Comic Book Review: Secret Six #21

Book Information

Written by Gail Simone

Art by J. Calafiore

Colored by Jason Wright

Lettered by Travis Lanham

Cover by Daniel Luvisi

My Awe-Inspiring Opinion

There are two comic book authors that I profoundly claim to be just as good as any modern and classical author in history, Alan Moore and Neil Gaiman.  These two men have an uncanny ability to write riveting and enticing storylines that are intelligent, thought provoking, and well researched.  I consider them to be the best writers in modern literature and believe they will go down in history as two of the greatest and most inspirational writers of our time.  That being said, I am so very close in sticking Gail Simone right up there with them.

#21 is a continuation from last month in which Catman holds nothing back in finding his son’s murderer.  The comic progresses forward with Catman going from person to person in his search, while we receive glimpses of his trouble childhood and poor home life.  During the hunt, Catman’s teammates begin a search for him, but only stumbling on his bloody handiwork.  With all that is transpiring, even Deadshot seems worried about his friend and wonders to what lengths Catman will go to avenge his son.

There’s nothing in this comic that isn’t top-notch quality.  Everything from the writing to the artistic talents shows just how much time and effort was put into the story and layout of the book.  The dark and disturbing story from last month is intensified even more with the Flashback sequences of Catman’s past.  It’s no wonder Blake leads a questionable lifestyle, his father was a terrible man who valued the materialistic, sporting, and glamorous aspects of life over his own family.  Catman, while portraying some of his fathers lesser qualities, has nothing but love for his wife and son and is acting out of misguided rage on his quest for revenge.  We are seeing the stain that a parent can leave on their child if proper love and care are not given.

The development of the storyline leads to a rather brutal fight between Loki and Catman, leaving Loki broken and scared with glass, dirt, and blood covering his face and cloths.  This entire sequence was so emotionally driven and violent that I was beginning to wonder if Catman found the wrong man.  Which, as it turned out, he did.  Happy and uplifting moments do not exist in this book in the least.  Things are so bad that something I never thought I’d see in my life time happened…Deadshot became worried about someone else’s wellbeing.  But Catman isn’t the only one with emotional issues; Black Alice goes on a jealous rampage and takes it out on Scandal, calling upon the powers of the demon Estrogan.  I think there’s something in the air that’s affecting everyone’s brains.

Calafiore tells his part of the story just as well as Simone, doing an excellent job at portraying the innocence of a young Thomas Blake, and the tormented middle-aged man.  I was exceptionally impressed by the artist’s ability in giving both the old and young versions of Blake similar facial feature, while making sure the scared past reflects on the much older Blake’s demeanor. 

The flashback sequences were exceptional pieces of work, showing a distinct difference in the past and present by way of tinting the color scheme very slightly.  It was very reminiscent of the old films whose black and white crispness has faded into a yellowish-tan tint.

My Profoundly Climactic Conclusion

I think Gail Simone might and J. Calafiore are going to get some really good marks for the month of April, and for 2010.

Ratings

Writing: 10

Themes: 10

Art: 10

Overall: 10 out of 10