REVIEW: ‘Seven Secrets,’ Issue #1

Seven Secrets Issue #1 is published by BOOM! Studios, written by Tom Taylor, illustrated by Daniele Di Nicuolo, colored by Walter Baiamonte with assistance by Katia Ranalli, and lettered by Ed Dukeshire. There exists in the world seven secrets, each with the power to either rule the world or destroy. The secrets are guarded by a order as old as time, but what would happen if the secrets were to fall into the wrong hands?

Seven Secrets Issue #1 tells the story of seven ancient weapons guarded by a secret society known as ‘The Order of the Seven.’ The seventh secret was guarded by Sigurd, and Eva who serve as the focus for the issue.

The issue itself is set over three distinct timelines, a future bloodied event outside of a mountain bound temple, (three months prior), an attack at the order of the sevens London subterranean base, and 15 years earlier with the trial of Eva, and Sigurd. The latter periods take up the majority of the issue.

Taylor has set a very distinct tone to start up this series. You can clearly tell that while there is somewhat of a frantic pace to the action, that the  overarching plot is methodically playing out. Our narrator appears to be a young man named Caspar, a product of forbidden love between two keepers of the seventh secret, Siguard and Eva.

Upon reading through the comic Taylor sets up very distinct markers for where the plot is headed while also giving you no true detail on what this is all about. We know there are seven secrets, and there is a nefarious force out to possesses them, and we know that Caspar was raised to be a future secret keeper. Outside of this, everything else is a mystery. I enjoy that Taylor has given the reader just enough to peak their interest, without revealing his hand too early.

I can see however that for some, this story may be too vague for them to seek their teeth into. It’s an interesting story, but there are times you’re craving extra information. For example while Caspar is our narrator, we don’t actually see him the entire issue, bar his birth scene. This will either entice you to want more, or leave you feeling somewhat unfulfilled.

The illustrative, and coloring work from Di Nicuolo, Baiamonte, and Ranalli was really enjoyable and felt very inspired by a manga / anime art style. This is most notable in the last few pages of the issue during the more intense physical action sequences. I was particularly taken with Di Nicuolo’s facial art as he manages to capture a brilliant level of emotive expression that is unique to each character.

Leveraging this style, Baiamonte, and Ranalli then elevates the world by adding some really vibrant colors to the characters, and contrasts them with a darkened background that helps them pop from the page. During the trial scene Baiamonte, and Ranalli’s colors are specifically noteworthy as the scene feels like the frame in an animated sequence. It’s clear he put a lot of hard work into breathing life into this world.

The lettering from Dukeshire was really well balanced given he must balance the narrative dialogue from Caspar, and the active dialogue from those characters in the panels. Care is taken from the letterer to differentiate the styles when called for given this is at times very heavy with dialogue.

Overall this was a really intriguing first issue from Taylor and his creative team. While vague in parts, there’s enough there that I really want to see where this story goes. The art style was really captivating and I think this creative team has the ability to come together and deliver something spectacular.

Seven Secrets Issue #1 is available now where ever  comics are sold.