Seven Soldiers by Grant Morrison Omnibus Hardcover – August 21, 2018

(And what other thing is a classic but a story we reread with fervor again and again?)Many writers create plots like cathedrals, with many parts fitting through space, time and characters. Comes to my head the name of Jonathan Hickman for that style. Grant Morrison does something similar but far more complex; where others build vast rational skyscrapers he instead is like a juggler, smiling and talking casually while balancing dissimilar things as a cane, a bowler hat, three white cups and a dove as he is standing on a wire with one foot, but somehow he makes all that to make sense in a simple but unbelievable figure. In Seven soldiers the many elements of the story are mirrored, they communicate and talk through different moments; there are double, triple meanings and even more. Without giving spoilers I believe Morrison has make a conspiration theory that feels more real than what is usually published. The story is about mysterious but somehow familiar creatures called Sheedas and their never-ending secret war against teams of seven soldiers. Most of those Seven Soldiers are secondary characters in DC or based in secondary characters. Besides the main story this omnibus has the arcs introducing each soldier. To write about each arc would be quite long so some details I can highlight are the following:* The span of the story is amaaaaazing :P Mostly set in the present it goes from 40 000 years ago to different times. If DC One Million was 85 000 years in the future then it would be chronologically the first super hero story in a hypothetical DC - (minus) 500 000.* The art for each character is drawn by a different artist. All of them fit well the mood and spirit of the character.* A cheap trick in modern Marvel is to replace a classic character with a clone just with different ethnicity and kill or denigrate the original character. Morrison introduces characters of different ethnicities, genres and beliefs but it's both respectful to the original characters and coherent with the personal reality of the character. For example we know Jim Harper as The Guardian, a white man, here The Guardian is Jake Harper, a black man. But he is not a clone with another skin color: he is a man with a past, a personality, his own demons, and the design of his outfit responds to another circumstances that makes it rather a spin-off or a continuity to the Guardian that we know than his replacement.* In the end all makes sense. Each reading enriches the previous ones. Many elements drawn almost in a casual way turn meaningful when you recognize them as items related to the other soldiers. The first time you read it you could be a bit lost, read it again and then it will fit. For example there is a meeting, seems from the government, but in another reading I noticed the men had silhouetted guns in the table and were watching each other with suspicion and mistrust...* The soldiers are secret because they never meet... but that could be truth of other groups of seven members in this story. As I mentioned there are multiple layers of meanings. Some groups of apparently six we'll discover they are actually seven because there is a seventh secret member, and there are others that we almost don't see but appear in an invisible way. We could say "as above, so bellow."* There are things still I don't understand. For example the Sheeda have green lanterns but I don't know well what they mean, I am sure I will get to discover their meaning with time.* This is a strange book in the DC universe, as it is set mostly in New York and Los Angeles it feels like... a Marvel book! Even there is an organization of spies called S.H.A.D.E. that seems a reference to S.H.I.E.L.D., and I read that the team was also meant as a reference to the Avengers.* A bit after the first Spider-Man movie I saw from a bus window, with the corner of the eye a red and blue figure, I focused on it and said to myself half bored "ah... Spider-Man." I had to half awake to recall in this side of fantasy this meant a cosplayer. In this world Morrison explores what would mean to the common person to live with super powered people: the FBI has files on persons watching adult sites of super heroes teens, eBay is a place to sell counterfeit devices to imitate powers, normal men expose themselves to homemade experiments to get powers and fame, comic cons are actually idolatry to metahumans and the place for forgotten superheroes to feel popular, New York erects buildings to compete against Gotham and Metropolis. The only moment it seems not explored, maybe a lost opportunity, is in an island with one hundred androids representing the world population, maybe one or two had had super strength or so.About the omnibus as a book I am adding three photos: one comparing it to a normal sized comic, as you can see it is huge. Another without its dust cover; personally I don't like it, is so similar to an encyclopedia of Chemistry with its colorful molecules in the cover. And a third one showing how the pages open, the bidding is pretty good so it is the closest to the experience to read it in the individual issues (it's a guess as I don't have the other hardcovers to compare) The paper and the printing are of excellent quality, my photos don't make it justice. I was a bit afraid to read it while laying on the bed but I got used to it and quite happy to have this edition. Only a minor grip is about the covers: usually in hardcovers the cover art is printed without the title, the credits of the artistic team, the price or any other text; I tend to like this approach but with compilations of old comics and in this series not that much; maybe because in this oversize edition is notorious that there is an empty space the artist reserved for the title of the character, and as every character is different maybe it makes sense to have it. Another point is that Morrison writes each story as an object in itself, it was meant to be read as a comic book rather than a book, so I suspect I would enjoy seeing even the price in the cover and instead, in those moments, I got the feeling to be reading more an encyclopedia about the Seven Soldiers rather than reading the comic in itself. A personal preference.I understand there is not additional material in comparison to the older volumes. There are sketches of the characters, some made by Morrison and to my surprise they are super good. Also a fragment of the script that always is helpful. I have the 25th anniversary edition of Morrison's Arkham Asylum. It has the full script. Although I like to discover things by myself I have to admit that Morrison has stories dense with so many layers of cultural references and comic references beyond my general culture. In the surface all seems epic with clever moments of funny humor, but the script illuminates much about the meaning of dialogue and things shown or illustrated.Now, before you imagine me with a cheerleader outfit and dancing with the letters G. M. I have to say that this story is among my favorites ever. But I think there is something I didn't like much: the story of Mister Miracle. To me it seems... rather a prelude for Morrison's Final Crisis, a book that I honestly dislike. Mister Miracle is an entertaining reading, but it seldom has anything to do with Seven Soldiers, it's like Apokolips sponsored this book so Morrison got forced to put the New Gods in the story. Other than that I am very happy to at last have this omnibus (I got it last year but it seems it was sent by dromedary to my country) If I could I would give it more stars.

