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Underground > Comic Books >

7 Soldiers: Shining Knight

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16:30 / 18.03.05

'Sanybody think Bianchi's Castle-Revolving looks slightly bi-pedal, lying down?

Reminded me a bit of anti-dad.

21:06 / 18.03.05

I've been meaning to post something on this thread for a while, having fianally gotten the issue and read it, but I'm just confused and lost amongst the discussion going on here. It's not a bad thing, I just don't get it!? Anyway, good issue, I liked the disconcerting shift of the balck queen thing (sorry, had a drink, issue not at hand) so that one panel she seemed to be beaten and desperate, the next calm and frightening. The image of her biting the apple was great. There was a lot going on, so I'm sure I'll re-read it again a few times, as I was completely lost for the first ten or so pages. But it is great, and the Gil Kane comparison made earlier is spot on, looks like the adaptation of the Ring that he did years back.

22:05 / 18.03.05

The Whip is not dead (yet). Neither are I, Spider or Gimmix. In SS Zero, only the other 3 soldiers are seen being impaled.

but i thought the Seven Mysterious Bald Men said that they were all dead? i just presumed that they were killed shortly after we saw the other three get speared.

22:16 / 18.03.05

i thought the Seven Mysterious Bald Men said that they were all dead? i just presumed that they were killed shortly after we saw the other three get speared.

The Seven Unknown Men also said those folks would save the world. So they've been known to make an inference or two. Eightball says Signs Point To Speared.

The Natural Way

11:45 / 19.03.05

Yep, that panel was just about fucking Hell. Everyone died.

00:40 / 20.03.05

A thought...

Is it possible that the Six Soldiers will save the world BY being sacrificed? The Celts do have a mythic tradition of sacrificing rulers (the whole Golden Bough deal)

20:00 / 27.04.05

Preview for issue 2 here I'm gonna vote with the idea that we keep this thread for all 4 issues of the mini (and do the same with the others, otherwise you're gonna have a lot of threads about 7 Soliders around...).

Our Lady Has Left the Building

16:52 / 28.04.05

I agree. Would a comics mod care to do some titles altering...?

07:39 / 29.04.05

Oh, very well.

21:18 / 04.05.05

Got 2.

Hm. I'm not liking this Soldier as much as the rest. Art is stellar, in a stylized, supple and inky kind of way. Guilt was kind of strange, and doesn't mesh with me as an "enemy agent". Still, horsefeathers? A seer, perhaps... and things never stay dead anymore.

Hmmm. Waiting for others to join me.

22:34 / 04.05.05

Another fun read. The idea that the present world is the evil result of the Sheeda having triumphed way back when is being played out very well in this series. I think it also helps make Yustin the most sympathetic of all the heroes we've met thus far. His struggle is not just personal, it starts with the fate of the free world at stake.

As for the art... within each panel it's gorgeous, but there were some inconsitancies between panels that interrupted the flow of the story (like Yustin's head and feet switching positions in the cop car on p.2, then on p. 3 the way he's holding the cop's gun upside down and then all pro-like in the next panel). And what happened to the violent teen he had his sword to at the end? That guy just disappeared.

Anyone else think that the bald bum at the end was one of the seven cosmic mystery men last seen in S7#0? Yustin goes through a transformation in image similar to I, Spider's in bald-man's presence - coincidence?

I thought the guilt-monster was pretty cool, and I loved the narrator's descriptions of the modern world ("... where blue soldiers rode clockwork insects through the air, with eyes that lit up their prey.") This comic reminded me of the Filth, the way the lead characters'/narrators' imaginations are used to elevate the mundane into something fantastic. Is this memetic alchemy at work?

23:41 / 04.05.05

Damn thing was sold out at the shop, at least as far as I could gather. Dadgummit.

00:00 / 05.05.05

Yeah, I'm personally rather disappointed in the "storytelling" aspect of the art. Justin's hunched on a rooftop, and now he's walking down the street, why not? The Undying Don (whom I get a real kick out of. is he a preexisting DC character?) talks about gill-like scars on his neck that I'm pretty sure we're meant to see. LA street youths harass the Mysterious Bald Guy by, well, gesturing at a burning candybar wrapper hovering above a tophat, it looks like. Taken as individual images the art's gorgeous, of course, but I'm not thrilled with how it comes together.

On the other hand, the faux-mythic narration actually seemed to work for me, without being corny.

