Note: Today’s post was originally a series of daily posts, presented at www.berkeleyplaceblog.com. It is reprinted here because all comic book material from that site has been moved here.
Continuing my “panel from every issue” feature on Gail Simone’s Secret Six. No sooner did she create the team in the pages of Villains United, than she busted it apart in the team’s first solo book–a six issue miniseries. Mad Hatter adds a level of insanity to the team that’s fantastic. But don’t get too comfortable, ’cause he’s gone with #6.
In fact, Simone has established that you can never get comfortable with her book. It’s all about change, chaos, and momentum. It’s as if she took the original mandate for Marvel’s Ultimate Universe: No one is safe.
Any fans of Platoon out there? My second favorite quote* from that movie is when Charlie Sheen wonders why Willem Defoe smokes pot, if it’s just to feel good, and Defoe says, “Feelin’ good’s good enough.” If Gail Simone had just made Catman into a badass with the personality of a cat, that would have been enough. A great reinvention that puts life into a previously lifeless d-lister.
But she adds layers to him, giving him a kid.
God, I love this comic.
*My first favorite Platoon quote: “Ain’t nothin’ like a good piece of pussy. ‘Cept maybe the Indy 500.”
It’s funny. It’s sexy. It’s got great character work. That’s why Secret Six was one of the greatest comics ever.
The end of the first mini. Am I crazy, or did Nicola Scott obviously draw that architectural outcropping to look like Vandal Savage’s penis?
Next: Vol 2!