Part two of the Secret Six ongoing series kicks off more as a backstory for Catman. It begins with what seems to be a captured Catman by some unknown men and them torturing him. Then it jumps back to the main story where all the characters are still trapped.
The whole purpose of the second story is basically all the characters are debating in who should be sacrificed in order for the rest to survive. As they all argue, time starts to run out. They all turn on each other but somehow they all find a way to escape. Once on the outside, they realizes that they’re in the middle of the ocean and fight there way out. That unknown voice from the beginning starts to speak to them in which Catman replies that whoever they are, they’ll find them. Down the Rabbit Hole has an interesting title. That title is very famous for the Alice in Wonderland fantasy novel. From what I’ve got, it means that once you go down the rabbit hole, there is not turning back. That’s exactly what all the strangers do. They each risk their own lives to come together and reach the surface. They had reached the point of no return. The title could also refer to Catman’s background story. As I mentioned, Catman’s story is told in flashbacks and he’s being held captive. The title could also refer to his captivity in a dark abyss with no clue of who is doing this to him. During the flashback he gets enough strength after hearing the voice of a women who helped him being tortured and escapes. As he escapes he says “No hole will be deep enough” which instantly refers back to the title. This same situation works with him in the present while being stuck underwater with complete strangers. Even though they are deep underwater, no cage or cell can keep him down. He’ll always rise up and fight his way out. It’s easily to say that this group of super powered individuals are not meant to be good guys but they’re also not meant to be bad guys. From the beginning of the story in #1, the reader gets empathy for the characters. The artist depicts from as dark characters by the way they are colored however as the story progresses, the reader starts to notice that these individuals are simply outcasts in their world. In the end when they have all escaped, Catman speaks to the voice and says, “You made a mistake however you are. You should have found some nicer people to screw with. We’re not the good guys. We’re not the Justice Dorks” which is funny because here they are making fun of this prestigious organization that helps people but yet he criticizes himself by stating that they are the bad guys. The writers made sure that these “bad guys” had enough sympathy for them so that the reader can easily cheer them on as they escape the underwater cage and fight the men with guns. These characters are “bad” in a way but not as bad and corrupt as the Comedian in Watchmen. These particular sets of characters are no Justice League as Catman mentioned but rather more of the Justice League Dark. The artists drew great characters so as to confuse the reader in whether they are good or evil. Speaking of art. This comic series is well drawn and planned out. From the painting to the panels. First of all, the colors of the characters and the setting give it a dark tone. It’s definitely no walk in the park or a copy of any Marvel comic. The coloring of the characters is very detailed and distinctive to their personality. The comic has a very blue theme to it because blue can often represent confidence, faith, truth or loyalty, which plays out perfect in this story. Catman had to trust all these strangers with his life in order to escape. Each one of these strangers had to show their faith in one another in order to escape and survive. Whereas in the flashback scenes of Catman, the colors are either red or orange, which often symbolize fire, blood, energy and strength. I thought this color worked out perfectly because every time they showed Catman’s flashback, he was being dragged, resisting, fighting or had an angry expression. In all this comic series was fun and entertaining. I couldn’t get #3 because DC Comics pulled out all their comics for this huge event they’re having but I’m glad I was able to read this series and I would recommend them to everybody. I have chosen to read and analyze The Secret Six. To give a brief background, the story focuses on Six unknown figures who randomly wake up in an underground prison by a mysterious force. As they soon discover who they are and what they’re capable of, a mysterious voice commands them to solve “The Secret” and if they don’t then one of them has to die. With that being said, they all rebel and work together and eventually end up breaking out and fighting their way through countless armed guards while the mysterious voice commands them to proceed with the experiment. The main character in which the story revolves around Mr. Blake aka Catman and his finals word to the mysterious voice is to “come and get us”. Right away, what catches my attention was the art style of this comic. It’s very purplish and orange. The speech bubbles seem to break the panels and take up some of the other panels. Once the story gets to the part of them being in an underground prison, the colors turn to more of a blueish color but for a good reason. Turns out they were kept in an underwater prison in the shape of a coffin to mark their deaths. What I got from this first comic was that the overall theme was death. But it wasn’t just death but how far would you go to survive? Would you kill someone you barely met? Or would you sacrifice your own self to save the lives of others? This theme reminded me when we discussed about the motives of the Joker in the Dark Knight film. The Joker tries to prove a point when the two quarries are on the river and neither one of them blows each other up. The same thematic style is in this comic. The mysterious voice over the intercom tries to get all six to decide which one should die in order for the rest to live. This theme seems to always make a comeback in films and comics and in anywhere where there’s a story to be told. Hunting humans is the ultimate sport and that’s what this comic seems to be going towards. The other interesting note that I made was that these are all super-powered individuals who have nothing in common and have never met. They don’t wear a costume or fight crime. It’s actually this mysterious voice that gives them their masks. So in a way they are being created to be a super-team. Much like Suicide Squad or Justice League. Even the cover of the first issue has some interesting meaning behind it as you can see below. The cover gives some insight of what's to come. The cover appears to be like a chess game. Which is what The Six of them are to this mysterious voice. The mysterious voice owns the Six of them and they are pretty much its pawns. The mysterious voice moves them wherever it feels like and can decide the fate of anyone of them.
The first issue basically sums up the Six characters and who they are and what powers they posses. It isn't until the second issue that you start to really know the back story on one of them. More is to come!!!!!!! |