Of the four "Countdown to Infinite Crisis" limited series, Villains United was easily the most consistently accessible and entertaining, and I was pleased to see the concepts returning for a post-Crisis followup series. My pleasure is tempered by my disappointment that this is only another limited series, as I feel the concept and Gail Simone's writing carry with them the potential for a fun ongoing series. A story featuring bad guys as the protagonists always brings with it an amped-up cool factor, but what's more important is that the writer finds the time to examine who these extreme characters are without sacrificing their nastier qualities.
What was once an informal gathering of super-villains -- Cat-Man, Deadshot, Ragdoll, Scandal and Knockout -- brought together by common circumstances has evolved into an organized mercenary machine, as the group carries out dangerous and bloody work for hire around the globe. Their once successful opposition to the villainous Society has earned them some powerful enemies, and one of them -- Dr. Psycho -- is determined to get even, despite his colleagues' wishes to the contrary. As Psycho plots, Cat-Man's people disperse for some personal time while a new ally is recruited.
Brad Walker manages to bring same stark, dark tone to the book as Dale Eaglesham did for Villains United. He captures the same creepy quality in Ragdoll while conveying the tenderness of the relationship that Scandal and Knockout share. Walker's depiction of a well-known Batman villain on the closing splash page has a real impact; it's quite a different interpretation, but an eerily effective one as well. The colors that immerse the opening sequence in the North Korean prison camp is perfectly gloomy, and it really drives home the horror and despair such a place must represent. The colors brighten noticeably as the book shifts into a more traditional super-hero comic, with "good" guys versus the bad.
Simone's choice to set the opening scene in the midst of real-world evil serves as an interesting one in a book about villains. It's as though she distinguishes between the fun of super-criminals plotting against one another and the real monsters that exist outside of the funny books. It also helps to get the reader on the title team's side by putting them in a context that's far more corrupt than their world.
Part of the fun of Villains United was Simone's use of so many colorful characters from various DC heroes' rogues galleries. We don't get as many in this inaugural issue, but I'm sure we'll see more as the series progresses. Simone does an excellent job of allowing the reader to see what motivates these anti-heroes, but what really grabs one's attention is a simple mystery: who will the other new members of the Secret Six be? By the end of this issue, their ranks are down to four, and they only started out with five to begin with. 7/10
