This week's book herald the last issue of Secret Six. The three other books reviewed this week pale in comparison to my grief over Secret Six's final issue.
In a lame-as-ever Fourth Place:
Superman #714
Not even my lamentation over this long running title's renumbering is enough to stop my sigh of relief when it DOES get renumbered and (hopefully) gets put on the right track.
We get our conclusion this month as to who the mystery woman was who was following Superman and causing him trouble on his walk across the country. And its weak. REAL weak. A school teacher essentially gets possessed by a Kryptonian sunstone which allows her to be the embodiment of Superman's doubt and depression while making him see things that aren't really there. I've read some wacky comics in my day but this is just too wacky.
Action Comics and Superman, when I've been reading them lately, have resulted in a chanting in my head through the whole issue... "RE-BOOT, RE-BOOT, RE-BOOT!"
Jamal Igle pencils a good book though and I hope he gets work on the other side of the relaunch.
In somewhat of a waste of Third Place:
Superboy #10
Its no wonder DC is behind Marvel in sales each month. Now, that's not entirely fair to say because you can't hit a homerun every issue. But as of right now, this entire issue could have been summed up in one sentence: "I, the evil Tannarak, have been trying to grow an army of soul-less dopplegangers since 45,000 B.C.!"
Instead we get a tales-of-the-ages of this bad guy. The only positive about this issue was the artwork. Three different artists chipped in and did a great job. Pete Woods, Cafu & Bit and Paulo Siqueira & Andrew Magnum all did a different era of Tannarak trying to build this army and all did a fantastic job. What's a shame is that regular series' artist Pier Gallo's work was the weakest of the four.
One more issue for Superboy before the reboot and its probably a good thing. There have been some really good parts of this book, and some really bad parts. But not enough good parts to make me sad that its getting rebooted.
In a solid yet non awe-inspiring Second Place:
Flashpoint #4
Flashpoint #4 cranks things up pretty quick. So quick that it leaves me wondering how they're going to wrap up everything in one more issue.
Flash, Thomas Wayne and Cyborg get some help from the Shazam kids after Superman dips on them. They also get some help from wacky Element Woman who's kind of sexy but really weird. Wonder Woman and Aquaman finally start the war to end the world when our heroes intervene. Reverse-Flash finally shows himself, but it seems like there's a lot of loose ends to tie up for one more issue.
When the Shazam family is introduced in issue #1, I really wasn't too sure about them. But they get highlighted in this issue, and the concept could be pretty cool if done right.
Of the 4 Flashpoint issues, this is probably the weakest one so far. Here's to a big finish. A lot is apparently riding on it.
And going out in style in First Place:
Secret Six #36
Since the first issue of Secret Six (part 1 of a 6 part mini in July of '06) this has been, easily, one of the most consistently well drawn and written books by any publisher. The fact that it didn't star a Batman or a Green Lantern or even a Wolverine didn't help the book's sales. But it did help this book become more than a sum of all of its parts.
Cast off characters like Deadshot and Catman paired up with new creations like Scandal Savage and Jeannette allowed Gail Simone (who crafted this book from its beginnings in Villains United) the space needed to really dig into complex characters and show what real people with real superpowers would be like. OK. Maybe not everyone would be as vile as Ragdoll or Floyd Lawton, but most probably wouldn't be as pristine as Clark Kent or Peter Parker either.
This book allowed the reader to walk with these questionable characters down a path of gray morals and hard choices. To grow with them emotionally as you learn how each of them, who aren't all bad at heart, deal with heartbreaking situations. Stories were told that you're not able to tell with "top selling" characters. And this book was all the better for it.
This book is #1 this week, not because it was necessarily better than Flashpoint #4, but because of what it gave its readers through 42+ issues: a reason to read and become emotionally invested in comic books.
I would like to thank Gail Simone, Nicola Scott, J. Calafiore and all the other fine talent that made Secret Six the book to read for the last 5 years.
Much like its characters, Secret Six was always the underdog. I wouldn't want it any other way.
Panel of the Week:
The Secret Six (yes, there are eight of them) when faced against the Justice League, Justice Society, Teen Titans and various other heroes decide to go out the hard way.
-Gint
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