Seven Soldiers

Seven Soldiersis a 2005–2006comic bookmetaseries written byGrant Morrisonand published byDC Comics.It was published as seven interrelatedmini-seriesand two bookend issues.The series features a new version of theSeven Soldiers of Victoryfighting to saveEarthfrom theSheeda.The series has been interpreted as "an extended metafictional treatise on the writing and reading of comic books in general and the superhero genre in particular".

Seven Soldiers
Cover toSeven Soldiers of Victory Vol. 4(2007, TPB), art byDoug Mahnke.
Publication information
Publisher	DC Comics
Schedule	Monthly
Title(s) Seven Soldiers#0–1 Seven Soldiers: The Bulleteer#1–4 Seven Soldiers: Frankenstein#1–4 Seven Soldiers: The Guardian#1–4 Seven Soldiers: Klarion the Witch Boy#1–4 Seven Soldiers: Mister Miracle#1–4 Seven Soldiers: Shining Knight#1–4 Seven Soldiers: Zatanna#1–4
Formats	Original material for the series has been published as a set oflimited series.
Genre	Superhero
Publication date	April2005– December2006
Number of issues	30
Main character(s)	Shining Knight Manhattan Guardian Zatanna Klarion the Witch Boy Mister Miracle Bulleteer Frankenstein Sheeda
Creative team
Writer(s)	Grant Morrison
Artist(s)	J. H. Williams III Simone Bianchi Cameron Stewart Ryan Sook Frazer Irving Pascal Ferry Yanick Paquette Doug Mahnke Freddie Williams II
Reprints
Collected editions
Volume 1	ISBN1-4012-0925-4
Volume 2	ISBN1401209750
Volume 3	ISBN1401209769
Volume 4	ISBN1401209777

Publication history

Seven Soldiersstarted off as a different project which evolved over time. According to Morrison:

I started off in 2002 with the idea to do aJLAspin-off called JL8, which featured a bunch of C-list characters getting together as a DC analogue of theAvengersorUltimates.Guardian was in from the start as myCaptain Americaguy, Mister Miracle wasThor,theDemonwas theHulk,Zatanna was theScarlet Witchand so on.... I worked on the material for the next two years to turn it into the Seven Soldiers concept as it finally emerged.

The metaseries is bookended bySeven Soldiers#0 and #1, with art byJ. H. Williams III.The rest was made up of seven mini-series:Shining Knightwith art bySimone Bianchi,Manhattan Guardianwith art byCameron Stewart,Zatannawith art byRyan Sook,Klarionwith art byFrazer Irving,Mister Miraclewith art byPascal FerryandFreddie Williams II,Bulleteerwith art byYanick Paquette,andFrankensteinwith art byDoug Mahnke.

Plot summary

In the first issue of this story (which was part of a two-issue framework for the project), theVigilantegathers together a new Spider (called "I, Spyder"and apparently the son of the original), Gimmix (the estranged daughter ofMerry, the Girl of a Thousand Gimmicks), a new Boy Blue, Dyno-Mite Dan (owner of two "working fakes" imitations of the explosive rings ofT.N.T.andDan the Dyna-Mite), and the Whip (granddaughter of theGolden AgeWhip). The team sets out to battle the Buffalo Spider (later on, theSheedaare betrayed by Spyder inSeven Soldiers of Victory#1 in another nod to the original), only to be killed during an event known as the Harrowing.

The seven miniseries follow seven other characters with indirect connections to the first group, each with their own art styles, genres, and character arcs. A central part of Morrison's idea for the current series is that, although the seven characters in question are each a part of the same struggle, they never actually meet (although there are references to each other in the various titles). Thus, the team is actually not a team.

An explanation for this is presented inManhattan GuardianandZatanna.In the first, a man named Ed Starsgard (Baby Brain) tells Guardian that the Sheeda have been attacking humanity in periodic waves, taking everything of value (physical and mental) and leaving behind just enough for the survivors to rebuild for next time. It is prophesied that the Sheeda will eventually be stopped by seven soldiers, so they target teams of seven, including theUltramarine Corpsand theJustice League of America(JLA: Classified#1–3). However, because the Seven Soldiers have never met, they stand a chance of doing the job.

