Seven Swords #4

Seven Swords #4

Aftershock Comics 2021

Written by Evan Daugherty

Illustrated by Federico Dallocchio

Coloured by Valentina Bianconi

Lettered by Dave Sharpe

Cardinal Richelieu and his minions need only the blade of Lucifer’s sword to enact their myste-rious plan, and the fact that it’s in one of the most secure vaults in the world, buried deep below the Vatican, won't deter them.

D’Artagnan and his crew now face the daunting task of infiltrating the vault themselves and stealing the blade before it can fall into the Cardinal’s hand. But dissension in their ranks, the Pope’s elite Swiss Guards and a trio of Templar Knight vault guardians will make this mission their most impossible yet.

Well now it would seem that dear Cardinal Richelieu has a very dark secret he’s been guarding. One that he shares with the group's newest member, the man freed from the iron mask. I really hope that what we are seeing is only the first arc because this grouping of characters really is rather extraordinary to see and while our masked man, who we learn of his religious faith through the actions, we see this issue. It really captures the readers’ mind, creativity and imagination in such great ways and it makes them want to see and know more and more.

I am loving the way that this is being told. The story & plot development that we see through how the sequence of events unfold as well as how the reader learns information is presented exceptionally well. The character development that we see through the narration, the dialogue, the character interaction as well as how we see them act and react to the situations and circumstances which they encounter continues to bring their ever evolving personalities to the forefront. The pacing is excellent and as it takes us through the pages revealing more of the story and we become embroiled in the events unfolding.

I am loving the way that we see this being structured and how the layers within the story continue to emerge, grow, evolve and strengthen. These layers open up new avenues to explore and while some will be and others will not be but they all add this amazing depth, dimension and complexity to the story. How we see everything working together to create the story’s ebb & flow as well as how it moves the story forward is impeccably achieved.

The interiors here are completely and utterly fantastic! The linework is strong, clean and crisp and with its varying weights and techniques being utilised to create this level & quality of detail within the work we see is beautifully rendered. How we see backgrounds being utilised to enhance and expand the moments as well as how they work within the composition of the panels to bring out the depth perception, sense of scale and the overall sense of size and scope of the story. The creativity and imagination that we see throughout is exquisitely rendered. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a remarkably talented eye for storytelling. The various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work shows a spectacular eye for how colour works.

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I have to say that this is a thrilling adventure that has gone even further and deeper than I had thought that it would. Not only are this group of characters taken from different points in time and literature, some may be real but others definitely aren’t unless for whatever reason I’m misinformed which could very well be the case, but they all possess similar attributes that make them too much alike, hence the infighting, and infinitely more fun to see in action. The writing is superb and the characterisation goes further than what I’ve remembered from my readings that is all wrapped up in these stunning interiors creating such a fantastic read!