Subcultural engagement for the 21st Century...
Barbelith is a new kind of community (find out more)...
You can login or register.

Underground > Comic Books >

7 Soldiers

Page: 1 ... 24 25 26 27 28(29)30 31 32 33 34... 39

Elijah, Freelance Rabbi

21:14 / 17.10.06

Damn, I had my release dates mixed up with other GM projects.

I just finished reading through the series as a whole again and I gotta say reading them in the order they were released was terrible. Each 4 issue arc works fine on its own, but it feels like I missed out on a shit ton of detail until I read it in order of the assumed chronology.

Little things, like The Guardian dropping the engagement ring in issue 4 but in one of the other issues you see someones hand picking it up.

Frankenstein killing Neb U Loh, does that happen before Misty shows up to get an army of flying horses or after she has left? I assume before, since there are still a bunch of winged horses there during Franky's fight.

The Sheeda as the end of human evolution, staving off the fall of their own empire by harvesting from empires as they fall throughout history, leaving enough people alive to rebuild a new civilisation which will itself eventually fall and be harvested.

Man, today was the best day at work since the day I spent reading Doom Patrol.

Hallo, Paper Spaceboy

00:11 / 18.10.06

I suppose that the great thing about Seven Soldiers is that you can read it in any direction - like a good time travel story, maybe; order of publication (and trade structure), by modules (my preference, I can glut myself on Zatanna all at once), or by evidential chronology. There's probably never going to be one "best way" because they all have their own advantages.

Meanwhile, in my own reading, Franky's shooting off Melmoth's nasty little head and everything go boom.

13:04 / 18.10.06

I've just finished my re-read, and something struck me upon reading Frankie #4 - if the Sheeda are going back through time and harvesting it then surely that creates a paradox. Because they live in the future, every occaision they go back in time they're changing the futute, their own timeline. Couldn't they wipe themselves out of existance with one false move? Or, one of our soldiers could wipe them out from the future-history with the right actions. Maybe because they're so far in the future they don't have access to our history, but couldn't they go to one-week after their planned invasion, just to make sure everything went all right?

Time travel always does my head in, but I think the easiest way to destroy the sheeda would be to change the conditions on earth that led to them evolving, and becoming what they are. Unless, of course, they're the way they are because of all the time-stream pollution they've been dumping.

On another note, what are we all looking forward to seeing resolved or revealed next week? I'm looking forward to seeing who this "new archetect of the universe, who remains yet hidden" is, as it's cropped up in a few of the minis. Also, I really hope we get just a page or so tying up the Newsboy Army. What did Cap do, exactly? How did Suzy die? And of course, how does Mister Miracle and the New God (and Auracles) fit in with all of this? What will Misty do if she finds out Frankie killed her dad? What's the hammer? Who are the seven unknown men?? It's a head-scratcher all right.

There's an awful lot to fit into 40 pages. I wonder how disappointed we'll all be?

13:18 / 18.10.06

There's always a question, in time travel stories, about whether acting in the past CHANGES it, or FULFILLS it.

At present, it appears that Grant is using the latter. Camelot was destined to fall.

Elijah, Freelance Rabbi

13:45 / 18.10.06

See, I think what Cap did goes back to SS #0 when The Spider is talking to the old man on the boat, and mentions someone kidnapping and killing children.

When the Tailors revamped the NBA Cap was labled as Child Rapist/Murderer or some such, and the following frames are hime saying "You don't understand, she wanted me" (or something, don't have the issue right here) and then Scarface hits him with a bat, knocking him into Ali's box.

As far as time pollution goes I think it would be an almost non issue. The cycle goes something like:

No Civilisation
People start forming a Civ.
Civ. blossoms
Civ. peaks
Civ. begins decline
Sheeda show up and speed things along, taking whatever they find usefull to inject new life into their society.

What you end up looking at is a cycle that could only possibly end with the Sheeda coming into existence at the end of it. Because any historical records of each harvest are destroyed and become mythology then the Sheeda aren't really changing anything.

Time travel is hard for me to talk about at best, and I am doped up on cold medicine at this point.

As far as what I would like to see wrapped up, well, I want to know if Frank actually time travelled from Mystery Mesa hitching a ride with the Sheeda, or if, since he is forever he just buried himself and waited a billion years or so before planting the bombs. I want to see Z and Misty riding flying horses into downtown Manhatten, while Alix drops Sally at the hospital and begins flying through Sheeda ships faster then sound. I don't have any idea how I want the Guardian story to wrap up, I really like the Butch Cassidy style ending of issue 4, but I hope he survives. Klarion is another one that I am not sure where it is going to wrap up. I wonder if at any point they will all meet up, with only Guardian realizing that they are the Seven Soldiers, since he heard the story from Jack Kirby Baby.

14:06 / 18.10.06

And, don't forget that Klarion + Misty = Croatoan.

