Seven Soldiers of Victory, Volume 2

Seven Soldiers of Victory #2

by Grant Morrison (Writer), Simone Bianchi, Cameron Stewart

The brilliant mind of Grant Morrison (JLA, All-Star Superman) is showcased once again as the collections of his most groundbreaking and ambitious project yet! Comprised of seven different 4-issue miniseries and two bookend Specials, this colossal 30-part tale of death, betrayal, failure, joy, loss, romance, triumph and redemption is being collected in 4 volumes!

This second volume features the continuing exploits of four of the seven soldiers. Independently, each of these characters is featured in a story arc that redefines their purpose in the DCU. But their stories also interweave with the other Soldiers' tales, and tells a grander story of a devastating global threat to mankind. Together, these reluctant champions must arise and work together to save the world...without ever meeting one another!

Collecting: Klarion, the Witchboy 2-3, The Shinning Knight 3-4, The Guardian 3-4, Zatanna 3

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Dc Comics, Comic Book, Superheroes, Graphic Novels Comics, Fantasy

176 pages, Paperback

First published March 22, 2006

About the author

Grant Morrison has been working with DC Comics for twenty five years, after beginning their American comics career with acclaimed runs on ANIMAL MAN and DOOM PATROL. Since then they have written such best-selling series as JLA, BATMAN and New X-Men, as well as such creator-owned works as THE INVISIBLES, SEAGUY, THE FILTH, WE3 and JOE THE BARBARIAN. In addition to expanding the DC Universe through titles ranging from the Eisner Award-winning SEVEN SOLDIERS and ALL-STAR SUPERMAN to the reality-shattering epic of FINAL CRISIS, they have also reinvented the worlds of the Dark Knight Detective in BATMAN AND ROBIN and BATMAN, INCORPORATED and the Man of Steel in The New 52 ACTION COMICS.

In their secret identity, Morrison is a "counterculture" spokesperson, a musician, an award-winning playwright and a chaos magician. They are also the author of the New York Times bestseller Supergods, a groundbreaking psycho-historic mapping of the superhero as a cultural organism. They divide their time between their homes in Los Angeles and Scotland.

Reviews

[Joni · Rating 4 out of 5]

Para una mejor comprensión de este tomo tuve muy a mano el anterior para cada referencia y ayuda a asentar cada historia por separado y el trasfondo del enemigo en común. Ahora se empieza a disfrutar más y se van uniendo algunas de las tramas.

[Sam Quixote · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Seven Soldiers still have yet to meet one another but the threat of the evil Faerie folk continues to build. Klarion the Witch Boy makes it to the surface world where he learns of an evil plot to take over his peoples' subterranean Puritan world for a Croatoan (magic dice); Manhattan Guardian has marriage issues as he struggles between doing a job that gives his life worth but is tearing apart him apart from his wife; Shining Knight Justin fends off the evil Faerie Queen as well as a possessed Galahad; while Zatanna continues teaching her young protégé the magic arts not realising who the girl really is...

Seven Soldiers continues its weird and wonderful story in this second volume with plenty of action and mind bending theories zapping about the place courtesy of the charmingly mind-bedazzled Grant Morrison. The artwork continues to be high quality and the storylines still focus on four of the seven soldiers, my favourites so far being Klarion and Zatanna. Recommended for those who loved the first book, can't wait to get stuck into Book 3.

[Gabriel Llagostera · Rating 4 out of 5]

Este tomo ya encuentra un avance en lo que se quiere contar, y, por tanto, plantea claramente la historia de fondo.

También me resultó aún más clara la relación con El Cuarto Mundo de Kirby, tanto en el uso de personajes como en la independencia aparente de los comics pero con un trasfondo en común. En ese sentido, lo complejo está en esa estructura y no tanto en lo que se quiere contar, que hasta ahora es de una enorme sencillez.

Todavía me faltan dos tomos para terminar, y con más personajes a presentar, así que veremos si mantiene el nivel y cómo se resuelve todo.