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. As we all well know, for years, comics companies have indulged in cloning their rival’s greatest heroes—see the Terrifics, on the shelves now. Oh, and Sideways, and Damage.These efforts often yield quite an effective bit of fan-service—especially when someone like Alan Moore scrapes up the “grim and gritty” remains of the otherwise talented Rob Liefeld’s Image Comics Superman-knockoff: Supreme.Once upon a time, Supreme was a kind of ultra-violent poster-child for 90’s Punisher/Ghost Rider excess married visually and in terms of power-sets to the Man of Steel in a way that never feels like anything more than a cheap stunt.But Moore hoses all that nonsense off and completely recreates the character, allowing a wink to his “dark” predecessor in the Supreme multiverse. Moore ends up with something less like a striking Superman homage, and more like high art, with Moore granted the keys to the kingdom: total control of a Mort Weisinger—Julius Schwartz—Eliot S! Maggin—Curt Swan—era Superman, in all his Fortress of Solitude, Phantom Zone, Bottled City of Kandor surreal greatness in a way that helps the reader see that distant hero in all his hyper-unrealistic yet fully realized glory.Moore does this with Watchmen, and its Charlton hero antecedents; Paul Jenkins gave us a marvelous Sentry (Superman as neurotic, anxiety-driven man, locked to his bed, popping Xanax like Tic-Tacs)—the examples are endless. Some fail; some wildly go beyond expectations. “Supreme: the Story of the Year” is probably might favorite single 12-issue arc in comics, everything I wanted “Seven Soldiers” retro-fitter Grant Morrison to achieve with his “All Star Superman” run.Here, Morrison succeeds far more than his sound work with Quitely on "All Star" Supes.As Morrison states, “I started off in 2002 with the idea to do a JLA spin-off called JL8, which featured a bunch of C-list characters getting together as a DC analogue of the Avengers or Ultimates. Guardian was in from the start as my Captain America guy, Mister Miracle was Thor, the Demon was the Hulk, Zatanna was the Scarlet Witch and so on.... I worked on the material for the next two years to turn it into the Seven Soldiers concept as it finally emerged.”I may be dense, but never once did I get the great SF writer’s Avengers analogue strategy; I wasn’t reading comics journalism much, and the Seven Soldiers greeted me in all their ungainly wonder unsullied by spoilers—or even pre-issue hype.The only thing better would be being ten and seeing this treat on a Seven-Eleven spinner rack. But I am a “mark” for the weird teams—even when they never quite team, as in here.I fully confess up front, I adore old comics characters (Lee Falk’s the Phantom and Mandrake, the Magician—they simply rock) almost as much as ungainly teams—how about the 80’s pre-Morrison Doom Patrol?—and when I see a Super-powered Rabbit in full cape and trunks standing, chest out, with, say, a High I.Q. glasses-wearing Rodan-style Kaiju, a sword-slinging Barbarian, an old west gunslinger (given, say, reality-alternating colts), and a Hindu goddess trinity featuring Lakshmi, Saraswati, and Parvati—with, maybe, Ganesha tagging along for the Hulk-style smackdown (if being rewarded elephant dung quite matches being smashed), you have me at hello. I am down, like a clown with an upside-down frown.And the weirder the team the better.The only thing Morrison could have done to raise this roster’s overall awesomeness-grade would involve adding Captain Strong, the DC Popeye—because DC needs a Popeye, and so do we all, ALL, need a bit more Popeye in our lives, flexing the forearms, spreading the love.The interior cover of this hardcover omnibus (and it’s currently sweet price; Amazon –see pricing) alone made its overdue collection worth the wait. (I loathe the way “The House of Secrets” omnibus was given the plain black treatment under the dustjacket.)Here, Issue #0 is a classic, although it – redacted – my favorite—redacted … of all time. The original one! Him. (Redacted). But a harrowing is a harrowing, and the harrowing was nigh.Highlights: the whole “Sleepless in Seattle” the seven never meet structure—until a climactic encounter with the series’ Big Bad, Sheeda, fittingly set in New York, where each hero affects the battle in some crucial way.Ryan Sook’s Zatana. I loved his pencils of Starman and JSA; here he provides a beautiful Zatana, the girl you dated, once, twice. Then she moved in with that post-Cobain post-punk slacker with the Kool-Aid in his hair. The last time you saw her you glimpsed her for a second, a second!, through a frosted window at the Third Street Starbucks, in L.A., and you stabbed the back of your hand with a plastic fork because you missed the way she always played The Waitresses’ “Christmas Rapping” at the holidays, over and over on her CD boom box.Fans at the time complained 7 Soldiers felt like a bunch of separate mini-series meant to see whether we could breathe any life into some, ahem, forgotten heroes, but I felt the introduction organic—like a nicely unfolding TV series with a mega-cast. I will say I loved some characters/arcs way more than others, such as Manhattan Guardian with art by Cameron Stewart, and Frankenstein by Doug (Then-Superman) Mahnke was a revelation.I want more DC Frankenstein, please. The one by LeMire, using the scaffolding Morrison put up, ended way too soon.Klarion, the Witch, you can have—literally. Move that chess-piece off the board. That he did what he did (spoiler enough) proves a unique move in that creators seem loathe to build their (Fine) shadows and traitors from character types who once had a hard time finding love.Guardian surprises the most. I like the character’s totalizing conventionality (making it unconventional in that this is Grant Morrison), down to his forties look. That he’s able to win over his lost love is just the button his arc needed to wrap.Morrison’s handling of Guardian makes me eager to see Morrison at the helm of Hal Jordan Green Lantern as standard space cop (their universe so needs that, especially with all of DC’s obtuse events fraying their universe at the seams) in standard ‘beginning-middle-end’ procedural story arcs of the sort Morrison rarely allows us a glimpse—no matter that he so excels at them.And Bulleteer, like any great character, is simply a great piece of graphic design.Oh, and Darkseid’s in it. True dat.

