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sarknado's review
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
count_zero's review
4.0
Very well written and entertaining book, though there is one thing about the McGuffin that caught my attention, but which nobody brought up.
[spoiler]So, the McGuffin is a Get-out-of-Hell Free Card. Literally. So, you've gotten out of Hell. That doesn't mean they'll let you into Heaven. If you have a Catholic view of the afterlife, then you may still be okay, as you get to do time in Purgatory until you have balanced the proverbial scales. However, if you're taking a Protestant, Purgatory-free view of the afterlife, then you're boned, because that means if you're lucky your soul will be forced to wander the earth for all eternity until something disperses it. If you're unlucky, your soul will be dispersed into the void.
Worse, if any of the villains going after this card have loved ones, if their loved ones are also in The Business, there's a distinct chance that their loved one is going to Hell too. This means that they will also be separated for all eternity. Even if one goes to Heaven and the other goes to Hell, I'd say it's a safe bet that Heaven wouldn't be that fun if you don't have your main squeeze murderous thug to share it with. And that doesn't even get into kids.
Honestly, the only two DC Villains who I could say would really benefit from this card, off the top of my head, would be Cheshire (because of Arsenal and Lian) or Cluemaster (because of Stephanie Brown).[/spoiler]
[spoiler]So, the McGuffin is a Get-out-of-Hell Free Card. Literally. So, you've gotten out of Hell. That doesn't mean they'll let you into Heaven. If you have a Catholic view of the afterlife, then you may still be okay, as you get to do time in Purgatory until you have balanced the proverbial scales. However, if you're taking a Protestant, Purgatory-free view of the afterlife, then you're boned, because that means if you're lucky your soul will be forced to wander the earth for all eternity until something disperses it. If you're unlucky, your soul will be dispersed into the void.
Worse, if any of the villains going after this card have loved ones, if their loved ones are also in The Business, there's a distinct chance that their loved one is going to Hell too. This means that they will also be separated for all eternity. Even if one goes to Heaven and the other goes to Hell, I'd say it's a safe bet that Heaven wouldn't be that fun if you don't have your main squeeze murderous thug to share it with. And that doesn't even get into kids.
Honestly, the only two DC Villains who I could say would really benefit from this card, off the top of my head, would be Cheshire (because of Arsenal and Lian) or Cluemaster (because of Stephanie Brown).[/spoiler]
pmileham's review
3.0
This was better than what I have come to expect from a superhero series. I don't think it was revolutionary in any way, but above average. I may continue reading if I find more volumes at the library.
unwise_samwise's review
adventurous
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Body horror, Torture, and Fire/Fire injury
ari_odinson's review
4.0
Gail Simone has been a personal favorite writer of mine for quite awhile. Her work for Birds of Prey is fantastic. As always, she does a great job at building relationships between friends, which is seldom forgotten by a handful of writers. Simone does not fail at this talent with the Secret Six. It is impressive that nobody manages to steal the spotlight in Secret Six: Unhinged because all characters are treated as equal. Each one is as interesting as the next.
Unhinged picks up the actions of the Secret Six after their appearance in Villains United. The book begins with introducing a mysterious villain called Junior who calls one of his henchmen into an office. He poses the question: They die or you die. By "they" Junior refers to the man's family. When the man chooses his family, he's murdered before the plot moves along to introduce all the characters of the Secret Six starting with Deadshot and Catman. (Deadshot being originally introduced as a Batman villain and Catman another Batman foe.) But it all begins with Catman questioning whether he should be a villain and if there will be ever a chance to make up for all the bad in his past.
The rest of the cast of characters are introduced at Scandal Savage's birthday party. She is still mourning the loss of her recently deceased girlfriend. Bane (as in the Batman villain) and Ragdoll are doing their best to cheer her up until she chooses to leave so she can tell them about their next client.
Simone does an excellent job at crafting the relationships between all the characters at the start before diving into the action and the actual plot of Unhinged. According to Scandal, a new client has requested they break a woman out of Alcatraz in order to retrieve some sort of card from her. Later, the Secret Six learn that they are not alone in the search of the card. Junior has gathered an army of villains to attack the Secret Six to bring the card back no matter the costs. Later, it is revealed that the single card means all of the world to everybody on a single question alone: What if?
The card the Secret Six is supposed to retrieve and bring back to Gotham City is a "Get Out of Hell Free" card, which provokes each character with the idea that "What if it works?" and pokes at all their relationships. Already it's a challenge for all of them to get along then Scandal invites one of her friends Jeanette into the group to help aid them in their cross-country journey.
