It’s official: I am addicted to this story. I just added it to my pull list, because they are doing everything right. First, I want to say if you haven’t read issue #1 of Seven Secrets, then don’t read the rest of this article, but know that if you like secret organizations, mystery, and bad-ass action, you should go and buy a copy now. If you did happen to pick up a copy of the first issue, please continue on to the next paragraph; there will be no spoilers for you!

As we learned in issue one, there are seven secrets that are so dangerous and powerful that there are people trained to protect them: a holder and a keeper. The holder and keeper of one of these sacred secrets fell in love and had a child which is forbidden. That child is Caspar, our narrator. In issue two, we get to delve deeper into Caspar himself, his life, and how he was raised in this elite organization.      

There are many things I love about this story so far. Of course I love the intrigue. I have always been a fan of secret organization and conspiracy theory type stories. I love that the writing is a tease in the best possible way. As soon as you get a little bit of information, you end up asking more questions. I think the last thing I love about this series is its ability to be gender neutral with its characters in a realistic way. For half of the characters, you’re unsure what their gender is. I know some people may be reading this with some confusion. Why does the reviewer care? Why are they calling attention to this? Because this is realistic to our current world, and because it means that none of the characters are defined by their gender. The comic book world has famously defined characters by their gender. BatMAN, SuperGIRL, even Ms. Marvel. (Ms. Marvel was still called Ms. Marvel until Kelly Sue Deconnick came and changed that decades later. Decades.) And while things are slowly progressing, it is delightful to see a comic like this that isn’t talking about or commenting on gender, depicting interesting characters that are human above all else.

Thank you for coming to my TED Talk. If you love dangerous secrets, action, and strong, well-rounded, and interesting characters, you will want to pick up Seven Secrets at your local comic book shop.

Creative Team: Tom Taylor (writer), Daniele Di Nicuolo (artist)
Publisher: BOOM! Studios
Click here to purchase.