The DC Universe is full of optimistic characters like Superman, Wonder Woman and Nightwing, but what about characters we see as irredeemable? Is there ever an opportunity for villains to make things right, or at least do the right thing every once in a while?
This is the question at the heart of Gail Simone and Nicola Scott’s Secret Six from 2008. While Simone first reinvented the Silver Age team with an eye for humor and antiheroics in 2005, this second Simone-scripted Secret Six series (yikes, try saying THAT five times fast!) boasts a new reader friendly story and an all-female core creative team, making it a perfect read for Women’s History Month. You can find the first fourteen issues compiled and collected in Secret Six: Money for Murder.
The Premise:
This iteration of the Secret Six is led by Scandal Savage (the daughter of the villainous Vandal Savage), and is comprised of Catman, Deadshot, Rag Doll, Bane and a very old banshee named Jeannette. Unlike the Suicide Squad, the Secret Six are an autonomous group of villains, though I don’t doubt that Amanda Waller would want to draft a few of them onto Task Force X at some point. They work more like mercenaries, accepting missions that pay well. The hook of Secret Six isn’t necessarily what the team does, but how they interact with each other as they do it.
In the grand tradition of some of DC’s most beloved teams, the Secret Six are incredibly dysfunctional. Deadshot is a chain smoker who lacks self-awareness, Scandal Savage has a drinking problem, Catman isn’t sure if he wants to atone for the sins of his past quite yet, Rag Doll overshares details about his personal life like it’s nobody’s business (which it is), and Bane thinks that Scandal Savage is missing a strong father figure in her life. They’re not bad people per se, they’re just not good people. At least not yet.
Let’s Talk Talent:
Writer Gail Simone and artist Nicola Scott are a legendary duo. Much like Marv Wolfman and George Pérez’s New Teen Titans, Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely’s All-Star Superman, and Denny O’Neil and Neal Adams’ Green Lantern/Green Arrow, there is a cohesive energy to Simone and Scott’s Secret Six that elevates the reading experience of the book. Simone is beloved for her runs on Batgirl, Wonder Woman and Birds of Prey. As a writer, she excels in creating character relationships that feel lived-in and balancing a playful tone with zany story beats alongside serious examinations of heavier topics.
Scott’s artwork brings a sense of gravitas and physicality to each character, no matter how minor. This was game changing at the time for Catman, who had long been disregarded as a joke character. Under Scott’s pencil, Catman was reinvented as a dangerous hunk. Previously, Scott collaborated with Simone as the artist on Birds of Prey. Most recently, she served as the artist on the first arc of Titans with writer Tom Taylor.
A Few Reasons to Read:
- Rag Doll is an endlessly funny character. He seems to lack an understanding of the physical danger he is in most of the time, which makes his offbeat comments all the more amusing.
- The team features a few of DC’s queer characters, like Catman, Scandal Savage and Jeannette. While this isn’t the focus of the book per se, it’s a joy to see multiple queer characters sharing a book together.
- Bane is a very sweet gentle giant in this book. For instance, when the team steals an ice cream truck as their getaway car, Bane notices that Scandal Savage is “morose,” and hands her a carton of ice cream that he saved for her. While Simone’s writing doesn’t let you forget that this is the same character who broke Batman’s back, it’s delightful to see another side to Bane.
- Catman and Batman fight each other on a rooftop in Gotham. At the climax of the fight, Batman tells Catman that he ate a burrito earlier that day. That is precisely all the context you need to know, because this book is full of hilarious moments like that.
Why It’s Worth Your Time:
Secret Six: Money for Murder is satisfying because it is a self-contained story with vibrant characters and a self-reflective spirit. Instead of constantly threatening its characters with being killed off, it explores the reasons for why they want to keep on living. This is not an element you see often in a story about villains.
As irreverent as Secret Six is, the moments of genuine care between its characters are incredibly sweet. It goes to show that while the general public, and the superhero community at large, may find these villains irredeemable, there’s still a lot that each of them has to offer. In effect, Secret Six captures what it’s like living in the margins of the DC Universe, and it’s a perspective that remains unique all these years later.
Secret Six: Money for Murder by Gail Simone, Nicola Scott, Doug Hazlewood and Javier Pina is available in print, digital and on DC UNIVERSE INFINITE.
Jules Chin Greene writes about comics for DC.com, and his work can also be found at Nerdist, Popverse and Multiverse of Color. You can follow him on Twitter and Bluesky at @JulesChinGreene.
NOTE: The views and opinions expressed in this feature are solely those of Jules Chin Greene and do not necessarily reflect those of DC or Warner Bros. Discovery, nor should they be read as confirmation or denial of future DC plans.
