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Part of the big event that got me into comics which is "Infinite Crisis" by DC Comics. I had read previously, but hadn't decided to read comics for about seven or more years. Then when this event started rolling out with all the tie-ins that built this really huge event I was excited. I was pleased to see that the event held-up to many of the standards of what I wanted it to be. As a result I started to read comic books and this was one of the best books that came out of it. Seeing these bad guys come together was interesting. It showcased what makes a villain a villain and a hero a hero. Sometimes the lines do not blur as much as you would think they would in a title such as this. Gail Simone did a beautiful job of writing these characters and creating a new little part of the DC Universe. ( )

The origin of the Secret Six, I think... This is part of the Countdown to the Infinite Crisis and boy is it the chaos before the storm. There are no 'good guys' who play any sort of actual role in the book. But, there are also many, many shades of grey in amongst the villains.

On the one side is the Secret Six, sort of an honorable group of bad-ish guys who only sometimes kill people. On the other side is The Society, a group let by Lex Luthor and Deathstroke, amongst others, who want to take down the JLA for the 'good' of the Earth.

But, honestly, I only read it to read more about Scandal Savage, Vandal Savage's daughter, and a very interesting character. ( )

As Lex Luthor unites the villains of the world into a new Secret Society, only six villains remain outside of his organization: Catman (who I remember from Green Arrow where he got eaten by an alien portal or something), Cheshire (a recurrent enemy in Birds of Prey), Ragdoll (son of the villain from Starman), Scandal (daughter of Vandal), Deadshot (I think he's a Batman villain?), and Parademon (a parademon from Apokolips). Like the old Secret Six, they're working for a mysterious Mockingbird whose true identity and agenda remain an enigma to them.

Simone, as anyone who read Birds of Prey knows, is good at writing teams, and it is in the character dynamics that this book shines. There's a lot of fun to be had in this group of people: shame about Parademon, actually, and I was surprised by the extent to which I immediately came to like Scandal. Someday, I suppose, I'll read the Secret Six spin-off and find it's as good as everyone says it is.

Where this book becomes less interesting is in the machinations that tie more directly into the impending Infinite Crisis: half of the Secret Society's leadership is actually comprised of lame villains (I am opposed to every story which tries to convince me Deathstroke the Terminator is legit, but this group throws in "Doctor Psycho" too whose power is I think being short), and then there's some stuff about Firestorm that's not really clear; I guess I am supposed to be reading his book. (I don't know why Firestorm always has a key role in these big crossovers, but it's a tradition that has roots going all the way back to 1982's "Crisis on Earth-Prime!" See also Crisis on Infinite Earths, Legends, Millennium, and Identity Crisis. He died in that last one, and he's still back for this one! I look forward to seeing him in Final Crisis.) I must admit, though, that the Mockingbird revelation is really quite neat. I wish I hadn't known about it ahead of time.

DC Comics Crises: « Previous in sequence | Next in sequence »

Some good old, over the top, comic book action and violence. ( )