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Less shitty OP the [Secret Six] thread: "It's pretty much suicide squad"
Wishpig
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Allright, allright. People didn't like the OP, and I'll admit, maybe I made a shitty one (I'm far from perfect!). A great series deserves a OP that doesn't annoy fans. So I'll take responsibility and fix it up! Retcon time!
And Secret Six time!
The Secret Six explained to those who don't know!
Who are the secret six? Well, in one sentence, they are a group of supervillian mercenaries made awesome under Gail Simone's fantastic writing. During Infinity Crisis (or right before, don't quite remember) Lex Luthor was going around recruiting supervillians to his cause. A few B-list and C-list villians somehow had the balls to rebel. Thus they found themselves in a deadly situation of being wanted dead or imprisoned by pretty much everyone. They were then recruited (aka blackmailed) by a mysterious figure... who forced them to take a stand against Lex Luthor's forces. Thus the new secret six was formed!
Who are the players?
Deadshot: He's a LONG time batman foe, and arguably the most popular of the cast. He's a smart ass, he's a dick, he's more than a bit insane (not deadpool insane though, homicidal insane), he has an awesome mustache, and he's a deadshot. Out of the entire crew he tends to be the most "evil"or at least has the lowest morality of the bunch. For the right price he'll put a bullet in about anything. Yet despite all this, Gail Simone writes him wonderfully, somehow getting you to love this piece of scum.
Catman: Many people (who haven't read the comic) mockingly call him a Batman wannabe. Those who have read the comic would agree, BUT, wouldn't mock the concept. There are many copycat characters out there, Lobos if you will, but Catman is a great character in the sense writers embrace this! It's pathetic, but it makes him about as realistic as a man dressed as a Cat killing people can get. He is constantly struggling with his darker instincts with his inner desire to be the good guy. He is proof there are no bad characters, only bad writers! EDIT: I realised the above mini-comic and my summary doesn't quite get across his darker side. Make no mistake, like the rest of the cast he has done some fucked up stuff.
Scandal Savage: Now gay comic book characters are a gimmick more often then not. Especially when it comes to smoking hot lesbians. She is one of the few gay characters who seem utterly legit, and her romances in the novel are all brilliantly done. She is the daughter of the villainous Vandal Savage, his true heir (although hardly his only offspring). Her father has brutalized her time and time again, a domineering force always attempting to mold her into a tool. Scandal is a little rebel though, and has gone off to do her own thing. Though a "villian," she is a far better person than her father could ever hope to be. On a team where loyalty can bought, she is always the quickest to stand by her friends. She has the uncanny ability to heal herself... not to the extent of Wolverine... but a knife to the gut or a bullet to the chest will only slow her down.
Ragdoll: Picture almost says it all! Born son of the original Ragdoll, he was the only sibling too not possess his father's super bendy body. He received a torturous childhood because of such... hated by father and brother and sister alike. Later in life he underwent surgery after surgery, slicing himself up so as to be as disturbingly flexible as his father, and now he is, almost. He's also insane. VERY insane. He's got an incredibly childlike personality and the reader will shed many tears of laughter at his disturbing innocence.
Bane: The man that broke the bat! He's an A-list batman villain whose slipped from awesome to mah over the years. Gail has brought him back to life and maybe better then ever. He uses super serum to go all Hulk over his enemies. Or rather, he used to. He has since gotten off of the juice and has kept his addiction at bay. In replace of his beserker rage, he is now almost at peace with himself. He is often portrayed as calm, strategic, and collected... only rarely breaking his cool. He has a relationship with Scandal. A very odd relationship. It's hard to tell quite how he sees her. Does he love her or does he see himself as a father figure? Probably both. Whatever the case, the two are close. Probably the closest two members of the crew... at least up until issue #24. Haven't read to #28 yet.
Jeanette: Honestly, I had NO IDEA who this was going into the comic, and I had a blast slowly learning. I can't think of a way to describe her without taking the fun away from new readers either!
Where do I start reading?
Start with Villians United.
http://www.amazon.com/Villains-United-Countdown-Infinite-Crisis/dp/140120838X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1292698970&sr=8-1
This is where it all began. From there read the trades.
