Seven Secrets #3: Mondays, Am I Right?

Whatever it is that you look for in comics, Seven Secrets is currently delivering. Dynamic and crisp art? Check. An intriguing mystery that reaches the very top of this fictional world? Check. Character beats that can make you chuckle one moment and feel the sting of tears the next? Check. Absolutely exceptional technical work, to include lettering, coloring, and design work? Check. If you haven’t picked up this book yet, you’re simply doing yourself a disservice.

This series is difficult to spoil and hard to avoid spoiling at the same time. We don’t know much about the power structures and dynamics at play yet. There are glimpses into protocol and in this issue, we learn a bit about the Holder training process and also learn a bit more about the mentality of the Keepers but what the Secrets are remains… well… a secret. Typically with a new book introducing a whole new world, the worldbuilding takes priority but unsurprisingly, Taylor’s focus is deeply into the psychology of the characters. Casper took no time at all burrowing into the readers’ hearts and I’m certain he’ll occupy space there for a long time to come. There are specifics I don’t wish to spoil regarding his experiences in this issue but trust me when I say that, if you have read any of Taylor’s previous character work, you know what you’re getting into and keep the tissues handy.

The character designs and the personal stylistic qualities to di Nicuolo’s artwork is something I’m having a difficult time articulating. There is a distinct collision between Eastern and Western styles happening here but the modality seems different from other examples we’ve seen before. The layout work is clearly modern/Western influence but design elements and figure work seems less so yet also not clearly Eastern/modern but perhaps more classical-era manga (think Barefoot Gen with richer backgrounds?). One of these months I’ll figure out what it is that makes this work so charming to me but you’ll have to bear with me while I figure it out, dear readers.

The bottom line here is that BOOM! has a clear hit on their hands and if the series continues on this path, this book could define a generation for the studio and for its creators.