Seven Sons #1

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Beyond this world, though, Seven Sons offers little in the way of characters. Readers are introduced to an array of people, but few beyond one of the sons and the mysterious man who wanders throughout the book seem to have real staying potential. This isn’t necessarily a problem as the book is going more for an epic tone, but for readers who like their apocalypse on the more intimate side, there just isn’t a lot here. Jae Lee’s artwork is as spellbinding as ever, and with color artist June Chung, the art in Seven Sons is perhaps the primary attraction. A gloomy atmosphere hangs over the book, a stark visual contrast to the bliss of the celebration. Lee’s figures skirt the line between human and monstrous, where wrinkles on faces become deep crags and the relative smoothness of the sons gives them a divine appearance in a world of so many wretches. It’s beautiful and repugnant all at once, creating a perfect tone for a story like this. Actually, a lot of this book has it that there is more than one of the seven, which is part of the issues here. This jumps about its timeline like I don't know what – someone at the wedding at Cana, perhaps. We're following people that are dead, people that want people dead, people that want the murderous people put to rights, and so on. So the core of the book ends up being a reasonably distinctive way of doing the People Against Lots of Other Lots of People kind of plot, which of course features in the history of so many religions, but it doesn't make for an incredibly welcome read.

The issue starts us on Jesi day, predicted to be the day that the Second Son of God will be revealed, the likely candidate is the last living child of the seven named Pergi, who has been groomed to be the natural choice to be revealed as the one true son of God. But of course things are not that simple because at the same time down in the poorest streets a young man wakes, and stumbles into the light. The deliberate contrast between the media fueled glitz and opulent lives of the prophets versus the idea of this beggar-like young man stumbling lost through the streets where he is reliant on the kindness of strangers is excellent. Ultimately the issue ends at a point where the young man is revealed to be one of the reincarnated sons. PORTLAND, Ore. 03/16/2022 — Co-writers Robert Windom (Stars Fell On Alabama) and Kelvin Mao (10 Minutes Gone) team up with superstar artist Jae Lee for his first new creator-owned project since 1994 in the upcoming thriller Seven Sons. This seven issue miniseries is set to launch from Image Comics in June. I have a deep interest in fiction that seeks new twists on the ideas of organized religion, especially Christianity and that’s what this issue does. It takes the concept of Seven Sons and how they are supposed to be gifted in powers of the occult as the central premise and expands it into a world built on this supposed miracle. The mythos that Robert Windom and Kelvin Mao have built here is both fascinating and repellent and I believe that’s the whole point, this is a world where these seven individuals have been deified in the most crass but believable way possible as the writing team take the idea of the second coming and commercialize it to the absolute extreme. Imagine a city where the second coming has become merchandise sold at convenience stores, where taxi’s drive around with elaborate crosses on their roof and for day to day people the second coming is treated and talked about with the same spectacle as something like the Superbowl? The crassness of it is repellent but believable. The issue also takes the time to introduce the main players including some history of these seven individuals, six of whom are now dead and no longer with us. I can’t say I’m particularly fond of vilifying Islam as a story beat at all, but perhaps it goes deeper than that, because everything about these seven so called sons of God feels off.Bob collected records at the time and worked in a record store on Stevens Creek Blvd. in San Jose. The story is he started hanging around the store a bit, shooting the shit with Frank, since they both had lots of time on their hands. Frank proceeded to brag to Bob what a sweet deal it was to have a comic shop — remember this is circa 1968-69. No price guide, so comics (and pulps) would come in the door and people were thrilled to sell them for five cents, ten cents, a quarter each at the most. Comics still only sold for .12 each new, .rising to .15 cents in 1969. Annuals cost 25 cents. He’s been around for a fair while, our Mr. Lee. He started really young - not even 20 years old when he got his start on a Beast serial in Marvel Comics Presents that ran concurrent to Sam Kieth’s breakout Wolverine feature, 1991. Kieth's was the trippy serial that immediately followed Weapon X and somehow managed to not stink up the joint. A fairly high-profile gig for both artists. Oh, and Lee’s credited co-penciler for the first two parts of that serial? Rob Liefeld, incidentally. There was also a small store that handled comics among other things collectibles that was called Treasure Island, in a small mall up the peninsula north of San Jose, but it was not a 100% comic shop by any means. We closed Comic World at the end of August 1970. I was starting my first year at the previously mentioned San Jose State (now California University San Jose). I had signed up for 18 units and could not imagine also running a store. John was also busy, starting year two of journalism degree.

