Seven to Eternity, Vol. 2: Ballad of Betrayal

Seven to Eternity #2

by Rick Remender, Jerome Opeña (Contributor), James Harren (Contributor)

Adam Osidis and the Mosak travel the blasted lands of Zhal to deliver the Mud King to the only force strong enough to undo his strangle hold on his army of mind slaves. But the Mud King isn't called "the God of Whispers" for nothing, and his poison runs deep, so deep even as to affect the Mosak. The choices they make here will echo throughout the lands of Zhal for all eternity.

RICK REMENDER & JEROME OPENA's dark fantasy smash hit series returns for its second chapter!

Collects SEVEN TO ETERNITY #5-9

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Fantasy, Graphic Novels Comics, Comic Book, Fiction, Dystopia

128 pages, Paperback

First published October 11, 2017

About the author

Rick Remender is an American comic book writer and artist who resides in Los Angeles, California. He is the writer/co-creator of many independent comic books like Black Science, Deadly Class, LOW, Fear Agent and Seven to Eternity. Previously, he wrote The Punisher, Uncanny X-Force, Captain America and Uncanny Avengers for Marvel Comics.

Reviews

[Chad · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Mosuls continue their trek to Zhal to free the people of the Mud King's hold on them. They make the mistake of not gagging the God of Whispers and he begins to cause dissent among the party. I love that Remender and Opena have embraced their own dark version of High Fantasy. This along with Black Science and Low are Remender's best of his recent work.

[Donovan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Whatever enthusiasm I had for this series ended with the first volume. This is just too high fantasy for me, especially the ornate dialog, and the sense of world building that there’s plenty I don’t understand and yet isn’t explained. I also can’t connect with any of this sprawling cast.

I don’t hold it against Remender for trying something different, but his stuff is very hit or miss for me. Fear Agent, Tokyo Ghost, and Deadly Class are my favorites. But this, Low, Black Science, and Last Days of American Crime did little for me.

[The Lion's Share · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is far too much going on here. Typical remender. I find his stories difficult to follow, the same happen to me for Black Science and deadly class.

the one consistant great thing about this series are the wonderful array of characters and beautiful artwork.

[Iryna *Book and Sword* · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.75/5 stars

The second installment was so good! The world got much broader - the art has gotten even better. Well, okay I do have to amend myself - in the middle of the book the art got really weird, because of the artist switch, but then by the end it got back to normal. I assume it was a guest illustrator or something like that. And his style wasn't bad - I just much preferred the original one. It went better with the whole theme of the story.

I loved learning the backgrounds of characters - those always make the story for me. And somebody I couldn't stand got themselves impaled so I was happy about it too. Ha.

The 3rd one isn't released yet, but I am eagerly awaiting it because this has turned into one of my favorites for sure.

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[Sud666 · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the first volume and am glad to see the same quality of story and art in the second volume.

Adam Osidis has managed to capture the Mud King. Yet foolishly they don't gag him so the God of Whispers slowly but surely begins to sow seeds to division among the party. Without spoilers this second part tells us about how the Mud King was trained, as well as the horrifying secret to the Swamp. We also find out some Osidis family secrets.

What makes this sci-fi/fantasy story work is the unique story setting. The beautiful artwork complements the story perfectly. The God of Whispers is a very nuanced villain and Adam is hardly your typical hero. The party has their own internal divisions and the opprobrium towards the Osidis clan by the natives is also interesting.

With this combination of art and story consider me a fan of Remender's unique and interesting sci-fi/dark fantasy series. Looking forward to Vol 3.

[Shadowdenizen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm so glad that Epic Fantasy is being fully embraced in the comics medium! Sure' there's always been fantasy comics out there, but we are now in a Golden Age for them, IMO.

The scope of this series is very broad, and the world-building is nuanced and impressive. Highly recommended for all fantasy fans.

[Clint Bungles · Rating 4 out of 5]

While I prefer Opeña's art to guest artist James Harren, volume 2 kept the pace with the first. Not afraid to kill off characters at every turn and make interesting narrative choices, I'm looking forward to continuing the series.

[Roman Zarichnyi · Rating 5 out of 5]

У другій арці «Балада про зраду» мальопису Ріка Рімендера та Жерома Опеньї «Семеро до вічності» розповідається далі історія Адама Осідіса, який спершу намагався відсторонитися від глобальних подій світу і просто захистити свою сім’ю. Але чим далі ми рухаємося сюжетом, тим більше він заглиблюється в гущавину подій.

