Comic Book Review: Secret Six #25

Literary & Artistic Credits

Writer: Gail Simone

Artist: J. Calafiore

Colorist: Jason Wright

Letterer: Travis Lanham

Cover Art: Daniel Luvisi

My Awe-Inspiring Opinion

Question: What’s the difference between “good guy” comics and “bad guy comics? 

Answer: The bad guys have A LOT more fun!

There are certain rules that good guys have to follow in order to be consider superheroes right?  Otherwise they wouldn’t be heroes at all.  Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman, they all hold up a certain moral code in their heroism which boosts them up on this victorious pedestal that shines angelically and gloriously for the entire world to see.  But with the bad guys, writers no longer have to follow the “rules” and dive into a whole new world of comic book storytelling; giving the readers a new take on the villains’ mindset an motivation.

All the rules change with the Secret six.  If you were to ask yourself, “What would Superman do?” take the answer to that question and think the exact  opposite; Mr. Adrian dies along with his hired guns, Deadshot has absolutely no problem with lying to Black Alice about her cancer infesting ways, and Catman’s value of animal life over human life is nothing short of strange.  Even the giant gryphon defense brigade was handled a lot differently than had it been the JLA who invaded the nest of these protective mothers.  The incredibly construed value of life is what makes this issue so interesting and I can’t wait to see where this story arc goes for the next three months.

The characters themselves are given their own unique voice, not surprisingly.  But what stuck out even more so was the humor that each character brought to the story.  The first few pages had so much dark humor in it I couldn’t decide if I should laugh or be mortified.  Mr. Adrian’s gunmen took Bane’s rather humorous, yet terrifying warning quite seriously, but the scene was intensified even more when King Shark took time to assure everyone that his appearance is not as scary as it may seem.  Simone not only has the ability to give each character a differentiating voice, but also their own defining humor that is unique to them in every way.

I was rather disappointed with the non-continuation of last month’s stellar alternate universe storyline.  The potential story I saw in the issue was beyond description.  But I shouldn’t complain as it was still a good issue by itself, but I was rather sad that Simone decided to leave last month as a loner comic and not flesh out the whole mystery behind the story.

The cover to #25 is fantastic!  It’s creative and artistic, recreating the classic Mortal Kombat, figting arcade game title screen.  And within, the art gets even better.  Jeanette’s wonderful “WTF” face makes me laugh every time as does Deadshot’s “fuck you, I’m the boss of every living soul on the planet Earth” stature.  I was thrown off for one sec on the first page however, since Mr. Adrian’s blonde lotion girl looked a lot like Jeanette, minus the white hair and Victorian wardrobe.

One thing that the newer, less experienced comic book fans might be confused by is the sudden addition of already established villains; Dwarfstar, King Shark, and Giganta, to the ignorant I can see this becoming very vexing and weird.  So for you newbies, this issue will have some added villains that you may not know, but trust me that they have been around for some time…just not in the Secret Six.

My Majestically Climactic Conclusion

Like always, the Secret Six wins high marks for this month.  What will happen if Simone ever decides to leave this title?  How many fans will stick with the title and how many will drop it out of protest?  I’m still thinking about that one.

Rating: 10 out of 10

Writing: 10

Art: 10

Themes: 10