Seven Soldiers of Victory #1
"The Miser's Coat"
We open in The Tailor's Shop; seen previously in the Zatanna mini, as the Tailor entertains his client with a tale of The Seven Soldiers who are destined to save the world from an evil queen, yet never meet. We then move to the far distant future where The Shining Knight Sir Ystin, stepping out of the cauldron of rebirth, greets Gloriana Tenebrae, Queen of the Sheeda, in her throne room. We then move 40,000 years in our past, when the New Gods came to Earth and created Aurakles, the first superhero. Aurakles is given seven items of power and set to tame the Earth. Eons pass and Neanderthal super scientists create a time machine, which is sent into the future where Melmoth, scavenger King of the Sheeda, finds it. And so begins the first harrowing of Earth. The next harrowing occurs 30 millennia later, in the days of King Arthur and his knights, but the Sheeda and their Castle Revolving crush them as well. Back in present day New York The Guardian leads the defense against the Sheeda hordes, Bulleteer tries to get help for her nemesis and Zatanna & Misty fly to the rescue with a horde of flying horses. Misty, Zatanna's apprentice and daughter of Melmoth, knocks her teacher out so she can confront her stepmother, Gloriana Tenebrae. Before Misty can get far she is confronted by Klarion, who steals her magic die, (which he calls a Croatoan, the Sheeda word for Fatherbox) and escapes. Zatanna wakes up just as the Castle Revolving pops into existence over Manhattan. On the bridge of the Castle Frankenstein informs SHADE that the Sheeda are not aliens, or extra dimensional, but what humans will become in a billion years. Just as Frankenstein is about to finish the Sheeda Klarion, who still possesses power to control 'Grundy-Men', stops him. High over Manhattan Gloriana and Sir Ystin fight fiercely until Ystin is thrown off the Castle Revolving, only to be saved by his Flying Horse. At street level Mister Miracle confronts Darkseid in human guise. The Lord of Apokolips has struck a deal with the Sheeda, they get the Americas to ravage, and Darkseid gets Aurakles. Shilo offers to take Aurakles' place as Darkseid's captive, claiming that he will make his greatest escape. Darkseid agrees since Shilo, the New Gods spirit of Life and Freedom, is the one he actually wants. Darkseid then pulls out a pistol and shoots Shilo in the head, killing him. Back on the castle Gloriana is about to send her assassin, I, Spyder, to kill her step-daughter Misty when he turns on the Queen of the Sheeda, shooting her in the head with an arrow and dropping her to the street below. On the street below she is struck and killed by 'the spear thrown by mighty Aurakles 42,000 years ago' in the form of the car driven by Bulleteer as her nemesis, Sonic Sally, tries to kill her. We end with scenes showing Sir Ystin attending a girl's school (yes in this version Shining Knight is a girl), The Tailor sewing up Zor (from the Zatanna mini) into the Miser's Coat, Klarion as the new lord of the Sheeda and Mister Miracle's grave as he rises out of it.
The first thing that has to be said about this book is the art. J.H. Williams III produces some of the most amazing art ever seen in a comic book, and his work is even more extraordinary when you see the different art styles he uses for each of the Soldier's chapters. And the art isn't just pretty, it's creative and well thought out, traits you don't always get with other 'pretty' pencillers. There are about a dozen different panels and pages in this issue that should be hanging in a museum. The story Morrison tries to tell also deserves praise; its epic, audacious and has a lot of heart. Unfortunately the story is so epic and convoluted that it's often hard to understand. The story jumps from the distant past to the distant future and back to the present several times while (possibly) breaking the fourth wall at times as well. Several of the Soldiers, Frankenstein and Guardian, didn't seem to do too much in this issue at all. It took me a while to figure out that Bulleteer is apparently Aurakles' descendant, and hence the spear thrown 42,000 years ago that finally found its mark. Ultimately while I think the ideas behind the book were top notch, the presentation was so muddled and convoluted that it made it difficult to fully enjoy. The six-month delay definitely hurt as well. I just don't remember a lot of the details of the seven mini-series, details that may have shed some light on this book.
Bottom Line:
Great art and an epic story that collapsed under the weight of it's own high concept.
3 out of 5
Sensational Spider-Man #31
"The Deadly Foes of Peter Parker, part 3"
As Peter responds to his old flame Liz Allan's distress call The Chameleon, disguised as Peter, worms his way into Avenger's Tower and next to Aunt May. Peter and Liz hash our some lingering resentment before he is ambushed by The Molten Man, The Scarecrow and Will O' The Wisp. Spidey is taking a beating when Black Shows up and they make quick work of the 3 villains. Molten Man tells Peter that the real target is Aunt May and he goes swinging off to save her. Back in Avenger's Tower May is baking cookies for the man she thinks is her nephew. The Chameleon is fantasizing about strangling the elderly woman as the two engage in conversations about cookies, locked doors and yarn. Aunt May has the last laugh however. She knew immediately that it wasn't Peter, so she ground up some of Mary Jane's sleeping pills into the cookies she was baking and fed them to the fake Peter. The real Spidey crashes through the window only to find The Chameleon already unconscious on the floor.
I like the bad-ass, self sufficient Aunt May. For all too long she was portrayed as a doddering victim-in-waiting, so its nice to see her written as competent for once. The rest of the story was a nice exploration of the consequences of Peter's unmasking, but it just wasn't particularly gripping. Angel Medina's art looks a lot like Todd McFarland's Spiderman work from the early 90's. So much so that it distracts from his otherwise competent work. Both of the Spiderman satellite books (Spectacular and Friendly Neighborhood) have been good but both also feel like they're treading water while moving from crossover to crossover.
Bottom Line: A fun story but not a particularly memorable one
3 out of 5
Action Comics #844
"Last Son, part 1"
Superman, after visiting with a computer simulation of his father in his Fortress of Solitude, returns to Metropolis in time to catch a shell-shaped object as it rocketed to Earth. Inside the object is a child. Superman brings the child, who looks about 8, to the Department of Metahuman Affairs where is quickly becomes apparent that the child is Kryptonian. The DMA later learns that the rocket containing the child came not from outer space but from hyperspace. Clark doesn't know what to do with the child, all he knows is the feelings he already has towards the boy. The next day Superman goes to visit with the child but the lab has been stripped down. The child is gone. An enraged Superman forces his way into the Pentagon to get some answers from the DMA head, Sarge Steel. The military convoy transporting the child is ambushed and the child taken away. Finally, on the Kent's farm, Clark shows up with the child and asks his parents to help him raise the boy.
A good start. While the book seemed a little light at times the seeds of some very interesting storylines were planted, first and foremost: Is the boy really a Kryptonian? With almost any other creative team such a huge change for the character would be inconceivable, but the Johns-Donner combo is big enough that you really feel this change may stick. And there in also lies a problem. This run has been so hyped for so long that this first issue felt like a bit of a let down. It may be unfair, anything short of instant classic would have fallen short of the hype, but my initial reaction was: That's it? The lack of an overt villain, other than a one-page tease from Lex Luthor, brings the book down a notch, but not substantially. Adam Kubert's art seemed very sketchy at times. In some places it worked well, in others it looked rushed or incomplete.
Bottom Line: A good start to a storyline with a lot of potential
3 out of 5
Quick Hits
Civil War: Choosing Sides: A whole lot of nothing.
Nextwave #9: You think this 'E' stands for America?
Justice #8: For the first time on a long time, Aquaman is a badass.
