Secret Six #25 – Review

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

The Story: Somehow (no real back-story given yet) the Six are split up. Bane’s Six take on a quick mission on behalf of a wronged divorcee, while Catman’s group simply try to keep him within shouting distance of sanity—no easy task after the events of the last arc. Both teams end up in the Savage Lands (or a place very much like it) after being hired by the mysterious ‘Mockingbird.’ Will they work together to survive? Will they destroy each other? Will they be eaten by griffons and/or dinosaurs before either can happen? We’ll have to wait and see.

What’s Good: Although last week’s gleefully unexplained guest-written romp in the old west was plenty entertaining, it’s nice to have Mama Six back in the writer’s chair. These characters are quite obviously hers, and their voices are never quite the same under anyone else’s pen. The story is darkly hilarious and the characters are placed in situations that allow them (and their snappy dialog) to shine.

Calafiore continues to do an excellent job on the artwork. All of the characters are beautiful, but the real star here (believe it or not) are the backgrounds. Always nice looking, always dynamic, but never distracting. And that double page spread of the Savage Land-like area the Sixes have come to claim is truly nice—I’d have it blown up and hung on my wall if I could. Just gorgeous.

And this is just a small aside, but I feel the need to mention it since I haven’t before: Travis Lanham does an absolutely fantastic job on lettering. Ragdoll’s font in particular is really, really cool, and adds a great deal to her character. Font really does affect the way a reader (or at least THIS reader) “hears” the characters in their head, and Lanham’s font is a perfect example of this.

Weekly Comic Book Review’s Top Picks

DS’ Top Picks

Best From The Past Week: Batman #702 – Captain America made a strong showing, but Morrison’s moody writing, viscerally close to Batman, pushed Batman #702 over the top. Also, while there are a lot of storylines running right now, this one really was a prelude to the Return of Bruce Wayne, which is just around the corner.

Most Anticipated: Brightest Day #9 – Brightest Day #9, hands down! We’re into the meat and potatoes of Brightest Day now and with all the mini cliffhangers, I don’t even want to blink. Plus, Aqualad? What the diddly?

Other Top Picks: Other Top Picks: Gorilla Man #3, Thor: For Asgard #1, JSA All-Stars #10, Freedom Fighters #1, Secret Six #25, Captain America: Forever Allies #2.

Dean’s Top Picks

Best From The Past Week: Avengers #4 – In a week where many books were “good,” but nothing was “great,” I think I most enjoyed Avengers.  The story seems to be pure chaos as the timestream has been seriously screwed up and I cannot wait to find out what future Tony Stark was doing to his younger self at the end of the issue.

Most Anticipated: Last Days of American Crime #3 – This week is just STACKED with books I’m looking forward to, but I’m very eager to see how Rick Remender wraps up his very original (and much delayed)  story set in a world where crime is about to be made impossible by futuristic technology.

Other Top Picks: Stumptown #4, Wolverine #1, Avengers: Children’s Crusade #2, Haunt #9, Choker #4

Alex’s Top Picks

Best From The Past Week: Fantastic Four #582 -Jonathan Hickman’s Fantastic Four is one of the best books at Marvel.  This book continues that trend with big happenings, wildly imaginative going-ons, and a really awesome young Dr. Doom.  Once again, FF is right at the top of my stack.

Most Anticipated: Scarlet #2 -Despite my lukewarm grade of the first issue, I still love the concept of this series and it’s main character.  I can’t wait to see where Bendis goes with this and I hope he gets the story going this month so I can get a better idea of his vision for this series.

Other Picks: Secret Six #23, Sweet Tooth #13, Wolverine #1, Shadowland #3, Brightest Day #9, iZombie #5

Joe’s Top Picks

Best From The Past Week: X-Factor #208 – David’s script hits all the right character beats, making this issue more interesting because of the interpersonal relationships than any action going on.  While some might consider X-Factor, and this issue in particular, a low key title, in a week of underwhelming releases, the second-tier X-title delivers the goods where others failed.

Most Anticipated: Scarlet #2 – I love me some Bendis/Maleev comics and, although I picked up the first issue hesitantly, I walked away from it fully onboard.  While I suspect this series will read better in trades (much like most of Bendis’ work), I’m eager to get in on the ground floor of the floppies, if only for the first arc.

Other Picks: Brightest Day #9, Secret Six #25, Avengers: The Children’s Crusade #2, I am an Avenger #1, Incredible Hulks #612, Origins of Marvel Comics: X-Men #1, Shadowland #3, Wolverine #1, Wolverine: The Road to Hell, X-Men: Curse of the Mutants – Smoke & Blood #1, Taskmaster #1, Back Issue #43