Art By: Ken Lashley, Drew Geraci
Cover Price: $2.99
Release Date: December 3, 2014
Introductions All Around
Here we are with the highly anticipated Secret Six #1 and I have to tell you right off the bat that I'm not really familiar with this team and what they do because when they originally came out I wasn't reading comics at the time, but I have a general understanding of them and since this is a introduction issue I guess this was meant for me and I can go on the journey without any preconceived notions on what it's about or what came before it. I really dug Gail Simone's Batgirl and I've always been a fan of ragtag teams that are forced to work together, so I'm generally optimistic. Okay enough about what I don't know, let's get into this book and find out what's so secret about the Secret Six.
Explain It!:
Our story begins at Rusty Red's saloon in New Mexico where a team of agents are looking for Thomas Blake and man do they find him. Thomas Blake (Catman) is just sitting back having a good time and he doesn't seem too discerning about who it's with; man, woman it doesn't matter to the Catman, but Thomas's good time is put on hold when he's asked to come quietly by the agents and I don't know, maybe he might have if they had just accepted his rule of not wearing handcuffs due to him not liking to be confined, but they push the issue and Thomas.......... Well Thomas beats the ever loving shit out of them. The agents really know that the jig is up when Thomas realizes that all of their badges have the same numbers and after he throws the final blow ending the confrontation, it looks like he can go back to having his good time, but it's all been a set up because the woman he was with tasers him and our introduction to Catman is over.
So right now we know that Catman is a bad ass and that he doesn't like to be confined, it's too bad that he wakes up in a room shaped like a coffin full of a bunch of strangers. After the query about escaping is eventually brought up to his new coffin mates, Catman learns that his captors don't want any shenanigans when the floor becomes electrified and a question is posed to them all on a monitor; "What Is The Secret?"
As they all ponder the meaning of this, they are then told to open two steel boxes. Inside the one are six masks, pretty much each individual's personal mask. In the other box is the body of the agent that failed to capture Catman in the beginning, so another point proving that the kidnappers mean business. I guess it's time for full introductions. Inside this giant sized coffin we have Black Alice who says she can do anything and proves it by using some backwards magic on Catman when he wouldn't stop bothering her, a private detective named Big Shot; who, well he gets big. We've got Strix, who you'll remember as the mute Talon from Birds of Prey and Porcelain who can make anything she touches brittle......... oh, and we've got Ventriloquist and Ferdie on the team as well and seeing as I really didn't like them the first time I saw them, I'm not really concerned with them here. I'm a Scarface or nothing kind of guy.
In the end, Catman's freak out causes some damage to the wall and our team realizes that they are on the ocean's floor and if that wasn't bad enough, our team is given fifteen minutes to figure out the question posed to them on the monitor and for most of that time they make their introductions to one another and then try to physically stop Catman from freaking out. When only a few minutes remain to figure out the question, a voice tells them that if they fail to answer, one of them will die and that they have to choose who it will be. I know who I'm picking.
That's it for the first issue of Secret Six and while I might have just given you the gist of what's going down, I have to say that Gail Simone has really gotten my attention here. I want to know more about these characters with the exception of The Ventriloquist and Ferdie and I'm really happy that Strix is getting more panel play. I was really afraid she was going to slip into obscurity after Birds of Prey was cancelled. All in all I love getting introduced to interesting characters so I had a good time all around. The only thing that I'm not completely sold on is Ken Lashley's art, simply because I'm used to a cleaner style and that's more of what I would of preferred to an actual complaint so take it as you will. I was able to interpret everything I was looking at and actually really like the way Catman was presented so........... nothing really to bitch about here. Make sure you're back here next month as we hopefully find out what the secret is. See you then.
Bits and Pieces:
This first issue really accomplished what any first issue should do, it really made me want to check out the second issue. So far, I love all the characters involved with the exception to my bias against Ventriloquist. While the majority of the issue was introductions all around, I'm pleased to have met this Secret Six and can't wait to see what stories will come from them. Check it out.
8.5/10
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