Back before Infinite Crisis, there was a tie-in to the ramp up to that event called Villains United. Written by Gail Simone and drawn by current Fantastic Four artist Dale Eaglesham, it featured a rag tag group of also-rans who refused to bow to the whims of one Lex Luthor. Luthor in turn tried to have them whacked, which surprisingly turned out to be one of the most enjoyable and epic battles in recent memory.
Flash forward to today. Another mini (this time actually called “Secret Six”) and an ongoing later, the book has turned into one of my favorite team books published by DC, and one that finds itself at the top of the stack each month. Here’s why.
First off, Gail Simone is a terrific writer. Ever since I read her on Agent X over at Marvel, I love how she weaves action scenes mixed in with cutting humor that made you laugh while wincing at the same time. Oh yes. You WILL laugh while reading this book. But you will feel dirty about it later. She also made a guy like CATMAN likeable and an outright badass (a man who dresses up like a cat? Why doesn’t Matt read this?)
The art is also consistent, as while it changes from time to time, it still looks absolutely gorgeous issue in and issue out. Other than Dale Eaglesham, talented artists like Nicola Scott and now Jim Calafiore have shown us the world of the Secret Six visually, and it’s absolutely stunning.
Oh, and you will fall in love with the characters. Whether they’re long established heroes like the aforementioned Catman, Bane, or entirely new characters like The Ragdoll and Scandal, you’ll find yourselves caring about these people, even if they’re all really bad people. Because the people they take out…are even worse.
With “only” 19 issues out, it’s a fairly simple task to catch up with the series in trade, but even if you don’t want to, pick up the latest issue, it’s not terribly continuity heavy that you NEED to. If you like it, I definitely recommend going back and reading the rest too.
Do it for yourself, do it for your country. Do it so Gail Simone doesn’t make fun of you on Twitter. Right Matt?
