Secret Six #4 Review and *SPOILERS*

Written By: Gail Simone
Art By: Ken Lashley, Tom Derenick, Jason Wright
Cover Price: $2.99
Release Date: July 15, 2015

What Came Before

*Non Spoilers and Score At The Bottom*

This issue is very strange right from the get go because it's a prequel to issue #3.  I don't know if this was originally supposed to be the third issue and there was a problem meeting deadlines or what, but that's sure as hell what it seems like.  So since the previous issue doesn't matter here, I guess I'll catch you up on what went down in issue #2....... the six got away from their captor.  Okay, you're all caught up.  Let's jump into this story and see if it has any bearing on what we saw in the previous issue or if this is just filler.  Let's check it out.

Explain It!:

Our issue begins with our Secret Six wondering what to do next now that they've escaped their coffin shaped tomb, but it seems like they're all a bunch of big dummies because they know and we know that someone is out there looking for them and instead of simply just disappearing..... you know, to maybe make it hard for whoever is looking them, instead they take the time to stop by each of their apartments to pick up a few things.  I'm surprised that they weren't taken right there or at least forced to fight off their captors in the streets of Gotham.  Besides for the stupidity of the group though, it's at this point where we find out that Porcelain is bigender and while we initially think that Big Shot becomes a bigot out of nowhere, we see here, like we saw in the previous issue that Catman isn't the "hero" of this story, it's all Big Shot.  So the group head on over to Big Shot's house and begin making themselves at home.

While our main characters make their way to the burbs, we find out that Mockingbird isn't about to let his prisoners go just yet and hires three mercs to track them down and return them to him and it seems that the payment will be a prisoner exchange.  Yeah, I don't know who Mockingbird has, but taking on this group to get them released makes it seem like whoever it is means a great deal to them.  Now this is the strangest part, it seems that instead of fighting it out, these mercs would rather show up to Big Shot's door with cookies and talk their situation out....... Man, this comic is weird. Ha ha.  Obviously though, even with their explanation our group isn't about to willingly get locked up again and the book becomes more traditional with a fight scene.

In the end, we find out that one of the mercs is named Scandal Savage and as it turns out, she was the one who gave Catman a kitty during his original time in Mockingbird's prison.  With this revelation, the entire fight is put on hold and we find out that the other two mercs are Jeanette and Ragdoll.  Now that everyone is playing nice again, our team offers to band together with the trio in order to take Mockingbird down.  Obviously this trio knows how dangerous Mockingbird can be and for because of that they decide to simply leave without collecting the six and as they do they tell our group that they better begin taking things seriously because Mockingbird will be coming for them.

That's it for this issue of Secret Six and after reading it, I don't really see the point of this issue.  We've already established that our team hideout in the suburbs and going back to the beginning of that to simply say that Mockingbird is still after them doesn't make much sense.  Especially after having that gigantic cliffhanger we had at the end of the previous issue.  I know that I really wanted to see what came after that and to have this issue have absolutely nothing to do with that makes it feel like I got cheated.......... maybe that's a bit harsh, but introducing this trio did nothing for the story and unless they play a big part later down the line, their inclusion doesn't make much sense.  Ken Lashley begins this book on art and even though his style seems to improve here from the first two issues, after having Dale Eaglesham on this book in the previous issue again makes this feel like a let down.  Luckily Tom Derenick completes the book and his style really works for these characters and improves the enjoyment of the story overall.  Hopefully we pick up where we left off in issue #3 in the following issue because I don't want to deal with anymore prequels.

Bits and Pieces:

With this title's delays on top of delays, going and telling a prequel story that doesn't feel like it adds anything doesn't seem like it's helping the popularity of this series any.  At this point, this issue feels like it can be one that could be skipped and simply get the next issue when it gets back to the story we were waiting for........ which hopefully it does.  I still really like this series, but I found myself really disappointed with this issue.

5.5/10