Seven to Eternity Volume 1: The God of Whispers

Product Information

Of all the villains we have encountered in the genre of comic books, the Mud King ranks amongst the most complex and the best. This is Othello’s Iago, rendered as a god. All 4 issues presented in this volume were an easy 5 stars for me. From start to finish I was completely taken in and carried along with what was going on. Seven to Eternity is EPIC in scope and I am so down with where this story is going! Also, do you know how hard it is to find an adult fantasy comic that is cleanly written?? Impossible, really!! Very refreshing. Very! Tl;dr: if you can bear feeling dragged by detours once in a while, this story delivers and the art in Seven to Eternity is the at the pinnacle!

Seven To Eternity (Volume) - Comic Vine Seven To Eternity (Volume) - Comic Vine

we’re left to ponder whether Remender is crafting a direct stand-in for Donald Trump or merely a manifestation of the cauldron of anger and fear that led to his troubling ascent. Either way, the series can’t be read without the pall of the previous year and the four… years to come hanging over the high-fantasy narrative... I cannot really say anything more without spoiling this comic. It is everything it should be, even if I would have liked a few more explanations about the workings of this world that Remender and Opena built.

Artists

Disclaimer: I read this in the form of 4 volumes and not the omnibus, but putting my whole series review here because that makes more sense and I read them all at the same time The Seven in Seven to Eternity are chipped away as the tale unfolds. Garils Sulm, also known as the Mud King or the God of Whispers, is the terrible, admirable villain who, even in chains, leads the group. Mr Opeña has designed the Mud King to look like he has been actually carved from mud: a physically intimidating, looming bulk of a figure with clay globs of purple skin, glowing yellow eyes, sitting on a throne of pink skin stretched across bone. He is on a dire journey to prove a point, and get moral satisfaction, in an exercise which costs life after life. But the Seven are oblivious to this – they think they serve the interests of justice. The Seven have against ridiculous odds caught the Mud King, imprisoned him, drag him at great peril through the kingdom of Zhal to judgment… and it evolves that at any time he could have escaped with a flex of his wrists. The God of Whispers does eventually snap his own chains during a mêlée. This causes his captors to finally start to question what precisely is going on.

Seven to Eternity Series by Rick Remender - Goodreads

As I think about this book, I can’t help but compare it toSaga, by Brian K. Vaughn and Fiona Staples. In my opinion, I think this book is at or near the same level of excellence. Both stories throw readers into large, complex, actually living worlds. Both stories are about family and responsibility and sacrifice.” Great fantasy often couples escapism with righteous underpinnings: resist the allure of easy solutions, refuse to compromise your morals, never submit to the iron fist of a corrupt leader. As a country, we failed to internalize these lessons. As a protagonist, Adam Osidis may yet succeed. Draw a straight line from Vietnam through two terms of Dubya to the ascent of Trump, and the power of art to affect social change remains as specious as ever. There are, no doubt, readers ofSeven to Eternitywho will miss even the most obvious political references the book lobs their way.“

Writer

This observation has much merit. Both The Dark Tower and Seven to Eternity are fantastical, desperate quests with strongly Western frontier themes of vengeance, struggle, and redemption. The shadow of famine through failed crop raising on a desolate prairie haunts the characters at the beginning of the story. The theme of this gorgeous art comic is dark fantasy mixed with some mystery and Western-like plots.

Seven to Eternity (review) - World Comic Book Review Seven to Eternity (review) - World Comic Book Review

We're kind of thrown into this world and lore is dispersed a little in each issue, A "hit the ground running" instance occurs. I was a little confused at first but hey I was curious to put the pieces together. The RRP is the suggested or Recommended Retail Price of a product, set by the publisher or manufacturer. With 7toE that all fits. But maybe too much. The start was a little bit too much, too intense, and too overwhelming for me to navigate. And (of course) text-heavy. So I struggled at least half of this book with that. And Opeňa's art didn't help at all in that. Rich and quite chaotic (especially in action), even if it looks good and fits the story. Especially with Hollingsworth's colours - he's a great colourist (but I more enjoy him in a combination with some other artists). So far, the story up to Volume 1 is very promising. If this series has a satisfying ending, I could re-rate this comic into 5 star. Ok. Doesn't sound like the book of the year but why not? There are some interesting elements here and there, though sometimes heavily handed (rumors can kill), and a fascinating world-to-be-revealed over there.Wowzers! For some reason or other, I shit the bed on collecting these single issues as they came out. When I finally decided that I wanted them, they were like a bazillion dollars for first prints. Jerome Opena's art is great but the two issues (6 and 7) illustrated by a guest artist feel like a rip off and a break of the promise that this book was the next Remender/Opena big thing. I cannot write objectively about this comic. The art takes me in so completely; the themes translating perfectly from script to image; a myriad little details to look at; the weirdness, so strange and yet so oddly familiar; the social commentary...