00:26 / 05.05.05

this rocked. only grant would name a story 'mood 7 mind destroyer' that'd make a wicked band name...

I really get a kick out of the little connections. notice the air golem to match the earth golem in manhattan guardian, and i beleive we'll be seeing the bald bum is 'ali-ka-zoom the merlin of the ghetto' in zatanna number 2

00:28 / 05.05.05

And what happened to the violent teen he had his sword to at the end? That guy just disappeared.

He's running away in the next panel, on the right. You can tell from his do-rag--though it's apparently phasing into the Phantom Zone.

The art did seem to lack the precision and detail that would balance out a largely reflective and slow-paced issue, and Justin's expressions often lack emotional continuity from one panel to the next. Every panel's beautiful in itself, though, and I liked Guilt's design.

Superman dropping a few quarters in Bald Guy's hat was cute.

Is there any significance to the movie billboard seen next to Justin?

16:16 / 05.05.05

The Movie Billboard was amusing... "MEL PIT" seemed like a play of Hollywood's absurdity (very Miilligan to me)

agreed that the panel to panel storytelling was rather choppy. It did however evoke memories of of Invisibles VI#2-3 where in a young Dale is lost and homeless around London and being tutored by Mad Tom, this time to homeless magician is bald. There was that some choped up plot.

BTW how did he suddenly learn english? or was that another trick provided by Baldie?

GUILT was indeed pretty great... reminded me of that old Captain Britan foe... "Fury"

So.. was that Spider rider ment to be Ne Bu Loh itself or a servent there of?

I love how L.A. seems to have such a shortage of superhero presence.

Hallo, Paper Spaceboy

21:23 / 05.05.05

I like the implication - based on the name "Suli Stellamaris" (against Lori Lemaris) - that the actress on the billboard actually IS a mermaid, not merely a woman with some CGI. Nice little link to the DCU setting, where apparently anybody with green skin (Beast Boy and Jade) can get work in Hollywood.

The art -was- muddy in places, but I really loved the second to last page with Ystin on one knee, ready to fight the Good Fight(tm).

What was the point of the bus on the last page? Is Ystin off to fight via public transit? I thought for a second it might be a tour bus for either Zatanna (unlikely) or Mister Miracle (more of a possibility, since we've already seen reference to Shilo being on tour).

08:52 / 06.05.05

I had no issues with the art, which i continue to enjoy. Liked the fact that the ish started in media res, without any recap. Hard to pick a favorite, but KLARION has the edge at the moment...

15:57 / 06.05.05

Another Morrisonian art-confusifest. Not a big impediment to pleasure this time around, but noticeable nonetheless.

18:03 / 06.05.05

Finally got my copy (been a long week). Some things I noticed, and more random Welsh

Page 1:

"Ystin, Arach Avallach" = "Justin, Dragon(Knight?) of Avalon"

"Fir Sheeda" = "Men of the Sheeda"

Page 3:
"Lloriana" is almost certainly "Gloriana" (the Sheeda Queen)

"Y da" means "the good"

"Du" means "Black"

I don't have a clue about "llamfada", unfortunately.

Page 7: The Cup of Blood is almost certainly a referencee to the Holy Grail. And "Stella Maris" is a name with strong resonance in pagan worship, going all the way back to Isis. The fact that "Suli" was the lover of Darkseid in his youth is probably a coincidence, tho

Page 8: Pegazeus = Pegasus + Zeus. And, as mentioned elswhere, "The Spoils of Annwn" is a real Welsh poem.

Page 10: Lots of stuff in here, but the part that leaps to the eye is a store called "My Hero".

Page 17: It's possible this air-golem is connected to the earth-golem from Guardian.

Page 18: Is it me, or does that closeup of Crazyface look a LOT like Grant himself? Certainly, "supercontacts" are the sort of thing he'd wear.

It also seems that Vincenzo has the Cauldron of Castle Revolving, which explains the Undying part.

Page 19: I'm not sure if that's supposed to be ne-Bu-Loh himself or just a minion. Morrigu, aka Morrigan, is indeed a Celtic war goddess.

Page 22: Yeah, looks like the old guy was one of the Unknown Men.

And just because: Page 21 is absolutely beautiful. Very Andrew Wyeth.

03:30 / 07.05.05

For any that are miffed about the convenience of Vanguard still being alive after a very clearly bad death, it was telegraphed in issue 1 - he fell with the Cauldron, which is pretty clearly stated as being able to heal wounds and bring back the dead.