Anybody else seen that Frazer Irving is drawing the Robin issues (spome of them at least) where Klarion shows up? Can't wait, I really can't. I really hope I've not been burned by a daft rumour.

15:25 / 18.10.06

That's been confirmed in the DC solicits for January 2007, now up at Comic Book Resources:

ROBIN #158
Written by Adam Beechen
Art by Frazer Irving
Cover by Patrick Gleason & Keith Champagne
Guest-starring Klarion the Witch Boy from SEVEN SOLDIERS! Robin and Klarion must use the skills and magic at their command to save Klarion's cat, Teekl, and all of Gotham City from a creature built entirely of black magic - the rampaging Judgment Beast!
On sale January 24 o 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US

So that's that.

Looking more and more clear that Bulleteer's not going to survive the final confrontation with the Sheeda.

15:33 / 18.10.06

I take it you're not following 52, Jack? I think she's in it this week.

Phex: Dorset Doom

16:33 / 18.10.06

... and may possibly be a new member of the Birds of Prey with Big Barda and Manhunter.

16:48 / 18.10.06

Didn't know that. I'm glad to see that these characters are being used in the wider universe, as I have grown quite attached to them. I want some more frankenstein action too, and if they could get Mankhe to draw some more, I would be all over that.

I'm really looking forward to Irving's Robin art as well. Not just becaus I didn't want to see some lame-o version of the character (although Freddie Williams' would have been nice to see, as I like what he's doing on the title at the moment), but I want to see how he draws a straight superheo book. How will his Robin look? Should be very interesting. I hope he's colouring it too.

Back to 7S, I think it'll be Mister Miracle dying next week. It's a shame, as I actually quite like the character and think he'll play a key role in the story (especially now that we've seen the Kirby-tastic new pages), but I think he'll be making a sacrifice at some point.

16:55 / 18.10.06

I take it you're not following 52, Jack?

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha no.

Elijah, Freelance Rabbi

16:55 / 18.10.06

A quick question with regards to MM.

In the end it turns out that he was in the black hole for 7 days. Does this mean that Shiloh never had Dessad for a shrink, or was some of that 'real world' continuity?

The bit that confuses me is that when Shiloh gets Omega on his side we see the MM versions of Darkseid and Dessad reacting to it (the hollowed out Motherbox scenes).

So are the new god 'really' trapped as a bunch of homeless people, or was that part of the initiation Shiloh had to go through in order to escape the black hole?

17:06 / 18.10.06

Reply hazy, ask again later.

Note that Shilo interacts with Guardian and Klarion at one point (in issue #3)

The Natural Way

17:19 / 18.10.06

Chances are Mr Miracle cannot die. He's escaped the life-trap remember?

Elijah, Freelance Rabbi

18:10 / 18.10.06

That is a good point Mario, and that is during the part of his life that is after he thinks he escaped the black hole.

It is all very confusing, and I still want to know who picked up the Guardian's engagement ring...

19:19 / 18.10.06

Bugger the rest of it, I want to know who the Seven Unknown Men of Slaughter Swamp are! We were told that they were pre-existing characters in the DCU, but are no closer to figuring out who they are.

Elijah, Freelance Rabbi

20:17 / 18.10.06

They are all Grant Morrison, he was in Animal Man 26 so fits the pre existing criteria.

20:26 / 18.10.06

With regards as to what was going on in MM, the way in thought of it was the week we witnessed did actually happen in the DCU /7S timeline, at at the end Shilo dies, crippled and a eunuch, as we saw. However, as a result of overcoming the omega sanction he meets up with Metron again and is dumped out of the black hole, right at the end of the week, ready to use his new understanding of the universe and himself to fight the sheeda in #1. ALthough he might not know thats what he'll be doing. And because Motherboxxx integrated with his personality before Dezard stole her body, she remains with him when he's 'reborn' in his new body (gifted to him by Metron, if I had to guess).

20:30 / 18.10.06

The seven unknown men are Sir Justin, Jim Harper, Zatara, Thadeus Brown, and the golden/silver age Klarion, Bulleteer and Mary Shelley's Frankenstein as played by Robert De Niro. FACT.

20:45 / 18.10.06

There may actually be some truth to that. It might explain a couple of things....

Elijah, Freelance Rabbi

21:14 / 18.10.06

So the Unknown Men are the Seven Soldiers (Golden Age), somehow transformed into bald guys who sew continuity?

Does that mean the ghost of Vigilante who talks to Alix is not, in fact, the ghost of Vigilante, or is that just one suit the Unknown Man wears?

