Who Says They're All Bad

Villains United 1-6 (2005)
DC Comics
Gail Simone, writer
Dale Eaglesham, Wade Von Grawbadger, Val Semeiks and Prentis Rollins, artists

I was reading a comic recently when my wife asked me what I was reading. Her interest in my collection is usually not very high, so I was trying to keep my answer brief for her benefit. I simply replied, "Just reading a miniseries before I list it to sell."

"I'm sorry your book's not very good," was her immediate, genuine reply.

I was a bit surprised by that assumption and quickly asked, "You know I'm not selling things because I think they weren't good, right?"

Sure, every now and then I'll come across a comic that just isn't to my liking for one reason or another. That's bound to happen from time to time. But the biggest reason for this sell-off is one of space. I'm selling a lot of comics that I very much enjoyed the first time around, and often even through subsequent readings. But some of the good stuff has to go in order to get my collection down to the space we can spare for it now that we have a child.

This limited series is one of those good ones I would definitely keep if space wasn't limited because it is beautifully illustrated and wonderfully written. It is rich in characterization and tells a gripping narrative. It also happens to be the series I was reading when the above exchange between my wife and I occurred.

Villains United was one of four six-issue limited series in 2005 exploring various aspects of the larger DC Universe leading up to Infinite Crisis in 2006. Villains United focuses on the creation of a version of the Secret Society, but rather than being a finite group of a dozen or so villains banded together in a common cause as in the past, this Secret Society is Lex Luthor, Black Adam, Talia al Ghul, Deathstroke, the Calculator and Doctor Psycho uniting all villains under their control.

All that is except for six — Deadshot, Catman, Chesire, the second Rag Doll, Scandal Savage and a displaced Parademon from Apokolips — who decline to "get with the program." These six — dubbed the Secret Six — are still villains, but they choose not to pledge fealty to Luthor and the others. The name Secret Six seems odd for them in this first outing as their identities as the holdouts from the Society are hardly a secret. And these six chose not to follow the orders of the Society, but begrudgingly follow orders from someone they know only by the pseudonym "Mockingbird." Despite those basic contradictions, this story works as heroes and villains alike pursue the Secret Six. Readers quickly found themselves rooting for this motley collection of rogues as they fight to stay alive, stay free and continue to quarrel and fight amongst themselves.

In fact, the team proved so popular, they got a second six-issue series, The Secret Six, in 2006 and ultimately an ongoing, also named The Secret Six, which ran for 36 issues beginning in 2008. There were a few changes in membership for the Secret Six during this time with a few members leaving due to betrayal or death. Along the way, the Mad Hatter, Knockout, Harley Quinn and Bane were some of the various replacements, some staying for a while and others departing rather quickly after showing up. The ongoing series was still quite popular at the time of its cancellation in 2011 to make way for the restructuring that resulted in the New 52.

For those of you interested in comics history, just as there have been several incarnations of the Secret Society in DCU continuity, this 2005 series was not the first for a Secret Six led by a mysterious figure known only as Mockingbird. The name and concept were first used in 1968 with the debut of The Secret Six No. 1. Creators E. Nelson Bridwell and Frank Springer told stories of six covert operatives, each with a different special talent, operating under the command of an unidentified figure they knew only by his codename — Mockingbird. The title lasted for seven issues stretched out across one year and has two characteristics which are rare among comics then and now. The cover of the May 1968 The Secret Six No. 1 is also the first panel of the story continuing on inside the comic, and the series ended without revealing to the characters or the readers the real identity of Mockingbird.

The Secret Six concept was updated in the 1980s as one of the rotating features in the anthology title Action Comics Weekly. Martin Pasko, the writer, and Springer and Dan Spiegle, the artists, brought back the same six operatives, once again assembled by Mockingbird, who is early on revealed to be one of the six. Early on in this new mission, the original six members all die and are replaced by six new operatives and a new Mockingbird. This incarnation of The Secret Six logged two story arcs in Action Comics Weekly Nos. 601-612 and 619-630, all in 1988.

When I first learned of the original Secret Six comic at the height of the 2005 and 2006 series' popularity, I sought out those issues to see how different they were from the modern incarnation. I haven't taken time to read those seven issues yet, but I did read at least portions of the Action Comics Weekly version when they were new. I don't remember being much impressed with that segment of Action Comics Weekly at the time, but I didn't know the past or future history of the title then, either. I'm just as curious to revisit the 1988 stories as I am to finally read the 1968 ones at some point.

No matter what I ultimately end up thinking of those two earlier incarnations of the Secret Six concept, I was a big fan of the modern villains version of the team. And I'm a little sad to part with these issues. They aren't going up on my site to sell because they are poorly done comics or because I didn't like them. Like a great many other titles I'm selling, these were fun at the time, and I'm glad I got to read and enjoy them. I just don't have room to keep all of the comics I've read and enjoyed over nearly 40 years of reading them.