Lastly
Get these comics, read these comics, pass it on! The secret six have the ability to take the comic book world by storm and the writer deserves all the credit in the world for writing one of the most consistently awesome series around.
And apologies for my first OP. Didn't do the comics justice at all.
And Secret Six time!
The Secret Six explained to those who don't know!
Who are the secret six? Well, in one sentence, they are a group of supervillian mercenaries made awesome under Gail Simone's fantastic writing. During Infinity Crisis (or right before, don't quite remember) Lex Luthor was going around recruiting supervillians to his cause. A few B-list and C-list villians somehow had the balls to rebel. Thus they found themselves in a deadly situation of being wanted dead or imprisoned by pretty much everyone. They were then recruited (aka blackmailed) by a mysterious figure... who forced them to take a stand against Lex Luthor's forces. Thus the new secret six was formed!
Who are the players?
Deadshot: He's a LONG time batman foe, and arguably the most popular of the cast. He's a smart ass, he's a dick, he's more than a bit insane (not deadpool insane though, homicidal insane), he has an awesome mustache, and he's a deadshot. Out of the entire crew he tends to be the most "evil"or at least has the lowest morality of the bunch. For the right price he'll put a bullet in about anything. Yet despite all this, Gail Simone writes him wonderfully, somehow getting you to love this piece of scum.
Catman: Many people (who haven't read the comic) mockingly call him a Batman wannabe. Those who have read the comic would agree, BUT, wouldn't mock the concept. There are many copycat characters out there, Lobos if you will, but Catman is a great character in the sense writers embrace this! It's pathetic, but it makes him about as realistic as a man dressed as a Cat killing people can get. He is constantly struggling with his darker instincts with his inner desire to be the good guy. He is proof there are no bad characters, only bad writers! EDIT: I realised the above mini-comic and my summary doesn't quite get across his darker side. Make no mistake, like the rest of the cast he has done some fucked up stuff.
Scandal Savage: Now gay comic book characters are a gimmick more often then not. Especially when it comes to smoking hot lesbians. She is one of the few gay characters who seem utterly legit, and her romances in the novel are all brilliantly done. She is the daughter of the villainous Vandal Savage, his true heir (although hardly his only offspring). Her father has brutalized her time and time again, a domineering force always attempting to mold her into a tool. Scandal is a little rebel though, and has gone off to do her own thing. Though a "villian," she is a far better person than her father could ever hope to be. On a team where loyalty can bought, she is always the quickest to stand by her friends. She has the uncanny ability to heal herself... not to the extent of Wolverine... but a knife to the gut or a bullet to the chest will only slow her down.
Ragdoll: Picture almost says it all! Born son of the original Ragdoll, he was the only sibling too not possess his father's super bendy body. He received a torturous childhood because of such... hated by father and brother and sister alike. Later in life he underwent surgery after surgery, slicing himself up so as to be as disturbingly flexible as his father, and now he is, almost. He's also insane. VERY insane. He's got an incredibly childlike personality and the reader will shed many tears of laughter at his disturbing innocence.
Bane: The man that broke the bat! He's an A-list batman villain whose slipped from awesome to mah over the years. Gail has brought him back to life and maybe better then ever. He uses super serum to go all Hulk over his enemies. Or rather, he used to. He has since gotten off of the juice and has kept his addiction at bay. In replace of his beserker rage, he is now almost at peace with himself. He is often portrayed as calm, strategic, and collected... only rarely breaking his cool. He has a relationship with Scandal. A very odd relationship. It's hard to tell quite how he sees her. Does he love her or does he see himself as a father figure? Probably both. Whatever the case, the two are close. Probably the closest two members of the crew... at least up until issue #24. Haven't read to #28 yet.
Jeanette: Honestly, I had NO IDEA who this was going into the comic, and I had a blast slowly learning. I can't think of a way to describe her without taking the fun away from new readers either!
Where do I start reading?
Start with Villians United.
http://www.amazon.com/Villains-United-Countdown-Infinite-Crisis/dp/140120838X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1292698970&sr=8-1
This is where it all began. From there read the trades.
