History ComicBook / SevenSoldiersOfVictory2005

* FreudianExcuseIsNoExcuse: Sally Sonic became magically trapped in the form of a teenager for decades, causing her to suffer abuse and degradation at the hands of a failed superhero who had a grudge against her late father. She uses this as an excuse for seducing married men, culminating in her encouraging mentally unbalanced scientist Lance Harrower to perform dangerous experiments on himself to try and gain superpowers, thinking that if he became a superhero, he and Sally could be together. These experiments ultimately killed Lance and turned his wife Alix into the Bulleteer. When Bulleteer finally confronts Sally about the carnage her selfishness has caused, Sally tries to kill her, all the while insisting that Lance's obsessions were Bulleteer's fault because she failed to please him. Bulleteer finally has enough of Sally's excuses and beats her with an engine block, saying that she doesn't care what kind of shit Sally went through, she had no right to mess with Lance's life or hers.

''Seven Soldiers'' was a maxi-series, written by Creator/GrantMorrison, started in 2005 and ended in 2006. With two bookend issues, the bulk of the series was comprised of seven four issue miniseries, each one focusing on each one of the titular seven members. This series is notable in that [[spoiler:'''none''' of the members of the team ever meet each other (with one or two exceptions).]] It is an update of DC's classic ''ComicBook/SevenSoldiersOfVictory'' series.

The series starts with the son of the original Spider, Thomas Dalt A.K.A. "I, Spyder", visiting Slaughter Swamp outside of Gotham City, and encountering the "Seven Unknown Men of Slaughter Swamp" who have chosen him for a certain task. Meanwhile, an about to retire Greg Saunders A.K.A. Vigilante (who was later revealed [[spoiler:to be finally submitting to his werewolfism]]) creates a new Seven Soldiers of Victory team, made up of Spyder, a new Boy Blue, Merry the Gimmick Girl (called Gimmix), Dyno-Mite Dan, and the Whip to defeat a giant spider that was supposed to have been destroyed during Saunders' tenure in the old West. The team kill the spider, but in turn are decimated by the mysterious Sheeda, lead by the Neh-Buh-Loh Man, who have come to destroy the world in "The Harrowing".

* '''[[FrankensteinsMonster Frankenstein]]''': The "Spawn of Frankenstein" himself. After fighting against the evil machinations of [[spoiler:Dark Melmoth]], Frankenstein (The Monster, who is shown to have taken his creator's name) goes into a deep slumber for many years. Upon an invasion of a high school by the Sheeda, Frankenstein revives to continue his work. After coming across his foe on Mars, Frankenstein discovers [[spoiler:that Melmoth is the former Sheeda King trying to defeat his wife and that Frankenstein partially owes his existence to him]]. After defeating his foe in a particularly spectacular manner, Frankenstein is inducted into the mysterious agency, S.H.A.D.E. who send him on a mission to stop the Sheeda-affiliated Neh-Buh-Loh Man...
* '''Bulleteer''': Alix Harrower is an average woman, married to a MadScientist husband, Lance. Lance is attempting to create a new metallic superskin [[IJustWantToBeSpecial to become a superhero]] so he could live out his [[PerverseSexualLust fantasy life]] with his wife [[spoiler:or hook up with a superchick he met online]]. Unfortunately he JumpedAtTheCall, covering himself with his superskin, accidentally does the same to his wife, and [[KarmicDeath dies in the process]]. Alix, who survives by a mere fluke, manages to stumble into the life of a C-list superhero while trying to deal with the husband's death and infidelity. All the while, she [[IJustWantToBeNormal only really wants to be normal]]...
* '''Mister Miracle''': Shilo Norman, one-time apprentice to the New God Scott Free, is doing pretty good for himself; he has achieved great fame as a master escape artist, just like his mentor. When attempting his greatest stunt yet, escaping a miniature black hole, he encounters the mysterious Metron in the event horizon, who desires to test him. Suddenly he finds himself in an alternate version of his own life, dealing with the problems of his fame while encountering people strangely similar to Kirby's ComicBook/NewGods... particularly one Mr. [[LouisCypher Dark Side]]... [[spoiler:This series is frequently considered a Stealth Pilot for ''ComicBook/FinalCrisis''.]]

The series starts with the son of the original Spider, Thomas Dalt A.K.A. "I, Spyder", visiting Slaughter Swamp outside of Gotham City, and encountering the "Seven Unknown Men of Slaughter Swamp" who have chosen him for a certain task. Meanwhile, an about to retire Greg Saunders AKA Vigilante (who was later revealed [[spoiler:to be finally submitting to his werewolfism]]) creates a new Seven Soldiers of Victory team, made up of Spyder, a new Boy Blue, Merry the Gimmick Girl (called Gimmix), Dyno-Mite Dan, and the Whip to defeat a giant spider that was supposed to have been destroyed during Saunders' tenure in the old West. The team kill the spider, but in turn are decimated by the mysterious Sheeda, lead by the Neh-Buh-Loh Man, who have come to destroy the world in "The Harrowing".

''Seven Soldiers'' was a maxi-series, written by Creator/GrantMorrison, started in 2005 and ended in 2006. With two bookend issues, the bulk of the series was comprised of seven four issue miniseries, each one focusing on each one of the titular seven members. This series is notable in that [[spoiler:'''none''' of the members of the team ever meet each other (with one or two exceptions)]]. It is an update of DC's classic ''ComicBook/SevenSoldiersOfVictory'' series.

