Review: Secret Six: Depths trade paperback (DC Comics)

[This review comes from Derek Roper]

I really, really like that Secret Six has always been a book with a great amount of action, sick humor, and easy-on-the-eyes-characters. Secret Six: Depths (collecting issues #8-14) has to be their quintessential story arc and takes the chains off of the characters. Unhinged was great, no doubt about it, in Depths, they actually come out lower than when they went in.

The book starts out with two issues that break from the larger story arc. The stripper from Scandal’s birthday in Unhinged pursues her for a "Double Date" (a nice nod to Simone’s Justice League Unlimited episode) with the Six’s newest member Jeanette and Deadshot. The four embark on a night of fighting and beating people to a pulp.

There is a treat for religious Simone followers: Simone connected friend Amanda Gould to DC after Simone saw Gould’s drawings of the Six in the style of Tiny Titans. This lead to a disturbingly cute back-up story, "Ragdoll Dreams," which follows the twisted and air-deprived mind of Peter Merkel.

The second self-contained issue ties in to Batman: Battle for the Cowl and finds Catman, Ragdoll, and Bane in the midst of Batman’s disappearance. It seems that Catman and Bane feel it is their duty to take care of Gotham (any way they please). They fail miserably (with Ragdoll hilariously in the role of Robin) and in an interesting conversation, Bane and Catman discuss how much they have in common with the Bat. It is interesting to see these two Batman villains behave this way and not try to burn the city or start a massive gang war.

The best part, however, is the "Depths" story itself, which has to be the bloodiest of all the Secret Six stories and shows new sides to the characters. As the saying goes, "You think you know, but you have no idea." Apparently Villains United’s Mockingbird is back and uses a wealthy man, Smyth, to hire the Six to watch over slaves that are building a massive prison on Devil’s Island. Automatically, the Six are in turmoil because half of them agree with the job and half think they should refuse it. The slaves, it turns out, are Amazons held captive after the events of Amazons Attack, bringing the Six not only in conflict with Wonder Woman character Artemis, but also Wonder Woman herself.

It’s at this point the characters cut loose, and we learn more about them as they do. Jeannette has appeared to be proper and elitist, but the reader learns she’s a banshee with power on par with Bane, having died by a tortuous beheading in the Victorian era (those familiar with John Byrne’s Silver Banshee will appreciate Jeannette’s transformation). We learn more about Scandal’s childhood, presented in flashbacks, and how she received the Lamentation Blades that she uses, in the present, to decapitate and rip the guards apart. (In another horrific scene, Ragdoll bashes in the man’s skull in with a monkey wrench. One of the things about Ragdoll is that he is always there for comedic relief and people can’t wait to see what he says next, but he is the most unstable of the group.)

As well, Catman has another in a string of changes of heart and decides to free the captive Amazons; he becomes more heroic every time he is given a choice. He only screws up when he is with the Six, leading me to believe that when he chooses his side, there will be great drama involved. As much as I like Catman, I’m starting to wonder how long before he and Deadshot actually try to kill one another; their bro-mance is funny, but I notice that they never stay on the same side for long.

The story aside, I appreciated all the background and allusions to classic literature that Simone includes. Smyth’s vision for the universal gulag is that of the nine circles of hell from Dante’s Inferno, and those familiar with it will see that Simone puts the characters through all the rings, from the slaves in the first circle to the Six betraying their employer in the ninth. The devil in the ninth circle turns out to be a version of Beowulf’s Grendel, whom Simone also used (in different form) in Wonder Woman: Ends of the Earth.

Artist Nicola Scott, as usual, provides great art and draws sexy characters (except Ragdoll—he’s just creepy). Simone’s writing requires the characters to have detailed facial expression, as when one of the slave drivers says "You can’t kill every criminal, we lack that will these days," and the wordless dialogue that follows is just Scandal looking at Jeanette, and Jeanette raising one eyebrow (Sounds like Kevin Maguire on early Justice League International -- ed.). As well, Scott does a great job on a page where Wonder Woman and the Six are juxtaposed to show both the Six’s weapons and Wonder Woman’s defense.

