Secret Six

Secret Six brings the cult favorite team of anti-heroes into DC’s new continuity. First arc Friends in Low Places is now available in a collected edition.

This version of Secret Six opens with the mysterious Mockingbird abducting six rogues who fall into the gray area between “hero” and “villain.” The cast includes: the wild, ferocious Catman; teen powerhouse Black Alice; gender-fluid Porcelain; throwback gumshoe Big Shot; Strix, a mute Talon on the run from the Court of the Owls; and a new version of the Ventriloquist and Scarface. The Six wake up in captivity, with Mockingbird demanding an answer to a mysterious question and willing to torture and kill the anti-heroes to get what he wants. They turn the tables, escape and hide out in suburbia, where they encounter a trio of rogues compelled by Mockingbird to attack them. One of the Six is a traitor, precipitating an explosive showdown with Mockingbird.

Writer Gail Simone’s last Secret Six series was a quirky fan favorite. She creates a similar atmosphere for this new iteration, working an “anything goes” attitude that takes the story to some wild and offbeat places. Simone puts the focus on the group dynamics of the main cast, mining them for humor, pathos and action. Friends in Low Places does a good job of moving along and paying off various mysteries set up at the outset. Mockingbird turns out to be a very well-known DC villain. Big Shot’s true identity will be a crowd pleaser for fans of a beloved hero who’s been off the board for several years. And Simone even manages to bring in popular characters from her last series in interesting and entertaining ways. It’s entertaining work that’s a nice mix of action, humor and suspense.

As strong as Simone’s writing is, though, the art is all over the place. Secret Six suffered from massive production and release delays that sapped its momentum early on. From the narrative side, those issues are ameliorated by the trade format. But on the art side, they’re glaringly obvious. Original art team Ken Lashley and Drew Geraci managed only two complete issues and part of a third before dropping out. They work in a dreamy, soft focus style that is an interesting fit for the shadowy mystery. Cover artist Dale Eaglesham (who settled in as regular artist after the break for Convergence) steps in for another issue-and-a-half, working his crisp, stylized approach quite effectively. The rest is filled out by journeyman Tom Derenick, doing his usual basically competent but rather uninspired work. Colorist Jason Wright provides some continuity, but the tonal shift from Lashley to the other artists is rather abrupt. This was a book without a strong visual identity to match Simone’s creative work.

Secret Six will appeal to fans of the previous iteration and to Simone’s devoted following. There’s enough here to warrant paying attention to, even if it’s not worth going out of your way for just yet.