The series starts with the son of the original Spider, Thomas Dalt AKA "I, Spyder", visiting Slaughter Swamp outside of Gotham City, and encountering the "Seven Unknown Men of Slaughter Swamp" who have chosen him for a certain task. Meanwhile, an about to retire Greg Saunders AKA Vigilante (who was later revealed [[spoiler:to be finally submitting to his werewolfism]]) creates a new Seven Soldiers of Victory team, made up of Spyder, a new Boy Blue, Merry the Gimmick Girl (called Gimmix), Dyno-Mite Dan, and the Whip to defeat a giant spider that was supposed to have been destroyed during Saunders' tenure in the old West. The team kill the spider, but in turn are decimated by the mysterious Sheeda, lead by the Neh-Buh-Loh Man, who have come to destroy the world in "The Harrowing".

* ADeadlyAffair: Lance's affair turns deadly, with he himself being the one to die. [[spoiler:In a twist this is not what he intended, though the woman he was cheating on his wife with finds it amusing and was the one who pushed him to try the experiment which killed him, as he was trying to make himself immortal for her]].
* AlliterativeName:

** Sally Smart, alias Sally Sonic, [[spoiler:alias Sara Smart]].

* ArcNumber: You'd think it'd be seven, right? #0 [[LampshadeHanging even has a character note how important the number seven seems to be]]. [[SubvertedTrope The thing is, it's actually ]] ''[[SubvertedTrope eight]]'', [[FridgeBrilliance because there were eight members in the original Seven Soldiers.]] The things you need to pay attention to are stuff like [[spoiler:Zatanna's "-Anonymous" meeting. Notice how there are ''eight'' people there. The eighth is Misty.]] Sevens-that-are-actually-eights recur throughout the story. [[spoiler: The "Eighth Seventh Soldier" in the finale is the Spyder, who helps deliver the finishing blow to Gloriana]].
* AuthorAvatar: Nobeard of the Subway Pirates who bedevil the Manhattan Guardian is unilaterally considered a rendition of Morrison themelf. Nobeard's archrival Allbeard thus represents Morrison's hated enemy Creator/AlanMoore. Since Morrison is writing the story, Nobeard is the one who wins... Except for the subtext that [[spoiler:Nobeard got exposed to radioactive material and got fatal cancers all in his body]]. But yeah, he came out of the fight ''alive...''
** According to WordOfGod, [[spoiler:The Seven Unknown Men are all the authors who wrote themselves into DC Comics - meaning, of course, Morrison is among them (though not for Nobeard; they literally appeared as themself in ''Comicbook/AnimalMan'')]].

** Shining Knight: Gloriana Tenebrae.

* BookEnds: Morrison's issue #0 ends with [[spoiler: the deaths of Greg Saunders's team of Soldiers]]; the conclusion in issue #1 ends with [[spoiler:the resurrection of the one slain Soldier, Mister Miracle.]]

* BreakingTheFourthWall: All over the place in Morrison's version, as is their wont, but most apparent in the two scenes where [[spoiler: Zatanna]] directly addresses the reader.

* CanonDiscontinuity: Morrison's Bulleteer made a number of [[TheCameo cameos]] in other stories after hers ended. The catch? [[WeAreNotGoingThroughThatAgain She quit superheroing in the last issue of her series.]] It's most egregious when she appears in an incarnation of the Justice League seen in the series ''ComicBook/FiftyTwo''...a series co-written by Morrison themself![[note]]One can FanWank an in-story explanation - Morrison's Seven Soldiers is confirmed by WordOfGod to take place one week before ''ComicBook/InfiniteCrisis'', so she could have gotten {{Cosmic Retcon}}ned[[/note]]

** To give an example: Zor is actually an existing character, appearing in a story from ''More Fun Comics #55'' as a one-shot villain for ComicBook/TheSpectre. [[ViewersAreGeniuses But who would know that?]] [[note]]Unless you're a ComicBook/DoctorFate fan - that issue was his first appearance. If you're curious about what happened, Zor saves some criminals from the Spectre, he introduces himself as a spirit that goes around causing evil, they fight, Spectre finds he can't win because Zor is older than him (this is before certain {{retcon}}s), Zor disguises himself as the Spectre's human identity and kidnaps his girlfriend, Spectre asks for help from God, Spectre arrives at Zor's castle, gets paralyzed by Zor's paralysis ray, and finally tricks Zor into getting paralyzed himself.[[/note]]

** Mister Miracle: Mr. [[ComicBook/{{Darkseid}} Dark Side]], also the BiggerBad of the meta-series.

The "Seven Soldiers" maxi-series, written by Creator/GrantMorrison, started in 2005 and ended in 2006. With two bookend issues, the bulk of the series was comprised of seven four issue miniseries, each one focusing on each one of the titular seven members. This series is notable in that [[spoiler:'''none''' of the members of the team ever meet each other (with one or two exceptions)]].

* AuthorAvatar: Nobeard of the Subway Pirates who bedevil the Manhattan Guardian is unilaterally considered a rendition of Morrison themelf. Nobeard's archrival Allbeard thus represents Morrison's hated enemy Creator/AlanMoore. Since Morrison is writing the story, Nobeard is the one who wins. ...Except for the subtext that [[spoiler:Nobeard got exposed to radioactive material and got fatal cancers all in his body]]. But yeah, he came out of the fight ''alive...''

