We're with you!
I'm still running behind on Jeremy (still haven't missed a week, but I've pushed the boundaries for the last three), but at least Open Book is here to kick some ass.

Last new drawing I got scanned in at present. If I DO indeed end up having Jury Duty tomorrow, expect my supply to be replenished.



Well, what with this being something of an anemic entry, how's by I ramble on at length about Grant Morrison's upcoming Seven Soldiers of Victory miniseries, eh?

I might?ve mentioned this once or twice before, but I simply could not be a bigger fan of Grant Morrison, particularly his straight-forward (or as much as it gets) super-hero writing. I think he manages to capture the wonder of the Silver Age and the epicism of the Golden Age with an unparalleled sophistication. And don't even get me started on how much I love Flex Mentallo and Seaguy.

I am also a big fan of the Seven Soldiers of Victory, DC's Golden Age also-ran super-team consisting of The Shining Knight, the Vigilante, the Crimson Avenger, the Star-Spangled Kid, Stripesy, Green Arrow and his teenage sidekick Speedy (and also a couple of Asian-American kids who were apparently beneath notice. Their names were "Wing" and "Stuff," which is pretty embarrassing, to be sure, but certainly no moreso than "Speedy.") Admittedly, like most comic readers my age, I was introduced to them some thirty years after their heyday, in the pages of Justice League of America #100-102, although I still sought out both the team and solo adventures as they were reprinted.

Anywez, with all this in mind, I was pretty excited to hear about Morrison's taking the reins of a new series. I had my reasonable hopes that the roster would remain unchanged - after all, three of the members (SSK, Stripesy and Crimson Avenger) have lackluster modern incarnations which could certainly use the Morrison touch, two others (Green Arrow and Speedy) were recently revived with much to-do, while another (Shining Knight) is just sitting around and the last (Vigilante) is a blank slate just waiting for a new interpretation.

Wasn't particularly surprised to find that he'd changed the roster, though, with the exception of the Shining Knight. I'm sure it'll still be good, even if the other half-dozen of the team now consists of Zatanna, Klarion the Witch Boy (wha-?), Mister Miracle, The Guardian (man, Kirby-heavy team. Good), The Bulleteer (new character) and The Frankenstein Monster. I reiterate, what??

The roster isn't exactly a disappointment, as I'm sure Morrison's going to write one of his traditionally awesome stories, even if I have trouble imagining the Frankenstein Monster and Klarion the Witch Boy raising their arms alongside Zatanna and declaring "FOR VICTORY!" Still, I honestly have to say - for the first time in my life - that I think Morrison totally missed the boat.

The point of the Seven Soldiers is that they are, essentially, Soldiers of Fortune (but who are in it for the justness of the cause rather than the cash munny, thus "Victory"), and unlike DC's OTHER Golden Age assembly, they are not super-heroes. Technological gimmicks and enchanted armor aside, each of the Seven Soldiers is essentially an adventurer with a particular and unique (to the group) set of martial skills. The Shining Knight is the swordsman, Vigilante is the gunslinger, Crimson Avenger and his sidekick Wing are martial artists, Star-Spangled Kid is a Marquis of Queensbury boxer and prep school judomaster, Stripesy is an East-End brawler, and Green Arrow and Speedy are, naturally, masters of underwater hopkaido and biscuit baking.

(And yeah, I know, the real point of the team is that, as with the JSA, the editors at DC collected a bunch of fairly popular characters who'd never had their own title and assembled them in a team book in order to make a little cash. I know. I know, you cynical fuckers. I'm talking subconscious theme ...)

So anyway, the point is that they compliment each others' skills and are thematically aligned in motivation. Grant's SSoV are ... well, weirdos and freaks, which is neat, but it's feeling a little like the old "Why did they buy the movie rights if they're not going to stick to the book's story" kind of situation. I would've preferred it either the other way (modern interpretations of the original roster) or at least a new Seven Soldiers whose structure resembled the original team's.

And yeah, because I hate it when you guys nerd out on me, I do indeed know that this is technically the THIRD SSoV roster, owing to Mark Waid's lame-ass SSoV team from Silver Age WHICH ALSO MISSED THE BOAT. Putting a member of the Blackhawks on a team that isn't the Blackhawks is just retarded. Almost "Forgotten Heroes" retarded, but not quite.