Seven Secrets #7 is the beginning of a new arc in Tom Taylor’s high-octane action series at BOOM! Studios with art from Daniele Di Nicuolo, colors by Walter Baiamonte and Katia Ranalli, and letters by Ed Dukeshire. The series follows Casper, the son of a Keeper and a Holder of one of the Secrets. He was never supposed to be born, but here he is, very much born, and thrust into the role of protecting one of the Secrets, alongside his mother.
When the previous arc ended, the Seekers had obtained the First Secret and, foolishly, opened it, unleashing death and destruction grand enough to sink Atlantis, apparently. The Order opened the Third Secret though and escaped into another dimension. Like any good protagonist, Casper did not listen to his instructions not to turn off the path or follow the light. Having done so, Seven Secrets #7 follows Casper as he learns the secrets of his childhood before the Order.
The plot is a bit odd, having made a dramatic fantasy turn from the all-out action of the first six issues. While it’s a bit confusing, this is likely part of the point and will come to unveil itself further as the story progresses. Fortunately, for all of its strangeness, this world in-between realities is totally intriguing. Since there is still so little that readers know about the seven Secrets, hearing about the terrors that lie beyond the island Casper stranded himself on has my mind leaping in dozens of directions wondering what it could all mean and what lies inside the other five briefcases.
I only wish we could see more of the fantasy elements alluded to. We see a few of them, and they are whimsical yet creepy. And they are brilliantly colored as they make the only colored space within a vast, empty, black space. I love the yellow and green auras that radiate off of the environments against the blackness of the backgrounds. It would have just been all the better to me if we could have seen how vast this pocket world is besides just hearing about it. It kind of made me question whether half of the things described were real or just exaggerations to scare Casper. But again, I imagine this is not the last we will see of this bizarre locale.
I found the lettering for the fairies at odds with how I imagine they speak. It comes off as a robotic or inorganic voice whereas these beings are very clearly tied to at least some version of nature. They deserve a creepy text, but it just seems a bit off to me. The lettering for exclamations and human voices is totally fine.
Seven Secrets #7 is an intriguing step into the next arc of its story. It goes in a dramatically different, and slower, direction, but one I’m certainly here for. I did miss the high-octane energy of the first arc, but I suspect it will return once some of the dust settles from the wild first arc.
Seven Secrets #7 is available wherever comics are sold.
Seven Secrets #7
TL;DR
Seven Secrets #7 is an intriguing step into the next arc of its story. It goes in a dramatically different, and slower, direction, but one I’m certainly here for. I did miss the high-octane energy of the first arc, but I suspect it will return once some of the dust settles from the wild first arc.