** SpinOffspring: The short lived incarnation of the Seven Soldiers of Victory in Creator/GrantMorrison's ''ComicBook/SevenSoldiers'' #0 included the Whip III, granddaughter of the Whip II (a NewOldWest Franchise/{{Zorro}} wannabe) and great-great-granddaughter of the Whip I (an [[{{Western}} Old West]] Zorro wannabe); I, Spyder, son of the original [=7SoV=] member (and traitor) Alias the Spider; and Gimmix, daughter of Merry the Gimmick Girl and, therefore, niece of the first Star-Spangled Kid, who was also an original [=7SoV=] member. In ''ComicBook/SevenSoldiers'' #1, the Bulleteer turns out to be directly descended from [[spoiler:Aurakles, the world's first superhero.]]

[[quoteright:258:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ssov1_7238.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:258:The unsung Seven Soldiers of Victory... Stripesy and Wing are off fighting for the last slot.]]

The very first super hero team in Franchise/TheDCU was the ComicBook/JusticeSocietyOfAmerica. Following the success of that team, a second was created, named the Seven Soldiers of Victory. Much like the Justice Society, the Seven Soldiers were heroes from several DC anthology comics. The Seven Soldiers was made up of:

* '''The Crimson Avenger''': Lee Travis, newspaper publisher by day and crime-fighter by night who battles crime with his fists and with his crimson gas gun. His chauffeur '''Wing''' acts as his sidekick, and is the unofficial eighth member of the team.
* '''Characters/{{Vigilante}}''': Greg Sanders (later Saunders), singing cowboy, who adopted the identity of the Vigilante after he brought his father’s killers to justice. Sanders is an excellent hand to hand fighter, trick shooter, sharpshooter, horseman and motorcycle rider, and an expert with the lariat.
* '''The Star Spangled Kid''': Wealthy Sylvester Pemberton, secretly fighting crime with the aid of his acrobatic skills and hand to hand combat prowess. He and his adult sidekick '''Stripesy''' have a series of codes worked out for their various fighting maneuvers, and a mechanical car named the Star Rocket Racer that can change into a jet.
* '''ComicBook/GreenArrow''' and '''Speedy''': The Golden Age Oliver Queen and Roy Harper differ in many details from the modern version of these characters, but they are still incredibly talented archers and use this talent to fight crime.
* '''Shining Knight''': Sir Justin, a knight of King Arthur, was given by Merlin a suit of magical armor that would protect him from all harm, and a magical sword that would cut through anything. Merlin also gave Justin’s horse wings and the ability to fly. Justin was frozen for centuries and revived in the 1940s, where he applies his honor as a knight to fighting crime in the present day.

Most of their adventures would follow a standard format: the team would meet in the first chapter of each issue, split up and fight the mastermind's henchmen for five chapters, then unite at the end to defeat the main villain. Criminal mastermind The Hand was responsible for the team's formation, after which they dealt with such criminals as the Black Star, Dr. Doome, and the Sixth Sense. There were a few attempts to vary the formula in later issues, with team members turned against each other in Leading Comics #7, or the team members working with someone other than their usual partner in #9 due to being shipwrecked and scattered across some islands. The Seven Soldiers appeared in the first 14 issues of Leading Comics, but the series ended when Leading changed to an all-humor format with issue 15.

Years later in the [[TheSeventies 1970s]], during the celebration of the 100th meeting of the Franchise/JusticeLeagueOfAmerica (i.e. [[MilestoneCelebration the 100th issue]]), the League is summoned to Earth-Two by the JSA in order to help them combat a giant ethereal hand. They summoned a mysterious Oracle for help, who revealed that [[RetCon the Seven Soldiers had died fighting an entity called The Nebula Man which was created by their arch-foe, the Hand.]] Because of the similarities between the giant hand and the Nebula Man, it was concluded that the team who defeated the Nebula Man would be needed. However, in the Soldiers' final battle they were apparently erased from existence and no one could remember who they were. The Oracle explained that following the defeat of the Nebula Man, the seven of the eight heroes were scattered in time, with the last one having perished during the battle. The JSA and JLA traveled through time to recover the Soldiers and help them build a new Nebula Rod, while they were opposed by the giant hand's creator. The villain turned out to be the Hand, now calling himself the Iron Hand. It was eventually revealed that the fallen hero, The Unknown Soldier of Victory, was Wing who had to sacrifice himself to use the Nebula Rod and defeat the Nebula Man. Knowing that whoever used the Nebula Rod would have to die, the android hero, ComicBook/RedTornado, stole the rod and sacrificed himself to destroy the hand.

Then the ComicBook/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths happened. ComicBook/PostCrisis, the Soldiers still existed, more or less. Because the original team were all [[UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks Golden Age]] heroes, their history had to be changed: Green Arrow and Speedy were never on the team, Vigilante's sidekick Stuff the Chinatown Kid was officially a member and Vigilante's mentor Billy Gunn was present but was never a member, and the final member was an archer called Alias The Spider. The Spider was really a villain working with the Iron Hand and sabotaged the Nebula Rod, killed Billy Gunn and attempted to kill Wing. The Soldiers still succeeded, Wing died, the Soldiers were scattered through time (But this time Vigilante was found ''after'' he spent twenty years in the Old West).

A second Seven Soldiers team, made up of Batgirl, Blackhawk, Metamorpho, Mento, Deadman, Adam Strange, and a new Shining Knight gathered together only once, in a story of questionable continuity (the 2000 event series ''Silver Age''). The true successors of the Seven Soldiers of Victory 'formed' much more recently, [[WordOfGod about one week before]] the events of ComicBook/InfiniteCrisis...

