Legion World Forums LEGION COMPANION Dr. Gym'll's Cultural Rarities Secret Six (the ongoing)... spoilers

I'm glad this is finally here; luckily, it did *not* disapppoint.

How can you not love a creepy villain that hides in a crate in the back room of a gay bar (DC's first?)?

It's left to the reader's imagination to see how this villain disposes of a traitorous underling... which makes it, of course, more horrible than anything any artist could've drawn.

This ain't no shades of gray villain, either-- the bit about sending his hunky aides to show the family of the slain a vid of him begging for his life by telling the villain to kill his family instead of him was chilling. The aside, 'and kill their dog', was the final temperature drop.

Loved all the Catman/Deadshot stuff-- Catman's moral ambiguity makes for a great ongoing theme.

Ragdoll's little pick-me-upper was hilarious and wrong and touching all at once.

How did Bane hook up with this crew? Will he fit in? He's had some shifts up and down the gray scale of his own, hasn't he?

Is Knockout coming back, do you think?

The Huntress and the Bat cameo promises twists and turns ahead.

Great issue and a stonking start to what hopefully will be a sucessful series. The villain in a box in a gay bar is the kind of twisted genius I've come to expect from Gail.

I'm not entirely convinced about Bane, but largely because I don't really care for the character rather than anything else. I do hope Knockout comes back though and I'm intrigued as to who the sixth member is going to be.

Finally! This has been a long time coming.

The S6 are back (of a sorts,) and they haven't lost any of the charm that makes them a fun team. Catman and Deadshot have that comraderie that makes for the best of buddy movies. It's a respect for each other's talents and an understanding of each other's character- maybe more then they understand of themselves. Hearing Deadshot rag on Catman for his moral questioning was hilarious.

Bane is a cypher, but I'm sure Gail will find a way to make him come alive. After his last appearance in Gotham Underground/Salvation Run, he needs some polish. Paired with Ragdoll, they just might bring back the fun of the original Parademon/Ragdoll partnership.

Scandal... such a mess and still able to evoke the ferocity of her father. Her mourning gift was something only our twisted team could think of, and her reaction to it was almost touching.

Lastly, leave it to Gail to find away to creep me out with but a few well placed words. This new villian is nasty, you can almost see Gail's glee in writing him. And Nicola's art really works well with this crowd. I'm expecting this to be a favourite for a while.

#2: I would've preferred Bats' in tiny bits and pieces over a few issues- but the fight with Catman was a good showcase of their differences in style. "I think I'm marked". Chilling.

Bane's "firm but loving hand of a father" and Deadshot's ongoing 'messed up' lines were more examples of the wrong/kind of sweet/creepy vibe Simone gives these characters.

I guess it's good to see that Mammoth's still an idiot. "Ornament-things". Hee-hee!

Anyone have any ideas about the backstory of this 'card'?

I have to admit that adding Tarantula to the cast is a *big* downer for me. I loathe that character and her hero-raping story from Nightwing.

Ugh. Not even Gail Simone can redeem that mess.

Who else thinks it was a back-from-the-dead Blockbuster in that box?

I didn't recognize all the villains in that last panel. Several Nightwing baddies, there.

Seeing Catman's spar with Bats pointed out where his head is at these days. Blake may not have a death wish, but he certainly has given up on life. It's something he and D'shot have in common. I like that he may not be the world's greatest detective, but he's one of the best trackers. From the use of his nose to the use of his wit, Catman is very much my favourite character.

Bane is too talky here for me. He always seemed more of a quiet thinker. And he works better as Lawton's straight man I think than Ragdoll's. (Ragdoll was a little too Spidey in his humour, too chatty not creepy this go round.)

I like your theory ML, I didn't notice til you pointed out the BB connection. I can't say I have a better choice for Box's identity.

Gail deserves massive credit. With one line of dialogue, she made me rethink my whole position on Batman. (note: that position in recent years has become very unfavorable)

The "I care what happens to EVERYBODY" line really struck a chord with me.

2 issues in, this looks to be DC's best title launching in 2008.

I was worried it wouldn't work as an ongoing, but Gail is proving this crew can hold their own.

My first issue is #3 so i dont' know what has come before in the first two issues.

This issue...was better than her Wonder Woman stuff by far. She has a real love for these characters and what she has put together and it really shows.

Catman- could have easily been a force for good, and is instead a slightly seedy bad guy...possessed of some noble traits, but they are for the wrong things.

Deadshot- charming psychopath when he wants to be, still a coward when he needs to be(as he sees it).

Ragdoll- comic relief that needs work. He is creepy, but it like that sick cousin creepy right now, not the makes your skin crawl, seriously demented creepy. And maybe that is needed. Wouldn't want him too like the joker, but he needs to get his hands really dirty, really fast.

Scandal- interesting, especially given the interaction between her and Bane.

Bane- a one note villian from the past. Honestly, unless he is pursueing an agenda we don't know about, he is going to need major work to hang with the crew. His "mothering" over Scandal could create some friction, but he seems more like creosote than he does Bane.

Tarantula- seriously hated this character from Nightwing. Hope she doesn't become part of the team. Yeah, she isn't a good guy, raped nightwing and all that, but there are too many negative associations for me to like her as anything other than cannon fodder.

Story- obviously, i came in having missed two issues. But, in having all the other stories, i see some things that need tidying up if they weren't in the first two.

Knockout- after all the brouhaha of "final flopsis" is done, hope this character comes back. She was the group powerhouse, she had an established relationship with Scandal, and they formed a group within the group dynamic that balanced Catman/Deadshot.

