Review by Win Wiacek
The Seven Soldiers of Victory never actually settled on a name as such, and back in the 1940s were also known as the Law’s Legionnaires, so never even had their own title logo. They only appeared as solo stars grouped together on the fourteen spectacular covers, the second quartet of which (by Mort Meskin, Jon Small, Maurice Del Bourgo and a sadly unidentified artist) preface each collaborative epic in this spectacular sequel of 1940s delights.
Originally seeing print spanning Winter 1942/1943 to Autumn 1943, the contents are prefaced by an incisive discourse and background history lesson from comics historian Bill Schelly.
The Seven Soldiers sagas all follow a basic but extremely effective formula established by Mort Weisinger in their first case, seen in Volume 1. It involves a mastermind, in the opening extravaganza the Skull, devising a master plan with several strands requiring separate investigations. Other writers then pen individual tales. In the first instance Green Arrow and Speedy arrive too late to prevent vicious criminal Bill ‘Porky’ Johnson escape his death sentence in a skull-painted mystery plane. The feat is repeated four more times leaving a handful of Death Row inmates beholden to a strange old man who has found that, for all his wealth, there are still things money cannot buy. However, for an unscrupulous businessman unwilling to get his own emaciated hands dirty but with the right criminal specialists, they can be stolen!
The Vigilante, Star-Spangled Kid and Stripesey, the Crimson Avenger and Wing, and the Shining Knight are then all involved in preventing individual crimes before uniting at the conclusion. A clever ending, possibly written by Joe Samachson shows what you want won’t necessarily make you happy, while the kinetic art is attributed to Ed Dobrotka.
The artists change, the second still defying identification, but the third outing is attributed to Pierce Rice and the finale to Jon Small. Samachson is credited with writing all of the remainder, both solo episodes and the team-up finales. He sets in motion a grand hunt for the hidden gold of the Incas, takes the heroes on a fund-raising quest as War Bond Drive performers sabotaged by wizards, and ends with a stirring time-travel, super-villain mash-up returning old enemy the Dummy. Before dealing with him the individuals travel to ancient China and ancient Rome, and meet Vikings, the Three Musketeers and Leonardo Da Vinci.
As before, these raw, wild and excessively engaging costumed romps are amongst some of the best but most neglected 1940s thrillers, and still stand up well today. Volume 3 completes the original run.
