Seven Soldiers 0
From Barbelith
"Weird Adventures"
- "prologue: true thomas"
- "Part One: Shelly and the Super-Cowboys"
- "Part Two: Big Time Country"
- "Part Three: Midnight at Miracle Mesa"
- "epilogue: save seven"
Issue and general purpose thread: Isn't it funny how everything connects? (http://www.barbelith.com/topic/19871)
| Table of contents |
Background and General Commentary
Genre: Western (with a helping of weird adventure pulp mixed in).
Synopsis:
In this issue, a revamped Whip, grand-daughter of the Golden Age character, is recruited by Vigilante to combat an ancient, giant spider -- the Monster of Miracle Mesa -- alongside Gimmix, Boy Blue, Dyno-Mite Dan and Spyder. Notably, none of these characters are the titular heroes of the Seven Soldiers series. For one thing, there are only six of them, which raises the obvious question: (Who is the Seventh Soldier?) For another, the Sheeda and Nebula Man get them all, leaving the Seven Unknown Men briefly stumped.
General Commentary:
There's an interesting analysis of the six characters in this issue hither (http://goodcomics.blogspot.com/2005/02/who-are-six-soldiers.html), although the sage heads at Barbelith have come up with a related-but-different analysis yon (http://www.barbelith.com/topic/19871/from/175#post424556).
Basically, the six ill-fated heroes represent different ages/styles of comics.
They may also be related to/versions of the Ultramarines who ventured into Nebula Man at the close of Morrison's run of JLA:Classified.
There's a verse at the end that ties this issue directly to Shining Knight, although you might not catch it. It's a quote from the Preiddu Annwn (scroll down to Annotations for more on that).
Annotations
| Featured Characters | Featured Locations |
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Cover
On the cover of this issue, there are several overlapping images. One is of a hand holding a sword. Another is of a bird in flight, perhaps an eagle. Due to the way the two images overlap, the swordsman's hand appears to be "choking his chicken," a common euphemism for masturbation. It is a bit of a visual pun.
There are only six faces on the cover, just as there are only six heroes in the story, unless you count the skull that appears on the shield next to the giant seven. This skull will appear again inside the issue, on the page showing what each of the Vigilante's six soldiers does the night before the hunt.
Page 2
Cyrus Gold is better known as Solomon Grundy (http://www.fanzing.com/mag/fanzing07/dcu101.shtml), a zombie villain from the Golden Age Green Lantern, who since then has played a part in most of the major DC titles. Slaughter Swamp is where he came from, reconstructed/resurrected like the Swamp Thing. It's possible that the reference to "in-between places" is either referring to or swiping from the "soft places" in Neil Gaiman's Sandman. They certainly seem to be the same kinda thing.
Page 3
PANEL 1-2: The old ballad quoted here is The Ballad of Thomas the Rhymer (http://www.cowdenknowes.com/rhymer.htm), which tells the tale of a poet who is given the gift of prophecy after serving the Queen of the Elves without speaking for seven years. True Thomas, or Thomas of Ercildoune, was supposedly a real figure (http://www.answers.com/topic/thomas-the-rhymer) in Scottish history. He famously predicted the death of King Alexander and the bloody years of war that followed. The verse after the two quoted here describes the road to Elfland.
PANEL 6: "What am I looking at?"
The body of the dead Sheeda warrior and the surrounding patches of blood form the shape of the number seven in a circle. On the next page we will see this same symbol sketched on a sheet of paper inside the house.
Page 4
This interdimensional maze has to be the same kind of place as the home of The Harlequinade or The Outer Church/Invisible College from The Invisibles.
PANEL 4: "...They... They said Seven Unknown Men of Slaughter Swamp... Mystery Men..."
Dalt hears the voices of the Unknown Men speaking to him as he undergoes his transformation over the course of the next two pages. The voices are distinguished from one another by the color of the word balloons. Strangely, only six different voices speak in this scene:
- Blue
- Light Orange
- Grey
- Yellow
- Dark Orange
- Green
Is one of the Unknown Men absent during this scene? Unknown Man Purple, perhaps?
Page 5
Spider's identity washes out of him in liquid form, as in Morrison's The Filth #1, but here the shower seems to be actually washing Spyder's skin color off - as if he were being de-inked prior to being redrawn. Are the Seven Unknown Men indeed the DC Editors?
Page 6-7
The new Whip looks an awful lot like Oubliette from Marvel Boy. Same costume, same weapon, same jadedness.
In this, her dramatic first appearance, the new Whip is seen swinging over a fantastic, grandiose version of New York City's skyline. The unusual buildings seen here were not dreamed up at random. Each is based on a real-world architectural project that was proposed at one time but never actually built.
A recent article in the New York Times had this to say about the architecture in the Seven Soldiers' version of NYC:
"The first issue of Seven Soldiers, published last February, features a broad Manhattan skyline that includes a hotel (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hotel_Attraction) that the Spanish architect Antonio Gaudà designed for New York nearly a century ago. Not far away is the so-called Rolls-Royce Building (its facade resembles a grill) that the Austrian architect Hans Hollein unsuccessfully proposed as the new headquarters for Chase Manhattan Bank in the late 1950's. And snaking around the two buildings is the Mid-Manhattan Expressway (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mid-Manhattan_Expressway), the elevated highway long championed by New York City's powerful urban planner Robert Moses." (Starr, Alexandra. "It's a Bird! It's a Plane! It's Architecture!" The New York Times: July 31, 2005.)
