Seven Soldiers of Victory : Gone But Not Forgotten

Written by Susan Hillwig, covers by Craig Cermak

One of the unsung gems of the DC2 is writer Susan Hillwig. Friendly, receptive, with a great command of sentence and structure, Susan's strengths shine in everything she does. Her WEIRD WESTERN QUARTERLY is one long passionate love letter to the comic book cowboys and it shows in each issue. So when she steps outside of her comfortable western frontier, it's going to be for something she loves. In this case, it's the Seven Soldiers of Victory, and if one pulls back to the archetypal level, it's easy to see why: the Law's Legionnaires are just a version of the Magnificent Seven (plus) in bright costumes. Heck, one of the members is a cowboy! One of the templates of the old cowboy are the Romantic knights errant, and lo and behold, there's a knight on the team too! A rag-tag group of heroes, overshadowed by larger names, mostly non-powered (save for Sir Justin's magical accoutrements), battling genius masterminds, large syndicates of organized crime, and even cosmic entities. The appeal is easy to see.

Susan took them, powered them up just a bit with the revised-for-Earth-One roster and then pitted them against impossible threats to show us why they are still fondly remembered against all odds. She performed this trick with a deft sampling of Len Wein's classic rescue of the team from time in Justice League of America (vol. 1) #100-102; Grant Morrison's mystical revamp of mini-series of mini-series; and even Geoff Johns hints and peeks from Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E.; then mixed this brew with her own creativity and connections (as well as the team's legendary inability to count) to give us an epic story. The romance, mystery, action and desperate time travel to save Earth-One's present comes together in a decidedly different fashion from Susan's usual writing, but every installment resonates with everything she does so well. By the end, she has given present-day Earth-One, and the readers, a super-team that is full of 'lesser lights' demanding attention center stage, and we're happy for it.

I'm thrilled to introduce to the new blood, and reintroduce to familiar faces, Susan Hillwig and her Seven Soldiers of Victory!