Finally, Daniel Luvisi is the cover artist for Secret Six, and for someone who apparently never went to art school, he seems a prodigy. His renditions of the Six on the cover of the graphic novel look like real life actors. His covers are included with the book and the cover for issue #13 features Catman looking a whole lot like Brody Jenner. His realistic style gives the book a different and gritty appearance.

The ending of Secret Six: Depths is a major cliff hanger; one of the members is pushed off the team by another of the Six. This makes me wish that Danse Macabre, the next Secret Six trade, would be released that much sooner.

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Review: DC Universe: Origins trade paperback (DC Comics)

[This guest review comes from Derek Roper]

Since I’m not a novice to the DC Universe, the DC Universe: Origins trade doesn’t do much for me; I only bought it because I’m a Secret Six collector and liked that they streamlined the origin of some of the characters. I do recommend it, however, as a gift to someone who is thinking about crossing over from Marvel to DC or getting back into comics after a long hiatus.


The trade features the origins of practically everybody, from Adam Strange to Zatanna; every reader should find a favorite inside. These origins were backup features in 52 and Countdown and were omitted from the trades that actually collected the series, so this is a nice companion to those trades.
But it doesn’t cover every last character in the DCU [Maybe that's for the coming Who's Who -- ed.] and I think the origins of characters like Beast Boy could have been left out for other stars more prominent in 52 and Countdown like Mary Marvel and maybe the Deep Six (as a memorial).


In many ways, however, Origins only serves to show how fractured the DC Universe continues to be. Mark Waid and Howard Chaykin write and draw respectively the origin of Black Canary; it begins, incongruously, with “Not many super-hero careers are motivated by a need to annoy your mom.” Longtime fans know Black Canary did not take up the mantle to annoy her mother; she took it up because she heard her mother and uncles telling stories of their Justice Society of America experiences. And later, in the book's take on the first meeting between the Justice League and Justice Society, Black Canary Senior isn't even shown. It's possible that these are reboots, but not ones addressed elsewhere and not ones that uplifts the characters.


Similarly, I found it both interesting and confusing that Nightwing Dick Grayson apparently has an encounter with a Monitor from Crisis on Infinite Earths, who revealed he was supposed to die in Infinite Crisis. The Monitors come off too much like editor’s brackets, and all the business about Superboy Prime punching through walls and changing history, and Mr. Mind morphing into a “Hyper-Fly” and eating its way through worlds, leaves one wondering why any of it was necessary in the first place.


The Countdown heavily featured the New Gods, but Origins doesn’t reflect that. Darkseid and Desaad have their time to shine in the book, but Mr. Miracle, Orion and the rest of the gang don’t get a mention; although the late Big Barda is shown in the origins of the Birds of Prey. In multiple interviews, Grant Morrison said the events of Countdown diverged from Final Crisis -- so while these origins are entertaining, the material collected in this volume doesn’t necessarily reflect what happens in Final Crisis, or really lead up to the current status quo of the DC Universe.

On the other hand, one of the more entertaining origins is the Joker. Here, the book presents the reader with three possible origins, leaving the mystique to the Joker intact. It adds to Joker’s character because it could be one of those origins or it could be none and just a manifestation of his insanity. I also appreciated that Harley Quinn's bio is written by Bruce Timm, one of her creators, and that Poison Ivy appears in Harley's bio and vice versa; it's all a nice introduction to Gotham City Sirens before that book's first trade hits the stands in April.

The cover is nicely painted by Alex Ross and features DC's Big Seven Justice Leaguers running into battle -- though, unfortunately, it's a recycled cover to the giant sized JLA: Liberty and Justice book that was released in 2003. DC Universe: Origins might be a good introductory book for a new fan, but if you have some experience in the DC Universe, you might feel like you've seen a lot of this before, right from the cover and through to the last page.

