Classic Comic Compendium: SEVEN SOLDIERS

The Aughts had been a fairly busy time for Grant Morrison within the DC Universe. Even with an tour over to Marvel within the early a part of the last decade. They completed their epic run on JLA with Howard Porter, kicked off a prolonged tenure that modified the panorama of the Batman workplace, and helped construct a basis for quite a few occasions and characters. The most bold of these latter efforts might nicely have been the patchwork crossover sequence below the Seven Soldiers banner, that took the previous moniker and a handful of current characters from throughout totally different areas of the DCU, together with some Jack Kirby creations, and breathed new life into them in pretty fascinating methods. Among them was Shilo Norman in Seven Soldiers – Mister Miracle from Morrison, Pasqual Ferry, Billy Dallas Patton, Michael Bair, Freddie Williams II, Dave McCaig, Pat Brosseau, Nick J. Napolitano, Phil Balsman, and Travis Lanham.

To me, Seven Soldiers of Victory seems like a bridge between Morrison’s JLA and what would are available in Final Crisis. Nowhere is that extra on show than of their interpretation of Mister Miracle and the New Gods. While the Sheeda of the general occasion take a little bit of a backburner, the Fourth World is reinterpreted as what’s basically the bottom work for a Fifth World. Evil received. The gods of New Genesis basically fell to Earth, hiding in mortal guises, whereas Darkseid and his minions are free to run wild as a felony aspect, Boss Dark Side and the Dark Side Club, dealing in thoughts management and intercourse. It’s an interesting juxtaposition of their divine nature and the extra mundane avenue stage components. All whereas Shilo Norman tries to navigate fame, failure, and doubtlessly shedding every thing, together with probably his thoughts.

I’m not rightly certain what occurred with the art work (interviews I’ve seen don’t appear to make clear what precisely occurred), but it surely nonetheless comes off nicely. The visible type is about within the first challenge by Pasqual Ferry. With his earlier work on Adam Strange he began growing a really open, clean-lined type stuffed with dynamic characters. It jogs my memory a little bit of Carlos Pacheco and Pete Woods, however somewhat extra simplified. Billy Dallas Patton & Michael Bair and Freddie Williams II keep on with work that’s comparable, on totally different sides of element or exaggerated cartooning. Patton delivers the previous within the second challenge, whereas Williams the latter as he carries on from the second to the tip of the sequence. I’ve actually grown to love Williams’ art work, there’s a verve and uniqueness to it that seems like a mixture between western animation and anime like Dragonball Z, and it’s fascinating to see a few of his early days.

A number of the heavy-lifting of sustaining visible consistency to this story is right down to the completely attractive work of Dave McCaig. McCaig makes use of a good quantity of vivid colors and flare results that swimsuit the bombast and spectacle of Mister Miracle. It additionally serves as an fascinating counterpoint to the extra impartial, nearly “drab” colors of the previous New Gods of New Genesis and a sure surreal feeling that makes a number of the story really feel like a hallucination. Also a credit score to the 4 letterers, it by no means seems like there are 4 letterers with one per challenge.

Even by itself, Seven Soldiers – Mister Miracle from Morrison, Ferry, Patton, Williams, Bair, McCaig, Brosseau, Napolitano, Balsman, and Lanham is a compelling and intriguing have a look at easy methods to probably interpret the Fourth World in a brand new setting, whereas commenting of the pitfalls of fame, expectation, and freedom. It’s additionally a teaser for issues to return.

Classic Comic Compendium: Seven Soldiers – Mister Miracle

Seven Soldiers – Mister Miracle
Writer: Grant Morrison
Artists: Pasqual Ferry, Billy Dallas Patton & Michael Bair, and Freddie Williams II
Colourist: Dave McCaig
Letterers: Pat Brosseau, Nick J. Napolitano, Phil Balsman, & Travis Lanham
Publisher: DC Comics
Release Date: June 19 2012 (present collected version)
Available collected in Grant Morrison’s Seven Soldiers of Victory – Book Two