Comic Book Review: Secret Six #26

Literary & Artistic Credits

Writer: Gail Simone

Penciller: J. Calafiore

Colorist: Jason Wright

Letterer: Travis Lanham

Cover Art: Daniel Luvisi

My Awe-Inspiring Opinion

Like always, the Secret Six comes to the comic book stands as demented and twisted as ever.  Simone however really boosts the characterizations of this team and their individual personalities even more this month; utilizing the weird school girl crush Black Alice has on Ragdoll, Deadshot’s dry humor, Jeanette’s glorious and sexy experience, and the strange father-daughter relationship Bane and Scandal share.

The humor in this issue really does take charge in many places.  Bane, instead of reassuring the natives that he isn’t there to hurt them, pulls a 180 and says “Please put your weapons down…If you wish to live that is.”  I laughed for a good couple of minutes at how unexpected that statement was.  Even more entertaining was Ragdoll’s shout out to the Justice League right before entering the portal to a prehistoric world, much resembling Magneto’s Savage Land.  And seeing Jeanette back down from a fight with Black Alice humorously shows how experienced and wise she is and doesn’t stop her from using classic Victorian style insults.  But as always, Deadshot is saved for the best one liners with his statement declaring his astounded state of awe, “Well I’ll be dipped in dog &#%$.”  It’s very clear as to how much fun Simone had writing this issue.

Clever writing aside, Calafiore out shines anything he’s ever put to comics with top rate battle and dramatic scenes.  Scenes like the battle with the three-headed sea monster and the opening pages where Bane decapitates everyone opposing him rivals anything Aaron Lopresti did for Wonder Woman.  And Daniel Luvisi can continue to do covers for the Six for ever and a day as far as I’m concerned

I’m not sure if I understand the connection this part of the story has with the conversation Waller and Armstrong have about the nuclear attack on the U.S., but Simone has her reasons I’m sure.  I just hope this isn’t the start of a busy and over-plotted storyline.  The Secret Six has been so consistently good since issue one because it doesn’t overdo itself in multiple plotlines.  All I can do here is keep my fingers crossed.

While all this is fun and amazingly well done, the heart of this issue, even though it’s brief, is the emotional moment Bane and Scandal have at the very end.  Bane’s refusal to fight Scandal, and how conflicted she is with going in for the kill and not wanting to hurt her surrogate father is not shocking, but definitely moving.

My Majestically Climactic Conclusion

Fun, exciting, and beautiful.  That’s all that’s needed to describe this issue.  You’ll need to pick up #25 in order to understand what’s going here, but I’m sure that’s not a problem for you.

Rating: 10 out of 10

Writing: 10

Art: 10

Themes: 10