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Review: House of Secrets: Foundation trade paperback (Vertigo/DC Comics)

[This review comes from Collected Editions blog contributor Derek Roper]

I’ll admit, I’m not a Vertigo fan, which is strange because I like all the twisted humor and sick on-goings of Secret Six. But, I’m a fan of the House of Secrets. Ever since my introduction to it in Villains United, I wanted to find out more about the House. I bought the Showcase Presents volumes and loved most of the stories in them (except for the second volume). Later, I found that there was an updated, 1997 version which took place during the days of grunge: House of Secrets: Foundation. The recipe was there: the House, an intriguing era of time, and the promise of good story (according to reviews).

The House, once inhabited by Abel (the narrator of the 1960s-70s anthology), is now a vacant, quintessential haunted house. It's sad to see the spooky casa transformed from a rich mansion with paintings and other valuables to an empty crack-house flop pad.

Eventually runaways Traci and Rain Harper take shelter in the House. Rain is the protagonist of the series and uses who she can to get what she wants. The first issue has her hitchhiking across country and using a man for transportation and food, then blithely gets rid of the him. Her personality is polarizing; I didn't like Rain at first, but writer Steven T. Seagle successfully makes her sympathetic when he reveals the molestation and rape she suffered from her father.

Seagle's dialogue and timing are great; rather than being scared when Rain is approached by the Juris, the band of ghosts she must help judge humanity, Rain instead lets off a string of expletives (plenty in this book). Rain’s dialogue is snappy and plays well off of the other characters who well-represent the grunge period, like the angst-ridden Erik. The names of the songs the band Nightmare of Reason sings here are fitting for the time period -- the snippets of lyrics are always depressing and filled with cuts and scars which make them that much more believable.

I found the Juris just as scary as the tales the House is known for. They are a court of five apparitions that appear when someone is being judged for their secrets. Most of the time the Juris find the defendant guilty and banish them to the basement for damnation. Seagle gives each of the Juris a distinct voice, and the cases that they judge combine well for a powerful ending.

Traci is an intriguing character as well; although ditzy and very needy, her sometimes bubbly persona is a façade to some dark secrets. She is seen talking to an unseen character, much like Abel’s imaginary friend Goldie. Could Goldie be back? Or is this something more sinister?

Teddy Kristiansen is the artist on the book and creates some gruesome scenes (I enjoyed this team on the graphic novel It's a Bird, too -- ed.). His depiction of the Juris are brilliant, each attribute telliing of the time period they’re from. It made me shiver when I turned to page 20 and saw the old woman that was being put on trial, reminiscent of the painting The Scream by Edvard Munch. The backdrop for the story is perfect -- Seattle weather and lots of pale people, with the only shade they get is when they are in the clubs performing. Kristiansen uses different art forms to match each character, as when the Juris have a small girl on trial for one of her secrets and her secret is reviewed through child-like drawings. It is very emotional and bleak at the same time.

The questions that remain for the next volume are what happened to Abel? And why is the house in Seattle now and not in Kentucky? There is a vagrant that is seen around the premises of the House a couple of times and he is short, timid, and sports a beard -- hmm . . .

The ending is surprising, tied up neatly, and solidifies there are so many fans of Rain on the Vertigo and other message boards. For once, she starts to feel again and gets a second chance at a family. Seagle leaves plenty of threads for other storylines, but here's the problem: this volume came out in 1997 and only collects #1-5. As far as I know, there are no plans to release the rest of the series.

The art and the story in House of Secrets are both brilliant and very modern. Even though the grunge era is gone (for a lot of us) the story is solid and this thriller will haunt the mind and make one question the merit of one’s own secrets. Like Dean Motter says in his forward, “Though such a heritage is impressive, make no mistake. This is a very different House. It takes so much more to frighten us these days.”

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Review: Showcase Presents: House of Secrets Vol. 2 trade paperback (DC Comics)

[This review comes from Collected Editions blog contributor Derek Roper]

You know how you leave a place that you used to love and when you came back to it, it's lackluster? Well, that's the feeling I have with Showcase Presents: The House of Secrets Vol. 2, which collects issues #99-119 of that series. The first volume had Twilight Zone-level horror stories and cool endings. This ... well, this doesn't have that and it also doesn't have the writers (such as Len Wein and Marv Wolfman). What it does have are stories that don't fit, and often seem to take the reader for granted in the process.