[Desmond Killian · Rating 4 out of 5]

With Seven Soldiers still being this good twenty or so years after its release, why would you ever read Danger Street?

"Carla. Hey. No... shhh... Carla... listen...

"Baby, it's not about the job or the money, it's about being in the right place at the right time to do the right thing. And knowing you're gonna do it even if you don't want to. Something real bad's come up and there's only me downtown. But sit tight: I'm coming to get you.

"Call out the Newsboys. We're taking this to the streets."

I feel like I should mention that Cameron Stewart was outed as a groomer a couple of years ago. You put eight or nine comics professionals in a room together, it's basically a guarantee that at least one of them is a stalker/rapist/child molester.

Or a Comicsgater. Or a CIA agent.

:[

[The Sapphic Nerd · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked this one less than the first volume... the stories mostly feature new characters from the previous book and sure, Frankenstein is cool, but I had no emotional attachment to any of these characters. This is it for me for the series.

[Sam Poole · Rating 3 out of 5]

Amazing, amazing diverse and compelling art. Coolish story and setup but still verges on incomprehensible. Also the last issue is problematic like wtf. Ew. And the zatanna issue is so oversecualized. And Justin is trans! Overly this is good but reaching no payoff or any kind of catharsis is sort of a bummer.

[Tony Laplume · Rating 5 out of 5]

The second original collection, of four, compiling Grant Morrison's outlandish superhero epic, demonstrates how he truly let his imagination run wild with it. As you read, feeling bewildered is almost the point, the feverish creativity on display stretching against disparate storylines that converge, slowly, as the big threat uniting each character comes into focus. It's one thing to know that the Sheeda threat exists, and that seven heroes are needed to defeat it, but another to understand how their unique perspectives explain it. Shining Knight and Klarion help explain the history of it, while Zatanna gives the reader an approach that seems both familiar and surprising in turn, as we learn more about her current circumstances. Then there's Guardian, who rounds out the volume, learning how he's inexplicably stumbled into the middle of it.

Reading all this again more than ten years later is to begin to see where Morrison's work fits in. Zatanna evokes then-recent events within the pages of Identity Crisis, while he draws on his own The Filth. It's also important to remember that Morrison had just concluded his run on New X-Men, and had just begun an extended run on Batman that was to solidify Morrison's place in mainstream comics, including his Final Crisis. Until all this he was still best-known for JLA at the time, as well as his most off-beat, career-defining work in the pages of Animal Man, Doom Patrol, and The Invisibles. Later he'd use his Seven Soldiers reputation to construct The Multiversity, but that was years in the future.

Seven Soldiers might be said to have inspired everything from Helmet of Fate to Flashpoint to The New 52 to Rebirth, concentrated superhero storytelling that envisioned whole worlds at a time across a series of titles.

The effect of any one issue or story almost doesn't matter. This is a cumulative affair, a project defined by scope. Grab hold and don't let go!

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall, I liked it. I was, frankly, somewhat underwhelmed by the experience, as I think I expected more from the individual miniseries than I got. I like how Morrison wove different supporting characters through the various miniseries, but I never quite felt any danger from the Sheeda. It became more an experiment in putting together a puzzle than a fun story.

I thought that the individual series were somewhat mixed - Guardian was terrific, as was Bulleteer. Zatanna - despite being a character I typically loathe - worked well in her story. Mister Miracle was fun, but I felt like it was only vaguely tied to the Seven Soldiers storyline. Klarion wasn't clicking for me - he never seemed to have much direction, going from the "wow wow wow" excitement of the outside world to... well, whatever he did in the final chapter.

Frankenstein was the series I expected the most from and wound up being the most letdown by. Everyone described it as fun, one-liner-heavy good stuff. I didn't see that. Mahnke drew some great alien landscapes, but it was just Frank showing up somewhere and shooting something, while talking to S.H.A.D.E. I was expecting some more excitement. Shining Knight was solid too. I liked Bianchi's linework and gorgeous shading, but was confused by some of his page layouts.