InZatanna,a ghost remarks that there are too many coincidences in the story and it feels like there is a "mystery string tying it all together". It eventually emerges that the Seven Unknown Men of Slaughter Swamp are driving the Seven Soldiers to stop the Sheeda.

In an interview, Grant remarked that this series of stories (which he calls a "megaseries", also known as a metaseries), takes place afterInfinite Crisis.Dan DiDiohas stated that, after careful consultation with Morrison, the series is now considered to take place a week beforeInfinite Crisis.

The comicSeven Soldiers of Victory#1 was originally scheduled for release on April 1, 2006, but was delayed and eventually released on October 25.

The last battle

After undergoing various trials and tribulations in their own miniseries, the soldiers eventually take part in the climactic battle against the Queen of the Sheeda in New York, each affecting different parts of the battle without having any idea of the larger picture.

The climactic sequence is initiated by Zatanna casting a spell: "Seven Soldiers Strike!" This is the final push the universe required to move the soldiers into position.

After travelling into the future kingdom where the Sheeda live,Frankensteintakes Castle Revolving, the Queen's time-travelling floating kingdom, to present-day New York so that the Queen can be brought to justice by the paranormal special ops groupS.H.A.D.E.Once Castle Revolving arrives, theShining Knight—who had chased the queen to the future—successfully attacks the Queen, severely injuring her and leaving her open to an attack by supporting characterI, Spyder,who shoots an arrow into her and knocks her down to the New York streets below.

There, theManhattan Guardianhas rounded up thousands of New Yorkers into a militia that is successfully fighting off the Sheeda invasion. At approximately the same time,Bulleteercomes tearing down the street in her car, hoping to take her critically ill nemesis, Sally Sonic, to a hospital. Sally, utterly insane, attacks Bulleteer, who loses control of her vehicle and crashes into the Queen. Guardian arrives on the scene, but Bulleteer is the only survivor.

Prior to all of this,Klarion,who had drilled up into New York from hidden caves beneath the city, had stolen a magic die from Misty, Zatanna's sidekick. Together with his own die, the two dice comprise Fatherbox, one of the lost treasures of the ancient superheroAurakles.Klarion had then traveled up to Castle Revolving. With the Sheeda Queen dead, Klarion uses a binding spell on Frankenstein, forcing him to pilot the ship back into the future. Thus, Klarion becomes the "traitor" that was prophesied.However, by doing so, he also stopped Misty, the Sheeda princess, from becoming the new Queen and being obligated to continue the cycle of destruction to save her people.

Finally,Mister MiracleconfrontsDark Sidein his club. There, Dark Side explains that he gave Earth to the Sheeda in return for them giving himAurakles,the primordial superhero. Mister Miracle offers himself in exchange for Aurakles' freedom and Dark Side accepts. Once Aurakles is freed and Mister Miracle is shackled, Dark Side shoots him through the head, thus making him the soldier that was prophesied to die.Mister Miracle is later seen emerging alive from his own grave, "escaping death".

Character endings

• Shining Knightis shown attending the H.S. Johnson School for Heroes, where Ali Ka-Zoom (Zatanna's ghostly friend) promises that he will give her the advice she needs, and that she can continue to fight evil with Horsefeathers on weekends. He gives her Aurakles' sword and hints that she may yet return to her period of time and become Queen Ystina the Good.
• Guardiansurvives the attack on New York, after raising an army to fight off the Sheeda. He wins back the heart of his estranged girlfriend (to whom he had previously proposed).
• Bulleteeris briefly arrested after the accident, but later told that she is free to go. Although she questions if she really is free, because she played right into what destiny had in store for her.
• Klarionis shown cackling madly as Sheeda women crawl at his heels. He reappears inCountdown to Final Crisiswhere he attempts to absorbMary Marvel's powers only to be defeated.
• Frankensteinis last seen under the control of Klarion, although he still seems to have retained his mind. He is then shown inFinal Crisis#3 assistingS.H.A.D.E.in capturingRenee Montoya.
• Zatannais almost run over by Guardian's wife and subsequently vanishes. The most famous of the soldiers, she survives, appearing in stories set "One Year Later",though her newly acquired apprentice Misty Kilgore has yet to appear.
• Mister Miracleis buried in a grave engraved only with his stage name. It is visited byDark Side,who deposits a black flower on the grave and leaves. Once he is gone, however, Mister Miracle's hands burst out of the ground. He has since turned up inFinal Crisis#2, having escaped death. His escape from the grave is mentioned.

