Seven Soldiers 1
From Barbelith
"The Miser's Coat"
Barbelith thread: But I can tell you a story, if you like, while you're waiting... (http://www.barbelith.com/topic/19871/from/910#post642322)
Background and General Commentary
Synopsis:
General Comments:
There is a seven-page preview of this issue available here (http://www.newsarama.com/dcnew/7Soldiers/finale/SSov01Pre.html).
Annotations
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Page 1
PANELS 1-2: "Bloodhounds. Always singing the same old cowboy song. Yodeleheehooouu!"
Does "The Lonely Goatherd (http://www.lyricsondemand.com/soundtracks/s/thesoundofmusiclyrics/thelonelygoatherdlyrics.html)" from The Sound of Music count as a cowboy song?
Page 2
PANEL 1: "Send troops with Witch-Brands to bind the monster in our wheelroom. Call our Huntsman home. Our undead Spyder."
The scene here continues directly from Frankenstein 4. Frankenstein has just destroyed six of the ships of Gloriana's fleet and commandeered Castle Revolving, her flagship. The Witch-Brands are magical artifacts used by the people of Limbo Town to control their undead Grundies in Klarion. Melmoth used one against Frankenstein in Frankenstein 2. In Zatanna 3, Misty and Gloriana both use the term "Huntsman" to refer to Neh-buh-loh, but with the demise of Neh-buh-loh in Frankenstein 4, it seems that Gloriana has appointed I, Spyder as her new huntsman. Either that, or she doesn't know that the Nebula Man is dead and she wants her servants to summon both Neh-buh-loh and Spyder.
PANEL 2: "The magic mirror spoke of Seven Soldiers who would one day rise against me..."
This occurred in Manhattan Guardian #4.
PANEL 3: "Justina is this champion's name..."
We last saw the Shining Knight in Frankenstein #4, where she was spying on the Sheeda as they prepared to load the Undry Cauldron aboard Castle Revolving. Here we learn that she hid in the cauldron and used it as a means to stow-away aboard the time-ship.
Page 3
The New Gods depicted on this page are Orion, Metron, and Lightray.
Page 4
PANEL 1: "Led by warlike O'Ryan, whom the Gods recall as Silver Arm, come these shining ones, to rest between back-breaking cosmic labors."
O'Ryan was a homophonous alias used by Orion as a secret identity while operating on earth in his original series.
The epithet "Silver Arm" was used to describe Nuada (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuada) in Irish mythology.
"Falias! Findias! Murias! Gorias!"
In Irish mythology, these four northern cities were the original homes of the Tuatha De Danann (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuatha_Dé_Danann), or "people of the goddess Danu." From each of the four cities, they brought one of the Four Treasures. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Treasures)
Page 5
PANEL 3: "And this is mighty Aurakles. The original super hero."
Aurakles last appeared in Mister Miracle #4, where he was the homeless god who encountered Shilo Norman in the Slab Penitentiary.
Page 6
PANEL 1: "So the gods depart to their eternal, unknowable houses behind the stars, leaving Aurakles to wrestle alone with the 666 Monsters of Chaos."
Aurakles made mention of the 666 Monsters of Chaos to Shilo Norman in Mister Miracle #4.
In this panel, Oracle is fighting Neh-Buh-Loh, which implies that Neh-Buh-Loh is one of the 666 Monsters. It seems odd for Neh-Buh-Loh to show up 40,000 years in the past with no explanation, but then again, he can travel through time as easily as walking through a door, so maybe it's not so strange.
"To serve him in his earthly duties, Aurakles is entrusted with Seven Imperishable Treasures."
For more information on the Seven Treasures, go to this page: Seven Treasures of Camelot
PANEL 3: "Neanderthal super-scientists launch a fearsome time engine into the abyssal reaches of a distant future."
In this panel, we can see two versions of Castle Revolving, the Sheeda's time-faring city-ship visible in the sky. The version with the twisting towers and minarets matches J.H. Williams depiction of Castle Revolving in Seven Soldiers 0. The more organic-looking version that resembles a cross between a skull and beehive matches Simone Bianchi's depiction in Shining Knight. Perhaps one is the time machine that the Neanderthals originally built and the other is the copy that Melmoth and the Sheeda made by back-engineering the original? It is also possible that these were originally meant to be one and the same structure and the confusion originated because two different artists used two very different styles to draw the same thing.
Page 7
PANEL 2: "Subduing the world for his father Uther Dragonhead, comes Arthur of mighty renown."
