Secret Six #22 – Review

By Gail Simone (writer), J. Calafiore (artist), Jason Wright (colors), Travis Lanham (letters)

The Story: The excellent “Cats in the Cradle” storyline comes to a conclusion as Catman learns the ultimate fate of his son, and confronts the kidnapper for the final time.

What’s Good: This has been a personal favorite “Secret Six” arc for me, due in no small part to the fact that I love Catman, and the way Simone characterizes him. The way he’s been isolated and pushed to the brink (and in this issue, maybe even beyond) has been… ‘fun’ is the wrong word, but it has certainly been one hell of a powerful read. I continue to be amazed not only at Simone’s ability to write consistently excellent dialog, but in her ability to tell an incredibly dark, violent story without making it depressing to experience. She is mining depths in this story that, by all rights, should be completely joyless to read (or even think) about, but under her pen, they simply become a tour-de-force.

Weekly Comic Book Review’s Top Picks

DS’ Top Picks

Best From The Past Week: Thanos Imperative #1 – Brightest Day #3 and and Thanos Imperative #1 tussled for a while in my brain for the number one spot, but the Champion of Death edged out DC’s newest cosmic chapter. Thanos the scene-stealer (which is a lot to say, considering he has to share the book with Drax and Rocket Raccoon) remains true to Starlin’s vision as one of the most frightening, sociopathic, genocidal, multi-dimensional villains in any universe.

Most Anticipated: Batman #700 – Grant Morrison is taking the wheel with a raft of great artists. The big price tag is softened by the big page count. Morrison has done some excellent Batman work (I know there are detractors because his vision of Batman is outside-the-box), and I look forward to seeing where he takes this.

Other Top Picks: Batgirl #11, Daredevil #507, Uncanny X-Men #525

Alex’s Top Picks

Best From The Past Week: Sweet Tooth #10 -Whenever an issue of a comic makes me want to write an academic essay on it, that pretty much guarantees it “pick of the week” status.  When that essay would be about the conflict between humanity and science, this is doubly the case.

Most Anticipated: Captain America #606 -Holy crap, it’s Baron freaking Zemo!  YES!  YES!  YES!

Other Picks: SHIELD #2, Daredevil #507, Invincible Iron Man #27, The Unwritten #14, Secret Six #22, Punishermax #8

Dean’s Top Picks

Best From The Past Week: Irredeemable #14 – Even with a shipping snafu that caused me to miss getting a load of my books, I have no problems giving Irredeemable #14 some love.  After spinning its wheels for a few months to create a jumping on point for new readers, the story that I love really got back into gear in a major way.  This has become so much more than a “superman gone bad” story.

Most Anticipated: SHIELD #2 – This week is really stacked with books that I’m looking forward to, but after that stellar first issue how could I really pick any other book?  Seriously, if you’ve ever complained that comics don’t create enough new stuff and aren’t going to read this… you’re missing out because this feels more like an indy-comic that is just playing in the Marvel Universe.

Other picks: Batman #700, Hack Slash: My First Maniac #1, Meta 4 #1, Uncanny X-Men #525, Daredevil #507