У першому томі було розказано про світ та його персонажів, які гарно залучали нас, як читача до цієї серії. Природно, що другий — повинен продовжувати рухати історію далі і доопрацьовувати світ разом із персонажами. І це те, з чим відмінно справляється Рімендер. Мені сподобалося, що в цьому томі не тільки детальніше описується Адам та його сім’я, але також розкриваються допоміжні персонажі. Тут починаємо розуміти, чому кожен персонаж вирішив зробити неможливе, повстати проти Грязьового Короля, і ризикує буквально всім.

Неочікувані повороти, неоднозначність персонажів, динамічний сторітелінґ ще більше затягують у світ. Круто!

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This continues the story of the Seven To Eternity. Adam Osidis and company still have the Mud King in their possession, taking him to his final judgement. This turns afoul pretty quick when they have to choose to save time by going through the Swamp. The greatest of the Mud King's enemies dwell here, almost an elemental force of fear, sloth and regret that dwells beneath the murky water. The group gets separated and illusions and magicks tear them into singular delusions. Adam has to make a choice and chooses to save the Mud King and an accord is made where he shares things with the Mud King in exchange for him being cured of the disease that is killing him. The pair make it to the nearby city some two days hence and the others go through rigors in pursuit of Adam and the Mud King. The culmination is a stand off between the Mud King and the Lantern Bearer, who actually is revealed to be an ancient font of evil. Zeb, Adam's father is called back for one action alone; to save his son. He does this and then disappears, leaving Adam and the Mud King alone, while Adam pleads with his broken heart over the plight of his family he left many months behind.
This was a great addition to this awesome story! I love the world of Zhal and the characters here. The only reason I didn't give this five starts is that the art in the 7th and 8th comic in the story was drawn not by Jerome Opena, but a stand in artist, and it just drained the mystique and halted the story for me. Opena picks it back up and it ends in fantastic fashion. I really love this book and the world these guys have built!

Danny

[RG · Rating 3 out of 5]

For some reason I didnt like this as much as Vol 1. The story didnt go in a direction that I was expecting which has its positives and negatives. Cool art and probably is where the story shines. Might have to give this a read again at a later time.

[Benji's Books · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic art, accompanied by some okay guest art, followed by an unpredictable story that's got me looking forward to volume three. I love a book that isn't afraid to put their characters in real danger...

[Bandit · Rating 3 out of 5]

There was really no good reason for me to read it going by general indifference to book one and fantasy genre in general, but it was already downloaded and there was time. Also the completist in me likes doing things like that, just following the story along, checking out how it all plays out.
And so back to the mythical realm of Zhal and its spooky terrains to follow the brave souls on their epic quest as they drag the intriguingly named Mud King along. This time Mud King gets to spend a lot of time with the main lead, which provided some of the more straight forward character building. But then again this was never about that for me. I’m here for the art. And boy, is it good. Might be the only thing about fantasy genre I appreciate…all the creatures one gets to invent, the worlds one gets to imagine.
And now I’m probably gonna read book three too. In for the penny and all that. Can’t say I care about the outcome as much as I would have liked, but still, here’s hoping for a somewhat definitive ending to book three and the series.

[Václav · Rating 4 out of 5]

(4 of 5 for this dystopian futuristic dark fantasy getting finer)
7toE started to quite widely, but in this volume, it gets narrower as the plot thickens, it holds mostly to the current timeframe. The story split organically into a few lines and it feels more comprehensive. There are some plot twists, one after another and despite the not likeable (for me) main character, it’s very engaging. There are good side characters, Mud King is a great villain (it’s a classic scheme of supervillain which later unveils grey/whiter motives). Remender likes to balance in grey areas, good people doing bad things and vice versa. And he really goes intense with this here. So it just gets better and better. So next volume, here I come.

[Craig Maxwell · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am so surprised this series has over 4* on here - I see absolutely nothing to back this up at all. I really wanted to like this series, I tried so much but I just couldn’t. My advice - admire the cover and set it back down, that’s all this series deserves an appreciation for beautiful illustration.

A sprawling cast that is all over the space with a timeline and storyline to match. Their side storylines interspersed throughout, adding absolutely nothing to the overall plot. I couldn’t have cared less about any of the characters.

This narrative should have followed Adam and The Mud King and their conflict, but instead we were given a bunch of irrelevant characters thrown at us left right and centre, with no reason why they were introduced and then they’d disappear.

Who are these beautiful creatures, where are they, what are they doing there? What are their motives, why are they doing what are they doing? Questions that are the basis of a narrative, but these were totally abandoned. Add that to convoluted language which is completely unnecessary.

5* for the breathtaking artwork
1* for the narrative

A complete let down so so disappointed, Admire the incredible artwork on the cover and leave it there.

[Chris Greensmith · Rating 2 out of 5]

"War has come to the Land of Zhal, not with armies and fire, but with whispers,."

