Villains United is the third spinoff from DC Countdown, and the first one I've reviewed, because it's the first one that engendered a reaction in me other than "It's what I expected, and at this point I don't really care." Simone's portrait of a supervillain community at war with themselves is intriguing, however, featuring some surprising stars (the Parademon from Total Justice?), some terrific character interpretations (wait until you see what they've done with Catman) and, as I expect from anything tying into all this Infinite Crisis hullabaloo, one or two things that just pissed me off. A comic for the villains can get away with more darkness than one for the heroes, though, at least from my point of view, and while Villains United is a far cry from the stellar work that Simone has been doing on Birds of Prey for my tastes, it's a compelling first issue.
OK, gripes first, just to get them out of the way. My biggest complaint about everything spinning out of Identity Crisis and now on into Infinite Crisis has been this weird choice on DC's part to neuter their heroes' effectiveness or betray their principles. Villains United is based on one of those betrayals, that the villains have to ally in order to stave off more mind-wiping, which is yet another reason why the heroes wouldn't have been stupid, careless or amoral enough to do it. It's part of the fundamental premise, but it's relatively easy to ignore in reading this issue. Less easy to ignore is the decision to make the Outsiders look like a bunch of chumps by unnecessarily revealing a threat to Cheshire's foster daughter in order to motivate her. Leaving aside that it makes the Outsiders look remarkably incapable, it's also basically threatening the life of a little girl who has already been kidnapped and possibly tortured in another shock value story by Judd Winick in the pages of Outsiders, and it's the kind of thing that I'm weary of, as well as the kind of cheap writing trick that I'm surprised Simone would use.
Those gripes aside, Simone generally has a pretty good story here of villains choosing up sides and chafing against the need to organize, which is really the kind of thing they became supervillains to avoid. Simone and Eaglesham really convey the power and poise of the sextet of villains who organize this new society of villains, and Simone's trademark humor is also evident, albeit in a darker vein, in Professor Psycho's dialogue. While the raising of this new secret society is part of the story, however, the bulk of the first issue is given to setting up their opposition in the supervillain community, a Suicide Squad-like team using the obscure continuity name of the Secret Six.
Simeone's choices for the Secret Six are as unusual as the leaders of the other villains are conventional. Deadshot is an obvious choice, given that he's one of DC's coolest villains, and Cheshire is also somewhat obvious, given that Simone has a good handle on her as shown in the "Sensei & Student" arc on Birds of Prey. The surprises come in the choice of some of the more obscure members, however. The new Ragdoll is an intriguing character, his name related to the homicidal villain from Starman but his look and powers somewhat different. The Parademon with a personality (named after Usenetter Mike Chary) is a truly bizarre choice, his only prior appearance being in the Total Justice miniseries written by Priest that promoted a long-defunct toy line, but Simone makes this choice work as well, with his strangely naive, Apokolips-formed morality providing some fun dialogue. It is the newest recruit of the Secret Six, however, that really makes Villains United interesting. Simone takes one of the most laughable villains in the DC Universe and gives him a Morrison-style animal rights makeover. Where the character goes from here remains to be seen, but this new presence and power is a good start.
In terms of art, Villains United is an exceptional effort from hit and miss penciller Dale Eaglesham. Eaglesham has always been at least solid, but when he's on the right project, he's A-list caliber, and clearly Villains United is that kind of project for him. His redesign of Catman as a guy in torn jungle explorer clothes could easily have gone wrong, but instead it's a perfect visual cue for the character's personality revamp. His take on Psycho has just the right elements of scary and almost comedically short and twisted. His Deadshot carries just the right bored, deadly attitude. His Cheshire likewise always looks dangerous and poised for trouble, even when she's not moving. These subtleties of character design and pose are a big part of what makes Eaglesham's work shine, although fundamentals like a terrific action scene with the Secret Six in the Amazon are certainly impressive as well. 7/10