I guess I enjoyed it, but I felt that most of the miniseries weren't exceptional. They were merely good, with the connections between them being the main "plus" quality of the entire Seven Soldiers super-story.

I didn't feel disappointed by the final issue at all. It was rushed, but I didn't feel that it was necessarily less clear than the rest of the series. Noteworthy: A few Soldiers did meet in the finale! It was fun. I probably need to read it again with the hype and expectations stripped away though. I'm sure that there were themes and connections that I didn't get from the first read anyway.

[Aegelis · Rating 1 out of 5]

Hm, I kinda get where this was trying to go, a sort of Canterbury Tales to assemble some superheroes to fight super villains. Sound familiar? Indeed. There was some interesting elements for characters, but no real depth, depending on unpredictable action to try to get into who they are and enemy surprises crop up to counter their actions. Some panels were confusing on who was who, doing what and why, the history isn't really well fleshed out as I see it. So without solid writing and earnest attempts at artwork, I'm not really sure what's left. Oh, there are superheroes and supervillians, bam, pow, zap.

[Jared Conti · Rating 5 out of 5]

Man, this blows me away. I'm digging the style of Morrison's storytelling, especially the way we flop back and forth between characters/issues to bring about the whole story. Little tidbits are sprinkled in everywhere so it'll deserve a second read.

I'm not sure how they're going to pull everything off, though. I've not seen glimpses of Mister Miracle, Bulletgirl, etc, and that's sad. Is there a Absolute edition anywhere?

The fact that I paid $3 for the first two trades at Ollie's was the highlight of this so far.

[Terry Murphy · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's striking that the second volume of this series, which contains the final halves of three of the four characters introduced in the first, would be so...middling.

It lacks none of the firehose whip and snap of the first book. Moreover, some of the issues are downright inconsequential to the larger whole. The result is an admittedly fantasic collection of disparate stories that don't feel like a cohesive whole.

It's still a delight, and Morrison's storytelling is genuinely grin-inducing, but, I can't help but feel a little crestfallen after the first volumes heights.

[Juan · Rating 5 out of 5]

El experimento de Morrison toma vuelo en este segundo tomo, las conexiones eran tangenciales pero aquí empiezan a resonar con mayor fuerza, el gran panorama se va haciendo cada vez más claro: 1 profecia, 7 soldados, 7 hombres desconocidos, 7 tesoros..., bastante información a la que toca estar atento, secretos escondidos en los diálogos y en las viñetas.
Hasta ahora se han abordado 4 de las 7 series.

[Brian Dickerson · Rating 4 out of 5]

BCDER: 74

Volume two continues to be a very enjoyable read. Still, only 4 modern characters have been presented and although they’ve not yet met, their stories have began to intertwine slightly. I look forward to finding a copy of volume 3 and continuing this Morrison mind map.

[Adam Šilhan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Spojené pro první dvě části. Příjemně bizarní, líbí se mi střídání vážnějších a odlehčených linek.

Zatím mi nepřijde ani překombinovaný, ani bez neznalosti DC historie nepochopitelný, což se mi u Morrisona často stává.

[Mik Cope · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story is starting to develop, the various strands coming together. A big improvement on the first volume, each individual title benefitting from the cross-referencing to the others. And evil faeries. Evil faeries are always cool.

[Chris Hansen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not as gripping as the 1st volume but plenty to love. really love the way the collection sequences the issues. Shaping up to be great.

[Sierra Dean · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as good as volume one, but the art in Witch-Boy is mind-blowingly good.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

I continue to glean more from Morrison's take on Life, the Universe and Everything the more i read.

[Anthony · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am getting into the story now. The threat of the Sheeda is clear. Now the seven need to come together to defeat them.

I suppose I will seek out Volume 3.

