Review: SEVEN TO ETERNITY #1

SEVEN TO ETERNITY No. 1
IMAGE COMICS – @ImageComics

[This review was first posted on Patreon.]

WRITER: Rick Remender
ARTIST: Jerome Opena
COLORS: Matt Hollingsworth
LETTERS: Rus Wooton
COVER: Jerome Opena with Matt Hollingsworth
VARIANT COVER: Tony Moore
32pp, Color, $3.99 U.S. (2016)

Rated M / Mature

Seven to Eternity created by Rick Remender and Jerome Opena

Seven to Eternity is a new fantasy comic book series created by writer Rick Remender and artist Jerome Opena.  Colorist Matt Hollingsworth and letterer Rus Wooton complete the creative team.  The series focuses on a dying knight from a disgraced house who must choose between a desperate bid for freedom or the gifts of an evil God.

Seven to Eternity #1 opens on the world of Zhal.  There, “the God of Whispers” rules with fear over an entire kingdom.  Also known as “the Mud King,” this dark tyrant will give you everything your heart desires – if you listen to what he has to say.  After an attack on his homestead, which leads to the death of a family member, disgraced knight Adam Osidis decides to fight back.  But first, he will do something he knows he should not, hear what the God of Whispers has to say.

First issues, even those by veteran and/or acclaimed creators, can be tricky, especially in the modern era when stories seem more decompressed than ever.  Writers are stingy with character revelations, often offering information as nothing more than a trickle.  Plots plod along, teasing with explosive sequences that don't necessarily speed the story.  Artists offer beautiful panoramas and vistas that are alluring, but also don't necessarily speed-the-plow of the narrative.

Seven to Eternity #1 is different.  Poetic and lyrical exposition and dialogue unites with beautiful art dressed in splendid covers, Seven to Eternity is straight-forward about the hero's dilemmas and the obstacles he faces.  Writer Rick Remender generously reveals his character's bravery as he simultaneously declares his shame.  By the end of the first issue, the reader knows the conflict and those in conflict (for the most part).  Readers are not left hanging.

Jerome Opena tells this story with an expressive sweep that also captures the intimate and gritty details.   His compositions and graphical storytelling make Seven to Eternity #1 a unique debut.  This comic book recalls Michael Moorcock fantasy and the science fiction and fantasy comics of the 1970s and 1980s that appeared in Heavy Metal and Epic magazines and others that were published by Pacific Comics and Star Reach.  However, Seven to Eternity also moves like a Western thriller that ambles to the sounds of Kentucky bluegrass notes.

There is a reason Seven to Eternity #1 is selling quickly.  Imaginative, inventive, and visually alluring, it promises to be like no other fantasy comic book we have seen in a long time.

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


The text is copyright © 2016 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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