DCU Comic Book Reviews

SECRET SIX #3

Unhinged, Part Three: A Run Of Misfortune

January 2009

Written by Gail Simone

Pencils by Nicola Scott

Inks by Doug Hazelwood

Cover by Cliff Chiang

Synopsis

Just outside Alcatraz, the Secret Six have busted Catalina Flores (aka Tarantula) out of prison and now demand she take them to the location of the “card” they were hired to steal.  Reluctantly, Tarantula provides the location in Petaluma.  Nearby, other hired villains report back to Junior, who tells them to follow the Secret Six.  In Petaluma, they retrieve the card, but are immediately attacked by Cheetah and then bolt, who both want the card.  The Secret Six manage to get away.  Once they get to safety, Catman demands to know what the card is for.  Tarantula tells him the card was made be Neron and the card says:  “Get Out Of Hell Free.”

Review by Binkley (e-mail)

I liked this issue.  I am really starting to get into this series.  Each month it is enjoyable with a dash of dark humor, twisted villainy, action, and superb characterizations (with the minor exception of Bane, as noted below).  This is good stuff. 

Maybe it was my expectations, but I really did not think the card’s eventual meaning or use or whatever was going to be would be able to match the build up it had been getting.  Yet, it did.  Perfectly.  It is exactly the type of thing that every villain in the world would want to get their hands on.  Granted, I wasn’t too thrilled with the lengthy exposition of how she came into possession of the card, but I have to admit that Simon effectively teased what the card was just long enough to delay it to the end and the final revelation. 

What is the deal with Bane?  This does not seem to be the character that I remember.  Bane was a calculating thinker, one who assessed situations to determine what he needed and how, and then used the venom to provide that extra bit of muscle.  Now, he has been reduced to whiner who wants to be a nanny and won’t do anything amoral.  What happened?  Wasn’t he the leader of his country (check it out here).  This is one of those instances where the writer used her own character, but used someone else’s name and likeness.  This is not Bane. 

I loved the moment with Junior and the woman at the phone booth; it perfectly captured the creepy essence that Simone has hinted at with the character since the beginning.  Moreover, it didn’t have the violence and blood and gore that seemed to permeate the first book; the scene was handled effectively without going over the top. 

Hey, look, the sixth member of the team.  I think.  I have no idea who that woman is, so I am willing to guess that Simone has created a new character.  But at least we have the full team (although perhaps the woman was the one who hired the team in the first place?).  Although I should point out that there are only five characters on the book with a title of Secret Six.  I am just saying, that’s all. 

For no particular reason:  Alcatraz is just outside San Francisco in northern California.  Petaluma is in Sonoma Count in California, about 40 miles north of the bay area. 

Sometimes the timing of comics is weird.  Take for instance this issue which features Cheetah and Bolt.  The same week this came out, Cheetah appears in Final Crisis: Resist and appears with his son in the third issue of the Terror Titans mini-series.  Is this a fluke or did the editors (and/or Simone) pick these characters because DC editorial knew they were being used elsewhere, regardless of the actual schedule.