Posted in: Boom, Comics, Comics Publishers, Review | Tagged: boom studios, Daniele Di Nicuolo, seven secrets, Tom Taylor, walter biamonte

Seven Secrets #2 Review: Both Unique and Oddly Familiar

Seven Secrets #1 introduced a world of warriors and the secrets that they protect with their lives. Writer Tom Taylor kicked off the first issue with a script that over-explained its concept while delivering the story through narration that felt oddly familiar. Does the second issue pick up steam?

Seven Secrets #2 has a very unique mythology — one that we know very little about so far — that grows in both detail and mystery in this issue. This time, we spend time with Caspar, the narrator, and the son of the first issue's leads. The issue is, to borrow a phrase from Casper, pretty much the story of a kid being trained by "awesome warriors." The story itself and it's set of characters are original, but Seven Secrets has a major originality problem… and that problem is in the narration.

To say that the narration seems inspired by Saga is an understatement. Throughout, the way the story is told in this and the first issue evokes the way Hazel narrates her parents' life and, eventually, death. The first issue of that series ends on the iconic and shocking "Thanks to these two, I get to grow old… not everybody does" in a moment that, with poetic grace, alludes to the lead characters of Saga dying before the end of the series. Seven Secrets #2, after a first issue that told the story of the life/death of Caspar's parents through Caspar's narration, ends with a very similar note to that of Saga #1. To anyone who read both stories, it's so close in the narrative structure that the reveal at the end feels less like an interesting moment in the story and more like the comic is saying, "Yo, remember Saga, though?!"

On the other hand, the artwork by Daniele Di Niculo and colorists Walter Baiamonte and Katia Ranalli are absolutely stellar. BOOM! Studios current slate of creator-owned comics is killing it in the art department, with Seven Secrets and We Only Find Them When They're Dead delivering some of the most dynamic art on shelves. Letterer Ed Dukshire also kills it on this book with fun SFX that burst from jagged bubbles when characters shout, perfect balloon placement, and restraint during fight scenes.

The world of Seven Secrets bursts with life, and hopefully, the quality of the story will catch up to the art. It's no sin to take inspiration, and it could be all a coincidence, but Seven Secrets #2 would be a lot more fun to read if it felt less familiar.

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