Catman in a Box
Let’s get the obvious out of the way first. Yes, this is called Secret Six. No, this isn’t about Scandal, Catman, Ragdoll and the rest of those depraved mercs. For the time being it’s about six strangers, two of which are Catman and Black Alice, trapped in a box (apparently at the bottom of the ocean).
Secret Six #1 creates a good mood, primarily due to Jason Wright’s coloring. The murky dirty texture the colors add, acts as a mediating and unifying force too Drew Geraci and Ken Lashley's ink. Lashley also did the pencils for this book. The differing inking techniques create two different styles for the first issue. The first 13 pages have this murky impressionist style that blends nicely in with whoever did the ink for those pages. The latter half of the book has a more straight forward aesthetic that lacks the impressionist streak found at the start. This tonal shift does come after Catman, Thomas Blake, is electrocuted and if we are to assume this issue at least is from his point of view, he is now more alert.
This new Six has potential. Big Shot, a private detective, appears to be out of some twisted noir film, a fact that plays nicely with the groggy impressionist art of the first half. Porcelain appears fun enough. I’m curious to see how Strix, if she makes it out, is handled going forward. She is mute and her dialog is handled by writing on sticky notes, this issue it was “I am Strix” “I kill peepel”. She presents an interesting challenge in conveying character thought. Writers have largely moved passed the overt narration found in something like Marv Wolfman’s Teen Titans when Jericho was introduced. Shuana Belzer is certifiable and camp. Not quite sure what to make of Black Alice yet. Catman doesn’t seem to have changed too much (I’m not familiar if he’s appeared in the New52 yet). His new hair style is fabulous; it gives him this odd mixture of grunge rock meets jrpg (or anime). He is also apparently a werecat judging by the title page.
There are considerations that have to be made when producing anything be it comic, television, or film. It just so happens that comics, mostly, come out as monthly installments, which places a premium on every page. Gail Simone’s first issue establishes the bare bones plot of this new books first arc. Thomas Blake the Catman, Black Alice, Big Shot, Porcelain, Strix, Shuana Belzer and her doll Ferdie, have all been locked up in a box. Presented with six masks and asked “What is the Secret?” That is a fairly nice hook, except I don’t really care about or know any of these characters right now. By the end one of them faces oblivion, a moment of drama that has great comedic effect as Belzer reveals Ferdie. I should be worried or intrigued but I am not. Secret Six #1 doesn’t feel like the first episode, it feels like the first half of an episode.
I am Michael Mazzacane and you can find on Twitter @MaZZM and at weekntv.com and comicweek.com
