Every Wednesday, JP makes the after-work run to his local downtown comic book shop. Comics arrive on Wednesdays you see and JP, fearful that the latest issue will sell out, rushes out to purchase his copy. This regular, weekly column will highlight a particularly interesting release, written in short order, of course, because JP has to get his – before someone else does!
Seven Soldiers of Victory – Book 2
Writer: Grant Morrison
Artists: Various
DC Comics
It’s a big week for fans of writer Grant Morrison. Not only has the cartoonified version of his absolutely amazing All-Star Superman series been released on Blu-Ray and DVD, but this week also sees the publication of his awe-inspiring, nay, legendary hardcover, Seven Soldiers of Victory Book 2.
You might know the characters: Mister Miracle, Zatanna, Bulleteer, Frankenstein and my favourite, Klarian the Witch Boy. All the c-listers the DC Universe has to offer plus a couple of under-the-radar z-listers thrown in for good measure.
Seven Soldiers of Victory, and the various tales that make up the overarching story was first published as seven different mini-series and two bookend comics in 2005 and 2006. It was a bit of a magnum opus for Grant Morrison and won him an Eisner Award for Best Limited Series in 2006. Still, for the most part it flew under the radar, namely because of the esoteric characters involved in the series. I suppose everyone was wrapped up in Green Lantern and Avengers monthlies to take much notice. Those that did, however, read a pretty special series. An epic story as a matter of fact.
Here were seven different characters fighting against a common enemy in different time periods and planes of existence – without really knowing that each was fighting for the same cause.
What’s that? Sounds kooky? It was, to a certain degree, and coming from the sometimes overly fertile mind of Morrison, kooky is to be expected. But there is something here for everyone: action, adventure, intrigue, mystery and pathos. This is the stuff of great comics!
And that says nothing about the glorious artwork: Pascal Ferry is here, as is Yanick Paquette, Doug Mahnke, Ryan Sook and two of my favourites: Frazer Irving and J.H. Williams III.
Run out this Wednesday and get Seven Soldiers of Victory Book 2. If you missed Book 1, published last year, go out and get that too!
You’ll be very, very glad you did.
329 words
February 23, 2011
