, there was enough to keep one entertained here and hopefully, the series continues in this vein.

3 out of 5