Aftershock Comics buckles on a big bag of swash with SEVEN SWORDS, a comic featuring a mash-up of 17th Century literature’s greatest sword-swinging adventurers! This book is tailored for fans of Alexandre Dumas, Baroness Orczy, or Robert Louis Stevenson while remaining accessible to anyone who enjoys thrilling adventure.
SEVEN SWORDS is told by American screenwriter Evan Daugherty, with art and colors from Italians Riccardo Latina and Valentina Bianconi, respectively. I reviewed the thoroughly enjoyable first issue last month (check it out here!) and was glad to see the quality and fun maintained as the story continues with the ‘gathering of heroes’ phase.
Sister Catalina educates D’Artagnan about some finer points of relevant Catholic myth and provides a teaser about a powerful sword wielded by none other than Lucifer the Lightbringer during The Fall. With our deus ex machina firmly in place, D’Artagnan doesn’t much give a damn, driven as he is by his need for vengeance against the powerful - and, we now see, nefariously aligned! - Cardinal Richelieu.
Cyrano de Bergerac and his schnozz reluctantly join the team, who collect in short order opera singer Mademoiselle Maupin, as well as the womanizer, Don Juan. They are also among the greatest blades of the time and bring our band to five; we briefly saw Captain Blood last month, so I expect him to become our sixth. Who will be the seventh sword?
Daugherty handled the first issue very well, but the pacing in the second is a little slow. We spend a chunk of time setting up the MacGuffin (Lucifer’s broken sword) and get some much-needed backstory for Sister Catalina, but then we launch into an overly long sequence spotlighting Cyrano’s way with words that while entertaining, feels static and a little flat. A fight ensues but it’s predictable and largely pointless, unlike the next, and excellent, action sequence at the opera house where Maupin is collected for the squad. Don Juan gets a fun scene in which he displays swordsmanship of a very different sort, and our heroes land in a freshly sticky situation (no, that one’s not another sex pun).
The art team remains super solid, bringing that clean, clear style that is practically a signature of European comics. Fine, detailed line work and vibrant colors make SEVEN SWORDS the visual treat that this fine assemblage of hearties deserves. Once again we have some tricky stuff superbly handled; swords and scabbards, flowing cloaks and floppy boots, mustaches and beards, and hats with long feathers; expressive faces and poses, both in action and at rest. My only complaint is in Cyrano’s pub scene, the dialogue tells us that he’s hidden in shadow, but we see him quite clearly.
As our adventure features fictional creations from classic works of literature, there is source material here that the creative team enjoys as much as I do. To that end, I would love to see some front or back matter, brief biographies or acknowledgments that refers the reader to the original works that these characters are drawn from. I confess that I had to look up who Mademoiselle Maupin is (check it out, she’s a wild historical figure!) and I could use refreshers.
I am on board for the next issue, which is scheduled to drop on August 18th, and I will be right here to tell you about it. Join me, won’t you?
Plenty of Pulp, by Max Cage, for Wednesday Pull List
Comments