Secret Six #24
John Wilson on the issue!
From one 70's mainstay to another, The Six have left the House of Secrets and have fallen, headlong, into Weird Western Tales. In what has to be part Sergio Leone nightmare and part the most unlikely Elsewhere ever, The Six are re-imagined into a dusty Western town as characters that are them but not them. Deadshot is Floyd Lawton, feared bounty hunter very much in the Jonah Hex ideal, but despite his narcissism, crude nature and innate arrogance, still manages to work on the side of the angels. Scandal, apparently channeling the Western heroine Cinnamon, is the newly appointed sheriff of this bleak town, having gotten the job after the rapid murders of the previous sheriffs and Cat-Man is a near feral trapper who only comes to town today to avenge a wrong done to him. The rest of the Six is present as well. Bane is Scandal's loyal Native American deputy who is reputedly a very bad shot, Jeanette is the most favored of the town's "business ladies" and Bombshell is alive (briefly) as the rifle toting sharpshooter of Scandal's posse. Most prominent of the Six is Ragdoll, who through Punch and Judy puppets that strongly resemble the Joker and Harley Quinn, a wooden Comedy/Drama mask and his own stitched and disfigured face, serves the tri-purposes of participant, narrator and Greek chorus/commentator on the action around him.
The story behind the Six's Western adventure touches on several points of their history and revolves around Merkel's sister, the killer of the previous sheriffs and many others is coming to destroy the town and take the half ownership of the family silver mine from her tender hearted, child entertaining puppeteer of a brother. Scandal and crew seek to stop the town's destruction and Lawton simply has the unfortunate luck of bringing his recent bounty, brought in dead, through the town and dallying with the Lady Jeanette in the tub (she insisted he bathe) for a little too long. Even the bad guy's side is not without familiar faces. Ragdoll's sister may be dressed in the finest pink dress complete with parasol, but she is every bit as hideous as her mainstream counterpart and the leader of her mob is none other than Slade Wilson, complete with gaping hole where his right eye should be. The battle is ferocious with Scandal suffering repeated shots and arrow wounds and the cosmically unlucky Bombshell receiving a shot to the head very early on. Slade challenges Lawton to pick up the fallen sheriff's star so that he can test his reputed prowess but shots the unarmed Lawton in both hands. Lawton repays the kindness but throwing the star and blinding Slade's other eye and Bane, having been held back before, breaks Slade's spine over his knee, until he too is shot repeatedly. Catman is the last to fall, saying that he wishes this time, they could have been heroes which elicits a laugh from the cruel Merkel sister. Everyone save Ragdoll appears to be dead or dying by the stories close and the town is aflame. What the final outcome will be will have to wait for the doubtlessly oversized 25 th issue.
The thing that really struck me about this issue is the sheer graphicness of it. The violence is palpable when Cat-Man reaps bloody vengeance on the men who stole his pelts and is positively over the top throughout the battle where every wound is accompanied by an arching gush of blood that hangs off of every participant at the end like a paintball battle done with Heinz Ketchup. Even Lawton and Jeanette bathtub lovemaking scene was surprisingly graphic for a mainstream comic. As was the seemingly constant need for Jeanette to adjust her bustier. I was by no means offended by any of this, but for a DC book, even one that tends to push the envelope like the Secret Six often does, it was a bit over the top.
All said, it was definitely a different and strangely enjoyable look at the Six in a new light. I'm not saying I would want a whole series like this (especially when it appears everyone is dead already) but it was a fun ride on a wild bronco while it lasted.
Take A Look Inside
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The Official Word From DC Comics
Secret Six #24
Written by GAIL SIMONE - Art by J. CALAFIORE - Cover by DANIEL LUVISI
DC Universe - 32pg. - Color - $2.99 US
In a small, corrupt mining boom-town, six remarkable strangers who hate each other band together in a bloody last stand against an army set on destroying them all!
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