In the legends of King Arthur, the name of Arthur's father is Uther Pendragon (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uther_Pendragon). "Dragonhead" is a literally translation of Pen Dragon, which means "dragon's head."
Page 9-10
PANEL 3: "And three times the fullness of great Arthur's ship we went into it. Save seven, none returned."
This is a quote from Preiddeu Annwn (http://www.lib.rochester.edu/camelot/annwn.htm), "The Spoils of Annwn," the ancient Welsh poem. The word "Unwhen," which appears in the previous panel is a play on Annwn, the name of the Welsh "Otherworld."
Page 12
"Edition 777, Thursday"
Hey, there is that lucky number 7! In the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, the world ended on a Thursday.
"Police Horse Retires"
Based on the accompanying photographs, it looks like Harry the Police Horse was pressed back into service as Jake Jordan's mount immediately following his last day on the force. One wonders if Harry is in anyway related to the police horse who befriended the boxer Mo Colley, as mentioned in Guardian 4.
"It is rumored that it was connected to the unfortunate death on the planet Mars of his son and heir, Benito 'The Baby' Silencio."
The younger Mr. Silencio was eaten by Martian horses in Frankenstein 2.
"Hurricane Gloria Pummels Manhattan"
The approach of Hurricane Gloria has been mentioned in several comics, including Guardian 3, Mister Miracle 3, Mister Miracle 4, and Frankenstein 4.
Page 13
"Guardian to Big Ed. Horse lessons paid off."
Way back in Guardian 1, Jake Jordan mentioned that he would get his own horse and his own helicopter once he had taken the necessary lessons.
"Guardian Cryptic X-word!"
The solutions to the crossword puzzle are as follows:
ACROSS
1 - Lena
3 - Bors
4 - Badde
7 - Gloriana
9 - Open
DOWN
1 - Loa
2 - Abednigo
4 - Be
5 - Do
6 - Lance
7 - GM
8 - One
1 Across: Lena
The most intriguing clue in the crossword puzzle is 1-Across, because it forces us to reevaluate our interpretation of what happened between Chop Suzi and Captain 7 in Guardian 4.
The clue reads "One of dead Suzi's twins, hidden in the whole name at Guardian Heights." The answer is "LENA". Lars and Lena are the only twins who work at Guardian Heights and the letters of Lena's name appear hidden in the phase "whoLE NAme."
In Guardian 4, Chop Suzi was obviously pregnant and Captain 7 basically admitted to having a sexual relationship with her after he was accused of child molestation by the Terrible Time Tailor. Many readers assumed that Captain 7 must be the father of Suzi's child and this was the reason why the team decided to punish him by throwing him into Ali-Ka-Zoom's bottomless magic cabinet (perhaps because Suzi died in childbirth, according to one popular theory at the time).
However, there is a flaw in this theory: Lars and Lena have blond hair and blue eyes and are extremely Caucasian in appearance. Chop Suzi is Asian. Captain 7 is Black. Suzi is the twins' mother, but Captain 7 cannot possibly be the father, based on their appearance. We know from the Time Tailor's predictions that Suzi died at age 14 and that Captain 7 was labled a murderer. The new information supports a different interpretation of how this came to pass:
Keith has a plan - "This makes more sense now. Captain 7 kills Suzi out of jealousy/rage once the blonde blue-eyed babies are born."
- Captain 7 and Chop Suzi have a sexual relationship.
- Suzi becomes pregnant.
- The Captain assumes the child is his.
- Suzi gives birth to blond-haired, blue-eyed twins.
- Captain 7 is confronted with the shocking fact that he is not the father and that Suzi had sex with someone else.
- Captain 7 flies into a jealous rage and kills Suzi.
- The Newsboys decide that Cap is a murderer and carry out their punishment.
So who is Lars and Lena's biological father? Some readers have noted that Baby Brains is the only white, male member of the original Newsboys who has blond hair and blue eyes and suggest that he may secretly be the father.
LDones - "The slightly creepy thing this crossword answer implied to me was that the father was not who it might have seemed. Which of the Newsboys had blond hair and blue eyes? The one who sheltered them and the one they took care of in his old age. Shudder-inducing, but it certainly makes sense, thematically and story-wise."
I tend to think that the question of whether or not Ed is Lars and Lena's biological father may be irrelevent. I think the twins' blond, blue-eyed appearance is simply meant to prove that Cap 7 could not possibly be the father. Plus, I think that Baby Brain's infant body is probably physiologically incapable of performing the necessary deed.
John, the boy from the future - "Small problem with this idea - has Ed passed puberty? Does the baby-ness extend to biological functions too, or is he all man, but in a baby's body?"