!!Creator/GrantMorrison's ''Seven Soldiers''

!!Other Media:

* ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague Unlimited'' had a ShoutOut to the original team in the episode "Patriot Act": The Shining Knight, Vigilante, Stargirl, STRIPE, the Crimson Avenger (sans sidekick Wing), Green Arrow and Speedy are the {{Only One}}s who can stop a GeneralRipper hopped up on SuperSerum.
* ''Series/Stargirl2020'' based on the Courtney Whitmore Stargirl features Pat Dugan/Stripesy as one of the main characters, and the entire Golden Age Seven Soldiers is shown in a black and white photograph, albeit with Crimson Avenger in his original hat, coat and mask costume. Shining Knight was revealed to be the school janitor as well.

!!Pre-Crisis Seven Soldiers provides examples of:

* AllUpToYou: Good thing Speedy picked up that time travel device, or else the entire team would have remained in the past at the siege of Troy, where Dr. Doome tried to trap them. Score one for the sidekick.
* {{Anthology}}: Leading Comics, despite being a team book, is composed of a collection of short stories by different authors and artists. The actual team sections are usually confined to the opening and closing chapters of each issue, though there are occasional exceptions.
* AsianSpeekeeEngrish: Wing talks like this.
* BadLuckCharm / HatOfPower: In Leading Comics #11, gangster Handsome Harry loses what he considers to be his lucky hat. However the narration continually refers to it as an unlucky or evil hat, and bad things happen to everyone that finds it or comes in contact with it over the course of the story.
* BadassNormal: Most of the [[UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks Golden Age]] team were simply well-trained humans with a few gimmicks. The Shining Knight, however, had a magical sword, magical armor, and a flying horse provided by Merlin.
* BigCreepyCrawlies: The Black Star uses his ray to create giant insects and birds to attack the Seven Soldiers.
* TheBusCameBack: The return of the team in Justice League of America #100-102.
** The Seven Soldiers returned for the "World's Finest" Convergence mini-series in 2015 along with Scribbly the Boy Cartoonist.
* CaptainGeographic: The Star Spangled Kid and Stripesy have an American flag motif for their costumes.
* {{Chronoscope}}: Dr. Doome is able to observe past events with his chronoscope, such as Pickett's Charge or mammoths during an ice age. He also observes his time-displaced allies returning to the past with this machine.
* ClothesMakeTheSuperman: Shining Knight's magical armor which protects him from all harm.
* ColorCharacter: The Green Arrow and the Crimson Avenger.
* CoolCar: The Arrowplane and the Star Rocket Racer.

