Other than that shot of him the the origonal SSOV group shot? Yeah, it’s obvious that this Justin is unique from the old version (he’s a knight of the Broken, not round, table, the horse’s name is Vanguard), heck, it’s not even clear that he landed in the main DCU’s LA! Call it the earth-2 version, or something. I’m not sure he’ll have someone say: “He’s just like that other Sir Justin, but different!”, but at least he isn’t retconning anything, old Sir Justin will be waiting for the next time anytone wants to use him.
Other than that, I really enjoyed this issue. Nice nods to Arthurian legend and Celtic mythology, and some primo weirdness here. I would’ve thought that we wouldn’t see the Dark Queen so soon,a nd that she’d be a bit… more, but over all very good.
One thing I realized while re-reading a couple days ago is that there are six knights in the opening pages (getting their asses kicked); Sir Justin would have been the seventh – if he’d been there instead of exploring the castle.
I very much doubt that. Vigilante indicated his seventh got cold feet, and Sir Justin doesn’t seem the cold feet type; further, I don’t see why the new Shining Knight is any more likely to be the mysterious sveneth than any of the others who’ll be getting miniseries.
I wasn’t clear – the six knights I refer to are the six knights in the opening pages of Shining Knight #1 at the last stand of Camelot. Perhaps if Sir Justin were there instead of in the castle, the Camelot knights may not have massacred. It’s analagous to the situation with Vigilante’s team, but I don’t mean that Sir Justin was the missing member in both expeditions.
I liked it even more than Shining Knight #1. The subway pirates are a great idea (not to mention creepy - they sort of remind me of Neil Gaiman’s Neverwhere) and I loved the Guardian’s whole initiation sequence with the golem. Interesting choice on Morrison’s part to opt for some old-fashioned narration boxes, too. I hope he does more of that in the future.
Also worth note - there was a reference to Mister Miracle (Shilo). No mention of the “real” Guardian, though. Aside from mentions of Metropolis and Gotham, it’s sort of like this thing takes place on Earth-S7. Which is how I think it should be, actually. If it weren’t for Zatanna and Mr. Miracle, I’d rather have the whole thing out of continuity.
There was a reference to the old Guardian. The paper bought the rights to the name from the military (who took over Cadmus). He said it the original Guardian was “a crimebuster back in the day”. It’s only a slight nod, but since Morrison is playing more towards the Newsboy days than the Cadmus days, that’s probably the best we can expect.
I couldn’t disagree with Candid more. I thought this was the strongest of the Seven Soliders stuff yet. The weirdness was toned down just enough that I could follow the action on teh first read through. The characters and situations are compelling (I like newsroom dramas, even superhero newsrooms presided over my a disembodied brain). I’d follow this one on a monthly basis, if it were an ongoing. And, dude, subway pirates!
It’s interesting how varied the tone has been so far.
SS#0 was weird deconstructionist superheroes.
Shining Knight has thus far been weird fantasy
And the Guardian is much more traditional superheroics, if still very weird.
Speculation time:
The pirates are fighting over one of the treasures taken from Sir Justin’s Camelot.
Nitpick: He says that Stargard was “some kinda kid crimebuster back in the day.” You’re right about the mention of the trademark having been bought from the military, of course.
I agree with Menocchio that this is a book I’d totally buy on a monthly basis based on this first issue. Not that the two really have anything to do with each other except that they’re both very solid superhero debuts, but this sort of brought to mind Aztek, which I thought was a great book while it lasted.
This was fantastic. While there weren’t direct references to the previous Guardian incarnations, this was steeped in the aura of Jack Kirby. Subway pirates is exactly something I would have expected from Kirby’s Jimmy Olsen or Machine Man run if they’d lasted as long as they should have, as are names like Nobeard, Falsebeard, and Fullbeard. And the story of a man coming back from depression is very powerful. I’m really looking forward to the rest of the Manhattan Guardian’s series.
Pro : It appears to be the Zatanna we know and love. There are references to her being a member of the JLA. Obscure Phantom-Stranger supporting cast member Terry Thirteen shows up, along with Ibis the Invincible. First direct reference to the events of another one of the books, too, with Gimmick Girl making a short appearance.
Con : It appears to be the Zatanna we know and love. She’s lost her powers after a traumatic incident. Interesting supporting characters die for no good reason.
Meh. I think this was the weakest of the SS issues so far.
I think I’m just going to assume that all of SS is taking place on Earth-7S from now on, because I’m really not sure how well this is going to fit into the DCU.
That said, it has one of my favorite lines in the Seven Soldiers books so far: “To leap from one universe to another, unafraid! That’s sorcerer’s work!”
Morrison is clearly having a great time with these books, and his enthusiasm is really infectious. Even though I was kind of ambivalent about the issue, I’m looking forward to seeing what comes next.
I’m hoping beyond hope that it’s just set in a lookalike of the DCU and there’s no effort made to fit it into continuity. It’s done nothing to merit inclusion to the canon, and has screwed up a number of important issues (from my perspective).
Continuity, schmontinuity. Is it a good story? Yes, so far. Continuity be dammned. If someone doesn’t like what Morrison does here, he can change or drop it, no problem. And the references to older stuff is there. A party of ultra-obscure mystic characters (folks who wouldn’t have been appearing in Day of Vengeance, that’s for sure) visit the Dreaming (from Sandman). Hell, Zatanna obliquely mentioned her relationship with john Constantine! Only Shining Kinight has thus far seemingly directly contradicted anything established in other books, and I have a feeling that will be touched on eventually.
That said, I agree that it’s the weakest so far. Not as giddy as Guardian or as mythic as Shining Knight. Still, there’s backwards talking and fishnets, and funky occultism, so he’s ot the heart of Zatanna. I’ll be back next month.
How many were on Zatanna’s trip? Bet you a dollar there were six. Bet you Seven dollars.
Sorry to hijack, but isn’t Morpheus’s imprisionment now the cannon reason for the superheroic vigilante know as the Sandman, Wesley Dodds. I was always under the impression that all the reality bending of Vertigo was simply happening off cannon of superheroics, which is not the same as not cannon.