Reading this in trade is definitely a more rewarding experience, though still not without some issues. Jae Lee hasn't missed a beat - his dynamic panel layouts and sharp, angular lines remain ever present in Seven Sons. That said, the colors aren't always doing his artwork favors, particularly when comparing the character designs of the titular seven sons who all looks alike despite the efforts made to change their character designs. The muddy color palette looks good at times, but other times the artwork is a challenge to decipher. But as sequential artwork goes, the storytelling is absolutely kinetic and the action sequences, which are aplenty, are easy enough to follow. From Seven Sons #7 (Dec. 2022). Jae Lee art colored by June Chung, lettered by Crank!, written by Robert Windom & Kelvin Mao. Bob started a part time local job while he also began commuting to Berkeley to work in John’s and my store. He eventually bought into the partnership and in fact spear-headed another store within a store, the “vintage comics & collectibles” room in the Telegraph Avenue store. He ran until the three of us broke up in 1975. Bob left to start his own store down the street in Berkeley, Best of Two Worlds. Nutshell elevator pitch for Seven Sons is a pretty decent hook: there’s a Second Coming afoot, built on a magic prophecy written in the birth of seven identical children to different mothers across the planet on July 7th, 1977. If it seems too good to be true, you shouldn’t be surprised to hear the whole thing was a scam concocted by mad science. Problems compound when an actual resurrection occurs in the midst of all the vigorous fakery. Cue hijinks. The narrative is also decent enough. In a way, Seven Sons presents itself as a critique on religious fervor and how it is so readily incorporated into nationalism. The world, as portrayed in this comic, is amidst a religous awaking following the simultaneous birth of seven identical children born to seven virgin mothers all across the world. These seven sons are hailed as the prophets in the making and a new wave of Christian fervor spreads across the planet. Delph, one of these seven sons, serves as the main protagonist of the series and it's through his eyes that we learn there are some hijinks at play. Confronting the seven sons is an Islamic fundamentalist group. I'm a bit conflcted on whether this is problematic or not, though the comic does present a sympathethic Muslim character as one of Delph's major allies. Aside from that, the comic spends most of its time depicting America's decline into fascism under the veil of Christian nationalism.And the funny thing was, our first store pretty directly led to San Jose boasting three stores just 15 months later. As Jim Buser details below, the five partners sold out their shares in the first store to the sixth (and oldest) partner, Frank Scadina. We didn’t really have a seventh, Seven Sons just sounded better than Six Sons. The other partners were John Barrett, Jim Buser, Tom Tallmon, Mike (Michelle) Nolan and Bud Plant. We scouted out a location and John actually got a hit of tear gas while were were up there looking around, staying out of one of the small student riots going on. Amazingly, we found someone to rent us a real, honest to god decent sized store on Telegraph and Dwight Avenue and we opened in September, 1972. I moved to Grass Valley in Spring 1975 with my new wife and my best friend since grade school, who also was my first employee. My goal was to be within an hour of the closest C&C store, and by then we had one in Sacramento and would soon open another in Citrus Heights, outside Sacramento. I’d run comix and undergrounds and all my stuff down to the stores once a week, where someone else would run a route with other stuff that would flow between the stores. But that’s another story….

The apocalyptic world of Seven Sons #1 begins in an alternate timeline where Las Vegas is now New Canaan, and the Second Coming is a bigger PPV event in 1998 than any boxing match could ever be. It’s an event as American as can be, complete with authors that “predicted” everything, blonde hosts, and a military flyover. And of course, healing for a limited time only.

Seven Sons Releases

From Seven Sons #4 (Sept. 2022). Jae Lee art colored by June Chung, lettered by Crank!, written by Robert Windom & Kelvin Mao.

In Seven Sons, Delph—a young man who may be the Second Coming of Christ—runs for his life as he attempts to learn the truth behind his existence.

Writers

Over the decades, Lee’s line has evolved into something far more delicate. The closest comparison I can find is in Lee’s precise contemporary Paul Pope. There’s a similar purposeful tentativeness in their lines, something that recalls a more mature iteration of Tony Salmons’ diaphanous mid '80s style. Very rare to find any manner of solid bold line in a Jae Lee comic book. Seven Sons is the perfect series for fans of fast-paced plotting like The Fugitive paired with The Da Vinci Code’s Biblically high stakes.