[Dubzor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Now that things have picked up steam, it's a lot less conveluted. You really start seeing how everything has been working alongside each other from the beginning.

[Venus Maneater · Rating 4 out of 5]

Klarion the Witch Boy is, next to Zatanna, my favorite character. The art is just so lovely, the lore is haunting.

[Austin · Rating 5 out of 5]

The four trade volumes that make up this story were originally put out as a 30 issue series, and in reprinting them the story is presented chronologically, in the order that it's suggested you should read them. But the brilliant thing about Seven Soldiers - and, to an extent, comics in general - is that you don't have to read them that way, and in fact, the series invites you to read the books in almost any order you'd like.

To elaborate: there are 7, four-issue stories that all interlock, and are bookended by a pair of individual comics that kick-start and wrap-up the entire affair. DC is very good at "event" publishing, where different titles all cross-over into a continuous story that, in order to follow, you have to read all the cross-overs. The hope is that they'll gain new readers when a Superman Fan has to buy Wonder Woman to find out what happens, and gets hooked.

However, this story takes the form of event publishing, but instead introduces 8 new, limited-series titles to readers. The interlocking nature of the different series creates a very unique reading experience. While the trades present the series in single, forward-moving narrative, the single-issue presentations offer readers a chance to "dip in" to the series where ever they would like. You could read each mini-series separately; you could read all the first issues, then the second issues, etc. In many ways, it mimics the way fans pick up comics; many get new issues as they are published, but others pick up a few things here and a few things there, and aren't always able to read through things chronologically. In Seven Soldiers, how you read it is up to you.

Seven Soldiers is presented as a microcosm of the DC Universe; all the characters involved exist within the same world, but this fact doesn't necessarily affect each person individually. Most of the time, you can read Hellblazer and you don't have to read Justice League, but the two stories happen in the same world. Seven Soldiers takes this idea to the nth degree; all seven characters are each inside the same story, only none of them are fully cognizant of how they interconnect. This nuance, in many ways, is a means of amplifying the very essence of comics. The stuff that fans like about the medium as a whole is distilled and brought to the foreground.

If the metatextual elements aren't quite your cup of tea, there is plenty of knock-down, drag-out story to keep you going. All seven of the main characters have self-contained stories, and they all fit a certain type or genre. Looking for someone without powers, but brings the good fight to the streets with strength, courage, and quick-thinking? Check out The Manhattan Guardian. Like sexy bombshell characters in skimpy costumes who then struggle with the perceived role of women in the world of superheroes? You need Bulleteer. Etc., etc. Grant Morrison uses some of these stereotypes and stock characters to offer up something that is familiar, but then manipulates those ideas to serve his own twisted goals.

But if you want to ignore all that hifalutin rigmarole, and just get down to something fun, Seven Soldiers has that, too. It's too easy to get lost in the minutia of comics, and with a series like this (which brings back many B- and C-List characters that have been out-of-circulation for years), it wouldn't be hard to alienate new readers by only offering something that continuity watch-dogs and druggy-minded academics can enjoy. Fortunately, Seven Soldiers focuses on a good story first, with lots of action and twists and turns that make up good storytelling. How much further beyond that you go is entirely up to you.

[Joe Sergi · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have to say I'm usually not smart enough to read Grant Morrison. This series started out linear enough and was actually quite fun.

But, I have absolutely no idea how it ended--I wasn't smart enough and quite frankly, my personal view, is that a mainstream comic book shouldn't require that much work. (that's not saying that I don't like books where each time you read it, you appreciate it more (like Watchman) but my personal feeling is that you should also enjoy the first reading.)

This was originally 30 issues, so I was a little perturbed that after 29 issues of mostly linear stories (except Frankenstein) you end up with a medium breaking existential romp that makes your brain bleed. (I'm also not sure how this fits in with the DCU, Countdown, or Final Crisis. But, since Countdown to Fibal Crisis and Final Crisis don't fit, it's a minor complaint).