* CrazyPrepared: The Star-Spangled Kid and Stripesy have their fighting maneuvers worked out ahead of time, and codes assigned for each one, which they'll call out in the middle of a fight.
* DigitalDestruction: Despite the generally excellent restoration work done for the DC Archives reprints of the Leading Comics issues, Oliver Queen's hair is often colored brown in volume one of the Archives when it was always blond (yellow) in the original comics.
* DivideAndConquer: The Copperhead attempts to turn the team against each other during a hunt for lost Incan gold, and for a while it works, until the various team members work out just what's going on.
* DominoMask: The Crimson Avenger, Green Arrow and Speedy all wear tiny domino masks. Vigilante has a bandanna tied over his nose and mouth, which is probably marginally more effective as a disguise. The Star Spangled Kid wears a cowl, while Stripesy doesn't bother with a mask of any sort, oddly.
* FakeWizardry: In what is probably a reference to ''The Wizard of Oz'', the Wizard of Wisstark is actually an American stage magician who fakes being a wizard to rule the hidden antarctic city. Sadly, he's facing three genuine wizards in the city on the other side of the mountains, and needs the help of the Soldiers to fight them off.
* FishOutOfTemporalWater: Sir Justin, the Shining Knight, who was originally a knight for King Arthur before being trapped in suspended animation for a few centuries.
** The entire team was a FishOutOfTemporalWater when they were brought back in JLA #100. The Star-Spangled Kid angsts about being out of his own time in the All-Star Comics revival of the 70s, though he adjusts fairly quickly. Poor Wing is a DeadSidekick, having sacrificed himself to defeat the Nebula Man.
* FountainOfYouth: The Skull is an old man who doesn't want to die, so he hires a thug to steal a ray that will restore his youth. But he doesn't know how to use it, and it ages him to death instead.
* FunnyRobot: Oscar the robot, the wisecracking invention of a scientist who didn't quite realize what he had created. All his other robots were mindless automatons, but Oscar somehow ended up with a prankster personality.
* GenreShift: Leading Comics switched to the "funny animals" format in Summer 1945. That was the end of the Seven Soldiers.
* HeroicSacrifice: Wing sacrificed his life to end the threat of the Nebula Man, a battle that scattered the other Seven Soldiers all through time, until the combined Justice League and Justice Society were able to rescue them.
* HistorysCrimeWave: ''Leading Comics'' #3 has the Seven Soldiers of Victory working against Dr Doome (not Victor) who has used a time machine to summon up the Time Tyrants, UsefulNotes/AlexanderTheGreat, Emperor UsefulNotes/{{Nero}}, UsefulNotes/NapoleonBonaparte, UsefulNotes/GenghisKhan and UsefulNotes/AttilaTheHun.
* HoistByHisOwnPetard: The Golden Age team has the distinction of being one of the very few superhero teams deliberately assembled by a villain! The Hand, believing he was dying, recruited five criminals (his "fingers") to pull off spectacular thefts he'd planned. And just to show off how perfect his plans were, the Hand sent invitations to five mystery men and their sidekicks to futilely try to stop the crimes. You can guess how it worked out.
** What's even more hilarious in hindsight is that the Hand lived to a ripe old age (till a week before ComicBook/InfiniteCrisis in ''The Bulleteer'') and he was killed by Greg Saunders (Vigilante) who was, of course, one of the heroes he had summoned.
* HyperCompetentSidekick: Stripesy often seems smarter and more prepared than the Star-Spangled Kid.
* KidHero: The Star-Spangled Kid. Speedy is a sidekick, but he still counts.
* KnightInShiningArmor: Shining Knight
* LegionOfDoom: The origin story possibly had the first comics Legion of Doom, called 'the Hand's Five Fingers' and made up of five foes of Soldiers members using plans given by the Hand.
* LetsSplitUpGang:
** The formula for the ''Leading Comics'' stories goes as follows:
*** The first chapter (of [[LuckySeven seven]]) features everyone together and sets up the overall story;
*** The next five chapters feature an individual member of the team going through his side of the story (Speedy, Stripesy and Wing, all being sidekicks, are paired up with Green Arrow, the Star-Spangled Kid and the Crimson Avenger);
*** The final chapter unites the team for the finale.
* LostWorld: While hunting for lost treasure in the Andes, Crimson Avenger and Wing discover a hidden Inca City whose inhabitants still hold a grudge against the Spanish and still live like it's the 1600s.
* LoveRedeems: Happens to the Sixth Sense's hired henchman whose hearing has been amped up. He's so taken by the music of the person whose gem he's supposed to steal that he falls for her and turns against his employer.
* TheManBehindTheMan: This is the Black Star's method of operation. He enlists the services of five other criminals to carry out creative robberies, and they know they're working for him, but it's all a smokescreen to divert the attention of the Seven Soldiers and allow him to carry out his real plan.
