Review: Secret Six Vol. 2- The Gauntlet

Quick Summary

Pros: Both of this volume’s story arcs are exciting and hold interest all the way through. The characters continue to be amazing and this volume gives them moments to shine even brighter. The artwork continues to perfectly complement this series.

Cons: The conclusions to both story arcs are a bit disappointing.

Overall: Once again, Secret Six manages to embrace the weird and look good while doing so. This volume combines compelling narratives with simply amazing characters to create a book that succeeds in most regards. There are a few places where the story stumbles but none of these problems are significant enough to take away from the volume’s high points. Readers interested in a series that is good in a weird way should read this comic.

Story

Secret Six Vol. 2: The Gauntlet, by Gail Simone, continues many of the positive attributes of its predecessor. It has a compelling story, great characters, and enough creativity to help it stand out as something unique. Admittedly, there are some additional troubles when it comes to the way stories conclude. However, with the characters truly driving forward interest, it is very easy to look past these flaws. I ended up really enjoying this volume and am sad to see that there is not more of this fantastic series.

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The Gauntlet starts out with an arc that has the entire DC magical community attempting to neutralize Black Alice, who’s power presents a threat to the entire world. Right off the bat, this makes for a great concept, as it allows a ton of great magical characters to get involved and it sets the stakes at an exciting level. It also allows the Secret Six to take on missions that are dangerous and give them a chance to show their unique skills and abilities.  

The only problem is the conclusion to this arc. One page has Black Alice acting as a villain while an ancient and powerful horror is on the verge of being released. Two pages later neither of these threats are an issue. It is a light ending that doesn’t really live up to the high-stakes nature of the story preceding it. 

The second half of The Gauntlet has the League of Assassins attempting to recruit Strix and the Secret Six opposing this recruitment. Once again, this is a great premise that opens plenty of opportunities for the team to shine. As the conclusion for the series, it also, specifically, opens up opportunities for characters to truly prove themselves as heroes, like when Strix faces down her captors despite being in clear danger.

The only problem here is that the Ventriloquist’s betrayal comes out of nowhere. It feels like a cheap way to introduce a spicy twist into this mix, rather than something earned.

Once again though, the main draw in this series is the characters. Watching the team’s wacky attempt to play basketball and minigolf, witnessing Ralph’s happiness over reuniting with his wife, and seeing Strix accept her place in this new family all make for amazing moments. I ended up enjoying some of these characters more in these two volumes than I’ve enjoyed other characters over the course of a seven volume series. It is clear Gail Simone has a real talent for writing characters and it is noticeable throughout this book. 

(spoilers end here)

Art

In our review of the previous volume, we talked about how wonderfully the art style in this series works with the story being told. The artwork in The Gauntlet is no different. Dale Eaglesham and Tom Derenick create a book with visuals that can jump from being silly and over-the-top to being serious and action-packed. It allows the crazy events taking place here to take on whatever tone is required, which helps a lot in conveying the proper mood. It also helps that both artists are able to bring great structures and levels of detail into the mix, giving a nice layer of polish on top of already impressive work. All in all, it really feels like they picked the right artists for this job.

Continuity

Secret Six Vol. 2: The Gauntlet continues the story started in Secret Six Vol. 1: Friends in Low Places (Review). 

The Secret Six series ends with this volume. Currently, the story here does not continue in any specific comic.

This volume also references other comic books, detailed below:

• Aquaman’s conflict with Mera is detailed across Aquaman Vol. 7: Exiled (Review).
• Most of Strix’s backstory is explained in Batgirl #9, collected in Batgirl Vol. 2: Knightfall Descends (Review).
• Batgirl’s outfit change occurred in Batgirl Vol. 1: Batgirl of Burnside (Review).
• Batgirl’s “bad blood” with Ventriloquist is told in Batgirl #20-21, collected in Batgirl Vol. 4: Wanted (Review).