Don't get me wrong, Grant Morrison is a genius. I'm smart enough to recognize that, I'm just not smart enough to enjoy his genius.

[Kat · Rating 3 out of 5]

Basic Plot: Seven unlikely heroes are drawn together to defeat a new enemy to the DC universe: the Sheeda.

Each of 7 characters got a 4-issue miniseries as part of this run and had a unique part to play in the overall plot. While many readers may be familiar with the character Zatanna, she was probably the best known of the characters in the series. The series was also bookended with an introduction and conclusion issue. Overall, the art for the series was good and the stories were interesting. The connections weren't obvious at the beginning of each character's story, but they became more apparent as the plots developed. An ambitious project, to be sure.

While it was interesting, it never fully connected to me. It was enjoyable while reading, but fairly forgettable to me afterwards.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

Weird that Goodreads has the first big Seven Soldiers book but apparently not the second one, so I'm cheating and dropping a review on here. Oops.

This feels like kind of a step down after the really well-constructed first half - while Frankenstein's over-the-top horror comics storyline is really good (and Doug Mahnke is a PERFECT match for the subject matter - I always thought that his art was a little too creepy for its own good), Bulleteer and Mister Miracle's storylines just end up feeling too tangential to the main Sheeda invasion plotline. That being said, the way that everything comes together in the grand finale is pretty great (I wish I understood cryptic crosswords so I could try to solve the Manhattan Guardian one :( ), and I'm still disappointed that we didn't get continuing series for these characters after this was all over.

[Krystl Louwagie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed (and understood) this volume much better, hence, the better rating. The art and story is/are interesting, but the format of jumping so often from story to story is hard to get started on. Now I'm forming more of the big picture, and I think I should enjoy the whole series overall better. Still a little confusing, as large concepts in Sci-fi and time/world/character hopping can be! And, I still haven't found characters I particularly like, only the plot/story/idea. Nice art though, especially rich/complicated colors and page layout wise. (Though the covers are kind of awful, in that they all look almost exactly the same).

[Brandon Telg · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall I found Seven Soldiers to be "good". Most of the individual stories are fun. The overarching plot and unconventional method used to tell that story is interesting but... It just didn't really work in the way that most of Morrison's writing works. The similarly structured Multiversity, for instance, was a much stronger work.
As always, I love seeing the small ways that Morrison weaves the elements he's added to DC over the decades into this story (like the brief appearance of the Ultramarine Corps, or the Dark Side concept continued in Final Crisis) but I don't know that I'll revisit Seven Soldiers again.

[Gavin · Rating 2 out of 5]

I totally forgot I read this until I looked to see what I'd returned to the library this week...ya.
This volume still focuses on the 4 'soldiers' from the first: Guardian, Klarion, Sir Ystin, and Zatanna.
I don't mind the Klarion chapters, and the Ystin ones are interesting for the Arthurian connection. Guardian does nothing for me at all, and Zatanna is hit and miss, usually I like her more than I did here.

We still have no idea who the other 3 soldiers are, and at this rate they won't get much ink.

Can't say I'll rush to read Vol. 3.

[Fizzgig76 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reprints Klarion the Witch-Boy #2-3, Shining Knight #3-4, Guardian #3-4, and Zatanna #3. Zatanna, Shining Knight, Guardian and Klarion begin to be drawn together by the approaching Sheeda invasion. The second volume of Seven Soldiers is much more clear than the first volume. The stories are starting to mesh together and similar themes can be found throughout the individual mini-series. Some mini-series work and others seem kind of tedious.

[Printable Tire · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is still a comic book ahead of the crop... Klarion is such a fun character, and his world so well developed, it's almost a shame it has to the overall storyline... the Zatanna and Guardian stories are fun too (although Zatanna's reminding me of some episode of the Ghost Whisperer or something) but the Guardian's second adventure was a rushed comical snowjob. Still, the original newsboys is a great invention with quite a spooky, resonant conclusion.