Who Are the Six Soldiers?

Update: Had a phone conversation with Alex (from this VERY BLOG!!!) and we brainstormed some more on this stuff. Things he has added are now in italics, just like this.

Now, it's pretty clear that in addition to being a great superhero story, Grant Morrison's Seven Soldiers, number 0 at least, is some kind of metafictional comment on the genre or idea of superhero comics itself. Our entrypoint character, the new Whip, is a writer who examines what it means to be a superhero. In the midst of her study, she's become so involved that she needs to take it up to the "next level." I think she represents us as readers in that respect. We love superheroes, let's move it to something bigger. The Whip is indicitive of Chaykin's work. The first person narration, the fetish talk and costume, the self-referential and -analytical dialogue . . .there's even thick Black Kiss style-art. Chaykin characters always are in the media somehow, usually writing about themselves.

The Vigilante is the next fella we meet, and he's a real charmer. He's probably the most likable character in the book. Coming from the golden age and being almost as old as the concept itself, I think he represents superheroes. Superheroes call all these other forces together. They inspire us and focus the talents of many creators. But more on this later. Vigilante represents nostalgia as an obsession. Notice how often he looks at the photo of the old Seven Soldiers. He's likeable, yeah, but he's too obsessed with the past to actually get anything done. Also the art isn't just Moebius, it's Moebius by way of Heath or Severin.

Gimmix, I believe, is the obsession with making old new. One of the golden age's silliest ideas, a girl with a bunch of gimmicks, given facelifts and booze. She's the old concepts that barely float these days but keep getting resurrected. She's also the old creators that put on new faces for new times. I think Gimmix is an ABC Character: stylized, Sprouse-like art, tributes to the past, etc. She's got Greyshirt's jacket with [Joe is forgetting the character, the girl with the lingerie]'s stockings . . .ABC characters are light-hearted and full of gimmicks.

Boy Blue is the next generation of readers. Boy Blue doesn't care much about the history of what's going on. He doesn't care about theory, either. He wants to go out there and Do Superhero Stuff. Lose his attention with needless dialogue and he's just going to play video games. He likes superheroes, he just doesn't give a damn about old people talking about old things endlessly. Boy Blue is Image. He's young, he has no real origin or personality. He's an empty, vapid ghost suit with sunglasses and powers. He'd rather be playing games.

Dan is an interesting case. The "herovestite," I think, represents the plague of fanboys-turned-pro. He's certainly got enthusiasm. He's cashed in his entire life on his love of superheroes and now he's going to be one (or write one). And he's certainly got heart. He LOVES this. But he lacks skill. He goes for the big bang and for the obvious move. He doesn't really help anything at all. The fan pro works his ass off on making the stories he thinks everyone always wanted, but in the end, Geoff Johns isn't furthering the medium or our enjoyment in the slightest. Definitely right on there. This one's even more obvious than I, Spyder. He's this pudgy, goateed nerd who's got the toys someone else created and he doesn't really know how to use them. He wants to go to conventions. God, he even looks like one of them.

Then there's I, Spyder. As Alex said earlier, he's the Cynical Ultimate type. He's Mark Millar or Warren Ellis. Disdainful of the whole superhero thing, but look at him. He's a combination of a golden age archer and frickin' I, Vampire. Fanboy noodling justified with tattoos and cigarettes. Innocuous concepts "updated" with a sneer. Rockstar pros without rockstar talent. The Whip (and therefore the reader) is repulsed and fascinated by him, hence our love-hate relationship with this sort of character, creator, and material. Sure, it's a bit sexier, but what do we gain from the relationship? Nothing. He particularly seems like the early 2000s Ellis revamps. Think Counter-X. Bullshit mysticism paired with macho posturing. Totems ant tattoos.

In the book, Vigilante (The Idea of Superheroes) brings all these forces together. They all want to be a part of his thing. They all want superheroics. But they don't get over their flaws. They win the meaningless battle, they tell the small story everyone's seen before. But when The Actual New comes, they're slaughtered. Will this metaphor hold up as the books progress? Will it fade only to return in the other bookend? It's hard to say. Will Seven Soldiers represent How To Help Superhero Comics while saving the world? Or is this just a keen set-up? Knowing Morrison, this and other layers of symbolism (one early panel actually has the phrase "Why all the symbolism?") will slowly be revealed. Let's just hope we, the readers, have fates more prosperous than our symbolic counterpart.

AND one new updated thought from me. The Seven Unknown Men . . .bald men creating new heroes, trying to save the DCU. At the end, they have seven gift boxes, each with something representing the next seven minis (Shining Knight's Tunic, etc). I don't know how I missed it before, these guys are Grant Morrison. Or King Mob. Or Professor X. Hypertime strikes again.