Usually, The House of Secrets is the main character of the book, but not this time. There's more focus on the stories than the house itself, but not in a good way. The writers could have found time to work in side stories and develop Abel's character, but instead Abel is presented as a complete 360 from his characterization in Vol. 1. It seems as though in the blink of an eye Abel has changed from a cowardly man (that is what was so great about him) to a smart mouth punk. In an introduction to one of the stories he says "So, remember -- even if you're a dummy (and most you readers out there are dummies), you can still have your revenge!" Maybe writer Steve Skeates thought this Abel would be more appealing, but it feels like an insult to the readership.

As far as art goes, I still think these stories should be in color (yeah, yeah, economics, I get it) but it would really add so much to the story. A horror story (visually) is 50 percent story and 50 percent art. Would Psycho have had as much impact if it was just Norman Bates telling the tale?

Now, to touch on some of the stories . . .

I don't read linearly in these types of books, so the story I was drawn to was "The Demon and the Rock Star." Dean Taggert is a musician who wants it all and encounters a demon who grants him some of his desires. In return, the demon needs three victims. It is up to Taggert to select them by putting a jewel in each of the victim's pockets that is a signal to let the demon know which one to kill. One of the last victims is a girl he liked. She broke up with him so he gave her a beautiful gem necklace (that is, demon-tagged her) and went on to perform in his show. As with all horror tales, there is a twist. The girl couldn't accept the gem and instead sewed it onto his performance outfit; in the end he went down in an inglorious blaze. The plot hole is, if he could keep the gem before putting it in the victim's possession, then why did the demon kill him?

While stories like the "The Demon and the Rockstar" suffer from time and greater audience maturity, there were also some that didn't make any sense to me at all. In "The Night of the Nebishi," Morty Kranz was a mousey man and took verbal abuse from his boss and then his wife. He would have nightmares about phantoms and dragons. He would wake up screaming (and sometimes with cold water thrown in his face via his wife) almost every night. Finally, he went to the hospital and stayed the night. That was also the night two aliens (a cross between the McDonald's fry kids and barbarians) landed and were going to take over the earth. But they didn't because Morty threw some sticks and stones and prevented the whole invasion. Your guess is as good as mine.

I did find, however, two stories that were entertaining. One was a tale of dwarfs who were taken hostage by two circus owners in "A Carnival of Dwarfs." It gives the reader the feeling that all the abuse that these little creatures take was going to come back ten fold on the two men. It was nice to see that the writer, Michael Fleisher, threw in a red herring with a withered old-man about whom the dwarfs pleaded "But please don't hurt our old friend! Please!" The end had a feeling of Nosferatu meets Gulliver's Travels.

And then there's the always wild "Abel's Fables." These short strips show hilarious bad situations. Highlights were a vampire ordering dinner and looking at the Maitre d' with hunger, and the violinist who lost his bow that ended up in an unpleasant place. Something that was new, not seen in the first volume, are the "Cain & Abel" comic strips, in the same vein as "Abel's Fables" but more about sibling rivalry than spookiness.

Aside from the two decent stories, I felt this volume should be left up on the shelf; it doesn't even compare to its predecessor.

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Review: Showcase Presents: House of Secrets Vol. 1 trade paperback (DC Comics)

[This review comes from Collected Editions contributor Derek Roper]

There is this house, see, and it has had its fair share of occupants; a drifter and more recently a group of six mercenaries. But before them, there was a man named Abel and his “imaginary friend” Goldie, they spent many nights alone in this house. Although old and rickety it held many strange tales hidden within its walls. This house--The House of Secrets--is back with its strange and gruesome tales in Showcase Presents: The House of Secrets Volume 1. Scream!

I have to play realtor for a minute. The house was built by Kentucky Sen. Sandsfield. As the tales goes; he built it by hand. Every inch of the place is made with 100 percent Kentuckian material. He claimed that if the house wasn’t built with pieces of Kentucky, it wasn’t a real Kentucky home. It should be noted that the senator’s wife went mad in the house--yup, mad as a hatter.

