When Shade bonds with his vest in surprising ways, it leads to more madness and salvation.
What They Say:
FLASH FACT! One among them will betray them all!
The Review:
Of the various books being produced for the world of Flashpoint, the one that really had me curious but also highly cautious was this one, Secret Seven. My curiosity was big because it brought in Shade, The Changing Man as its central character and put Peter Milligan in the writers chair. Way, way back in the day, Milligan’s revival of Shade was something that really had me hook, line and sinker with other DC Comics titles that were exploring more unusual themes, like Doom Patrol and Animal Man did. My hesitancy though comes from the fact that both Milligan and Shade feel like they have to be acquired tastes, Shade especially, but the pairing of the two together goes for more non-linear storytelling. After reading this first issue of the three issue run, it definitely has that disjointed feeling that the old book did which is made even stronger because it’s hard to tell how it all fits into this Flashpoint world.
What we do learn is that Shade had been leading a team for some time, but it all ended in failure a few years prior to the start here with the whole team dying except for him. Shade’s held himself very responsible for it because he should never have been made leader. His original mission was that he was sent to the Earth in order to go after the truly insane criminals, but he became overly distracted by so many other things, including falling in love. And now those from the past are starting to haunt him, such as the vision of Black Orchid coming to him in a diner calling for his help. Shade’s going crazy in his own way, and for good reason, as we see him called back forcibly to the Meta Hightable where they manage the other Changing Men as well. What the higher-ups here want is the truth as they think Shade killed them, but getting to the truth is turning out to be very hard to do as Shade has bonded with his vest in a way that allows him to touch multiple realities at once, which is surely driving him slowly crazy.
A good part of the book deals with what goes on there and it feels like we’re thrown into it in a rather disjointed and bad way, making it hard to really connect with as it doesn’t flow smoothly. It may fit with the way Shade views things, but it doesn’t make for compelling storytelling. The subplot that runs throughout this involves the Enchantress, which is actually pretty interesting, as she’s seeking out Shade on Earth as she needs him to use his vest in order to try and tap into the buried personality within her of June Moone. The why of her wanting to do this isn’t made clear, but the intensity of her desire to find this personality that has gone deep in her mind is certainly there, and her need for Shade to be the one to do it as well because of his vest. It’s an interesting story idea, but like the main story the book tells, we’re thrown into it so quickly and bluntly that you feel like you’re being yanked from place to place like Shade without a whole lot of understanding.
Digital Notes:
This Comixology edition of Flashpoint: Secret Seven contains the main cover as seen with the print edition with no variants or other extras included.
In Summary:
Unsurprisingly, Flashpoint: Secret Seven delivered on the strange and weird with plenty of disjointed storytelling that made for a confusing and uninteresting read. I really like Milligan’s works over the years and I love Shade as a character and Milligan’s approach on it, but the structure of this episode and how everything is playing out is just poorly executed, making for a hard read. All the time spent at the Meta Hightable provides some information but it’s all over the map that putting it together doesn’t make much sense. When it deals with the Enchantress storyline, it’s definitely more interesting but even that feels like we’re being yanked around with how it wants to get to the story itself. There are kernels of an interesting story here, but its execution only serves to keep you away from reading more of it.
Grade: C-
