REVIEW: ‘Seven Secrets,’ Issue #8

Seven Secrets #8 is an action-packed series by Tom Taylor, illustrated by Daniele Di Nucuolo, colored by Walter Baiamonte with assistance from Katia Ranalli, lettered by Ed Dukeshire, and published by BOOM! Studios. After some rogue and selfish Seekers unleashed the First Secret, The Order of the Seven escaped into a pocket dimension to recuperate from their defeat and plan their next moves.

Seven Secrets #8 is mostly exposition with a big action sequence at the end. The story is told primarily through narration as it unveils the true horrors of the First Secret and hints at threats still looming and yet unknown. I do wish a little bit more happened in this issue. The reveal takes up a plurality of the issue’s time and, while monumental, isn’t anything especially shocking. Some insight into what the Order will do next would have been nice. The action sequence at the end, though, is great, shown across a number of pages with several full-page or large panel pieces of art and little if any text. The action in this book is drawn with great intensity, and across these final pages, it takes on a truly impressive level. The small hints at future threats are good enough tidbits to keep me excited for the next issue, even if this one offered little in the way of plot or character development.

This issue also really puts the uniqueness of each of the Orders’ character designs on stark display. They all have such different styles, and seeing them all together, dangerous for the world as that is, really helps that element shine. I hope that over the next few issues, we really get to spend some quality time with the different Keepers and Holders and see some more of their personalities as well as their designs.

I cannot say enough good about the action sequences, though. The panel layouts, the swordsmanship, and the vehicular activity all create a fast-paced and intense sequence that reminded me why this series was so great and how much potential it continues to have. In the color department, several panels are overlayed with one color or another either to show a screen’s light on people’s faces or watching a screen. It’s a particular skill to overlay a panel with a whole color without it detracting from the detail of the drawing. There are also a number of really vivid backgrounds of note in this issue through the action scenes that add a lot to the beauty of those sequences. The action sequences are also complete with very good SFX, including some blood dripping in a way I’ve never seen before.

Seven Secrets #8 doesn’t move the series very far forward in terms of plot or characters, but its strong action finish makes the exposition in the first three-fifths of the book worth the information dump. Seeing all of the remaining members of the Order together has me excited to hopefully see not only more of them in action but to learn more about them as characters in the next several issues.

Seven Secrets #8 is available now wherever comics are sold.