Review: Secret Six Vol. 1- Friends in Low Places

Quick Summary

Pros: The main storyline is exciting and fun. The characters are all amazing and their interactions together are charming. The unique characters, adult humor, and LGBTQ+ inclusion help the book stand out in a positive way.

Cons: A transition from one part of the story to another is handled poorly.

Overall: This is a weird book in the best way possible. It has a compelling story that successfully combines pulse-pounding tension and over-the-top fun. This story also stars characters that bring more humor to the mix, while never straying to far from a wholesome, human element. The entire adventure stands out as something unique and different. This is a solid book that is not afraid of embracing the weird side of comics, which is sure to appeal to plenty of readers.

Story

Secret Six Vol. 1: Friends in Low Places, by Gail Simone, is a wild ride with a delightfully weird group of characters. The volume starts out with some thrilling suspense, cuts to some humor and fun, and then brings it all back together for an awesome conclusion. Along the way, readers are treated to the charming antics of the main characters, who end up providing laughs (through some adult-oriented humor) and stealing hearts. This is not necessarily a normal, mainstream comic book but that is not necessarily a bad thing, as the book is entertaining from beginning to end.

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Friends in Low Places centers around an unlikely team forced to defend themselves from a criminal mastermind. The opening chapters have them trapped in a cell underwater, a pressure cooker-style situation that could easily work in any thriller film. Then, the team takes refuge in suburbia, where their activities are still full of action but have more humor and ridiculousness to them. Finally, the volume’s conclusion puts them face to face with their criminal tormentor, giving the collection an emotional conclusion. The entire journey is entertaining and the variations in story structure keep it interesting.

The only place the collection stumbles is in transitioning the team into suburbia. One minute the team is simply running for their lives, while the next they are preventing a robbery at a local museum. Some justification behind this switch would have been helpful at this point.

Outside of the story, the biggest positive in Friends in Low Places comes from the characters. This is an outrageous group of “heroes” who are all different from each other and all different from mainstream comic heroes. When Strix acts with childlike wonder in one scene and extreme violence in another, the juxtaposition is perfect for comedy. A similar but much stranger charm can be found in the Ventriloquist, whose antics are so ridiculous that they end up being funny.

The way the characters interact with one another makes them even better. Big Shot ends up being a father figure for Black Alice, which leads to a number of touching moments. Catman forms a similar relationship with Strix, allowing her to feel like she belongs and express herself as a human. In the end, this team ends up being a strangely charming family, who’s adventures I’m looking forward to reading more about.

Friends in Low Places also does a tremendous job in differentiating itself from the rest of DC’s comic offerings. It places a unique focus on adult-oriented humor, as the book is packed with risqué jokes that would not be found in another DC book. It also places a unique focus on LGBTQ+ characters, with several existing throughout this book. All of this helps make the “outcast” motif surrounding the Secret Six work better while also ensuring that this book stands out from the pack. 

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Art

The artwork throughout Friends in Low Places looks good and is a perfect complement to the story. The book’s opening chapters are dark and tense; they deal with serious concepts and potentially deadly situations. For these chapters, Ken Lashley presents a gruff and moody take on the characters and locations. It allows the book to look as grim as the story makes it feel.

Then, as the comic progresses, the chapters become more lighthearted and fun. At this point, artwork from Dale Eaglesham and Tom Derenick accurately reflects this change in tone. They present exaggerated takes on the characters in order to allow the humor to come across as silly, rather than being too firmly grounded in reality. Plus, their work still allows the comic’s action scenes to work out well. Friends in Low Places has artwork that makes it a more enjoyable reading experience. 

Continuity

Secret Six Vol. 1: Friends in Low Places starts the Secret Six New 52 series. Though there were previous incarnations of the Secret Six, this is the first volume in a brand new continuity, so there are not references to previous versions of the team.

The story started here is continued in Secret Six Vol. 2: The Gauntlet. 

This volume also references other comic books, detailed below:

• Strix was originally introduced in Batgirl #9, collected in Batgirl Vol. 2: Knightfall Descends (Review). She became a hero across Batgirl Annual #1 and Birds of Prey #15, collected in Birds of Prey Vol. 3: A Clash of Daggers (Review). She stayed with the Birds of Prey for the duration of the Birds of Prey series, see our “Birds of Prey Reading Order” for more information.