Secret Six #13 – Review

By Gail Simone (writer), Nicola Scott with Carlos Rodriguez (pencillers), Doug Hazlewood with Rodney Ramos & Carlos Rodriguez (inkers)

The Story: Half the team (Bane, Scandal and Jeannette) are on the run on the lunatic island prison with Artemis, who is looking to save other Amazons. The other half of the team (Deadshot, Catman and Ragdoll) are watching Wonder Woman being prepped to be the supper for some gruesome monster. And, they’re being sent to track down and kill their rebellious colleagues. Simone even fits in a romantic look at Liana K. struggling with her feelings for Scandal.Random  note: Being a Canadian sci-fi guy, I actually met Liana K. in real life.

What’s Good: The art was great. There are so many names on the art team this month that I couldn’t tell you who did what, but whatever twister game they used to decide who would draw what panel, the end product is great. I would even say that the art in this issue beats the solid art in the last. There are a few faces that look a little forced, but there are many others that are expressive, clear, and beautiful.

There’s a lot of tension and immediacy in the danger the Secret Six is in right now. But somehow, without breaking the pacing or relieving the tension, Simone showed us Scandal’s childhood, some vulnerability in Bane and Jeannette, more funny weirdness in Ragdoll, and some moral compass in Catman and Deadshot.

Simone is also a deft hand at handling issues that others would find difficult to balance. She managed to fit extraordinary rendition, a modern-day run-around of human rights, into the story without making it look preachy or clunky. She depicted a lesbian romance without being titillating or crass. And while almost all her characters kill at some point, she spent a moment in this issue humanizing the victims of the Secret Six. Well done, Ms. Simone!

What’s Not So Good: Having Wonder Woman unconscious in front of the monster who will eat her, but then deciding with no explanation to tie her up nearby was weak villainy and Simone could have done better. She’s a solid writer and plotter who didn’t need to fall back on this clichéd (and creaky) plot device. In the end, despite the danger, neither the monster, nor the Secret Six’ employer come off quite as scary as all that. The former is a bit too cartoony, and the latter is a sociopathic Mr. Rourke with a different kind of island.

Conclusion: Gail Simone continues to hit doubles, triples and home runs. If you like your heroes weird, anti-social, filled with a healthy dose of lethal vigilantism, you should be reading this book.

Grade: B-

-DS Arsenault

Batman: Cacophony #1 (of 3) – Review

By Kevin Smith (Writer), Walter Flanagan (Pencils), Sandra Hope (Inker), and Guy Major (Colorist)

Some Thoughts Before The Review: I am not much of a DC reader, but as long as it’s not heavily steeped in continuity, I will pick up the occasional Batman story from time to time. I decided to get the first issue of this particular story after reading a recent interview Kevin Smith did in Wizard. The story he has planned sounds quite interesting and Smith swears that Cacophony will get completed on a decent schedule (unlike some of his past work).

The Story: Deadshot breaks into Arkham Asylum in order to assassinate the Joker. But he soon finds that another, Onomatopoeia, is after the same target for a different reason. A fight ensues and soon Joker is free from Arkham, looking for revenge on the person responsible for using his Joker venom for profit. Meanwhile, Batman has his hands full dealing with the lunatic, Zsasz.

What’s Good: The story is off to a nice, intriguing start and I’m definitely glad I decided to give Cacophony a shot. The artwork by Walter Flanagan is lively and the writing by Kevin Smith is (mostly) humorous and entertaining. Also, I have to mention how awesome I think Onomatopoeia is. He’s a character that really puts the medium to great use.

What’s Not So Good: My biggest complaint is that I am really not a fan of the way Joker is portrayed in this story. He comes across as (and looks) a bit too wacky for my tastes. While the dark edge necessary to make Joker work is there, something just feels a bit off. And considering he takes up a decent portion of the book’s pages, it lessened my overall enjoyment of the story a bit.

Conclusion: More Onomatopoeia and less Joker would have earned this book a higher score. That said, I liked what I read (and saw) and am interested in seeing where the story goes from here. Also, I’m pretty sure that this story will be best suited for casual readers as opposed to hardcore fans… but I could be wrong.

Grade: C+

-Kyle Posluszny