Secret Six (2008 Series) #25

September 25, 2010

Title: The Reptile Brain Part One: Blood Calls to Blood

Writer: Gail Simone
Art: Jim Calafiore
Colors: Jason Wright
Letterer: Travis Lanham
Cover: Daniel Luvisi
Editor: Sean Ryan
Publisher: DC Comics

The Secret Six has been shattered. Bane and Jeanette have walked away, rounding up four other villains to shape their own team, while Scandal, Ragdoll and Black Alice try to bring Catman back to sanity. And the two groups, naturally, are on a collision course.

The tricky thing about having a team with a number in the title is that you’re rather limited in bringing in new members (or getting rid of members, should you so desire). Simone has expanded the cast considerably this issue, though, bringing in several characters she’s played with before (such as Giganta and Dwarfstar from her run on All-New Atom). New characters means new character dynamics, and that’s a great way to keep a book like this one fresh in the hands of a skilled writer. Catman’s breakdown is being handled delicately, but the book is still a place to have a little fun as well.  I mean… we have dinosaurs in this comic for crying out loud. Dinosaurs.

Jim Calafiore’s artwork is as good as ever – for some reason his Giganta in particular looks really great to me. What can you say – the man can draw 50-foot women. We also get a good cover by Daniel Luvisi, who give us a clever video game selection screen riff. His pose on Dwarfstar is kind of funky, but the design is really clever.

Great issue, as usual.

Rating: 8/10

Secret Six (2008 Series) #24

August 27, 2010

Title: Unforgivable

Writer: Gail Simone
|Art: J. Calafiore
Colorist: Jason Wright
Letterer: Travis Lanham
Cover: Daniel Luvisi
Editor: Sean Ryan
Publisher: DC Comics

In this issue, the Secret Six go to the old west – literally. In an issue that’s truly bizarre, even for this comic, we watch a tale of the Six in Gotham City of the 1800s, where the bounty hunter called Floyd Lawton is in town to correct a bounty from the Sheriff, Scandal. The entire cast of the book is represented here, and the result is a story that can fit in with the grittiest, most hardcore western comics without sacrificing what makes any of the characters who they are or resorting to any superhero, sci-fi or fantasy tropes to pull things out at the last minute.

As bizarre as this issue is, and as incongruous as it may seem, it proves just how versatile Gail Simone is as a writer. We’ve seen her do comedy, superhero action, mystery, sci-fi, crime drama… and now a western. The woman can do it all – as can artist J. Calafiore, who doesn’t have to modify his usual style very much at all to make it fit in with this time-tossed storyline. He does gritty action in this comic most months, so switching it up to a western setting isn’t too much of a stretch. Daniel Luvisi (who I wasn’t really a fan of at first, but who is rapidly evolving into a fine cover artist) turns in a great Deadshot image for the cover of this issue.

I consistently love this book, and that’s completely due to the skill and talent of one of the best teams in the business. We have a book where no one is safe, anything can happen, and villains are protagonists without turning into heroes. None of those are easy in mainstream comics, but somehow, this team gives us all three.

Rating: 8/10