After that, the house went through four owners who weren’t pure Kentuckian and so the house set dormant for a little while until a man by the name of Mr. Barkus purchased it and decided to have it hauled away on a trailer. But he too did not last long, as it was told; the house detached itself and knocked Barkus off a cliff where he met a gruesome death. The next owner, Abel, who was a pitiful man, was talked into looking at a house by a creepy realtor who disappeared and filled Abel with the entire house’s tales. Next up was a girl--a drifter--by the name of Rain Harper. She moved in (in the Vertigo series) and found that a closet held the Juris, a group of spirits who judged people whether they liked it or not. Eventually, the house was said to be demolished after the girl left. The last guests to move into the house before the events of Infinite Crisis were a group of six mercenaries who called themselves the Secret Six.

Now that you have the history, the collection in question boasts over 500 pages of horror and suspense tales, and collects The House of Secrets #81-98 and even some stories from its sister book The House of Mystery.

Each issue has stand-alone stories but also an underlying arc featuring the narrator Abel (think Rod Serling) who gets acclimated with the house. He is very timid at first but after his spooky introduction via the realtor he learns the ropes of the house and becomes just as creepy as the stories that are hidden within the halls. He is frequently visited by his brother Cain who lives across the way at the House of Mystery. The two frequently fight over who has the scarier stories.

Being that this was written in the 1970s, don’t look for modern dialogue; it is very proper and uses slang from that era. It is easy to read but if one has come into comics in the 1980s on, words like “shnook” don’t really pack much of a punch.

For fans of horror literature, most of the surprises in the stories can be seen from a mile away. It is kind of disappointing because they seem like a rehash of stories from the Twilight Zone and The Dark Side. Nostalgia is the only thing that can get one through these stories, and they’re in black in white to boot.

The black and white pages are cheaper economically but sometimes detract from the story. In the stories that have a dark setting, the mood doesn’t come across as strong. In the story “The Little Old Winemaker,” the ending effect of the red wine was supposed to resemble blood, but given that it is black it doesn’t do much for the story. Lighting and the creatures in subsequent stories also need color and not just zebra colored pages. I’ve had the honor of seeing the color pages and they have a sort of color to them that is reminiscent of the old Scooby-Doo cartoons. Plus, art by Alex Toth, Neal Adams, and Jim Aparo deserves to have its artwork in color.

Still, plenty of highlights stand out in this book. “Trick or Treat,” featuring a theif who meets an unfortunate end, is downright scary. An early version of the modern Swamp Thing also appears in issue #92, 
with story and art by Len Wein and Bernie Wrighton respectively.

In between the stories are “Able’s Fables,” which are like a spooky version of Tony Millionaire’s Makkies. They feature eccentric and sometimes downright dangerous situations like a little boy on the other side of a “Peep Show” stand blowing a dart through a straw towards the cornea of a business man wanting a thrill.

The tales from the House are the perfect collection to read to the kiddies or ones suffering from horror nostalgia, but for horror aficionados, this is better left on the shelf.

The next volume, Showcase Presents: House of Secrets Vol. 2 will feature issues #99-119 and also promises 500 pages of on-the-edge-of-your-seat-tales.

Happy Halloween from Collected Editions!

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Review: Secret Six: Unhinged trade paperback (DC Comics)

[This review comes from Collected Editions contributor Derek Roper]

When we last left the Six, they were in tatters in Birds of Prey. Knockout had been killed in the events leading up to Final Crisis, Harley Quinn left because it got too dangerous, and the rest were imprisoned on a planet in Salvation Run. What was a group of mercenaries to do? Get an ongoing series, that’s what.

Catman, Deadshot, Scandal, and Ragdoll return to the House of Secrets in Secret Six: Unhinged (collects issues #1-7). But they are not alone: a certain A-List Batman villain, Bane, and a wealthy casino owner, Jeanette, join the group as they try to deliver a package that has every villain in the DC Universe -- and some heroes -- scrambling after them.