Regardless, it is clear that Ed looks out for the twins and takes care of them later in life, even employing them at his newspaper. Plus we see Lena caring for him in his old age. Ed acts as an adoptive father to the twins whether or not they are biologically related.
--UPDATE--
The trade paperback "Seven Soldiers of Victory: Volume Four" has added extra confusion to the question of Lena's parentage. The collection includes excerpts from Grant Morrison's original script for Seven Soldiers #1. In it, Morrison says that "Lena is a black girl with blonde hair and almond, almost Oriental eyes." This seems to imply that Captain 7 is indeed the biological father of Lars and Lena. However, it also seems to contradict the appearance of the twins in Manhattan Guardian. If Lars and Lena are half-Black and half-Asian, why do they have blonde hair, blue eyes, and pale complexions? Why are their given names of Scandinavian origin?
This may be an instance where authorial intent, textual evidence, and reader interpretation diverge: it is possible that Morrison scripted it one way, Cameron Stewart and J.H. Williams drew it another way, and then the readers proceeded to ignore both versions and made up their own story.
It is also possible that the plan changed somewhere along the line in the time between when Manhattan Guardian #1 and Seven Soldiers #1 were produced.
3 Across: Bors
Reference to the knights of Arthur splitting the atom in Shining Knight 3.
4 Across: Badde
The second most interesting clue in the crossword is probably 4-Across, because it casts the events of Klarion 2 in a new light.
The clue is "The Witch-Boy's call rings out, in rhyme, 'He's DAD!'" The answer is Badde, which rhymes with "Dad" and is the last name of Ebeneezer Badde, the Limbo Town exile that Klarion met in the sewers and subways of New York City.
In Klarion 2, Ebeneezer Badde seemed to recognize the names of Klarion's parents, he gave very cagey responses when Klarion asked about the possible fate of his father, and he even asked rather pointed questions about Klarion's mother and stepfather. These clues and others lead some readers to speculate that Badde may be Klarions long-lost father. The crossword confirms that this is the case.
The fact that he is actually Klarion's father Mordecai helps explain the motivation for Badde's last-minute repentence after selling out his own blood for liquor and baubles. It also makes his death in the hands of Leviathan (at Klarion's instigation) more tragic. It seems that Klarion himself has never guessed Ebeneezer Badde's true identity.
2 Down: Abednigo
The name of the third submissionary Melmoth couldn't remember in Klarion 4 is revealed. The other two are Judah and Shadrach.
4 Down, 5 Down: Do, Be
"Strangers in the night discuss philosophy"
Old joke.
Socrates - TO DO IS TO BE Sartre - TO BE IS TO DO Sinatra - DO BE DO BE DO
6 Down: Lance
Another reference to the seventh imperishable treasure: Aurakles' 'spear' (and magic helmet), as well as his genetic line.
Page 14
"That's how it is in the world of the Super-Cowboys"
The excerpt that Ed quotes was written by Shelly Gaynor, a.k.a. The Whip, who was a columnist for the New York Daily Recorder and died at Miracle Mesa. In fact, the excerpt comes from the same article that provided the narration to Shelly's portion of Seven Soldiers 0. Some of what Shelly says in the excerpt, specifically "Trust me, those are human stories, writ large" and "Every day is mythology," are sentiments that have been echoed elsewhere within the Seven Soldiers epic, by such diverse characters as Don Vincenzo, Shilo Norman, and Ed Starguard himself.
Page 18-19
The newspaper page that gets blown into Klarion's face in PANEL 5, is a page of the Manhattan Guardian and includes the headline "Pirates on the Subway"
Page 21-22
PANEL 2: "No, you moron! It's this way!"
"How dare you continue to call me a moron!"
The two characters in this panel are Jorge Control and the disembodied head of Hannah Control, both of whom last appeared in Manhattan Guardian #3. This panel confirms that Hannah is indeed a robot as had been previously speculated.
PANEL 7: "Bride Online! Resistance is concentrated here at the Hero Museum on Broadway and Lennon!"
The Bride sky-dove into Manhattan in Frankenstein #4. Manhattan's Superhero Museum appeared in Klarion #3 and got references in Bulleteer #2 and Mister Miracle #3.
Broadway is a real enough, but there is no "Lennon Street" in the real New York City.
Page 24
PANEL 3: "So let's save the world, you and me, together. Ready?"
