Unlike most superhero teams, this one includes two sidekicks, Speedy and Stripesy, as members (Stripesy is a rarity, an adult sidekick to a "kid" lead character).[4] The Crimson Avenger's sidekick Wing also takes part in the team's adventures, and is in every other way an "eighth Soldier", but is never considered an "official" member. All but one of its members (the Shining Knight, a time-displaced Arthurian knight who rides a winged horse and uses an enchanted sword and suit of armor) are non-powered humans who rely on conventional weapons or training in place of superhuman abilities.
Per Leading Comics #1, the team's origin comes about when the criminal mastermind called the Hand (later the Iron Hand), believing himself terminally ill, gives his greatest unused schemes to five other supercriminals who he saved from the police (Big Caesar, the Dummy, the Needle, Professor Merlin, and the Red Dragon) to commit crimes across the U.S. as "the Hand's Five Fingers" and prove his genius to the world. The Hand also challenges the five criminals' enemies (the Crimson Avenger, the Vigilante, the Star-Spangled Kid and Stripesy, the Green Arrow and Speedy and the Shining Knight, respectively) to stop the criminals, presuming they will fail. However, the heroes defeat the Hand's Five Fingers. The heroes converge on the Hand's base after he reveals his whereabouts; the villain had found out a cure for his condition and decides to eliminate the heroes so he can remain free, but the heroes evade his traps. When the villain tries to use a lightning ray machine against them, the Vigilante shoots a crucial component of the device, bringing machinery down upon the Hand and apparently killing him. Deciding they work well together, the heroes form the Seven Soldiers of Victory.[5]
The Seven Soldiers of Victory appear in the first 14 issues of Leading Comics (which changed to an all-humor format in #15).
The team is resurrected in Justice League of America #100–102.[9] During the celebration of their 100th meeting, the JLA is brought to Earth-Two by the Justice Society of America, where a giant ethereal hand controlled by the Iron Hand (who turned up alive) threatens to destroy their world unless he is given control over it. Having been unable to destroy the hand themselves, the only clue the JSA could find was a mystical vision of a grave for "the Unknown Soldier of Victory". An unearthly Oracle, summoned up by Doctor Fate, Zatanna, and the Thunderbolt of Johnny Thunder, reveals to the JLA and the JSA that the Seven Soldiers had fought and destroyed a similar menace called the Nebula Man many years previously, though at the seeming cost of their existences. The Oracle then explains that the Soldiers had instead been scattered throughout history. The two teams split into smaller groups and are sent back in time by the Oracle to find them. Doctor Fate, the Atom, and the Elongated Man find the Crimson Avenger in Mexico, where he believes he is the Aztec sun god.[10]
The Silver Age Green Arrow, Black Canary, and Johnny Thunder and the Thunderbolt save the Vigilante from a tribe of Indians in the Old West. Aquaman, Wildcat and the Silver Age Green Lantern rescue the Star-Spangled Kid from 50,000 years in the past. Zatanna, the Silver Age Flash and the Red Tornado free Speedy from ancient Greece where he had been transformed into a centaur by Circe. The Golden Age Green Lantern, Mister Terrific and the Golden Age Robin go on a quest to discover the identity of the Unknown Soldier of Victory, whose tomb lay in the mountains of Tibet where the Seven Soldiers had fallen after defeating the Nebula Man. The Seven Soldiers are reunited, but Earth-1 and Diana Prince had been attacked by the Iron Hand. She is able to overcome him, but he is no longer able to stop the giant hand. The heroes create a new Nebula Rod to deal with the giant hand, but whoever uses the Nebula Rod is certain to perish (as did the Crimson Avenger's partner Wing, revealed to be the Unknown Soldier of Victory, when the Nebula Man was stopped). While the heroes argue over who will make the sacrifice, the android Red Tornado takes the Nebula Rod and destroys the Hand, destroying himself in the process.[12]
The only other modern meeting of the team (either in Pre- or Post-Crisis continuity) takes place in Infinity, Inc. #11, in which the Vigilante, the Shining Knight, the Green Arrow, Speedy and the Star-Spangled Kid gather at the grave of Lee Travis, the man known as the Crimson Avenger.[13] He had died two years earlier saving Gotham City from a boatload of explosives in DC Comics Presents #38.