Reason- before, we had the Six against all the other villians for not joining. I hope that there is still this antipathy between the two groups. The Six need the "Us against everyone else" driving force.

Nastyness- Yup, the six should do some major damage in the DCU, but usually behind the scenes. Basically, they were the counterpart to the soon to be dearly departed BoP. Both covert groups, both secret powerhouses, both go the job done.

Where- stay out of gotham for a while after this one. Bedevil the rest of the DCU. Lately it seems like Gotham has overtaken Metropolis and New York as the place to be bad. The six should spread the distruction and aggravation around the world, like the BoP did previously, from the other side.

All in all, Gail did a stellar job. I wont give away the ending, but given that i just played online the Parker Bros. game that uses the basis for the ending, i loved it.

And while there really is no need to mention the art and how great it was, i will. Ms. Scott is one mighty fine artist and i could happily see her on this book for eight, nine years easy.

Is this an ongoing? For some reason this wasn't on my pull list. I picked up #2 and #3 but don't have #1, so now I have to hunt for it in NYC.

I've been on board with Gail since day one so this is a bright spot for me in the DCU!

Far as i know its ongoing.

Born-again Bane? Bane-Again?

The Bane Identity?

Issue #4. More madness, murder and mayhem-y goodness(evilness) from Ms. Simone. I don't know if Gail is the one that has taken over JSA from Geoff, but man could she pull it off.

This issue rocked the outhouse with all kinds of fun. Methinks that spending a significant portion of time in contact with that little card begins to affect people's minds. I'm just sayin'.

Now, as to the cast. After two issues...we really need as much of the original crew back as possible. Knockout was very much more interesting to me than Bane. Still reads too much like Creosote to me. With Knockout, there was a certain offsetting group within the group dynamic.

Ragdoll- so creepy that even Lawton gets the heebee jeebee's around that guy.

Good stuff. I don't have to say anything about the art, cause'...dayamn!

If you'd like, I can rave about the art. Nicola Scott is incredible. She brings a very human look to the characters, while still drawing the energy in action scenes, or funny in the Ragdoll moments. Ragdoll is where she shines, that character is never simply standing, he's always spread out akimbo.

I'll give ya that Bane still hasn't stood out as a character yet in this group. But he's still new, and finding his way. The rest of the Six have had their moments, Bane is just waiting for his.

I want more Junior.

And this is the problem with missing the first two issues. Is the hooded guy that likes to twist heads off Junior, or is it the guy in the limosine? Are they one and the same? That was the truly only weak point to the story in my opinion, and i suspect it is only on my part due to haveing missed issues one and two.

Thanks.

The hooded person is Junior. Junior lives in a box in the first two issues, so the travel bag is sort of in character.

Hey, opinion time. Does this sound like something the Sixers would say?

...

“Why don’t we try baking gingerbread?” Kay asked.

“I’d probably just destroy the stove. And then I’d have to listen to Blake complain that I destroyed his precious kitchen.” Scandal told her.

“I’d snap his spine if he did.” Kay sweetly whispered.

“You’d do that for me?”

“Poppet I just did it five minutes ago to Kiteman. Merry Christmas.”

“Merry Christmas, Beloved.”

“Yes Merry Christmas indeed!” Ragdoll popped out of his hidey hole.

“You’ve been here the whole time haven’t you?” Scandal asked.

“And not just me. Fellows, come out and spread the Christmas cheer.”

Kay destroyed the wall, revealing Deadshot with a camera.

“You’re gonna castrate us now, aren’t you?”

“I’d sorry to say they’d missed the chance. Although they can have the jar if they want! But you can only have one.”

“For God’s sake stop telling us the things, ‘Doll!” Deadshot begged.

Just caught up. Man, Gail freakin' rocks.

So do Deadshot and Catman BTW.

When people talk about the best things happening at DC these past few years, any sentence listing Johns and Morrison better mention Gail Simone right in there, and possibly even preceeding them at times.

Gail has been doing a few interviews lately. She mentions getting an okay from DC about a Big project akin to these universe events of Grant’s and Geoff’s. I can’t wait for her to be an overnight sensation. Maybe it’s a G thing…

Gail? G-string?

Simone and Tomasi. Both are turning in some tour de force stuff. I have read Morrison since DP, and while he can knock it out the park, he strikes out a good bit too.

Simone did some stellar stuff on BoP and legion, as well as Atom.

Tomasi brought Nightwing back from the dead, only to have it cut down, again.

Both of them should be on DC's "go to" list.

Don't forget about Gen13. I should've stopped buying after Gail left because I had like no idea what was going on.

Whoever suggested checking out S6 deserves a MAJOR thankyou from me. I went ahead and ordered #2, #3, & #4 (I buy my comics online), but have had problems tracking down #1. Anyway, I got them in the mail today and read them all straight through and I freaking love it! It's such dark humor and very serious all at the same time and the art... Wow! I'm definitely hooked (if only to see more half-naked Catman).

The last page of #5 contained one of the most... provocative images I've seen in a comic in years.

Anyone familiar with the Rodin sculpture "She Who Was the Helmet-Maker's Beautiful Wife"?

This is like that, only if the subject was on crack.

You're welcome!

Glad you're on board. This is a title I recommend gladly because the work is strong enough to do all the work pulling in readers.

Rickshaw is right, Gail can do no wrong. Too bad she has the same problem Geoff Johns does--when she leaves a book, DC can't find a suitable replacement and they quickly sink (BoP post-Gail was relatively horrible).