Simone once said that the plan was to have a Secret Six and Catman revolving miniseries but in the end the monthly is what we got. This gives her plenty of room to flesh out the characters and give them the long story arcs that are set up in this trade.
 The plot begins when brothers Aaron and Tig escort a very nervous man down to a basement in a gay bar called the Bear Trap. The man has lost something that belongs to the mysterious crime boss Junior. Junior sits in the basement in a trunk with nothing but a rotary phone and a notepad, and with that little apparently runs all the West Coast action and gives direction to the 100 and Intergang.

I must detour for a moment and say how scary this “Junior” is. The only glimpse we see are two black hands with long fingers. There is something about an unseen villain that strikes fear in characters and readers alike. The buildup is very horror movie-ish, reminiscent of M. Night Shyamalan’s The Village, where one can just imagine how horrible it is going to be when the creature is unmasked. But unlike the buildup of The Village, Unhinged does not disappoint. The reveal on page 120 is so startling that it makes one wish someone would have prepared them.

OK, back to the plot. The Six are hired by a mysterious client (that pays in advance cash smelling of herring) to bust Tarantula Catalina Flores (of Nightwing fame) out of Alcatraz prison and escort her across the country to the eastern seaboard city of Gotham; along with Ms. Flores they have to stop and get a small card that was very precious to Junior. That is where the mayhem breaks out and the blood starts flying.
 A group of villains led by Cheshire and Lady Vic go after the item in question and manage to create some horrific moments. The best was a nod to the classic horror movies when the group goes to the house where the card is located and get surprised by Cheetah, who has such a serial killer presence it makes one glad that Bane is on the team—even if he does get smashed into a wall.


It was nice to see that the Origins and Omens story was included. It was rumored the upcoming volume DC Universe: Origins was going to house that material but it is nice to see them being collected with their respected story arcs. This O-and-O story was essential to the plot of the book because it gives background on who hired the Six.

Simone has a proclivity for character dialogue and each rogue has a unique voice, from Deadshot's colloquial “Go on, Killer. But do me a solid,” to Jeanette’s elitist “You look a proper shock.” Equally, Simone’s humor is dark and twisted. After the fight-fest on the Gotham Bridge, Jeanette had broken the top and bottom of King Shark’s mouth. She then proceeds to tell him “Why not send the silly little fish-man to swim about and find her?” To which the bandaged and wounded shark replies “Hmmf! Eye Ainff Noo Fiffmanff! Eye a Fark!” It is there that Simone shows how well she can poke fun at some of the most absurd characters of the DC Universe.

The art in Unhinged is superb. Nicola Scott’s introduction to the Six began during her tenure on the now cancelled Birds of Prey. Scott has a very good grasp on characters’ emotions. In the Secret Six: Six Degrees of Devastation trade, the art by Brad Walker wasn’t so clean. A lot of the lines that made up a characters' faces ran together and it was hard to tell if it was a wound or a frown line. The background art in this trade is so clean and crisp. The Gotham City skyline in issue two was absolutely breathtaking and shows that Scott has an eye for depth and scale.

However, I do have a quibble with one of the plot points in the story. Since the Six had to go to Alcatraz, they knew they had to keep the world’s greatest detective at bay. Catman confronts Batman to not only occupy him but to let him know that he is a force to be reckoned with. They fight each other and Catman manages to get a good shot. Batman has trained with Lady Shiva and trained Nightwing and Barbara Gordon and yet Catman gets a good shot at Batman? It makes sense that he has the gusto to fight the Bat, but Catman ought not stand a chance.

I also felt the ending was a bit of a bust in that characters that deserved some longevity were seemingly killed. Hopefully, since DC is a fan of characters coming back from the dead, said characters shouldn’t have too much of a wait. One of the Six walks away with Junior’s item and it will be interesting to see how it plays out in future collections.

Secret Six has always been a wild ride, from their days in Villains United to now. One never knows who is going to live and who is going to die, but they will be promised the three F’s; Filth, Fun, and Fiends.

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