D’Artagnan, Don Juan, Captain Blood, Cyrano de Bergerac, and more classic characters are teaming up in “Seven Swords,” a new series from screenwriter Evan Daugherty (Snow White and the Huntsman), and artist Riccardo Latina, debuting at AfterShock Comics this June.
Colored by Valentina Bianconi and lettered by Dave Sharpe, the comic sees an old, weary d’Artagnan — the last of the Four Musketeers — recruiting a new team to battle his nemesis Cardinal Richelieu, whose hunger for power has now led him to the supernatural. These seven “swords” must “overcome their host of differences and work together if they have any hope of thwarting Richelieu’s diabolical plans.”
Daugherty told AfterShock, “My greatest passion as a screenwriter is telling old stories in new ways. It’s what I tried to do with Snow White and the Huntsman: take an iconic fairy tale and find some new way into it, updating and revising it for our modern era. That was the goal with ‘Seven Swords’ as well. I grew up a fan of rip-roaring swashbuckling books, films and TV series. Everything from Dumas’ The Three Musketeers to Edmond Rostand’s Cyrano de Bergerac to films like The Princess Bride. I desperately wanted to tell a story in this genre, and it felt like a mashup of some of the greatest swashbuckling heroes in literature would be a clever way to do it.”
In the press release, he acknowledged some obvious influences, like the Errol Flynn versions of these characters, and Alan Moore and Kevin O’Neill’s “The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen,” but also early Valiant Comics titles like “Magnus Robot Fighter,” “Turok,” and “Archer & Armstrong,” which “all have a pulpy quality that must have certainly informed ‘Seven Swords.'” He said the John Wick movies were “one curveball influence,” explaining, “I felt like these swashbuckling swords-for-hire were, in a strange way, sort of the mercenaries or hitmen of their era. In fact, as a shorthand, I often describe this series as ‘John Wick with swords.'”
For more from Daugherty, scroll down to the full Q&A, after the incentive cover by J.G. Jones, and an unlettered preview of the art. “Seven Swords” #1 will be released on June 16, for a retail price of $4.99.
EVAN DAUGHERTY ON WHY THIS STORY IS IMPORTANT TO HIM:
“My greatest passion as a screenwriter is telling old stories in new ways. It’s what I tried to do with Snow White and the Huntsman: take an iconic fairy tale and find some new way into it, updating and revising it for our modern era. That was the goal with Seven Swords as well. I grew up a fan of rip-roaring swashbuckling books, films and TV series. Everything from Dumas’ The Three Musketeers to Edmond Rostand’s Cyrano de Bergerac to films like The Princess Bride. I desperately wanted to tell a story in this genre, and it felt like a mashup of some of the greatest swashbuckling heroes in literature would be a clever way to do it.
There’s an electric sense of fun and adventure in a lot of those old stories — something that’s often missing from stories these days. My goal was to maintain that sense of fun, while also putting a new spin on these stories, giving the series a slightly darker, more modern edge.
EVAN DAUGHERTY ON HOW HIS APPROACH TO WRITING A COMIC DIFFERS FROM WORKING ON A SCREENPLAY:
“Over the years, I’ve learned to think more visually as I write screenplays for film and television — imagining what the movie might look, sound and feel like as you’re putting words on the page. My experience with writing comics is that you have to think EVEN MORE visually about what’s on the page and you have to be far more economical with your words. I often found myself drawing little thumbnail sketches as I wrote, just to get the roughest sense of how the story might flow on the page. Of course, I kept those sketches to myself and let the amazing artists interpret the words in their own way. Invariably, their changes or adjustments were a vast improvement over what was in my head.”
EVAN DAUGHERTY ON THE INFLUENCES HE DREW UPON (PERSONAL AND/OR IN MEDIA TO SHAPE THE NARRATIVE:
“This may have been the most fun part of the process — revisiting all the essential swashbuckling “texts”. Re-reading Dumas’ The Three Musketeers and Rostand’s play, Cyrano de Bergerac. Some essential films: the 70s Musketeer series directed by Richard Lester, Errol Flynn’s 1948 interpretation of Don Juan, and a film that became a new favorite, the 1950 Cyrano De Bergerac starring Jose Ferrer.
One curveball influence: the John Wick series. I felt like these swashbuckling swords-for-hire were, in a strange way, sort of the mercenaries or hitmen of their era. In fact, as a shorthand, I often describe this series as “John Wick with swords”.
EVAN DAUGHERTY ON IF HE IS A BIG COMIC BOOK READER AND WHAT SOME OF HIS FAVORITE TITLES ARE:
“I am indeed. Some of my favorites: early pre-Unity Valiant comics, in particular Magnus Robot Fighter, Turok, Archer & Armstrong — now that I think of it, these all have a pulpy quality that must have certainly informed Seven Swords. And of course, I have to tip the hat to Alan Moore’s original mashup, League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, which greatly inspired this book. Moore is also responsible for what I think is one of the greatest pieces of literature, illustrated or otherwise, his run on Swamp Thing in the mid-80s.”
