SEVEN SONS #1: Jesi Day

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.

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.

If ever there was an artist meant to draw apocalyptic dramas it’s Jae lee. This book hits twice as hard because Lee is the artist involved. Those sharp edged, roughed lines and use of solid black shadows work perfectly to capture the atmosphere of the storyline. Lee’s art does a remarkable job of contrasting the glitz of the media fervor around the event with the faces of the lost and the faithful in the streets. His art brings just the right otherworldly feel to the seven sons. The idea that they similar looking but made to look different through how Lee styles their looks is a great touch. June Chung’s coloring perfectly accentuates Lee’s art bringing color to the line art but making sure every line is still there for the eye to see. I don’t know if the billboard’s and signage that are everywhere in the issue are a part of the script bought to life by the art team or letterer or something Lee did himself but they function to marvelous psychological effect and are wonderful and subtle part of the story in a meta commentary sort of way.

It’s a fascinating debut, technically executed well on all fronts. It’ll make some people uncomfortable no doubt but as a speculative piece of storytelling using religion and the occult as it’s base it’s thoroughly engaging and gets it’s hooks into you deep enough to make you want to know more. Bring on part two.