Friday, May 29, 2009

Secret Six #9

This is a Battle for the Cowl x-over issue written by Gail Simone. I have to say, I have very high hopes for this comic book. Here's hoping the BftC logo on top of this comic will bump up the sales numbers for this book.

-This issue opens with Catman, Bane and Ragdoll(dressed in an imitation Robin outfit and referring to himself as the He/She Wonder)stopping a kidnapping in Gotham City. It seems that three teams of kidnappers were planning on kidnapping three children from influential families in order to ransom the kids back later.

-Catman, Bane and Ragdoll halt the first kidnap attempt, and maim/kill all of the kidnappers in the process... Whoops! When pressed by Ragdoll as to why they were in Gotham, Bane explains that they were hired to help carry out the kidnappings, but for some reason, Bane has decided to halt the kidnap attempts instead. That fact causes Catman to accuse Bane of wanting to become the next Batman. Bane reputes that claim and counters that Catman is the one with delusions of becoming the Bat. Catman says he could easily become Batman, since in his mind they are alike, but Bane tells Catman he is nothing like Bats.

-The trio stop the next kidnap attempt with similarly brutal methods, before heading to the final home.

-The three Secret Six members cut through the final kidnappers as easily as they went through the previous two teams, and proceed to maim/kill them. Before they can complete the job, Nightwing(Dick Grayson)shows up on the scene. Nightwing takes control of the situation and tells the trio to leave the house immediately. Catman takes offense at Nightwing's attitude, and threatens a fight, which Nightwing doesn't back down from. Bane realizes that Nightwing is destined to become the next Batman and decides to leave, apparently figuring that Nightwing's new life will be difficult enough without having to fight him and his allies. Catman and Ragdoll reluctantly follow Bane's lead.

-The issue ends with the trio leaving Gotham City in the hands of Nightwing and the other "heroes".

This was a very good comic book. This issue gave us a good look into the characters of Catman and Bane. It was nice to see Gail give Bane a chance to shine in this comic, since Bane has had very little time to establish himself thus far in this series. As usual, the humor was dead on and the visuals were also very nicely done. I particularly enjoyed the scene where Catman and Bane were descending from a rooftop in a similar fashion to Batman and Robin in the campy Batman series of the 60's. One thing you can always count on in a Gail Simone written comic book is plenty of funny scenes/moments. For a score, I'll give this comic an 8 out of 10. This was a very solid comic that I'd have no problem recommending.

4 comments:

  1. I liked Simone's Villains United mini back in 2005/2006, and I loved her Deadpool work, but I haven't really read alot of other Simone work. If she can write a proper Bane maybe I should pick this on up...

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  2. Gail's work is usually very hit or miss to me, sometimes I'll be laughing aloud and other times she'll have me rolling my eyes. If you liked her past work(wow, you actually remember her Deadpool work? Impressive!)I'd give Secret Six(or Wonder Woman)a shot. When she's on, Gail is one of the funniest writers out there.

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  3. I discovered Gail's writing via her current, WW run. Now I'm into both SS and WW. In my opinion, she hits more often than she misses.

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  4. I'm in total agreement Yedna, I'd easily put Gail in the top 10 of current comic book writers... Hmm, a top 10 compiling my favorite comic book writers... Not a bad idea! Anyway, I'd say that only Peter David can write a better comedy comic book than Gail, and being a huge fan of Peter for about 15 years now, that's pretty high praise!

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