** Really, several issues of Leading Comics feature this trope as a master criminal hires others to work for him. The Hand, Dr. Doome, the Black Star and a few others qualify as TheManBehindTheMan.
* MasterOfDisguise: Mr. X, the man of a thousand faces, who bets some other crooks that he can beat all of the Seven Soldiers. Each of them seperately pick up some of his tells, even though they never see his true face during his crimes, and in the end band together to track him down and capture him.
* MeaningfulRename: When the original Seven Soldiers returned in the ''Justice League'' story, the Hand renamed himself the Iron Hand.
* MonumentalBattle: Atilla the Hun tries to trap and kill Vigilante on top of Mount Rushmore.
* NonPoweredCostumedHero: Everyone on the team, except for Shining Knight.
* NotQuiteDead: The Hand, who was thought to be killed at the end of Leading Comics #1. He turns up as the villain in Justice League of America #100, thirty years later, having lost his hand in that original accident rather than being killed.
* NotWearingTights: Vigilante, who dresses as a cowboy. Technically Shining Knight as well, who is wearing armor rather than a super-hero costume.
* ObfuscatingDisability: The Sixth Sense appears to be a paralyzed man who communicates through a robot that does his dirty work. The cripple turns out to be a mannequin, and the real Sixth Sense, Dr. Brett, is disguised as the robot.
* OhCrap: The moment that Dr. Doome realizes the team is on to him.
-->'''Dr. Doome:''' ''The Shining Knight? But that means... the Seven Soldiers of Victory are against me!''
* OldHeroNewPals: The Star-Spangled Kid ends up a member of the JSA and wielding Starman's gravity rod after the Seven Soldiers are rescued by the JLA and JSA from being lost in time.
* OlderSidekick: The Star Spangled Kid and Vigilante both have a sidekick that's older than they are. The Kid has Stripesy and Vigilante has Billy Gunn.
* {{Omnibus}}: All fourteen Golden Age adventures of the Seven Soldiers have been restored and collected in three volumes of DC's Archive series. The script for an unfinished 15th adventure is also included.
* OneExtraMember: The original Seven Soldiers were ComicBook/GreenArrow and Speedy, Star-Spangled Kid and Stripesy, Vigilante, Shining Knight, and the Crimson Avenger and Wing. Wing, the Avenger's sidekick/chauffeur, was the "unofficial eighth soldier", even though there were two sidekicks as full members. When ComicBook/GreenArrow was removed from the line-up ComicBook/PostCrisis, and replaced with the sidekickless Alias the Spider, Vigilante's sidekick Stuff, the Chinatown Kid was added, so Wing was ''still'' the unofficial eighth soldier.
* {{Pegasus}}: Sir Justin's horse Victory is essentially a Pegasus now, having been given wings by Merlin.
* ReallySevenHundredYearsOld: Sir Justin, the Shining Knight, has been alive since the time of King Arthur. With Arthur supposedly living in the 5th or 6th centuries, that would make Justin at least 1400 years old, though he spent most of those years in suspended animation before being revived in the early 20th century.
** Telos, the initial villain of Convergence, recognizes this. He tells Sir Justin that he's the oldest specimen in Brainiac's collection, and he wonders how that will affect his ability to fight for his life against his chosen opponent.
* RetCon[=/=]RememberTheNewGuy: That whole thing about the Nebula Man? That was created wholesale in ''Justice League of America #100'', along with the Oracle character. (Grant Morrison's series would later fill in the blanks through a bit of ArcWelding, see below.)
* SeriesContinuityError: The Shining Knight's magic armor protects him from ''bullets'' in early stories. Later on, he's knocked unconcious from blows to the head. How is this possible?
* ShortRunners: The Soldiers were the main feature in Leading Comics for only 14 issues. The book was quarterly, so that was only a three and a half year run.
* {{Sidekick}}: Two sidekicks are official members of the team, while a third is an unofficial member.
* SuperSenses: The hoods who work for the Sixth Sense get one sense enhanced as a part of his plan to steal five jewels. So one guy gets enhanced hearing, one gets super sensitive touch, etc. This is done through "hormone extract", oddly.
* SuperheroPackingHeat: Vigilante
* SuperheroSobriquets: the Wizard Archers, the Western Waddy, the Larruping Lariateer, the American Avengers, etc.
* SuperTeam: The second one ever created, though they're not nearly as well know as the Justice Society.
* TimeTravel: How Dr. Doome recruits "the greatest villains in history" to be his henchmen, such as Napoleon or Genghis Khan. Thankfully, the possibility of TemporalParadox due to removing these figures from history is avoided since Doome gives them a device that allows them to return to their own time if plans go awry. So every one of them escape when the Seven Soldiers defeat them and history is preserved.
* TreasureHuntEpisode: The plot of Leading Comics #6 has the Seven Soldiers hunting for a lost treasure that they want to use for the war effort. The team gets a bit of GoldFever, not because they personally want the gold for themselves, but because they decided to compete and see who could find it first. This, and a setup by the Copperhead, actually gets the team to think other members are trying to kill them, and they end up temporarily in a hero versus hero fight. Thankfully, common sense prevails in the end.
* TrickArrow
* YeOldeButcheredeEnglishe: The Shining Knight speaks this way.

