SEVEN SOLDIERS OF VICTORY 561
autobiography and history in Seth’s search for a New Yorker cartoonist named Jack
“Kalo” Kalloway, meant perhaps to evoke thoughts of Charles M. Schultz—something
that makes sense, given Seth’s current work as designer for Fantagraphics’ 25-volume
edition of Peanuts (winning both an Eisner and a Harvey Award in 2005). In time,
astute readers deduced that Kalo never existed, that Seth created the drawings himself,
and that much of the main story was elaborate fi ction presented as autobiography.
Like other commercial illustrators, such as Adrian Tomine, Seth has done the cover
art for magazine and CDs, including a 2001 Aimee Mann album (Lost in Space). Seth
is also the designer responsible for the April 2006 Penguin Classics revised Portable
Dorothy Parker. Seth spent a half-year, starting in September 2006 serializing George
Sprott (1894–1975) for Th e New York Times Magazine, with a revised edition to follow.
Other publications include Bannock, Beans, and Black Tea (2004), in which he illus-
trates some of his father’s stories, and one volume of his sketchbooks, titled Vernacular
Drawings (2001). His most recent work includes solo and touring shows of his fi c-
tional city of Dominion, and its sister city of Beaver, models created as reference for
the buildings in his work. Both have been exhibited in small-scale model form, though
Dominion was reworked to include a life-size working movie theater.
Anne Th alheimer
SEVEN SOLDIERS OF VICTORY. A large-scale series written by Grant Morrison, the
umbrella title Seven Soldiers of Victory encompasses eight interlocking comic book series,
totaling thirty issues, published by DC Comics between April 2005 and December
- Morrison’s project comprises the bookends Seven Soldiers of Victory #0 and #1,
with art by J. H. Williams III, and seven intervening four-issue miniseries that spotlight
the individual “soldiers.” Th e seven miniseries are: Shining Knight, with art by Simone
Bianchi; Th e Manhattan Guardian, with art by Cameron Stewart; Zatanna, with art by
Ryan Sook; Klarion, with art by Frazer Irving; Mister Miracle, with art by Pasqual Ferry
and Freddie E. Williams II; Bulleteer, with art by Yanick Paquette; and Frankenstein,
with art by Doug Mahnke. Th e miniseries were designed to be released on progressive
monthly schedules, so that each week a diff erent title under the Seven Soldiers banner
would be on sale. Although missed deadlines curtailed this intended schedule, the
unusual format of the series and Morrison’s structuring of the narrative still contribute
to a compelling—if somewhat disorienting—reading experience. Th e basic premise of
Morrison’s Seven Soldiers is to re-imagine the superhero team concept, most conspicu-
ously by featuring revised versions of obscure or minor characters from the DC stable
unwittingly cooperating together in order to stop an impending menace.
As with much of Morrison’s work for DC, Seven Soldiers draws heavily upon
the writer’s extensive knowledge of the company’s publishing history and lore. Th e
Seven Soldiers of Victory fi rst appeared in Leading Comics #1 (Winter 1941– 42), but
the team’s continuity within the DC universe is convoluted and obscure. Th e origi-
nal team, also known as “Law’s Legionnaires,” was created by Mort Weisinger and
Mort Meskin in an attempt to capitalize on the success of the superhero team format
