The DC Comics title you may not be reading but SHOULD be...

If you are a fan of comic books and prefer stories that generally end in high body counts and feature morally gray characters, then you are or SHOULD BE reading Gail Simone's incarnation of Secret Six which is published monthly from DC comics.

I will admit that I only recently added this title to my pull-list with the most current arc but have been hooked ever since. Secret Six's main cast of characters is made up mainly of villains and antiheroes who have plagued some of DC'smore prominent do-gooders for years. One could, more or less, consider them freelance-for-hire. They tend to get their hands dirty (and bloddy) while undertaking missions of dubious moral quality. After reading the Salvation Run miniseries and enjoying it quite a bit, I was glad to see a handful of these characters pop up in this title.

Secret Six is currently in the very capable hands of Gail Simone, who also pens Wonder Woman. Judging from the short time I have been reading Secret Six and with a bit of prior knowledge that I have of the characters, is is clear to me that she has a fantastic grasp on what makes these alleged lowlifes tick.

The current roster is made up of some fairly well-known characters as well as some newer ones. Catman and Deadshot have been stirring up trouble in the DC Universe for quite some time as members of The Secret Society of Super-Villains and The Suicide Squad, respectively. The lady-loving Scandal Savage (daughter of Vandal Savage) and the sexually ambiguous Ragdoll add some queer flavor to the lineup. Beefcake musclebear, Bane (most famous for breaking Batman's back in Knightfall during the 90s) provides a physical powerhouse for the team. Jeannette is a brand new character created by Gail Simone and artist, Nicola Scott. Up until recently, very little was known about her other than the fact that she had a penchant for Victorian-era garb. In issue #12, after assisting in the jailbreak of the Amazon, Artemis, Jeannette revealed that she was the victim of a botched execution/shoddy beheading that resulted in her death and subsequent resurrection as a banshee (yes, of Celtic myth).

As stated earlier, Gail Simone is the current writer for Wonder Woman whose title character has had a cameo in the current storyline in Secret Six. I want to thank Gail for that fact because without Wonder Woman's presence, we wouldn't have been treated to the following panels featuring Ragdoll taking an active interest in the iconic hero's wardrobe.

NECROSHA: Selene's Cabal Revealed

For those of you who have been following Matt Fraction’s Utopia storyline in the pages of Dark Avengers and Uncanny X-Men these last few months, you were recently treated to a short preview of the upcoming storyline Necrosha which is being penned by comic book geniuses (at least in this reader’s opinion) Craig Kyle and Christopher Yost. Their main storyline will commence with a one-shot in October and will then continue in the pages of X-Force while also spilling out into sister “X” titles New Mutants and X-Men: Legacy.

For those of you unfamiliar with the Necrosha storyline, here it is in a nutshell. Selene, one of the oldest mutants on record (perhaps only rivaled by Apocalypse), with the help of Eli Bard, an estranged sycophant from ancient Roman times, is raising an undead army of deceased mutants via the Techno-Organic Virus. Said army will be striking at the core of those who would oppose Selene’s ascension to godhood… namely the X-Men.

Caliban...

...and Cypher...

...have been shown to already be or soon be part of Selene’s zombie force with speculations that Wallflower will soon be joining their ranks.

With that said, we have been kept in the dark as to who is part of Selene’s LIVING inner-circle… until now. Back in the final few panels of X-Force #11, we were given a tease as to who may be part of Selene’s troupe of lackeys…

… and as you can see, it left plenty to speculation.

The final pages of the Exodus one-shot that hit the shelves on September 10th, showed us just who was lurking in the shadows in that panel.

It was no surprise that we see both Eli Bard and Wither still in Selene’s employ. Wither became the object of Selene’s cougar desires back in New X-Men #32 which was also the same issue that began setting the stage for Selene’s eventual rise to power.

Kyle/Yost’s love for “D-List” and obscure characters is shown in the other members of Selene’s cabal. Senyaka, who was last seen facing off against Deadpool on Cable’s decimated island nation of Providence, is also among the macabre group of denizens that Selene has rounded up.

Completing Selene’s right-hand henchmen, are the original Blink and Lois London. The character of Blink that is seen here is not to be confused with the Age of Apocalypse version which has been running around in the pages of Exiles the past few years. She is actually the character who was believed to have perished at the conclusion of The Phalanx Covenant. Needless to say she is clearly harboring a grudge against those who left her for dead at the end of that arc. Dazzler’s half-sister, Lois London, has become somewhat of a cult icon on the CBR Forums and after roughly twenty years in comic book limbo, it should prove interesting to see what she has up her sleeve. Clearly, it won’t be anything as epic as the scene below from Dazzler #27…

To close out this post, I give you a glimpse of Clayton Crain’s preview art for Necrosha…