Dex's Comic Awareness

Seven Soldiers: Zatanna #3
written by Grant Morrison
pencils and cover by Ryan Sook

The Seven Soldiers series has finally started to come together. This is the first issue where a major character from one of the other books shows up. It's Justin's pegasus from Shining Knight. The main story is also starting to come together. I must say that I just love this whole group of Seven Soldier's books. So does everyone else apparently because its comics are all selling quite well. The only one that's a little down is Klarion but that's to be expected, the book has the most unusual art of the group and the character is the most removed from the events so far.

We find Zatanna continuing her magic lessons with Misty. We get an amusing battle, if it can be called that, with the Tempter who has been reduced to petty cruelties. He makes quite the ironic line that he prefers the days of the Bible and strict moral rules because now there is nothing that isn't already being offered on TV. He's just another test for Misty as Z goes about teaching her the ways of magic. Then they run into Ali Ka-zoom who just wants the furniture they have that used to belong to him. He says a lot of things that really didn't make too much sense to me. I think that was part of the point.

When they go to meet a minor wizard and drug lord friend of Ali's they encounter the Sheeda, who are the real villains of the whole series. They are torturing Justin's pegasus and Misty stops them with but a non-magical command to stop. They obey her, and more than that, they bow. They meet the Celestial Huntsman who tells Misty's origin story. She's actually the daughter of the queen of the Sheeda and was only spared by the Huntsman's betrayal. This explains the Sheeda warrior’s actions and her innate ability with magic. The Huntsman has the cauldron the Sheeda Queen is after, which will make her immortal if she gets it. But they don't have the power to fight off the Huntsman and so they flee on the pegasus. Quite suddenly we find ourselves with both a direction and a real goal to stop the villain.

Zatanna has a new look and it's basically the same as her old look but now she's showing more cleavage because her shirt is cut open down the middle. An obvious marketing ploy if ever there was one. It's vaguely reminiscent of the White Queen's costume under Morrison. Sook is probably the most mainstream artist in the roster so far with his clean lines and pretty faces. His panel work is ok but not brilliant and his sad faces all tend to look like pouting. Things are starting to come together for our disparate heroes. Let's hope the Guardian and Klarion fit in soon too.

The preview for the next issue says that one of the Seven is going to die. There is no way I could imagine DC letting Grant kill off Zatanna. I think the obvious one is Justin, the Shining Knight. Next issue of his comic has him going toe to toe with the Queen. The plot’s thickened and the story is just getting really good. Keep it coming Grant.

Rating - Good