[Devon Munn · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.4 stars

[Travis Duke · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars for the series overall, 5 stars for the art but 4 stars for writing. I know its a weird way to rate this book but whatever it is just the way i felt at the moment. Volume 2 picks up with the band escorting the mud king across Zhal. The idea is they can't kill him because all the people he influenced would go bat shit crazy if he died. So this volume is the classic "adventure journey" that is so near and dear to my heart, thoughts of Willow or the hobbit come to mind. The team is starting to fracture a bit as teams do, favoring one ideal over another. The visit a nasty swamp and the team splits up with Adam and the mud king venturing off on one quest and the rest of the team tackling a different quest involving Jevalia and her family.

Remender is writing on a different level with the series, its complex and at times confusing but it is still great. The shining star is Jerome Opena and the color team, it is the highest quality of art. Vivid sharp and stunning pencil work. Colors are rich and well thought out.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

At times I didn't entirely understand what was going on. This book is kind of a mix of disparate parts. Everyone gets split up in different ways and some crazy stuff happens. Some of it pretty cool. There seemed to be an art shift in the middle for a chapter/issue or two, but then returned to the previous style. I do really like the art and the worldbuilding is fantastic. Seems ridiculous that they let this guy that can essentially control you with his voice to not be gagged at all times. They even argue about gagging him but don't actually do so.

I find it interesting that the cover features a character that lasted about 3 pages, if that. She had a really cool power, and was the daughter of the main baddie, but she sure didn't last long.

[CS · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bullet Review:

This is a super confusing mess of a volume; that said, if you compare to other Remender works (namely that heinous abomination, Black Science), this seems to be the most cogent, coherent, intelligent work. Even if Adam and Grant are basically the same asshole protagonist.

The journey continues to take the Mud King to justice but the group (of characters I barely remember and couldn't name if my life depended on me - thank the maker that each one at least LOOKS visibly different from the others so I can reasonably recognize them from panel to panel) splits up because everyone hates everyone else. Adam gets sicker and his daughter defies her father and goes after him.

Not the best by any leap of imagination, but again, compared to other Remender fare, this is almost gold.

[Doctor Action · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hmph. After the great start of volume 1 this book went somewhat haywire, with the introduction of some new characters feeling pretty random and the plot feeling confusing. And to make it worse, the incredible art of Jerome Opena was replaced by someone else for two issues. Now, there's nothing wrong with this artist (the style reminds me of the art in Rumble, which I really like) but it doesn't suit the sober, moody nature of STE at all, as far as I'm concerned, and the change was jarring.

There's just two more volumes so I'll carry on but I'm feeling sceptical. Maybe it's a Remender thing. I started Black Science a couple of years ago, and initially loved it, but it degenerated into random doggie doo very fast and I ended up uncomfortably dumping it like the massive turd it was.

If this makes me feel the same, Mr Remender will be on my naughty list.

[Lukasz · Rating 2 out of 5]

Too much world-building and of everything to me. The world is cool, but somehow I'm losing interest in the series.

I totally understand why it'll be 5 * to others, though. If you love imaginative world-building, cool magic, and mysteries, you'll love it.

[Jake Guy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This installment has some good scenes and always great art but it feels like Remender falling back on old tricks. This one just feels like filler and set up for the story.

[Leif · Rating 2 out of 5]

Aside from the odd breaks, this continues the allure of volume one without adding substantially to the plot, characters, or complexity of the tale. More of the superhero-ish team of ragabonds die, however. It's difficult to care.

[Ανδρέας Μιχαηλίδης · Rating 5 out of 5]

First off, I need to get something out of my chest. James Harren should not work on titles that initially feature much stronger artists - or any other artists at all. He compares quite poorly, although in this case, it's not as bad as in Conan. Strangely, when he is self-contained, the art seems pretty decent, but falls short when it has to follow up on something pre-established.

At any rate, on the whole, the second volume of Seven to Eternity does not fall short of the expectations built up in vol. 1. The world is as rich and weird as ever, the moral grays quite grayer and the characters' dilemmas sharper than ever. Adam Osidis is truly a study on the weakness and hardship of being human (or mortal in general, as humans are not any sort of majority in this world), a failed idealist who comes into sharp contrast with the brutal, illusion-free pragmatism of the Mud King.

There is action and betrayal, some pretty stunning revelations and the satisfaction of vengeance, although not in the way you might expect. However, what I find most alluring is the entirely human drama and philosophical debate that this very alien world reflects, much as humanity used gods and legends to magnify and sort out its own psyche.

A satisfying second installment, so now I'm eagerly expecting the third one.

[Jedi JC Daquis · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am re-reading Seven to Eternity from start to finish, and I remembered that this is the part of the series I have liked the least. Years after, it still is.

