Shining Knight 2

[Marchie77]

Kind of surprised I havent seen this up yet...

well following on from the first issue of swordplay and magic insanity, Grant Morrison and Simone Bianchi (sp?) slip in the Mode 7 Mind Destroyer to drive Justin mad...

worked on me too....

this was a cracking issue but if i try to explain why my brain will melt...

references to the sheeda are coming thick and fast, as are mentions of the 7 in castle revolving (S7 0) and the cauldron (last issue)

But this makes you read it and reread it and has hollywood action sequences that Mark Millar can only dream of....


2 questions... anyone speak welsh so we know what Justin's saying?

and whats up with his clothes at the end of the issue? is he really a knight? is he just a mad kid? what?

[Groovie Mann]

Good issue. Here's my review from paperbackreader (http://www.paperbackreader.com)



B-

The most challenging superhero comics are at DC. I’d say best but that’s a matter of opinion. Challenging is more honest. The controversy surrounding Identity Crisis and Countdown as well as some of the other stories leading up to Infinite Crisis have caused some readers to grow genuinely angry at the direction of the company as well as bring in new fans to DC. Amongst the goings on in the central DCU there is another challenging series happening. That of Grant Morrisons epic Seven Soldiers story. Seven 4-part minis and 2 book ends all intertwined but still can be read separately. 30 issues in total played out over a year. This is one hell of a gamble but from a critics stand point, the finest event in mainstream comics right now.

Shining Knight was the first mini to hit the stands after the first book end and showed instantly that Morrison and his various collaborators are throwing away the books of conventional superhero comics and inventing a future masterpiece. But the character isn’t without its detractors, comic purists have been upset over Morrison creating a new version of the classic DC character. Me? I don’t care who it is as long as it’s good. This, this is good.

Shining Knight 2 opens right where issue 1 left off. Sir Justin, now in LA after the Sheeda attacked his home Camelot, is stuck in a cop car and his winged horse is gone. Justin mounts his escape and ends up on the streets of Los Angeles. There he finds himself haunted by a Sheeda Mind Destroyer as well as trying to gather what to do next. Sent to break Justins will and force him into suicide. All the while his horse, Vanguard, recovers from his wounds in the stable of a mob moss.

Morrison knows how to tell a story. Seven Soldiers, in a lot of ways, is probably the most accessible of stories he has ever written. They’re real straight forward with enough weirdness and twists to keep them above most other superhero comics out. In fact, I’d say that Morrison is applying a more Vertigo approach to the stories in some cases. Something both fans of superheroes and fans of alternative comics can get in to.

I have mixed feelings on Simone Bianchi’s artwork. Some parts are definitely breath taking. He provides a creepy atmosphere to LA and the Sheeda warriors. But there are times the artwork is hard to follow or the characters faces come off inhuman. But the pros outweigh the negatives.

Of the four minis that have debut this one isn’t my favorite. It is still one of the first comics I read when it comes out. Shining Knight is fun, exciting, and a breath of fresh air. Seriously, if you’re not buying any of these minis then you are missing a real treat.



in retrospect, probably warrented a solid B.

[HIPHOPJUNKIE]

AWEsome!!!!


The Klarion/Grundy reference was illmattics...


A-

[algertman]

Grant is God

[Shoeface]

I really liked this issue, much more so than the first one in fact. The art was great, the whole Seven Soldiers series is opening me up to new artists I've never even heard of before. Gulit was also an extremely cool character, and the plot is becoming more clear each issue, albeit not that much with this particular one. Still, great comic...

[Jeeves]

Well, I wouldn't go so far as to say that Grant is God, but I am enjoying all of the Seven Soldiers books, including this one. I tend to enjoy books that offer you as much on the second and third read as on the first, and this book does that in spades. Mucho, mucho good stuff.

That being said, a couple of things were a little confusing about this issue, and I thought maybe somebody could help me out a little.

1) Is Vincenzo (the Undying Don) the same guy that Justin is siiting next to on the bench at the end of the book? I know the guy on the bench doesn't have any hair -- he's completely bald, and the Don is only bald on top -- but they both have those funky vertical wrinkles on their heads. AND the guy on the bench mentions HORSEFEATHERS, the name given to Vanguard by the Don. Then the guy on the bench actually appears to cough out some horse feathers. (Huh?) Plus, the guy on the bench can speak Justin's language, which suggests that he has either studied his ancient British dialects really well, or he just knows them because he's been alive for a long, long time (a la, the Undying Don).