Lastly
Get these comics, read these comics, pass it on! The secret six have the ability to take the comic book world by storm and the writer deserves all the credit in the world for writing one of the most consistently awesome series around.
And apologies for my first OP. Didn't do the comics justice at all.
WARNING: Picture below may cause spontaneous growth of facial hair and/or body hair.
Image by Sharpwriter on deviantart.com
Image by Sharpwriter on deviantart.com
Wishpig on
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Posts
but Secret Six is awesome
Ya, thanks for telling the truth, some were terrible. Like Sonic fanfiction bad. I heavily fixed them up. I'm using forums to distract me in-between writing my final papers... so my brain is fried from writing. It showed. Thanks again, your warning saved my dignity (what little I have.)
Bad news is it doesn't bode well for the quality of my research papers. I always have to put them off to the last fucking minute.
Image by Sharpwriter on deviantart.com
Giganta would be a welcome addition, at any rate.
https://twitter.com/Hooraydiation
I just finished #24... think I got four issues to go before I'm caught up. 23 and 24 are stand alone issues... so last I heard of the secret six they were split into two groups. Thats pretty much all I know.
Issue #24 is one of the greatest fillers in comic history imo.
Image by Sharpwriter on deviantart.com
That's been pretty much the only blip in a fantastic series though.
Well... except for the fact that this wasn't the first time they were on an even playing field. Many people see Catman as a new character. He isn't. He's been around since the 60's... and back then he could go toe to toe with bats.
Yes it was an obvious move to make Catman seem like a credible threat, but also at a same time showing he's back to being at his best. If he had never before been a threat to bats, yeah, I would say it's cheap. That just isn't the case though.
And to be fair, as other people pointed out on various other forums, there's always the chance batman didn't want to hurt him. Catman had Huntress vouching for him and Batman wanted to save him... I doubt he was in all out BREAK YOU mode, where as Catman was.
Image by Sharpwriter on deviantart.com
Edit: Oh and re-reading it now, Catman says "someday, one of us is going to kill the other". That's laughable and forced.
I don't think that line is meant to be taken seriously. I think Catman just has a lot of respect for Batman, which means he judges himself in relation to Batman. Batman is his ideal, and to live up to that ideal he has to prove himself as a rival. That explains why he picked a fight with Batman in the first place, not to mention stealing elements of Batman's look.
This also explains why he toyed with the idea of replacing Batman after RIP.
Of course, like everyone else in the Secret Six, Catman's kind of a loser. Simone's aware of this herself, which is why she never allowed Catman to live up to his heroic aspirations. While he saw himself as a noble figure, he ended up becoming a craven killer in his last major arc. Coupled with the flashbacks to his origin, Simone offered a comprehensive explanation of why he doesn't measure up to Batman.
Also, I'm not sure if you realize this, but the line itself is taken from The Killing Joke, wherein Batman tells Joker that their own feud will end with one of them killing the other. Barring a coincidence, the intent was likely to juxtapose the imagined rivalry between Catman and Batman against the actual rivalry between Joker and Batman. While Joker and Batman are joined together by all-consuming obsession, Catman just wants some credit from the coolest guy on the scene. The contrast between the two pairings shows just how futile Catman's hope really is.
And yeah, I guess the similarity between the lines could be a coincidence, but it's hard to imagine BoP's writer and Women in Fridge's founder not being extremely familiar with the book that crippled Oracle.
https://twitter.com/Hooraydiation
Ya this guy gets him! Fantastic post! Some people see him as a forced loser wannabe version of Batman... one that kills. Well that's exactly right! That's what makes him so great. There is this underlying love/hate relationship with batman (one sided of course). There's obviously a large part of Catman that wishes he was batman. Unlike so many other wannabe characters, Gail actually embraces this pathetic side of Blake.
But I do disagree with you on two thing Robos...
The first is Catman doesn't see himself as a Noble hero. Before that arc one of the black lanterns explained that he fears himself. He's a very insecure figure and he's been for a while, ever since he gutted those poachers *right before the tarantula run I believe*.
