After reading the recent Seven Soldiers #0 opening bookend issue, I was eagerly anticipating delving into the first of the seven four-issue limited series that would make up the meat of the event. On top of that, I'm a fan of obscure characters, especially Golden Age characters, such as the one Morrison revives here. I was surprised to find a radically different take on the Shining Knight here, and the plot is fairly basic, not something one expects from Morrison. But the exotic villain of the piece is fascinating, and the art is richly detailed and rather unique.
Centuries ago, a legion of evil, magical creatures known as the Sheeda launched an assault on the legendary kingdom of Camelot, and even the valor and strength of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table are unable to hold back the conquering tide. Among the knights is Justin, who rides his enchanted steed Vanguard into the belly of the beast, into the heart of Sheeda power. There, he confronts the Sheeda's malevolent mistress, and he finds the key to her power, a cauldron. It's also the key to the Sheeda's defeat... and to the door that will lead Justin and Vanguard to a radically different world.
Simone Bianchi's name is a new one to me, but I hesitate to refer to him as a new artist in the industry. Judging from the level of detail in his work and the strong sense of place in his art -- even places that are unreal and impossible -- he's clearly an experienced comics storyteller. His European style suits the material well. I like that his design for the Shining Knight completely overhauls the previous one, but he still manages to incorporate a visual connection to the previous one in the form of the character's bird-like coat of arms. I was also impressed with the alien but attractive look granted the story's main villain.
Perhaps the most striking aspect of the story was the incorporation of qualities from other storybook villains into the Sheeda queen. She looks like a medusa, she refers to being "the fairest of them all" and there's also a reference to a Wizard of Oz-like fate. This convergence of fiction and myth appealed to me, and it grants the notion of such stories a larger, connected meaning.
The first thing that I noticed about the title character when he first appears in this comic is that he is radically different from the other knights we meet before him. He's younger, he's smaller. His inexperience would seem to be an important part of his character. His flying horse is more than a magical conveyance, but a mentor and teammate. It also merits note how this character is somewhat in synch with one created by the Wachowski Brothers' and Geof Darrow. Like Justin, the Shaolin Cowboy rides a talking mount and is a warrior who's out of his normal element. I'm not alleging that one property is stealing from the other at all. The timeframe between the publication of the two books is too narrow for that. Just an interesting and weird coincidence. 7/10
