Dune: House Harkonnen #7 - BOOM! Studios

DUNE: HOUSE HARKONNEN No. 7, July 2023

Taking a somewhat more measured approach to their storytelling than the frantic dash through numerous people, places, planets, and proceedings of this mini-series’ previous instalments, Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson’s script for Issue Seven of “Dune: House Harkonnen” should have maintained the interest of many within its audience upon its release in July 2023. True, the twenty-two-page periodical still slightly suffers with its authors' attempt to absolutely cram as many different politically-based shenanigans as they can within its cover. But the fact that the reader can now ponder upon the various events for a good score of panels every time, at least allows the characters and incidents upon Arrakis, Geidi Prime and Ginaz to increasingly generate an aura of intrigue and excitement.

Foremost of these insights into the “feudal interstellar society” is arguably Gurney Halleck’s decidedly dangerous attempt to escape imprisonment in the Harkonnen slave pits by inciting his savage guards to beat him close to death, and then using his stay at the prison hospital to stow himself away inside an off-world bound cargo of razor-sharp crystals. Well-paced and packed with plenty of tense moments as the unbroken bondsman risks all for his liberty, the talented minstrel’s plight should cause the odd bibliophile to actually hold their breath in case the noise gives the character away to his brutal overlords.

Similarly as heart-stopping and overwrought are the actions of the Ixian rebellion, as they desperately smuggle in weapons and a message from Prince Rhombur Vernius - the planet’s rightful ruler. Again the writers do a tremendous job in making even the most innocuous of daily tasks on the occupied sphere super-edgy, with every citizen encountered suspected of either being a loyalist saboteur or a Tleilaxu spy.

Undeniably the biggest contributor to this comic’s success though has to be the pencilling of Fran Galan, who quite beautifully imbues this publication’s incredibly numerous cast with as much dynamic emotion as a figure upon a printed page can muster. Whether it be Liet’s utter heartbreak at losing the woman he loved to his best friend and departing to “be alone with his thoughts”, or Duke Leto Atreides’ desperate attempt to reconcile with his long-time concubine only to find Kailea more hostile towards him than ever, the illustrator does a fantastic job in bringing each and every character to vibrant life.

The regular cover art of "DUNE: HOUSE HARKONNEN" #7 by Raymond Swanland