The second is hope. The series is about a bunch of cold hearted evil pricks. But time and time again these "losers" defy all odds and risk their lives for their comrades out of friendship... sometimes even risking their lives for the "right" reason.
Even when it seems like a character has crossed that line, when it seems like they have no soul, there's a spark of good inside them.
Personally I do think Catman will one day redeem himself. Of course I don't see him walking away from that moment...
Image by Sharpwriter on deviantart.com
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ugh
It's cool, he made sure to note her as one of the few non-gimmick gay characters in comics
They both have names that start with Dead! Do I need to draw you a map
He's not!
Deadpool would be like Deadshot, because Floyd predates him by forty-one years
2. Ya he's like Deadpool. He's also like Bruce Willis and Lee Van Cleef. See when you say someone is like a combination of three noticeably different characters it implies they're a little bit like each. It also implies that if you like one of those characters, some of Deadshot's character traits may appeal to you. He's like Deadpool in the fact he's insane, homicidal, the comic relief, a mercenary, and a supervillian/anti-hero. He always struck me as being like Bruce Willis, if I had to pick an actor to portray him BAMN. He's like an evil John McClane. Cool headed, heavy smoker, dry wit, and balls of steel. He's like the dude from the good the bad and the ugly cause he can fucking rock a mustache.
Although people who read that and complained probably stopped right after reading deadpool to type their "WRONG WRONG WRONG! JUST THE NAMES!" post rather then reading on.
'Um side note you can be like someone even you predate them. Don't be a goose.
Oh yeah and instead of writing the snarky little...
Why don't you ask "hey wishpig, why do you think he's like deadpool cause I don't think he's like him" maybe I'll have a reason. And *shock* I do. We could have left all the dickshoes at the door.
Image by Sharpwriter on deviantart.com
Image by Sharpwriter on deviantart.com
Heh, Dickshoes.
And the original Catman/Batman fight to a standstill was mentioned in Villains United. During which both Catman and Scandal were exhibiting much stronger heroic vibes, and even Deadshot was willing to play the good guy.
Fucking brilliant! Changed! Lol I like that.
Image by Sharpwriter on deviantart.com
I mean he aint no Batman
But he is cool
I don't know how to deal with this
Maybe a mod can come in and clean it up?
Because seriously, Secret Six is probably one of the best books out right now. It has the right amount of continuity, ridiculousness, banter, and such.
No need, I made the thread, I'll take responsibility.
Image by Sharpwriter on deviantart.com
SECRET SIX:
IT'S PRETTY MUCH SUICIDE SQUAD
I love how
"Well, the Suicide Squad isn't that popular right now, but you guys will do nicely."
https://twitter.com/Hooraydiation
Damn that woman can draw
Pretty much anyone is. She was perfect on the book
thnx changed. Lol, great name btw.
Image by Sharpwriter on deviantart.com
Only thing was Nicola Scott's catman could look really damn dorky sometimes. Calafiore draws a really badass Blake. Silva was the only artist I didn't like though.
The Secret Six vs Suicide Squad fight was great! Catman and Bronze Tiger had a really Brutal match up. Loved the double KO. Honestly I wished the black lanterns didn't interfere. Of course... then some characters wouldn't have walked away.
Never really got into her character before. Only knew her through the TV show, where she just seemed like a fat useless big mouthed bitch. But those two issues made me fall in love with Amanda Waller. She kicked some major ass. Really hope she crosses paths with the Secret Six again like she suggested. A worthy foe!
Image by Sharpwriter on deviantart.com
On topic, Gail Simone does a fantastic job with this book from what I've read/hear.
I saw some people not completely in love with The Wall in this thread right now
I saw some people who are awful
I'm pretty sure saying "Suicide Squad" is the equivalent of saying "Shazam" if you want TLB to show up.
Yes you will dig it
Only it is less comedy and more action action action action
And Bane seems to just want to be the big brother to every lady on the team. The issue seemed to be more Action Comics than a Secret Six issue, and will probably show up in the Action trade rather than the SS one (Marcos Marz did a pretty good Pete Woods impersonation).