The idea was great, giving d-list characters (not Zatanna, she would be a B-lister for sure) more fleshed out stories of the own, and tieing all their stories together should of been an awesome read. But it has be a slog so far (I'm half way through the omnibus so far). If I had read these as individual issues they would have never made sense, but they are arranged in a good reading order that makes the story of each character come together as a whole and they do have subtle devices that tie them all together. The art is never really bad but only ok in some, good in others, not really great in any of the characters stories though. My biggest frustration that is waying down the book is the dialogue. It is choppy and borderline incoherent throughout the whole volume. I get the impression that Morrison just had a great idea for a story but couldn't put think of a halfway decent lines to script for the heros so much of the word bubbles are filled with jumbled nonsense. Yeah, that and the subway pirates beneath NY. I'm guessing that plot was supposed to be writing tongue and cheek. I'd check out the Trade Paperbacks first before you buy this to make sure it's something you might actually like before buying.

Grant Morrison nailed it with this book! Great price tag as well. DC made another quality book.

Grant Morrison is in a league of writers all his own

Received in great condition! Looking forward to reading this collection!

It feels very jumbled. You jumped to so many different stories its hard to tie them all in. Was not what I expected.

great comic book set, solid art and story throughout

An epic tale. A fantastic experience only possible in a comic bookI would also recommend checking out JLA Classified: Ultramarine Corps as it serves as a sort of prequel.

Seven Soldiers begins with Seven Soldiers #0, runs through 7, four-issue miniseries, and concludes with Seven Soldiers #1. Each miniseries has our Seven Soldiers playing within their own sand-box, yet in parallel inevitably converging towards their shared concomitant crisis. Each book also has distinct, stylistic art befitting of each character. Shining Knight has a gouache/watercolor style by Simone Bianchi befitting of its Arthurian origins, while Klarion the Witchboy has very somber, stylized, negative-space/shadow-dependent art by Frazer Irving. Similarly, Frankenstein has the intricate, scraggly lines characteristic of the prolific Doug Mahnke that adds a dimensionality to the horror-adventure vibe of the character.The Seven Soldiers omnibus is pleasure to own for the oversized artwork, prestige hardcover format and additional material.

Morrison resolveu pegar um monte de personagem restolho e criou uma trama muito louca com um timaço de desenhistas. Não tem erro. Você chega se importar com personagens como Klarion. Só Morrison consegue isso.

Leider nicht auf deutsch erhält, daher für mich noch schwerer zu begreifen als morisson sowieso ist. Kompliziert und verschachtelt, aber man wird mit einem brillanten einzigartigen Konzept belohntGut aufpassen, und Spass haben

Une superbe édition reprenant les aventures de héros que je ne connaissais que vaguement ou que grâce à Batman (je pense à Zatana).Afin de comprendre l'univers Grant Morrison je me suis mis à lire ce qu'il a sorti en partant d'Animal Man, en passant par les Seven Soldiers ou Flex Mentallo car tout ceci met en place les jalons qui permettent de comprendre l'auteur et qui nous mènent à Final Crisis.Nombre sont ceux ayant critiqué ce dernier ouvrage au motif qu'il était incompréhensible et mal foutu scénaristiquement. Oui mais voilà il est inconcevable de se lancer dedans sans être passé par différents pré-requis, à savoir lire certaines oeuvres majeurs de Grant Morrison qui conduisent à ces événements.Bref, cet omnibus est assez volumineux pour un prix très contenu : je recommande !