Ties That Bind
There is an endearing honesty to Gail Simone’s team, the Secret Six. This is a group of damaged ne’er-do-wells who initially come together as a team of mercenaries motivated largely by the dollar signs dangled in front of them. Surprisingly, they (all) didn’t die and have formed a family for themselves and continue to chase those dollar signs. In a lot of ways the Six are a darker, more damaged, version of The Rogues. This allows for Simone to write a miniseries that would be described as pulpy in a good way, set on the fringes of the DC universe.
I keep coming around to this comparison to Starz cult series, Spartacus. Spartacus was known for it’s over the top camp styling, the verging on hardcore sex scenes, playful cursing, and graphic violence. Those ingredients added up to something greater than a schlocky television series by using them as avenues of expression for its characters. Simone isn’t as uninhibited in those departments, like Spartacus she doesn’t forget to use the plot as a means of expressing or informing the character. Simone delivers this well for newer readers in the debriefing sequence. Yes, these characters are kind of broad but there is grounding for the reader in that. Scandal and Knockout are to gals in crazy stupid love. Catman has money sent to extremist animal rights groups. Deadshot sends money to his daughter. Ragdoll does something with it, no one really wants to know about. The obvious in your face nature of this miniseries doesn’t let you forget what it is that drives and unites these six psychopaths.
It’s the little pet names everyone has for each other that reinforces this sense of comrade. Knockout calling Scandal “Poppet”. Scandal calling Knockout “Kay”. Deadshot and Scandal referring each other as “bro” and “sis”. All of the crazy stuff Ragdoll says. Comics as a medium, have plenty of production realities (dialog can’t be too long lest it all be speech bubble) on top of narrative expedience (exposition) to keep in mind when writing dialog. These continual little isms mixed with Brad Walker's expressive pencil’s and Paul Mounts’ colors create for the kind of literature-visual synergy comics strive towards. Simone’s dialog is light and often humorous making for a breezy read. Comparing Simone’s dialog to a Billy Wilder comedy seems too high a praise, but there is a similar snappiness to its consumption (the voices in my head certainly helped too). By selling us on the idea that this is a familial unit (dysfunctional it maybe), Simon and Co. buy themselves near limitless emotional currency from the audience.
Simone’s pacing and structure are like her dialog, breezy and with consistent momentum. This is in no small part is helped by Brad Walker’s art and panel design in “Six Degrees of Devastation”. My ability to critique art (read justify or articulate my assertions) isn’t the greatest. This is why I tend to fall on the writer in terms of accreditation. I don’t have a great or 10 dollar adjective for the reason why I think Walker’s art has so much movement and action in those sequences, simply that it does. Simone’s script allows for several full single page action spreads that tell the story of the fight across the page, often vertically, wonderfully. The battle against the Doom Patrol in particular stands out for its excellent use of staging and environment, giving the sense of a large scale but you still have an idea where everyone is (except for RobotMan’s head).
This is going to be a tad shocking, but, someone wants the Secret Six dead! It isn’t like they haven’t made a litany of enemies in their line of work. With the first issue largely dedicated to the various hits being perpetrated against them, near simultaneously creating for some nice cross cut action. From a plot perspective “Six Degrees of Devastation” has all the makings of a fun action movie. There are plenty of pulpy twists and turns as well. What is so surprising is how well all of that comes together to tell a story about what one does for their family. Vandal Savage’s desire for Scandal to bear him an heir (who will than kill him and rule the world) and Scandal’s response to this and her new family felt totally genuine and in keeping with the series overall.
Catman describes the team to the Doom Patrol as operating in a moral grey area. I’m not sure how much water that carries but he is right in one of his assertions. They aren’t the Justice League by a long shot. They also aren’t the Secret Society of Super Villains either. They’re just a rag tag group of D-list characters scraping by, trying to get theirs. Any good karma they accrue on the way is a nice bonus. It is an honest description of the Secret Six the team and book itself.
I am Michael Mazzacane and you can find on Twitter @MaZZM and at weekntv.com and comicweek.com