The Baldie On The Bench at the end is most definitely one of the Seven Unknown Men.

I, myself, am not sure why Guilt is shadowing the moevements of sharply pierced teen.

I'm curious about the idea that even the JLA are just other iterations of 7 Soldiers/Saviors, etc. through time - and what their constant failure to save the world must mean if they've been dying and reiterating since Camelot or even earlier. I think the Seven Unknown Men are zen failurists. They should seek counseling, maybe a men's nature camp.

The Natural Way

13:41 / 07.05.05

The art isn't so muddy that there needs to be any confusion as to whether or not that's Nebuloh - of course it is.

16:09 / 07.05.05

Only reason I expressed doubts is he looks a little skinny.

Haus of Mystery

19:54 / 07.05.05

Well I liked this up to a point. Felt a lot more condensed than ish 1, better value for money. Nice idea of a big ugly baddie that just talks you to death, and I liked the undying don....
But the art, man. Okay I dig it in a 'Heavy Metal' way. It's very suitable for the Swordsnsorcery story, but it's chronically incoherant at some points. Distractingly so. I call it 'bisleyitus'.

But I'm glad the horse is still alive. Haven't any of you heartless cunts seen 'The Neverending Story'??!

20:47 / 07.05.05

Only reason I expressed doubts is he looks a little skinny.

Perhaps he's been a little poorly of late?

08:45 / 08.05.05

superman plucks the eyes from mood seven's head and puts them in the hat: expect survivor's guilt to be theme and motivator in all star supes.

liked the shops, masks and hero*, l.a is maybe where folk have to make/imagine themselves heroes, in absence of any traditional locals - is zauriel still around? [*these storytelling tricks, vertigo flourishes, are nice -a simple way of filling things out a bit, which can be a bit chewy when jamie delano's wants you captive for an hour, but are neglected as means of lending that all important veneer of 'something' to superhero fantasy.]

the 'not while one knight in camelot' bit was too much for me - like having one's platonic ideal of the perfect comic moment turned into paper and placed in one's hands [as happens from time to time]. cheeky.

shame about the flow though. the pics are great on their own, but what? hands behind his back, in the back seat, and he manages to get the gun from the cop's holster? he only saw his first gun ten minutes ago... mustn't just blame the artist o course.

11:17 / 08.05.05

I really like the art, just the right side of lurid. Maybe needs a bit work on the framing sequences; most non-sequitural was the bit with the Gloriana eating the apple (for the prettiest one,) then turning into an archon (are we allowed to mention prior works?!) in #1, which really kinda worked for me. Also, the bus has a pic of space (or a nebula) in the last frame, which seems to reflect round Justin's head, in the last two panels. What's that then? Cool, anyway.

Didn't notice it was Level 7's eyes he put in Zatara's hat. Good stuff.

yawn - thing's buddy

08:42 / 09.05.05

i love all things brythonic just now.

(cos i live in an anceint welsh kingdom you see)

welsh are the cool celts for sure.

13:58 / 09.05.05

I thought the bus pic of space was suppsed to evoke Neb-Uh-Loh's starry skin. Just taking a shot at what that might be about.

I thought it was supposed to be a visual joke with Justin holding the gun upside-down -- i.e. he grabs it and takes a guess at how it should be held, then sees the way the cop holds it and in-between panels, quickly adjusts to hold it the correct way in order for the weapon to have effectiveness.

16:18 / 09.05.05

I could see that, but it would've been a very nice piece of storytelling to see that drawn on the page as well.

16:23 / 09.05.05

Yeah, when I read it I just filled in the blank panel where he flips the gun around. The artist could've quickly drawn in two swish/rotatey lines.

Regrettable Juvenilia

18:50 / 10.05.05

There could have been swishy lines. But that would have been shit.

Didn't notice it was Level 7's eyes he put in Zatara's hat.

That's because it's not. They're coins. Different colour.

06:34 / 11.05.05

Yeah, there's no textual reason to think that, actually. But it's better than mere coins.

Remember that bum who dreamed himself as a kid and had to remember Superman (JLA #23? Sandman one.) Yeah.

yawn - thing's buddy

07:59 / 11.05.05

why all the clamour for higher frame rates?

boring thing is marvin hitchhiker droid!

and the eyes have it for me as well - so i'll imagine that that's what happened.

16:40 / 18.05.05

That cover is so great.

Larger version.

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