".ydaeR"
LDones - "Zatanna strikes, using the merlin to take control of her own narrative. Like Dr. Metron said in Mr. Miracle #4, "…Life itself is yours to direct and manipulate." The cards she had up her sleeves come flying out, giving us the illusion of a magic trick that she's making happen with the help of the reader, the help of our collective perception. The disembodied backwards 'Ready' is our signal to her that we're willing to do our part."
PANEL 4: "EKAWA ESREVINU! EKIRTS SREIDLOS NEVES!"
As Zatanna casts her magic spell, cards appear to fly out of her sleeves. Each card depicts an image from one of the previous issues of the Seven Soldiers project. In no particular order, the images are:
- Spyder in his shades from Seven Soldiers 0, Page 4, Panel 6.
- Ystin with the Undry Cauldron from Shining Knight 1, Page 13, Panel 3.
- The Manhattan Guardian superhero ad from Guardian 1, Page 7, Panel 5.
- Zatanna summoning Gwydion from Zatanna 1, Page 16, Panel 3.
- The Kit-Kat wrapper that Ezekiel showed Klarion from Klarion 1, Page 12, Panel 1.
- Gloriana Tenebrae from Shining Knight 4, Page 3, Panel 4.
- The founding of the Newsboys of Nowhere street from Guardian 4, Page 7, Panel 2.
- Mister Miracle entering the black hole from Mister Miracle 1, Page 2, Panel 5.
- Zor attacking in Zatanna 4, Page 11, Panel 2.
- Ibis the Invincible in flames from Zatanna 4, Page 15, Panel 5.
- Alix in front of the mirror from Bulleteer 1, Page 22.
- The train crash from Frankenstein 1, Page 4, Panel 3.
- The Hand summoning the Nebula Man from Bulleteer 2, Page 13, Panel 2.
- The death of Aaron Norman from Mister Miracle 4, Page 6, Panel 4.
- An unidentifiable image, possibly from Klarion.
Page 29
With Mister Miracle dead, the Seven Soldiers are down to six. Or are they?
Page 31
I, Spyder moves in, filling the roster to seven again.
PANEL 4: "What kind of prey do you suppose I, Spyder would hunt?"
Spyder's question echoes a line of his own dialogue from Seven Soldiers 0, when he said, "So what kind of prey do you suppose gods might lower themselves to hunt, hmm? Rabbits? Or Superheroes?"
Page 32
In PANEL 3, Alix Harrower's car careens off a pile of rubble, launching it into the air. The rubble was left there by Klarion's subterranean drill. If Klarion hadn't parked the drill just where he did, Alix's car wouldn't have crashed into Gloriana.
In PANEL 4, there is a torn poster that says "...presents Heroica". A similar poster appeared in Mister Miracle #3. The full text of the poster reads "Manhattan Superhero Museum presents The New York Philharmonic's performance of 'Heroica'"
PANEL 7: "There were no other survivors of the incident. You're free to go, Mrs. Harrower. You're free."
This panel is a flash-forward and a mini-epilogue to Bulleteer's tale. She's released from her obligations as Aurakles' heir... or is she? Note the red hair in a B&W panel, as per Aurakles' panel earlier.
Page 33
"Imagine you in a miser's coat. Threadbare and ragged... the work of too many hands to ever fit properly... but watch it fool the locals."
Any resemblances to a comic book universe are not merely coincidental.
Page 36
"O see ye not that narrow road, so thick beset with thorns and briars? That is the path of righteousness. And see ye not that broad, broad road... that is the path of wickedness... ...though some call it road to heaven."
The Unknown Ferryman of Slaughter Swamp again quotes from the Ballad of Thomas the Rhymer (http://www.cowdenknowes.com/rhymer.htm), as he did in Seven Soldiers #0.
Page 38
PANEL 3: "A pleasure doing business with you, Dog-father."
This is Millions the Mystery Mutt. In Bulleteer #3, one of the fans at the superhero convention asked whether the rumor was true that Millions was immortal and secretly running the U.S. Banking System. It appears that this rumor is pretty close to the truth. Millions must be immortal to have survived since the forties. Strangely, the Terrible Time Tailor predicted that Millions would be "Dead at 14." One way this could be true would be if Millions did indeed die at age 14, but was then revived by Vincenzo Baldi using the Cauldron of Rebirth as the unnamed convention fan implied with his question.
In PANEL 5, Jake Jordan, Carla, and Lauren Marcus visit the grave of Shilo Norman.
In PANEL 7, Dark Side leaves a black flower at the grave, which ties straight back to the first line of Seven Soldiers 0, "They say a black flower grows for every secret drowned in Slaughter Swamp..."
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