2) One thing that's going against the argument that Vincenzo = the-guy-on-the-bench is this: If the guy on the bench is in fact Vincenzo, and he somehow used the cauldron to bring himself back to life after being shot through the chest with a venom-tipped arrow, and the (apparent) effects of using the cauldron are that you lose all your hair and return to life in an emaciated state, then why didn't Justin's girlfriend from issue #1 (I forget her name) come out of the cauldron similarly? That girl should have been nekid and bare (like the sheep from Pixar's Boundin' :) ), shouldn't she?

3) What's the deal with Justin's clothes at the end? If Vincenzo = the-guy-on-the bench, then I think that's who gave him the clothes. The shirt, which is way too big for Justin, looks vaguely like the one worn by Vincenzo's rather large golem (called Strato by Crazyface and Strato-San by Vincenzo, and obviously Asian), even though the golem's shirt is striped and Justin's isn't. I'm sure Strato has more than one shirt, though. Also, the shoes look exactly like Strato's shoes. And since Justin is wearing them over his own boots, it even makes sense that the huge golem shoes would fit fairly well. But, if Vincenzo is not the-guy-on-the-bench, the clothes don't make any sense at all.

3a) Why is Justin's shirt ripped on the shoulder? He's not wearing it during the fight with the thugs, but all of sudden is wearing it (and the jeans, and the shoes) in the beautiful splash page where he's kneeling in the street. The shirt isn't torn here. Immediately afterward, though, when Justin goes back to check on the guy on the bench, it is torn on the shoulder.

3a, part 2) Wait, wait, wati! A thought just occured to me. The splash page where Justin is kneeling is almost as if he's offering his sword for somebody's service. Could the tear on his shirt be where he was struck on the shoulder (i.e., knighted) by whoever accepted his service? But who would Justin be offering his service to? Who is of pure enough heart to wield his sword? I thought at first that the appearance of Superman on the last page was just some cute little cameo Grant threw in for fun. But now I'm thinking that Justin has just sworn fealty to the Man of Steel himself. How cool is that?

I absolutely love this book.

Jeeves

[Marchie77]

Originally posted by Jeeves
Well, I wouldn't go so far as to say that Grant is God, but I am enjoying all of the Seven Soldiers books, including this one. I tend to enjoy books that offer you as much on the second and third read as on the first, and this book does that in spades. Mucho, mucho good stuff.

That being said, a couple of things were a little confusing about this issue, and I thought maybe somebody could help me out a little.

1) Is Vincenzo (the Undying Don) the same guy that Justin is siiting next to on the bench at the end of the book? I know the guy on the bench doesn't have any hair -- he's completely bald, and the Don is only bald on top -- but they both have those funky vertical wrinkles on their heads. AND the guy on the bench mentions HORSEFEATHERS, the name given to Vanguard by the Don. Then the guy on the bench actually appears to cough out some horse feathers. (Huh?) Plus, the guy on the bench can speak Justin's language, which suggests that he has either studied his ancient British dialects really well, or he just knows them because he's been alive for a long, long time (a la, the Undying Don).

2) One thing that's going against the argument that Vincenzo = the-guy-on-the-bench is this: If the guy on the bench is in fact Vincenzo, and he somehow used the cauldron to bring himself back to life after being shot through the chest with a venom-tipped arrow, and the (apparent) effects of using the cauldron are that you lose all your hair and return to life in an emaciated state, then why didn't Justin's girlfriend from issue #1 (I forget her name) come out of the cauldron similarly? That girl should have been nekid and bare (like the sheep from Pixar's Boundin' :) ), shouldn't she?

3) What's the deal with Justin's clothes at the end? If Vincenzo = the-guy-on-the bench, then I think that's who gave him the clothes. The shirt, which is way too big for Justin, looks vaguely like the one worn by Vincenzo's rather large golem (called Strato by Crazyface and Strato-San by Vincenzo, and obviously Asian), even though the golem's shirt is striped and Justin's isn't. I'm sure Strato has more than one shirt, though. Also, the shoes look exactly like Strato's shoes. And since Justin is wearing them over his own boots, it even makes sense that the huge golem shoes would fit fairly well. But, if Vincenzo is not the-guy-on-the-bench, the clothes don't make any sense at all.