Members

First group

• Vigilante(Greg Saunders)
• I, Spyder(Thomas Ludlow Dalt II)
• Gimmix(Jacqueline Pemberton)
• Boy Blue
• Dyno-Mite Dan(Harris D. Ledbetter)
• The Whip(Shelly Gaynor)
• Bulleteer(dropped out before the group went on its first mission)

Second group

• Shining Knight(Sir Ystin/Ystina/Justina)
• Manhattan Guardian(Jake Jordan)
• Zatanna(Zatanna Zatara)
• Klarion the Witch Boy(Klarion Bleak)
• Mister Miracle(Shilo Norman)
• Bulleteer(Alix Harrower)
• Frankenstein

Awards

The series won the 2006Eisner Awardfor "Best Finite/Limited Series".

Collected editions

The series has been collected into fourtrade paperbacks:

#	Title	Publisher	Year	ISBN	Reprints
1	Volume 1	DC Comics	2006	ISBN1-4012-0925-4	Collects The reprinted material is, in whole or in part, from: Seven Soldiers#0 Shining Knight#1–2 The Guardian#1–2 Zatanna#1–2 Klarion#1
	Credits and full notes Writer(s) Grant Morrison Penciller(s) J. H. Williams III Simone Bianchi Cameron Stewart Ryan Sook Frazer Irving A British edition was published byTitan Books(ISBN1-8457-6236-3)
2	Volume 2	DC Comics	2007	ISBN1-4012-0975-0	Collects The reprinted material is, in whole or in part, from: Klarion#2–3 Shining Knight#3–4 The Guardian#3–4 Zatanna#3
	Credits and full notes Writer(s) Grant Morrison Penciller(s) Frazer Irving Simone Bianchi Cameron Stewart Ryan Sook A British edition was published by Titan Books (ISBN1-8457-6237-1)
3	Volume 3	DC Comics	2006	ISBN1-4012-0976-9	Collects The reprinted material is, in whole or in part, from: Mister Miracle#1–2 Zatanna#4 Klarion#4 Bulleteer#1–2 Frankenstein#1
	Credits and full notes Writer(s) Grant Morrison Penciller(s) Pascal Ferry Ryan Sook Frazer Irving Yanick Paquette Doug Mahnke A British edition was published by Titan Books (ISBN1-8457-6288-6)
4	Volume 4	DC Comics	2007	ISBN1-4012-0977-7	Collects The reprinted material is, in whole or in part, from: Frankenstein#2–4 Mister Miracle#3–4 Bulleteer#3–4 Seven Soldiers#1
	Credits and full notes Writer(s) Grant Morrison Penciller(s) Doug Mahnke Pascal Ferry Yanick Paquette J. H. Williams III A British edition was published by Titan Books (ISBN1-8457-6294-0)

Note:The full title of all volumes listed here start with "Seven Soldiers of Victory:".

In 2010-11, the series was collected into two hardcover volumes, the first of which contains the same content as the first two trade paperbacks, while the second contains the same content as the latter two paperbacks. In 2018, all thirty issues were compiled into a single, 792-page omnibus.

External links

• Seven Soldiersat theGrand Comics Database
• Seven Soldiers: The Bulleteerat theGrand Comics Database
• Seven Soldiers: Frankensteinat theGrand Comics Database
• Seven Soldiers: The Guardianat theGrand Comics Database
• Seven Soldiers: Klarion The Witch Boyat theGrand Comics Database
• Seven Soldiers: Mister Miracleat theGrand Comics Database
• Seven Soldiers: Shining Knightat theGrand Comics Database
• Seven Soldiers: Zatannaat theGrand Comics Database
• Seven Soldiers of Victory(Morrison)at the Comic Book DB (archived fromthe original)
• 31 Days of 7 SoldiersatComic Book Resources