21:35 / 18.10.06

An interesting thing to note is that when we meet the 7UM in Zatana #4 they appear to be in a 3D universe, or possibly even our universe. They talk about putting her in a dimensional lock so she can experience them, and this is right after Zee breaks the fourth wall and can sense the readers. I'm not sure what this means for their identities though, but it seems that they're not of the DC universe as you'd first think. It reminds me a bit of GM's interview babble, where he talks about 3D beings (us) experiencing comincs as a 2D universe, and how when we're reading comics we're just looking into a slice of time in this paper universe (a theme he also explores in the Filth).

23:44 / 18.10.06

See, I think what Cap did goes back to SS #0 when The Spider is talking to the old man on the boat, and mentions someone kidnapping and killing children.

Yeah, unfortunately Elijah, he also mentions his name, which is Cyrus Gold. Cyrus Gold, in a way not dissimilar to Alec Holland/Swamp Thing, is Golden Age and onward villain Solomon Grundy. There's some good stuff in the fifth(?) Starman tpb about him. In fact, just read Starman - if there's any predicate in 90's DC comics for this series, that's it.

03:52 / 19.10.06

experiencing comincs as a 2D universe, and how when we're reading comics we're just looking into a slice of time in this paper universe (a theme he also explores in the Filth).

And Flex Mentallo, which is a story that reads more like a manifesto than a comic book. If you were to ask me, I'd say that one theme has been the major underpinning of all Morrison work post-invisibles, whether stated implicitly within the narrative or not. As far as you're able to tell from interviews and the like, it's the way he engages with his magic and his magic is, currently, the writing of comic books.

Fiction suits. Your Morrisons are also your Zors etc. Seven different aspects of writer for seven different types of writing. Yes, these men are Grant Morrison, but for the purposes of the story they don't need to be. They fit perfectly within their own DC universe continuity, regardless of any meta-fiddling you can apply to it.

I could be wrong though. I'm a bit pished and rambley.

03:59 / 19.10.06

When Zatanna meets a tailor within the narrative, she sees him as one thing.

When she pulls herself out of it, she sees them as something else entirely.

10:26 / 19.10.06

the 7 Unknown Men could be Grant Morrison, Marv Wolfman, Denny O'Neil, Dan Didio, Mark Waid, Geoff Johns and Roger Stern. =P

anybody has new insights on the would-be "traitor" soldier?

Cowboy Scientist

10:56 / 19.10.06

I think that the 7UM in Zee #4 are in a layer between the reality of the reader and the fiction of the comic; neither fully real nor fully fictional.

Elijah, Freelance Rabbi

14:15 / 19.10.06

I loved Robinson's Starman, and somehow totally missed the Cyrus Gold name in #0.

14:34 / 19.10.06

When Zatanna meets a tailor within the narrative, she sees him as one thing.

When she pulls herself out of it, she sees them as something else entirely.

I fucking love it. That detail had always confused me slightly, but it makes so much sense when you put it like that. In fact, the renegade unknown man that we know as Zor and the Terrible Time Tailor probably chose his appearance as Zor in order to confuse and mis-step Zatanna because he could see (through time as well) that she was getting closer and closer to all this mystery string holding the story together. It showed her a form she could engage with, but would also make her unsteady as it reminded her of her father. Perhaps this is why the 7UM looked like Mozza, they were simply presenting themselves as something we, the readers, could understand and relate to.

Or maybe not, but thanks for the added insight iamus.

Could the realm of the 7UM be similar to Animal Man's limbo town? Especially because dead chacacters appear in that place too, like game pieces removed from a board by sitting right next to it.

Elijah, Freelance Rabbi

14:41 / 19.10.06

Question:

Was Zor the one who took Ali's hat in G4?

15:30 / 19.10.06

AFAIK, yes.

02:19 / 20.10.06

I don't know what a golden age Klarion is like, but in my perfect dream he is a combination of the destruction of a golden age Spectre combined with one of the old boy genius heroes.

09:36 / 20.10.06

Well, given that Klarion was created in 1973, there wasn't one.

Keith, like a scientist

15:31 / 25.10.06

Fuckity fuck.

SHIPPING ADVISORY ON SEVEN SOLDIERS #1 AND SUPERGIRL AND THE LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES #23

Due to an error, retailers serviced by Diamond Comic Distributors’ Memphis Distribution Center will not receive SEVEN SOLDIERS #1 (AUG060221) and SUPERGIRL AND THE LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES #23 Standard Edition (AUG060226) this week

These issues now are set to reach retailers on November 1. Retailers will be invoiced for them with their November 1 shipment.

However, the SUPERGIRL AND THE LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES #23 Variant Edition (AUG060227) will be received on October 24 as previously scheduled. DC Comics recommends that retailers hold these copies until the Standard Edition arrives, one week later.

From Newsarama.

15:53 / 25.10.06

ARGH!!! NO!

Okay, who knows about Diamond? Is the UK served by this centre?

Page: 1 ... 24 25 26 27 28(29)30 31 32 33 34... 39