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March 5, 2005
review: "Seven Soldiers #0"
What I found most amazing about Seven Soldiers of Victory #0 (by Grant Morrison and J.H. Williams) is how quickly I connected to it. I never really felt like I was starting something new, but instead felt like I was coming back to familiar territory. Morrison has managed to create an artificial nostalgia, a sense that we're getting caught up on something we loved as kids, in what is a brand new story--it's an impressive achievement.
Perhaps it's helped by the use of The Vigilante as one of the "Seven". This gun toting cowboy was one of the characters from years back which DC acquired from its acquisition of another comic company. He's actually made a brief appearance in a recent episode of "Justice League Unlimited." As the leader of this group, an old and somewhat tired looking man, he gives an air of history to the group.
The nostalgia is also brought on by references in the story to the popularity and fandom that surrounds "heros". These B-level crime-fighters aren't driven by a thirst for justice, or a sense of responsibility that comes with great power; these guys are driven by boredom, or desire for fame, or hero worship, or obligation. They live in a world were heros go to conventions to tell stories to fan-boys, where fan-boys save their pennies to get magic rings, where a dominatrix costume becomes a super-hero costume simply because you're calling it that (the artwork aids this idea tremendously; everything has a worn, real-world quality). These people are more like us than Batman or Superman.
In short, this story isn't taking place in a glossy DC world. I hate to say that they've "Marvelized" it, but the thing I kept thinking when I was reading it was how much it reminded me of Bendis' work in The Sentry and that's definitely not a bad thing. This first issue (#0) is a prequel to what's to come: seven four-issue mini-series which will have inter-connections which create a larger arc if the all 28 are read, but each of which are self contained. After seeing this first step I have no doubt that some of these minis will lead to regular series. Regular series' that are grittier than we normally see from DC, darker, more real... and oddly, nostalgic.
(Highly recommended)
(review by Sean Ferrell)
Posted by sferrell at March 5, 2005 10:03 AM
