Secret Six

BlueMaxx wrote:^ That was one thing that bugged me. King Shark and Lady Vic, after having tried to kill some of the members and King Shark having his arm removed and jaw broken, was fine joining the team. Course, to the highest bidder, I guess. And who knows, maybe this'll be Gail's way of killing some of them or pulling them back into the limelight, with Aquaman, Atom and others returning.

I wonder if real life mercenaries find themselves fighting on opposite sides one year and then together another year. I bet it happens. It's also possible King Shark is just kind of dumb.

^ Very true. He does seem to be reverting towards his animosity. Like Killer Croc's character.

I enjoyed this new issue. A look into Blakes past.. Aww gett'em Catman.. make them suffer

This arc had an awesome ending. From what I've read of this book, this arc had to be my favorite.

Great ending to a great storyline. Deadshot offering Alice a cigarette was priceless.

"Up, up and.. Oh, I'm flying..."

LordD3r3k wrote:"Up, up and.. Oh, I'm flying..."

Simone has a great ability to throw humour into very nasty situations.

Issue #22 was just brutal. Definitely one of the best issues. Catman went well and truly feral (heh) and I really can't see him being the same after this. Black Alice summed it up when she said "Do you even want him back now?". Not really much to say except how good it was. It's weird, I enjoy it and yet at the same time the whole thing is very uncomfortable with the harshness of it all.

Calafiore is still doing great work here.

Cheshire has really had a bad couple of months.

Aussiemandias wrote:

LordD3r3k wrote:"Up, up and.. Oh, I'm flying..."

Simone has a great ability to throw humour into very nasty situations.

Indeed.

I recall someone saying awhile back that they wish someone would put out a villain book with the characters acting like villains instead of reformed ones. Well, if you're reading this whoever you are, you should check out this arc

LordD3r3k wrote:

Aussiemandias wrote:

LordD3r3k wrote:"Up, up and.. Oh, I'm flying..."

Simone has a great ability to throw humour into very nasty situations.

Indeed.

I recall someone saying awhile back that they wish someone would put out a villain book with the characters acting like villains instead of reformed ones. Well, if you're reading this whoever you are, you should check out this arc

Yeah, I'd say Ostrander did it well in the 80s with Suicide Squad. The only characters who didn't act like villains in that were the ones who were never really true "villains" as such. Gail Simone does it here. She never forgets who these characters are at the end of the day. If someone does something "heroic" it's only because it's true to the nature of that character. These characters aren't evil but they are definitely morally ambiguous and that's what makes them interesting. Morally ambiguous is a hell of a lot more interesting in my books than pure evil or pure good.

Perhaps the only other writer recently who truly got this with similar characters was Warren Ellis with his brief run on Thunderbolts.

I can't believe it took me a month to think of this, but Giganta & Dwarfstar are both on the makeshift team. She dated Ryan Choi, and he had Ryan killed, which she might not know yet. This could end messily for Dwarfstar.

#23 was a totally adequate fill-in issue. Ostrander nailed all the characters, and I really dug the artwork by RB Silva & Alexandre Palamaro. I'll keep an eye out for them in the future.

A fill-in artist, and no Gail?

Oh well...I'm sure it'll still be great.

Issue 23 was entertaining enough, but by the time I was done with it I was really wondering "Why was this issue put out?" I'm not against one and done stories, but I like when they effect the status quo a bit. This didn't effect anything. Overall it wasn't a bad read, but I wouldn't stop anybody from putting this book back on the shelves and using their $3 on something else.

#23 felt like a classic Marvel fill in issue for the 80s. I hated those issues.

This was mediocre at best and one of the oldest, most unoriginal stories out there. Hell, there was even a Get Smart episode that used the old "man as the most dangerous game" schtick. It actually may have been a better story if only one or two of the Secret Six characters were involved because, as it was, each scene was very rushed and over quickly and probably deserved more time. Ostrander is better than this.

As usual Luvisi really does do excellent covers.

#24 was fantastic and frustrating at the same time. It was a great story, but I wish it had been held off until the two teams fight. Unless of course this is a form of foreshadowing, and Junior & Deathstroke show up in the next few issues.

This story came out of nowhere. I was waiting for somebody to wake up from this dream, but they never did. This is the second just okay issue in a row for this book.

I'm very interested to find out what Simone is going for with this Western storyline. This seems to be the month for DC heroes in the Old West, with this issue and Return of Bruce Wayne #4. Secret Six #24 was far more fun, though, and didn't make my brain hurt.

rwe1138 wrote:#24 was fantastic and frustrating at the same time. It was a great story, but I wish it had been held off until the two teams fight. Unless of course this is a form of foreshadowing, and Junior & Deathstroke show up in the next few issues.

I'm wondering that myself. I'm sure there's a point. But, is it another universe, another timeline, or in the regular DCU's timeline of the past?

BlueMaxx wrote:

rwe1138 wrote:#24 was fantastic and frustrating at the same time. It was a great story, but I wish it had been held off until the two teams fight. Unless of course this is a form of foreshadowing, and Junior & Deathstroke show up in the next few issues.

I'm wondering that myself. I'm sure there's a point. But, is it another universe, another timeline, or in the regular DCU's timeline of the past?

I know one thing - this was a mile better than the previous issue by John Ostrander.

As with you guys I'm wondering about the purpose of it but at the same time I enjoyed it as a story in and of itself. I don't really care if it didn't serve a purpose either. It's quite feasible that after a pretty intense Catman story arc Gail Simone felt like she and the readers needed a bit of a diversionary break. The purpose may be as simple as that.

I thought Simone nailed the western feel to the story and it was yet another excellent cover by Luvisi and good work on the art by Calafiore.

^ Ostrander's didn't kill me. Was pretty simplistic, true. Didn't build up the villains that much. Just a nice play off of Running Man with to the collars and themed hunters, and had a dash of Surviving the Game. Seemed out of character for most from the previous insanity. 'Specially on Catman's part. Tensions could still be building over his explosion, though.

BlueMaxx wrote:Seemed out of character for most from the previous insanity. 'Specially on Catman's part. Tensions could still be building over his explosion, though.

Wasn't there a editor's note at the beginning saying that issue's events took place before the "Cats in the Cradle" arc?

rwe1138 wrote:

BlueMaxx wrote:Seemed out of character for most from the previous insanity. 'Specially on Catman's part. Tensions could still be building over his explosion, though.

Wasn't there a editor's note at the beginning saying that issue's events took place before the "Cats in the Cradle" arc?

I'm sure there was. I just saw the whole thing as an 80s Marvel style fill in issue.

#25 was great. Loved Deadshot motivating the doctor. And I really hope Giganta squishes Dwarfstar.

rwe1138 wrote:#25 was great. Loved Deadshot motivating the doctor. And I really hope Giganta squishes Dwarfstar.

Yeah I loved this issue too. I really appreciate Gail Simone dropping these guys into these crazy situations each story arc and watch it all spin out of control. Maybe it's a bit formulaic but it's what they do and telling the stories of they're successful missions would probably just be a bit dull.

Dwarfstar really is bad news. None of these people are good but he's just a psycho.

Calafiore continues to produce really great work on this title.

Now I'm a little concerned about the future of the Secret Six. The sales are looking pretty bad. I would hate to see this book end as it's one of my favourites.

I might leave monthly comics all together if Secret six goes away, and just trade wait everything.