Seven Soldiers of Victory

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For the DC Comics metaseries written by Grant Morrison, see Seven Soldiers.
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Seven Soldiers of Victory
7Soldiers-Leading01-01-1-.jpg
The original Seven Soldiers.
Publication information
Publisher DC Comics
First appearance Leading Comics #1
(Winter 1941)
Created by Mort Weisinger (writer)
Mort Meskin

The Seven Soldiers of Victory (also known as Law's Legionnaires) is a fictional team of comic book superheroes in the DC Comics universe. They first appeared in Leading Comics #1 (Winter, 1941), and were created by Mort Weisinger and Mort Meskin.

Contents

[edit] Seven Soldiers of Victory

[edit] Pre-Crisis

The Seven Soldiers of Victory (also known as the Law's Legionnaires) was DC Comics' second super-hero team, following the Justice Society of America. Like the Justice Society, the membership of the Seven Soldiers was drawn from DC's anthology comics: The Vigilante (from Action Comics); the Crimson Avenger (from Detective Comics); the Green Arrow and Speedy (from More Fun Comics); the Shining Knight (from Adventure Comics); and the Star-Spangled Kid and Stripesy (from Star-Spangled Comics). It is worth noting that, unlike most superhero teams, this one included two sidekicks, Speedy and Stripesy, as members. (Stripesy was a rarity, an adult sidekick to a "kid" lead character.) On the other hand, the Crimson Avenger's sidekick Wing also took part in the team's adventures, and was in every other way an "eighth Soldier," but was never considered an "official" member of the team.

The Seven Soldiers of Victory appeared in the first fifteen issues of Leading Comics. Notable villains included the Black Star, the Iron Hand, the Dummy (enemy of the Vigilante), and Dr. Doome, one of several villains the team faced who had a time machine. A script by Joseph Samachson from the 1940s was later serialized in 1975 in Adventure Comics #438-443, with each chapter illustrated by a different artist (including Dick Dillin, Mike Grell, Lee Elias, and Jose Luis Garcia Lopez).

The team was resurrected in the seventies in Justice League of America #100-102. During the celebration of the 100th meeting of the JLA, the team was summoned to Earth-Two by the Justice Society of America, where a giant ethereal hand controlled by the Iron Hand threatened to destroy their world. The only way to stop the hand was to find the legendary Seven Soldiers of Victory, who defeated a similar menace in the form of the Nebula Man many years previously, though at the seeming cost of their existences, since no one could remember who they were. An unearthly Oracle revealed to the JLA and the JSA that the Seven Soldiers had been scattered through time, and the multitude of heroes were sent back to find them.

Doctor Fate, the Atom and the Elongated Man found the Crimson Avenger in Mexico, where he had amnesia and believed he was the Aztec Sun God. Superman, The Sandman and Metamorpho rescued the Shining Knight from the hordes of Genghis Khan. Hawkman, Doctor Mid-Nite, and the Golden Age Wonder Woman found the Golden Age Green Arrow in medieval England, where he had been mistaken for Robin Hood. Batman, Hourman and Starman retrieved Stripesy from ancient Egypt. The Silver Age Green Arrow, Black Canary and Johnny Thunder and Thunderbolt saved the Vigilante from a tribe of Indians in the Old West. Aquaman, Wildcat and the Silver Age Green Lantern rescued the Star-Spangled Kid, who was 50,000 years in the past. Zatanna, the Silver Age Flash and the Red Tornado freed Speedy (and themselves) from the clutches of Circe (comics) in ancient Greece. The Golden Age Green Lantern, Mister Terrific and the Golden Age Robin went on a quest to discover the identity of the Unknown Soldier of Victory, whose tomb lay in the mountains of Tibet, where the Seven Soldiers had fallen after defeating the Nebula Man.

The Seven Soldiers were reunited and created a new Nebula Rod to deal with the giant hand that the Iron Hand devised. Unfortunately, whoever would use the Nebula Rod to destroy the Hand was certain to perish (as did the Crimson Avenger's partner Wing, revealed to be the Unknown Soldier of Victory, when the Nebula Man was stopped). While the heroes argued over who will make the sacrifice, the android Red Tornado took the Nebula Rod and destroyed the Hand, apparently destroying himself in the process.

The only other modern meeting of the team (either in pre- or post-Crisis on Infinite Earths continuity) took place in Infinity, Inc. #11, in which the Vigilante, the Shining Knight, Green Arrow, Speedy and the Star-Spangled Kid gathered at the grave of Lee Travis, the man known as the Crimson Avenger. It had taken two years for the team to confirm his death (having died saving Gotham City from a boatload of explosives in DC Comics Presents #38).

