A sad issue - not for the subject matter, but for what it promises that is never to be. A new logo, the promise of a Moray Earl solo story, and one of the best critiques on the Todd McFarlane/Neil Gaiman Miracleman hullaballo that was going on at the time this issue came out.
I have friends in our department who are studying fictocriticism - that is, critical texts that are written as fictions, or vice versa. This issue of 7 Guys has a certain hint of fictocriticism about it. The main villain, aside from Todd McToddtodd, is a very familiar-looking creature called "Sprawn" (those are his claws you can see on the cover). There's also an appearance by Sarabis the Anteater, and Gail Neiman, who used to be Angel Lady in the 80s. As I've noted about this comic numerous times, its place outside of the mainstream allows it a large leeway when it comes to dealing with the industry itself - one doesn't have to reign in the parody when the universe you're playing in is self-contained.
Our last issue is a solo Johnny Explode issue, which is nice, as he's one of the members who gets very little time in the spotlight. Along with Moray Earl, he kind of fades into the background. It's cool in this issue to see him dealing with his public superheroic identity while at school, and with assuring people that, despite Lord Talon, the 7 Guys are actually a serious team of superheroes.
It's a waste of time to wonder what might have been, but in the case of a series I have loved so much, it's hard not to. Who was the hero-killer? Who were the members of Hunter-Gatherer's internal dialogues? Who would be, in the end, the 7 Guys of Justice? Unfortunately, Lord Talon's pronouncement from the cover of the first issue is the only answer we're likely to get.
Tomorrow.....? Something.
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