While no one character steals the spotlight, there are two relationships that are the strongest in the Secret Six. First, Catman and Deadshot. They are the first the audience meets together and throughout the time they have a fascinating way of looking out for one another. Both are villains who are blood thirsty and both know that they are going to hell. Catman is unable to escape his past while Deadshot lives in the present. Not once does Deadshot ever seem to care about the rest of the world yet he has moments where his dialogue strengthens his friendship with Catman. It comes to the point where he even watches out for his friend while he is sleeping.
As great as their relationship is and builds throughout the events, the highlight for me of the series is Bane's character development through his relationship with Scandal Savage. Bane was originally introduced in Batman and will always be known as the man who broke Batman's back. He cannot stop hyper focusing on the one event. Yet Scandal develops him into a deeper character who has a softer side. There is a lot more to his character than the one originally introduced in Batman. He claims that Scandal Savage in a sense is his daughter and he watches out for her. Since Scandal is lost in her depression, he worries about her constantly and offers her pieces of advice or even ice cream.
Scandal in return loves and cares for Bane. It takes her awhile to understand him, but once she does the two are able to bring the Secret Six together. They in a sense are an anchor that holds the events of Unhinged and the team together all at once.
Without a doubt, the ending left me wanting for more but it left me wanting more of Scandal Savage, Catman, Bane, Deadshot, Jeanette and Ragdoll. I don't care what the other plot arcs are about. Gail Simone does an excellent job at building their characters and relationships that it draws the reader in and makes them want more after each issue.
Unhinged picks up the actions of the Secret Six after their appearance in Villains United. The book begins with introducing a mysterious villain called Junior who calls one of his henchmen into an office. He poses the question: They die or you die. By "they" Junior refers to the man's family. When the man chooses his family, he's murdered before the plot moves along to introduce all the characters of the Secret Six starting with Deadshot and Catman. (Deadshot being originally introduced as a Batman villain and Catman another Batman foe.) But it all begins with Catman questioning whether he should be a villain and if there will be ever a chance to make up for all the bad in his past.
The rest of the cast of characters are introduced at Scandal Savage's birthday party. She is still mourning the loss of her recently deceased girlfriend. Bane (as in the Batman villain) and Ragdoll are doing their best to cheer her up until she chooses to leave so she can tell them about their next client.
Simone does an excellent job at crafting the relationships between all the characters at the start before diving into the action and the actual plot of Unhinged. According to Scandal, a new client has requested they break a woman out of Alcatraz in order to retrieve some sort of card from her. Later, the Secret Six learn that they are not alone in the search of the card. Junior has gathered an army of villains to attack the Secret Six to bring the card back no matter the costs. Later, it is revealed that the single card means all of the world to everybody on a single question alone: What if?
The card the Secret Six is supposed to retrieve and bring back to Gotham City is a "Get Out of Hell Free" card, which provokes each character with the idea that "What if it works?" and pokes at all their relationships. Already it's a challenge for all of them to get along then Scandal invites one of her friends Jeanette into the group to help aid them in their cross-country journey.
While no one character steals the spotlight, there are two relationships that are the strongest in the Secret Six. First, Catman and Deadshot. They are the first the audience meets together and throughout the time they have a fascinating way of looking out for one another. Both are villains who are blood thirsty and both know that they are going to hell. Catman is unable to escape his past while Deadshot lives in the present. Not once does Deadshot ever seem to care about the rest of the world yet he has moments where his dialogue strengthens his friendship with Catman. It comes to the point where he even watches out for his friend while he is sleeping.
As great as their relationship is and builds throughout the events, the highlight for me of the series is Bane's character development through his relationship with Scandal Savage. Bane was originally introduced in Batman and will always be known as the man who broke Batman's back. He cannot stop hyper focusing on the one event. Yet Scandal develops him into a deeper character who has a softer side. There is a lot more to his character than the one originally introduced in Batman. He claims that Scandal Savage in a sense is his daughter and he watches out for her. Since Scandal is lost in her depression, he worries about her constantly and offers her pieces of advice or even ice cream.
Scandal in return loves and cares for Bane. It takes her awhile to understand him, but once she does the two are able to bring the Secret Six together. They in a sense are an anchor that holds the events of Unhinged and the team together all at once.
Without a doubt, the ending left me wanting for more but it left me wanting more of Scandal Savage, Catman, Bane, Deadshot, Jeanette and Ragdoll. I don't care what the other plot arcs are about. Gail Simone does an excellent job at building their characters and relationships that it draws the reader in and makes them want more after each issue.
noysh's review
4.0
This was a fun read and an extremely clever story. This was a great foot to start the new series on. I really like the way you see how a group of criminals can form a bond that allows them to operate together and operate well.
mykhe's review
4.0
Amazing! Villains as "normal people", well-written, a fair treatment of LGBTQ issues, and I even like the artwork (hard thing to do.) I'm hoping that 1) SPL has all of the books in the series and 2) the quality continues. I can see where this was named a best comic run of the decade.