[edit] Post-Crisis 1st team

In the original Post-Crisis retcon of the team, both Wing and the Vigilante's sidekick Stuff, the Chinatown Kid were promoted to full membership, to replace the Golden Age Green Arrow and Speedy, who had been removed from active continuity. Stuff had never appeared with the team during the original Leading Comics run, while an older man named Billy Gunn helped out the Vigilante on his cases in the comic.

That particular retcon was yet again changed in the late nineties, in Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E. #9. While Stuff remained a full member (and the Vigilante's mentor Billy Gunn was also present), Wing was not an official Soldier (because his mentor the Crimson Avenger wanted him to do something more important with his life). The remaining spot on the team was filled by the Spider, an archer who had originally appeared in Quality Comics' Crack Comics in a feature called Alias the Spider. The twist on the new Spider was that he was really a villain - and in this particular adventure, had been working with the team's arch-enemy the Hand, who created the original Nebula Man. The Spider sabotaged the Nebula Rod that the Soldiers had built to stop the Nebula Man and sent the team off to fight a fruitless battle. The villain then killed Billy Gunn (who had discovered his deception) and tried to kill Wing, but failed. Wing reached the other Soldiers and repaired the Nebula Rod, using it to destroy the Nebula Man. Wing died, and his teammates were again tossed through time and later retrieved by the JLA and JSA. The only major difference between this story and the original was that this time the Vigilante had been found after he had spent nearly 20 years fighting crime in the Old West.

The Seven Soldiers have not reformed in the Modern Age (partly due to Grant Morrison's project; see below). Three of the originals--Shining Knight, Vigilante and Stripesy (now STRIPE)--remain. The team has inspired a few legacies. The first is Stargirl, who at first carried the mantle of Star-Spangled Kid in memory of Sylvester Pemberton. She is now a double legacy, as she also carries on the legacy of Starman. The second SSoV legacy is the new Crimson Avenger, who has appeared sporadically in the series JSA. She has yet to make an appearance One Year Later, though she was seen towards the end of Infinite Crisis. The third one is Gardner Grayle, the Atomic Knight (see below). The last one is the new Sir Justin in Grant Morrison's project. (The current Green Arrow and Speedy, as well as Arsenal, could also count as SSoV legacies, but due to retcons, Green Arrow and the original Speedy were never members of the team.)

[edit] Post-Crisis 2nd team

Another group took the name of the Seven Soldiers of Victory in the Showcase issue of the limited series known as Silver Age. This group, brought together to help the Justice League of America and the other major heroes and teams of the sixties to battle the menace of Agamemno, consisted of: Adam Strange, Batgirl, Blackhawk, Deadman, Mento, Metamorpho, and a new Shining Knight.

This group's Shining Knight was Gardner Grayle, from the Silver Age feature The Atomic Knights; in previously published stories that occurred after the Silver Age limited series, he became the Atomic Knight and joined the Outsiders. This was the only appearance of this particular assemblage.

[edit] Seven Soldiers

Main article: Seven Soldiers

[edit] Members

[edit] Pre-Crisis

[edit] Post-Crisis 1st team

[edit] Post-Crisis 2nd team

[edit] Seven Soldiers

Main article: Seven Soldiers#Members

[edit] Other media

The original line-up of the Seven Soldiers (with one exception) appeared in the animated series Justice League Unlimited as members of the League. In an episode entitled "Patriot Act", they faced a rogue super-soldier while representing the League at a parade.

The team essentially was the DCAU versions of the original Golden Age Seven Soldiers, including:

The sixth and seventh members, The Crimson Avenger and Speedy, arrived in the middle of the battle as reinforcements. Speedy appears to be modeled after the animated Teen Titans series version, though older and better built than his Titans counterpart. Both versions of Speedy were voiced by Mike Erwin.

[edit] Collected editions

See also: Seven Soldiers#Collected editions

The original appearances have been collected as part of the DC Archive Editions:

  • The Seven Soldiers of Victory Archives Volume 1 (collects Leading Comics #1-4, DC, 2005 ISBN 1-4012-0401-5)
  • The Seven Soldiers of Victory Archives Volume 2 (collects Leading Comics #5-8, DC, 2007)
  • The Seven Soldiers of Victory Archives Volume 3 (collects Leading Comics #9-14 & script for a #15, DC, 2008)

[edit] See also

[edit] References

[edit] External links


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