This volume 2 is a concrete example on how the drawn art influences the over the overall mood and depth of the story. Two of the five chapters here were drawn by James Harren and it made me almost lose my interest in reading it. Suddenly, Seven to Eternity isn't special anymore. The high-quality dark fantasy setting isn't there anymore. Things felt bland.

Not that Harren's art is terrible. No. His style appeal for me is at least above average. It's just Jerome Opeña's artwork is so phenomenal it gives so much life to the story, there's so much grace in movement, with all those beautiful and nasty details that makes the world of Zhal thrive.

The story itself has also lost some of its focus compared with the first volume. Everything felt like a side quest rather than an important mission. Still, that final issue (glad to have Opeña back) saves the series just enough for the readers to keep on reading.

[Jamie Connolly · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best, or if not, the best comic running. So so sooo good. It's really good. The art. The story. The characters. The paper it's printed on. The colors. Perfect.

[Alex E · Rating 4 out of 5]

The second volume brings many changes to the story, and is a testament to how good Rick Remender is to be able to shift the narrative and not lose us in the process.

I don't want to spoil to much, but what occurs in this book is something that would probably happen in real life. After all, the story was never about the grand scheme or big picture. It was always about the very personal story of one man trying to save his family and doing anything he can to be with them and make sure they are safe. Anything.

Remender reminds us that the world can twist your values and make you break your promises. His characters make the tough decisions that really change who they are as a whole. It redefines them and makes them more relatable. The story is always about the small personal relationships with Remender, and he makes sure to remind us of that in this book.

Jerome Opena is firing on all cylinders in this book, as you can now sense that is very comfortable with the characters and their movements. I felt like this volume was more dynamic, and that's probably due to Opena settling in and really getting close to these characters. James Harren fills in for an issue, and he is really good. I love his work on Hellboy and his darker style lends itself well to this world.

Cant wait to see how it ends in volume 3.

[Darcy · Rating 5 out of 5]

The more I read of this series the more it continues to draw me in. The world building and the in-depth analysis of the characters becomes more intricate and engrossing with each chapter. Who is "Good," and who is "Bad" has become an interesting moral exercise that is debated as the story unfolds. In this volume we follow the trek of our band as they attempt to escort the Mud King to his prison. However, things do not work out as planned and the group becomes separated and encounter all kinds of wild obstacles. During this process we get to peer inside the lives of some of the characters and experience this world from their point of view. Let's just say perspectives become murky. Hell, I am not even sure about Garlis at this point!

One thing I noted, is chapter 9 seems to have a different artist, although the title page indicates otherwise. Opena is supposedly assisted by James Harren in parts 7 & 8, but I believe that is a typo since the style changes dramatically in the last chapter. It is still good, just different. Overall, I continue to highly recommend this series. It takes full advantage of the medium and tells a story that will have you on edge as there is no clue how this will all end up. Lucky for me, I already have Vol. 3 in hand so I can continue my journey uninterrupted.

[yesica.s7 · Rating 3 out of 5]

The art is still stunning and deserves a lot of cheering. Yes.

But... The last page of the 1st one left me with a bitter impression, because I felt too much was revealed and I would've preferred more intrigue regarding such important plot points. That same feeling accompanied me while I read this one.

There's the protagonist's father explaining explicit things directly to him, and then a LOT of action occurring in the "bad guy's lair".

Why is everything happening so fast? All these new characters, the bad guy's offer, secret identities revealed, etc.

I think they are not bad ideas, but they are shot so fast at the reader that I didn't find time to digest them.

I think in the first one it worked better because the story was just starting. But these are key plot points, supposedly, and that are all passing too fast before my eyes. It makes me wonder: what will come next, if everything is already happening so rapidly? What's the hook? Maybe not everyone felt like this, but I would have wanted the story to develop slower: Leaving some space to care for the characters, develop some empathy, believe in their secrets for a while...
I've lost a bit of interest in the story because of all this.

[Pearse Anderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Far from a stellar series, but a really interesting look at power, peace and conflict studies, free will, and epic fantasy in this sticky, stony comic. I really liked the Mud King more in this volume and how his relationships were shown/evolved. But THERE'S SO MUCH LORE AND BACKSTORY I want to pick up, but that just takes past issues or ornate dialogue or something like that to fully understand. So I felt like I was along for a ride but I needed to be a bit closer to the captain. Sometimes this lore was awesome, like how we saw this world's representation of the Grim Reaper and he was SUCH a unique character with interesting traits and art! But, y'know, then we got back to the muddled conflicts and stuff of the Mosals/Mosaks in Zhal against Gisils with the Goblin and the Azhelle and sword-dude from the other universe with the meep-morp and the Plumbus, and the Plumbus gets some Fleeb on it and before you know you have some Shleem and Dadazak and whatever. Y'know how Plumbuses are made.