!!Post-Crisis Seven Soldiers provides examples of:
* HorribleJudgeOfCharacter: The first team let the archer, ''Alias The Spider'' on their team (ComicBook/PostCrisis). Now, Spider was a villain who tried to kill the team (he nearly succeeded too) and managed to get away with his "heroic" reputation intact. Now to be fair, '''no one''' knew Spider was evil until he struck and this info couldn't be shared since the Soldiers were either lost in time or dead. [[Comicbook/{{Starman}} He even tricked the Jay Garrick Flash and the Shade until he made his move, but that time he didn't get away]].


!!Modern day Seven Soldiers provides examples of:
* AbusivePrecursors: Inverted. [[spoiler:[[MindScrew They're from THE FUTURE!]]]]
* ADeadlyAffair: Lance's affair turns deadly, with he himself being the one to die. [[spoiler:In a twist this is not what he intended, though the woman he was cheating on his wife with finds it amusing and was the one who pushed him to try the experiment which killed him, as he was trying to make himself immortal for her]].
* AlliterativeName:
** Helen "Sky-High" Helligan
** Sally Smart, alias Sally Sonic, [[spoiler:alias Sara Smart]].
* AnimalTesting: Lance tested his Smartskin on a mouse before he tried it for himself. The mouse survived and went on to become Alix's pet Mickey while Lance suffocated to death.
* ArcNumber: You'd think it'd be seven, right? #0 [[LampshadeHanging even has a character note how important the number seven seems to be]]. [[SubvertedTrope The thing is, it's actually ]] ''[[SubvertedTrope eight]]'', [[FridgeBrilliance because there were eight members in the original Seven Soldiers.]] The things you need to pay attention to are stuff like [[spoiler:Zatanna's "-Anonymous" meeting. Notice how there are ''eight'' people there. The eighth is Misty.]] Sevens-that-are-actually-eights recur throughout the story. [[spoiler: The "Eighth Seventh Soldier" in the finale is the Spyder, who helps deliver the finishing blow to Gloriana]].
* AuthorAvatar: Nobeard of the Subway Pirates who bedevil the Manhattan Guardian is unilaterally considered a rendition of Morrison themelf. Nobeard's archrival Allbeard thus represents Morrison's hated enemy Creator/AlanMoore. Since Morrison is writing the story, Nobeard is the one who wins. ...Except for the subtext that [[spoiler:Nobeard got exposed to radioactive material and got fatal cancers all in his body]]. But yeah, he came out of the fight ''alive...''
** According to WordOfGod, [[spoiler:The Seven Unknown Men are all the authors who wrote themselves into DC Comics - meaning, of course, Morrison is among them (though not for Nobeard; they literally appeared as themself in ''Comicbook/AnimalMan'')]].
* BadassNormal: The Guardian follows this trope, as does Sky-High Helligan.
* BathtubMermaid: Suli Stellamaris attends publicity events in a large specially made tank since she cannot walk on land or spend much time out of the water.
* BigBad: The Sheeda in Morrison's series, led by [[GodSaveUsFromTheQueen Gloriana Tenebrae]]. [[BiggerBad However, they're not necessarily the Big Bad in each character's individual series]]. In fact, most of the series have their own {{Big Bad}}s.
** Zatanna: Zor, who is something of a ManBehindTheMan to the Sheeda.
** Shining Knight: Gloriana Tenebrae.
** Klarion: Melmoth
** The Manhattan Guardian: None, though he leads the charge against the Sheeda's armies in in the meta-series's final issue
** Frankenstein: Melmoth for the first two issues, then the Neh-Buh-Loh Man in the final issue.
** Bulleteer: Sally Sonic
** Mister Miracle: Mr. [[ComicBook/{{Darkseid}} Dark Side]], also the BiggerBad of the meta-series.
* {{Bifauxnen}}: [[spoiler:[[SweetPollyOliver The Shining Knight]]]]
* BishonenLine: The Nebula Man actually becomes ''smaller'' when he returns as the Neh-Buh-Loh Man; he's clearly seen towering over the Soldiers in ''Justice League of America #100''.
* BlessedWithSuck: Bulleteer. Alix didn't want to be a superhero, her husband did. She was perfectly happy with a normal life, and after she received her powers she had to quit her job as a special needs teacher, then discovered her husband's second life and in a fit of despair tried to commit suicide by running until she hit something strong enough to kill her.
* BodyguardingABadass: After losing her job as a teacher Alix becomes the bodyguard to a mermaid actress. While merfolk have a number of impressive powers in the DCU they are rather vulnerable on land so it makes perfect sense for Suli Stellamaris to get a bodyguard.
* BookEnds: Morrison's issue #0 ends with [[spoiler: the deaths of Greg Saunders's team of Soldiers]]; the conclusion in issue #1 ends with [[spoiler:the resurrection of the one slain Soldier, Mister Miracle.]]
* BrainTheft: Neh-Buh-Loh was charged with killing Misty Kilgore and bringing her brain back to Queen Gloriana. Unable to do it, he instead brought stole the brain of a telepath and offered that to Gloriana instead.
* BreakingTheFourthWall: All over the place in Morrison's version, as is their wont, but most apparent in the two scenes where [[spoiler: Zatanna]] directly addresses the reader.
** TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou: [[spoiler:Inverted, as it's implied the reader helps save the day.]]
* BreakoutCharacter: Frankenstein appeared in both ComicBook/FinalCrisis and ComicBook/BlackestNight, got his own Flashpoint mini-series and had his own title for a while after the reboot. A different version of Sir Ystin also appeared in Creator/PaulCornell's ''ComicBook/DemonKnights''.
* CanonDiscontinuity: Morrison's Bulleteer made a number of [[TheCameo cameos]] in other stories after hers ended. The catch? [[WeAreNotGoingThroughThatAgain She quit superheroing in the last issue of her series.]] It's most egregious when she appears in an incarnation of the Justice League seen in the series ''ComicBook/FiftyTwo''...a series co-written by Morrison themself![[note]]One can FanWank an in-story explanation - Morrison's Seven Soldiers is confirmed by WordOfGod to take place one week before ''ComicBook/InfiniteCrisis'', so she could have gotten {{Cosmic Retcon}}ned[[/note]]
** Incidentally, Morrison themself considers the ''ComicBook/YoungJustice'' comic version of Klarion to be this. Why? Because they thought that version - best known for introducing himself as "Klarion... Bum, Bum, Bum... The Witch Boy!" - was silly.
* CaptainColorbeard: The Subway Pirates in ''Manhattan Guardian'' - though their names are [=Nobeard=] and [=Allbeard=], more all around descriptions.
* CelestialBody: The Nebula[=/=]Neh-Buh-Loh Man. In Morrison's series it's explained that [[spoiler:he was originally a miniature universe named Qwewq.]]
* ChekhovsGunman: [[spoiler:I, Spyder]]'s revamp in the 0 issue becomes very important in the conclusion.
* ChromeChampion: Alix's skin was bonded with a metallic Smartskin.
* ClosetPunishment: In ''Seven Soldiers of Victory'', Sally Sonic was shut away in a cupboard during her stay in the OrphanageOfFear.
* ContinuityPorn: ''Victory'' references an absurd number of minor characters throughout DC history.
** To give an example: Zor is actually an existing character, appearing in a story from ''More Fun Comics #55'' as a one-shot villain for ComicBook/TheSpectre. [[ViewersAreGeniuses But who would know that?]] [[note]]Unless you're a ComicBook/DoctorFate fan - that issue was his first appearance. If you're curious about what happened, Zor saves some criminals from the Spectre, he introduces himself as a spirit that goes around causing evil, they fight, Spectre finds he can't win because Zor is older than him (this is before certain {{retcon}}s), Zor disguises himself as the Spectre's human identity and kidnaps his girlfriend, Spectre asks for help from God, Spectre arrives at Zor's castle, gets paralyzed by Zor's paralysis ray, and finally tricks Zor into getting paralyzed himself.[[/note]]
* {{Cowboy}}: Greg Saunders was a singing cowboy in his SecretIdentity.

* ''Series/Stargirl2020'' based on the Courtney Whitmore Stargirl features Pat Dugan/Stripesy as one of the main characters, and the entire Golden Age Seven Soldiers is shown in a black and white photograph, albeit with Crimson Avenger in his original hat, coat and mask costume. It very much appears that the Shining Knight is the school janitor as well.

* '''ComicBook/{{Bulleteer}}''': Alix Harrower is an average woman, married to a MadScientist husband, Lance. Lance is attempting to create a new metallic superskin [[IJustWantToBeSpecial to become a superhero]] so he could live out his [[PerverseSexualLust fantasy life]] with his wife [[spoiler:or hook up with a superchick he met online]]. Unfortunately he JumpedAtTheCall, covering himself with his superskin, accidentally does the same to his wife, and [[KarmicDeath dies in the process]]. Alix, who survives by a mere fluke, manages to stumble into the life of a C-list superhero while trying to deal with the husband's death and infidelity. All the while, she [[IJustWantToBeNormal only really wants to be normal]]...