Another proposed, but unbuilt architectural marvel appears in issue #3 of The Manhattan Guardian: Frank Lloyd Wright's Ellis Island Key Project.
To read the entire New York Times article, click here (http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/31/arts/design/31star.html?8hpib). Registration is required to view articles on the New York Times' site.
Page 17
PANEL 7: "...My seventh soldier got cold feet at the last minute..."
We won't find out who the absent seventh soldier was supposed to be until Bulleteer #2.
Page 18-19
We meet the team: Gimmix, Boy Blue, and Dyno-Mite Dan, hanging out at The Vigilante's ranch as the new Spyder lands.
Page 22
PANEL 5: That picture of the team keeps popping up -- this is its third appearance in the book. It shows the original lineup, apparently with the original Spider toting a bow and arrow... and apparently with Wing the Chauffeur as the seventh (there's an Asian fellow standing next to the Crimson Avenger, at any rate -- could be Stuff).
Page 23
PANEL 4: "They even have digital video cameras built in. State of the art."
The footage shot by these cameras will become valuable evidence in Bulleteer #2.
Page 26
PANEL 3: Any ideas on what Gimmix means by "the real Boy Blue"? The character in the rhyme? Another hero? Regardless, Boy Blue does look a lot like Rebis from Doom Patrol here, don't he?
Mario:It's likely Gimmix's comment about the "real Boy Blue" was in reference to Thomas "Tommy" Rogers, who as a youth in the '40s fought as "Little Boy Blue". More info about the character here (http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Labyrinth/7393/wwlbb.html). As Tommy was without powers, it's unlikely there's a direct connection between he and the new version.
Page 30
PANELS 2-3: The runes coming out of Boy Blue's horn here are, clockwise from closest to his mouth, T (Tiewaz (http://www.barbelith.com/topic.php?id=7433)), U (Uruz (http://www.barbelith.com/topic.php?id=2337)), E-I (Eihwaz (http://www.barbelith.com/underground/topic.php?id=6503)), Z (Algiz (http://www.barbelith.com/underground/topic.php?id=6947)), D (Dagaz (http://www.barbelith.com/topic.php?id=9334)), L (Laguz (http://www.barbelith.com/topic.php?id=8287)), and H (Hagalaz (http://www.barbelith.com/topic.php?id=8287)). That doesn't seem to spell anything I recognize, so maybe they were just chosen for looks (or for nefarious sigilizing purposes). The rainbow color scheme does bring Heimdall, the guardian of the rainbow bridge who bears the Gjallar horn, to mind, though.
Page 34
PANEL 4 - "You told us the Indians called this the Hunting Ground of the Gods, Greg."
Miracle Mesa appears near the ground in front of our heroes, but above it, in the space beyond, we catch a glimpse of a floating city with towers that twist as if they were spun in a whirlwind. This is either Castle Revolving or one of the Sheeda's other city fortresses. In Guardian 4, we are told that both Miracle Mesa and Slaughter Swamp are places that have become unhinged from time and space. Based on it's behavior in Shining Knight 1, Castle Revolving seems to have similar properties, able to exist in primordial Camelot and modern LA simultaneously.
Page 37
PANEL 1: As mentioned above, this verse is a quote from the Preiddeu Annwn (http://www.lib.rochester.edu/camelot/preideu.html), or "Spoils of Annwn," a Welsh Arthurian poem.... Okay, time to get a little meta. The line "except seven, none returned from Castle Revolving" is a reference to Arthurian myth. Apparently, Castle Revolving, or - more properly - the revolving castle, is the home of the fairy folk. Tri lloneit prytwen yd aetham ni idi. nam seith ny dyrreith o gaer sidi That is - three loads of Prydwen (Arthur's ship) went into that place. But for seven, none returned from Gaer Sidi (the castle of the Sid/the fairies/the Sidhe/the Sheeda). It's from the Preiddu Annwn. -- Haus
PANEL 2: The Seven Unknown Men are packing up gifties for the next seven needed to fight the Sheeda hordes. But if they're defending against the Sheeda, why set I, Spider up to die (as they said they were doing in the beginning)? And just out of curiosity, the eagle tabard is Shining Knight, and the helmet is the Manhattan Guardian's -- but whose is the glove, board and raygun? I suppose that will be answered eventually.
The raygun is the Spawn of Frankenstein's steam-powered flintlock, which he is seen holding on the cover to the first issue of his series.
PANEL 3: "We've done what we can."
The Unknown Men are seen filing out of their sanctuary in Slaughter Swamp bearing gifts for the new Seven Soldiers. However, only six Unknown Men are visible. Again, Unknown Man #7 is conspicuous by his absence.
PANEL 4: The Seven Unknown Men travel in a Time-Sewing Machine. I suppose that gold stuff is, uh, the fabric of time.
AllenThomas -- Six black flowers depicted at the bottom of the page for six "secrets drowned in the swamp" for six superheroes that died unknown to the rest of the world. (comment on Millarworld thread)
The Time-Sewing Machine's "cockpit" is based on the front-end design of the Union Pacific Railroad's 1930s M-series diesel express trains (http://donsdepot.donrossgroup.net/dr372.htm).
Back to Seven Soldiers Annotations