3a) Why is Justin's shirt ripped on the shoulder? He's not wearing it during the fight with the thugs, but all of sudden is wearing it (and the jeans, and the shoes) in the beautiful splash page where he's kneeling in the street. The shirt isn't torn here. Immediately afterward, though, when Justin goes back to check on the guy on the bench, it is torn on the shoulder.

3a, part 2) Wait, wait, wati! A thought just occured to me. The splash page where Justin is kneeling is almost as if he's offering his sword for somebody's service. Could the tear on his shirt be where he was struck on the shoulder (i.e., knighted) by whoever accepted his service? But who would Justin be offering his service to? Who is of pure enough heart to wield his sword? I thought at first that the appearance of Superman on the last page was just some cute little cameo Grant threw in for fun. But now I'm thinking that Justin has just sworn fealty to the Man of Steel himself. How cool is that?

I absolutely love this book.

Jeeves

I really dont think Strato and Shining Knights shirts bear any similarity as they have different kanji... i think justins look (which incidently was on the front cover of issue 1) is supposed to denote that this is some kind of hero from the streets down and out... is he really a knight or just some deluded kid? (mind destroyer, remember)

as for the guy on the bench... i dont think its the undying don... in fact i thought it was the guy in zatannas book... what with the top hat and the flame and all...

[Jeeves]

Originally posted by Marchie77
I really dont think Strato and Shining Knights shirts bear any similarity as they have different kanji...
Huh? They're both T-shirts that bear a circled Japanese-looking logo in the center of the chest. How can you say they're not similar? I never claimed they were identical, because they obviously aren't, but they are similar.
Originally posted by Marchie77
i think justins look (which incidently was on the front cover of issue 1) is supposed to denote that this is some kind of hero from the streets down and out... is he really a knight or just some deluded kid? (mind destroyer, remember)
That may be, but if you're going to read the book seriously, there are things that must be explained. The clothes came from somewhere. If they didn't come from Vincenzo, why are Justin's shoes identical to Strato's? Compare Strato's shoes on page 12 to Justin's shoes on page 21. They're the same shoes.

If the clothes don't come somehow from Vincenzo, you have to explain them some other way, and I haven't been able to come up with another plausible explanation. Do you have one?
Originally posted by Marchie77
as for the guy on the bench... i dont think its the undying don... in fact i thought it was the guy in zatannas book... what with the top hat and the flame and all...
Remind me about the guy in Zatanna you're talking about. I don't have that particular book with me. Are you refering to the guy whose house Zatanna et. al. met at?

And didn't the flame in the hat on the bench come from the thing the street punk threw into it?

Jeeves

[Marchie77]

Originally posted by Jeeves
Huh? They're both T-shirts that bear a circled Japanese-looking logo in the center of the chest. How can you say they're not similar? I never claimed they were identical, because they obviously aren't, but they are similar.

That may be, but if you're going to read the book seriously, there are things that must be explained. The clothes came from somewhere. If they didn't come from Vincenzo, why are Justin's shoes identical to Strato's? Compare Strato's shoes on page 12 to Justin's shoes on page 21. They're the same shoes.

If the clothes don't come somehow from Vincenzo, you have to explain them some other way, and I haven't been able to come up with another plausible explanation. Do you have one?

Remind me about the guy in Zatanna you're talking about. I don't have that particular book with me. Are you refering to the guy whose house Zatanna et. al. met at?

And didn't the flame in the hat on the bench come from the thing the street punk threw into it?

Jeeves

oh zatannas dream guy... the harbinger of the apocalypse or something... just a guess

didnt notice anything about shoes, ill have to look again later...

im not as good with kanji as i used to be so i have no idea what the repective shirts say... but its more than the difference between "s is for superman, w is for wonderwoman"... justin seems to be in a chinatown area... for all i know it could say "crispy fried duck"

only time... and the watcher... will tell...

[I am MODOK]

Excellent. Still weird, but in a good way! That scene with Justin swinging the police car bumper was great. I'm totally digging this series. By far my fave of the 7 Soldiers so far.

Story: A
Art: A