Post-Crisis
First team
In the original Post-Crisisretcon of the team, both Wing and the Vigilante's sidekick Stuff the Chinatown Kid are promoted to full membership, to replace the Golden Age Green Arrow and Speedy, who had been removed from active continuity. Stuff had never appeared with the team during the original Leading Comics run, while an older man named Billy Gunn helped out the Vigilante on his cases in the comic.
This retcon is changed in the late nineties, in Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E. #9. While Stuff remains a full member, Wing is not an official Soldier because his mentor the Crimson Avenger wants him to do something more important with his life. The remaining spot on the team is filled by the Spider, an archer who had originally appeared in Quality Comics' Crack Comics. This Spider is really a villain and has been working with the team's archenemy the Hand, creator of the original Nebula Man. The Spider sabotages the Nebula Rod, and sends the team to fight a fruitless battle. The villain tries to kill Wing, but he escapes and reaches the other Soldiers. They repair the Nebula Rod and use it to destroy the Nebula Man. Wing dies and his teammates are again tossed through time and later retrieved by the JLA and JSA. The only major difference between this story and the 1972 story is that this time the Vigilante is found after he had spent nearly 20 years fighting crime in the Old West.[14]
In 2010's DC Universe: Legacies #2, TNT and Dyna-Mite are retconned into the team's original line-up.[15][16][17] It has not yet been revealed precisely how this retcon affects the respective histories of the Spider, TNT or Dyna-Mite.
The Seven Soldiers have not reformed in the Modern Age (partly due to Grant Morrison's project). Three of the originals-the Shining Knight, the Vigilante and Stripesy (now STRIPE)-remain. The team has inspired a few legacies. The first is Stargirl, who at first carries the mantle of the Star-Spangled Kid in memory of Sylvester Pemberton. She is now a double legacy, as she also carries on the legacy of Starman. The second legacy is the new Crimson Avenger, who has appeared sporadically in the series JSA. She has yet to make an appearance One Year Later, though she is seen towards the end of Infinite Crisis. The third one is Gardner Grayle, the Atomic Knight. The last one is the new Sir Justin in Grant Morrison's project.
Second team
Another group takes the name of the Seven Soldiers of Victory in the Showcase issue of the miniseries known as Silver Age. This group, brought together to help the Justice League of America and the other major heroes and teams of the 1960s to battle the menace of Agamemno, consists of Adam Strange, Batgirl, Blackhawk, Deadman, Mento, Metamorpho and a new Shining Knight. This group's Shining Knight is Gardner Grayle from the Silver Age feature The Atomic Knights; in previously published stories that occurred after the Silver Age limited series, he becomes the Atomic Knight and joins the Outsiders. This is the only appearance of this particular assemblage.
Seven Soldiers is a comic book metaseries written by Grant Morrison and published by DC Comics. It was published as seven interrelated mini-series and two bookend issues. The series features a new version of the Seven Soldiers of Victory fighting to save Earth from the Sheeda.
In the pages of "The New Golden Age", the Seven Soldiers of Victory get back together upon being summoned by Jill Carlyle. While Jill takes the adults on a mission, Stargirl and Red Arrow find out that they are going after Clock King. They find the Seven Soldiers of Victory fighting Clock King on a ship where the original Crimson Avenger had died. Before Stargirl destroys Per Degaton's time machine that sends the ship back to its own time, Crimson Avenger tells her to find Wing. Once time is fixed, history was changed so that Lee Travis' body was found. A funeral was held by the Justice League and the Justice Society of America. The next day, Courtney joins Pat and the Seven Soldiers of Victory for breakfast.[23]
Halo Corporation
The re-integration of the Wildstorm characters into the DCU saw a relaunch of the Wildcats title. In issue #2-3, Jacob Marlowe unveils a version of the Seven Soldiers of Victory that will serve as a public 'face' and PR cover for the covert actions of the Wildcats team.[24] This team consists of Threshold (formerly of Dv8), Majestic, Andromache, Maul, Mother One, Agent Wax, and Pike.
