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Title: Seven Soldiers of Victory ( Vol. 1) Author: NA Rating: Not available Avg. Score: 4 Submit Comment Hits: 73

Review of Seven Soldiers of Victory, Vol. 1

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Comments for Seven Soldiers of Victory ( Vol. 1)

• Posted on 2007-09-03
  Graphic SF Reader
  
  Grant Morrison's Seven Soldiers are absolutely nothing like the old version. Well, apart from the bit with Vigilante in it early on.
  
  New versions of Klarion the Witch Boy, and the Shining Knight, and quite a lot of the supernatural alien type of influence.
  
  
  
  Score: 4
• Posted on 2007-07-06
  Among the best superhero stories ever told
  
  Grant Morrison began this series intending to, I believe, emulate the critically popular but poorly recieved 'Fourth World' by Jack Kirby. In it, the titular 'Seven Soldiers' each have their own four issue title that all tie in together in a final 'book end' chapter. However, each story is enjoyable in its own right. Reading them together, you can pick up on the subtle interactions - what story happens when in comparison, how part x of one story ties in to part y of another.
  
  However, it isn't the interactions, or even the superheroics, that make Morrison's 'Seven Soldiers of Victory' a stunning success - it's the human element. It's the inspiration of Jake Jordan as he learns to become the Manhattan Guardian. It's the building hope of Alix Harrower as she slowly rebuilds her life from tragedy. It's Klarion's charming exploration of his religion and the boundaries of his society. Every character tells a different kind of story, and while they may not be everyone's cup of tea, each story is charming and inspirational in it's own way...and they all build up to an even greater whole.
  Score: 5
• Posted on 2007-01-09
  Couldn't even get started (re-read 2/10)
  
  I have read hundreds of graphic novels, and I saw the buzz on this. I guess I have never been a huge Grant Morrison fan, though he has his moments. This was his attempt to create a completely new universe out of old characters. I tried to get started, couldn't finish. If you are a completest, go for it. There is better stuff out there.
  
  Re-readability: 2/10
  
  *I always put re-readability in my reviews for people who like to keep their TPB to re-read*
  Score: 2
• Posted on 2006-07-10
  HEAVY LIFTING BUT WORTH IT
  
  There is a literary term called "heavy lifting" that applies when an author requires the reader to do a lot of work to appreciate the story -- this "heavy lifting" almost always comes at the beginning of the story. You might also call it "labor-intensive exposition." There is considerable heavy lifting here, so much so that I almost didn't pick up the second book. But, as luck would have it, I left my bag at the comic shop and had to swing by the next day to pick it up. Glad I did. Things really start to get GOOD in the second book, so much so that moments that seemed lame or irrelevant in the first trade are illuminated in hindsight -- the whole world expands! Now I cannot wait to get three and four! But, all that being said, as one previous reviewer noted there is a great deal in the first book that feels stuttering if not downright incomprehensible. Moreover, the order that the issues have been collected -- randomly, it feels like -- did none of the stories justice and served to add to the confusion. So BOOK 1 (by itself) deserves 2 STARS. BOOK 2 (by itself) deserves 4 STARS. And the sum of the two (the hindsight effect) bumps this book up to 3 STARS. So, my final word, DO NOT BUY THIS UNLESS YOU PLAN TO READ THEM ALL. OTHERWISE, YOU'LL BE WASTING YOUR TIME & MONEY.
  Score: 3
• Posted on 2006-04-27
  J. H. Williams III is an amazing artist!
  
  Every artist represented in this volume (there are six) blew me away - each for a different reason. The artwork in the introductory chapter, by J. H. Williams III, seemed, to me, the most significantly accomplished of the lot. Keep in mind that I do not regularly read contemporary superhero stories, so I had no preconceptions about any of these artists. There's something distinctly Silver Age about Williams' storytelling techniques (and I mean "calm and collected and cool and almost formal Infantino and Oskner DC Silver Age," not "crazy genius Kirby and Ditko Marvel Silver Age," by the way), though the outer layer, the Photoshopped slickness, is (and probably has to be) thoroughly contemporary. In Williams' case, the slickness refuses to obscure an outstanding and versatile line, among other things. There's the scratchy Wrightson-like opening in a swamp. There's the wide, western landscape that reminded me, more than anything, of an old Mickey Mouse adventure digest comic I had when I was a kid - except, you know, more realistic, and creepier. Maybe it was just the cartoony prickly pears everywhere. Or something. Williams' storytelling and character-building skills are as strong as any I've seen in comics. These characters - ultimately dispensible - come alive from the first moment they appear. Surely Williams is considered one of the top stylists of contemporary mainstream comics, maybe even the top stylist. I was particularly impressed with the final battle sequence, in which a great deal of information about a large number of characters performing very complex manuevers was presented so calmly and well (and with such perfect graphic design) that I didn't even notice that, hey, wow, that must have been a difficult sequence to pull off, until I'd read it three or four times.
  
  (the above is excerpted from my longer review at graphicnovelreview.com)
  Score: 5