* MortalityPhobia: Alix Harrower got her powers from an accident brought on by her husband's extreme obsession with his own mortality. Unable to cope with the thought of going grey or developing wrinkles, Lance Harrower tried to infuse his skin with a metal coating, but instead suffocated when the coating completely enveloped him. Alix herself became coated in the stuff after he grabbed her for help. Ironically, Lance ended up dying. The implication is Lance died because he took off his wedding ring, which meant the metal coated his entire body and kept constricting until he couldn't breathe. Alix survived because she had her ring on, which left a small gap on her finger so the metal didn't totally cover her.

** Incidentally, Morrison themself considers the ''ComicBook/YoungJustice'' comic version of Klarion to be this. Why? Because he thought that version - best known for introducing himself as "Klarion... Bum, Bum, Bum... The Witch Boy!" - was silly.

* AuthorAvatar: Nobeard of the Subway Pirates who bedevil the Manhattan Guardian is unilaterally considered a rendition of Morrison himself. Nobeard's archrival Allbeard thus represents Morrison's hated enemy Creator/AlanMoore. Since Morrison is writing the story, Nobeard is the one who wins. ...Except for the subtext that [[spoiler:Nobeard got exposed to radioactive material and got fatal cancers all in his body]]. But yeah, he came out of the fight ''alive...''
** According to WordOfGod, [[spoiler:The Seven Unknown Men are all the authors who wrote themselves into DC Comics - meaning, of course, Morrison is among them (though not for Nobeard; he literally appeared as himself in ''Comicbook/AnimalMan'')]].

* BreakingTheFourthWall: All over the place in Morrison's version, as is his wont, but most apparent in the two scenes where [[spoiler: Zatanna]] directly addresses the reader.

* CanonDiscontinuity: Morrison's Bulleteer made a number of [[TheCameo cameos]] in other stories after hers ended. The catch? [[WeAreNotGoingThroughThatAgain She quit superheroing in the last issue of her series.]] It's most egregious when she appears in an incarnation of the Justice League seen in the series ''ComicBook/FiftyTwo''...a series co-written by Morrison himself![[note]]One can FanWank an in-story explanation - Morrison's Seven Soldiers is confirmed by WordOfGod to take place one week before ''ComicBook/InfiniteCrisis'', so she could have gotten {{Cosmic Retcon}}ned[[/note]]
** Incidentally, Morrison himself considers the ''ComicBook/YoungJustice'' comic version of Klarion to be this. Why? Because he thought that version - best known for introducing himself as "Klarion... Bum, Bum, Bum... The Witch Boy!" - was silly.

** WordOfGod is that each of the seven individual series was intended as this. As part of his pitch, Morrison specifically used characters with long publication histories or legacies, but little to no time in the spotlight. The intention was to have the most popular character or characters spin off into their own ongoing series.

* ArcNumber: In ''Victory'', it's seven, of course. #0 [[LampshadeHanging even has a character note how important the number seven seems to be]]. It's the equivalent of Morrison smacking the reader upside the head and going "Oi! Pay ''attention''!" However, it's also ''eight'', [[FridgeBrilliance just like the way there were actually eight people in the original Seven Soldiers.]] The things you need to pay attention to are stuff like [[spoiler:Zatanna's "-Anonymous" meeting. Notice how there are ''eight'' people there. The eighth is Misty.]] Sevens-that-are-actually-eights recur throughout the story. [[spoiler: The "Eighth Seventh Soldier" in the finale is the Spyder, who helps deliver the finishing blow to Gloriana]].

** Gloriana is almost certainly named for the titualar character in ''Literature/TheFaerieQueene''. Her obsession with preserving her youth and vitality might also be a nod toward the fact that the literary Gloriana was based on UsefulNotes/ElizabethI, who spent her later years trying to conceal her advancing age in order to stave off calls for her removal.

* '''Bulleteer''': Alix Harrower is an average woman, married to a MadScientist husband, Lance. Lance is attempting to create a new metallic superskin [[IJustWantToBeSpecial to become a superhero]] so he could live out his [[PerverseSexualLust fantasy life]] with his wife [[spoiler:or hook up with a superchick he met online]]. Unfortunately he JumpedAtTheCall, covering himself with his superskin, accidentally does the same to his wife, and [[KarmicDeath dies in the process]]. Alix, who survives by a mere fluke, manages to stumble into the life of a C-list superhero while trying to deal with the husband's death and infidelity. All the while, she [[IJustWantToBeNormal only really wants to be normal]]...

* FollowTheLeader: The Golden Age team was created by Mort Weisinger and Mort Meskin when they saw how successful the Justice Society had been.

** In ''Mister Miracle'', Granny Goodness and her Female Furies seek to lead Shiloh Norman to Dark Side.

* OfCorsetsSexy: Zatanna
* OneExtraMember: In the conclusion of Morrison's version, [[spoiler: I Spyder]] acts as an unofficial "eighth soldier" and helps defeat the villain. Given that [[spoiler: he]] was remade by the Seven Unknown Men, this was probably the whole point of the character both in and out of universe.
* OfCorsetsSexy: Zatanna

* ClosetPunishment: In ''Seven Soldiers of Victory'', Sally Sonic was shut away in a cupboard during her stay in the OrphanageOfFear.

* '''Vigilante''': Greg Sanders (later Saunders), singing cowboy, who adopted the identity of the Vigilante after he brought his father’s killers to justice. Sanders is an excellent hand to hand fighter, trick shooter, sharpshooter, horseman and motorcycle rider, and an expert with the lariat.