Iron Hand - Ramon Solomano is a master criminal.[5]
Big Caesar - an enemy of Crimson Avenger who allies with Iron Hand.[5]
The Dummy - a villain who dresses like a ventriloquist's dummy and an enemy of Vigilante who allies with Iron Hand.[5] In a reversal of Doome's tactics, Dummy later uses a time machine to send the Soldiers into the past.[25]
Needle - an enemy of Star-Spangled Kid who allies with Iron Hand.[5]
Professor Merlin - a mad scientist and enemy of Green Arrow who allies with Iron Hand.[5]
Red Dragon - an enemy of Shining Knight who allies with Iron Hand.[5]
Black Star - a villain who uses "black light" to transform himself into a giant.[26]
Brain - a minion of Black Star who fights Crimson Avenger.[26]
Captain Bigg - a scientist, modern day pirate, and minion of Black Star who fights Star-Spangled Kid.[26]
Falseface - a master of disguise and minion of Black Star who fights Shining Knight.[26]
Hopper - a minion of Black Star who uses a special pogo stick and fights Green Arrow.[26]
Rattler - a minion of Black Star who fights Vigilante.[26]
Skull - a wealthy man who pays criminals to steal an experimental age-reversing device. He died when he stepped into the machine and aged to an old man.[29]
Copperhead - Francisco Pizarro is a criminal who briefly turns the Soldiers against each other during an Andes treasure hunt.[30]
Wizards of Stanovia - a group of wizards who suppress democracy.[31]
Mr. X - a master of disguise who wagers with several of the heroes' individual enemies that he can defeat the entire team.[32]
Baby-Face Johnson - a gangster and the self-proclaimed "King of the Hundred Isles".[33]
Barracuda - a criminal who seeks powerful artifacts used by earlier criminals.[34]
The original appearances have been collected as part of the DC Archive Editions:
The Seven Soldiers of Victory Archives
Volume 1 collects Leading Comics #1–4, 240 pages, March 2005 ISBN978-1401204013
Volume 2 collects Leading Comics #5–8, 228 pages, July 2007 ISBN978-1401213084
Volume 3 collects Leading Comics #9–14 & a script for #15, 288 pages, July 2008 ISBN978-1401216948
References
^Cowsill, Alan; Irvine, Alex; Korte, Steve; Manning, Matt; Wiacek, Win; Wilson, Sven (2016). The DC Comics Encyclopedia: The Definitive Guide to the Characters of the DC Universe. DK Publishing. p. 266. ISBN978-1-4654-5357-0.
^Cowsill, Alan; Irvine, Alex; Manning, Matthew K.; McAvennie, Michael; Wallace, Daniel (2019). DC Comics Year By Year: A Visual Chronicle. DK Publishing. p. 33. ISBN978-1-4654-8578-6.
^McAvennie, Michael; Dolan, Hannah, ed. (2010). "1970s". DC Comics Year By Year: A Visual Chronicle. Dorling Kindersley. p. 162. ISBN978-0-7566-6742-9. An unpublished Seven Soldiers of Victory story finally saw print as a backup feature in Adventure Comics #438 – three decades after it was written. Noted scientist and author Joseph Samachson had penned his last Soldiers story in 1945, when the super hero team were a regular feature in Leading Comics.((cite book)): |first2= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^Cronin, Brian (February 18, 2010). "Comic Book Legends Revealed #248". Comic Book Resources. Archived from the original on October 1, 2010. Retrieved January 6, 2013. An unpublished script starring the Seven Soldiers of Victory was published within five issues of Adventure Comics…Thirty years after the Seven Soldiers of Victory feature was canceled!
^McAvennie "1970s" in Dolan, p. 152: "Through an impromptu team-up of the Justice League of America and the Justice Society on Earth-Two, writer Len Wein and artist Dick Dillin ushered in the return of DC's Seven Soldiers of Victory".
