Seven Secrets #1 - Review

Written by: Tom Taylor

Illustrated by: Daniele Di Nicuolo

Colored by: Walter Baiamonte

Color Assistance by: Katia Ranalli

Lettered by: Ed Dukeshire

Published by: Boom! Studios

After reading the debut issue of Seven Secrets by Boom! Studios, created by Tom Taylor and Daniele Di Nicuolo, the first thought that popped in my head was that this series has a lot of potential and it is skirting very close to one of my favorite genres in entertainment - the spy thriller. Saying that, the first issue isn’t a full blown spy thriller, but it has a lot of marks of being one - I’m a big sucker for any piece of entertainment that revolves around secrets and uncovering said secrets. 

The story, as told by a narrator whose identity we discover halfway through the book, revolves around a secret society/group that holds, you’ve guessed it, the seven secrets. But it is also about two of the group, Eva and Sigurd, two agents charged with the protection of one of the secrets and their, shall we say to avoid any spoilers, history together. 

The issue itself is encased in a pretty action packed package that provides some backstory to the characters of Eva and Sigurd, as well as some vague explanation about these seven secrets. All this is done through first-person narration from our semi-mysterious protagonist. Though I am not as familiar with Taylor’s previous books, I’ve read enough - and let’s be honest, seen enough pages posted throughout social media - to know that his writing and dialogue are some of the best on the market today. No flourish is needed really as everything that is said by his characters and narrator is concise and to the point, all while keeping a good wit about it. Smirking, if not outright giving a quick chuckle, is not unexpected when reading something by Tom Taylor. 

As for the art, Daniele Di Nicuolo with colors by Baiamonte and Ranalli, really come out to play in this debut issue. As crisp as Taylor’s scripting is, Di Nicuolo’s pencils are some of the sleekest and fluid I’ve seen in a while within this medium. Just from the cover you can tell that this is not your typical North American style that will be found within these pages. The European influence is very noticeable. Adding to that though, Di Nicuolo, even if I’m not as familiar with his work either, has an excellent grasp on setting a scene. Two examples I can give are Eva’s escape, with the continuous motion and fluidity from panel to panel and the tribunal scene which, though slower, had marvelous staging. 

Added to Di Nicuolo’s pencils we have the team of Baiamonte and Ranalli on colors who work overtime to make this issue’s color’s pop off the page. The heavy emphasis on reds, yellows and whites throughout the issue did a great job of informing the reader just through the color palette of what was going on the page. Just skimming through the issue without paying attention to the pencils or dialogue, you can get the sense of the action/explosions and the lighter moments. Fantastic job. 

All in all, this was a fun first issue from Taylor, Di Nicuolo, Baiamonte, Ranalli and Dukeshire. It’s definitely setting the stage for what comes next, and honestly, I can’t wait to meet our protagonist, hopefully, in the next issue.