The summer is a time for relaxation, right?
Well, amid looming art project deadlines, dodging requisite thunderstorms and the inherent deluge of massive rainwater that follows, being stuck in infuriating city traffic, absorbing the instruction manual for a new digital camera, pouring over pages and pages of upcoming conference symposium material, and packing for a long-awaited trip to San Diego, when does one get the time to relax? The summer is chaos!
But that’s going to change today.
Today, with the weekend clearly in view, the fight against chaos begins with the appropriately named 7 Against Chaos.
Harlan Ellison’s 7 Against Chaos
Written by: Harlan Ellison
Illustrated by: Paul Chadwick
Published by: DC Comics
7 Against Chaos has been a long time in the making.
Harlan Ellison, acclaimed speculative fiction writer of novels, short stories, screenplays, teleplays, essays and criticisms, winner of numerous awards including Hugos, Nebulas, and Edgars, and life-long comic book lover, began writing the graphic novel nearly a decade ago.
The 208-page hardcover tells the story of a distant future earth where the fabric of reality itself is unraveling. Natural disasters are the norm and, more troubling, so are spontaneous combustions. And, strangely, souls from bygone eras suddenly start appearing in the present. Who can save the world from its certain end?
7 Against Chaos follows the speculative genre tropes but with a Kurosawa Seven Samurai, or The Magnificent Seven, twist – two classic films that I absolutely adore. A team of disparate people with special gifts are brought together by a mysterious Yul Brenner-like figure for unknown reasons. Together, in seven epic chapters, they are the heroes that, together, attempt to find the source of the gathering chaos in order to face the end of the world.
Ellison, ever the salesman, likens the story to a roller-coaster swashbuckler tale. It’s something that, when looking back on his career, he wants people to remember both fondly and importantly – a testament to not only the quality and longevity of his fictional crations, but also the high value of a work he produced in the twilight of his years. With acclaimed artist Paul Chadwick (creator of fan-favourite series, Concrete) on board as the illustrator, and long-time comic book luminary, Ken Steacy, on colours, you and I both need to be reading this book.
Sometimes, in a hectic life, you need to make time to relax. That’s what will happen later tonight.
Ellison, Chadwick, Steacy, lounge chair and reader. Make an orderly run to your local comic book shop and pick up Harlan Ellison’s 7 Against Chaos today.
Fight against life’s ever-present chaos and relax a bit with fantastic storytelling.
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!
