ACW #602 – Secret Six

Action Comics Weekly #602 – Secret Six
“Look What Fell Out of the Sky Today”
Writer – Martin Pasko
Art – Dan Spiegle
Letters – Carrie Spiegle
Colors – Carl Gafford
Editor – Dick Giordano

Well, we “met” the all-new Secret Six last week… but, we didn’t really “meet-meet” them, ya know?  All’s we know is that they all have some form of disability… howsabout we get a little more specific than that?


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We pick up right where we left off, with the all-new Secret Six watching Mockingbird via monitor.  It’s here that we actually get to know our new team a bit better.  Meet: Vic Sommers, Vietnam Veteran – Blind.  Mitch Hoberman, Sculpter – Rheumatoid Arthritis.  LaDonna Jameal, Soap Opera Star – Had acid thrown in her face, Mute.  Luke McKendrick, Olympic Athlete – Lost both legs during a terrorist attack.  Dr. Maria Verdugo, Mathematician – Epilepsy.  And finally… Anthony Mantegna, Pulitzer Prize winning journalist for Peephole Magazine – Deaf.

From the floor, rises a table with strange apparatuses on it.  Mockingbird tells them that these pieces are the answer to all of their problems… and they can have ’em, so long as they sign on the dotted line and join his all-new Secret Six.

We shift scenes over to the Enchanted Forest, where the original Secret Six are getting reacquainted.  It would appear that these reunions are a semi-regular thing, happening around every five or so years.  Nobody can say why they still attend these things, and only figure that it’s just because they enjoy each other’s company.  The reunion is interrupted by a message from… Mockingbird!  He reveals that he organized this whole thing so the oldies can train the newbies.  So, they’re off to San Francisco!

Meanwhile, in San Francisco, the Secret Six-cessors all try on their apparatuses… and it would appear that Mockingbird wasn’t whistling Dixie… they all work!  Mockingbird offers them a day to “try before the buy” and asks the sixsome to return with their answer the following day.

We follow Vic Sommers, the blinded Veteran back to his home.  It would appear as though his relationship with his girlfriend (wife?) is a bit strained… it seems like when Vic was presumed dead, she might’ve made an attempt to move on with her life.  At the same time, a man is chatting up several Technodyne executives… if you recall, they might have (read: definitely did) had something to do with the acid rain last issue.

The next day, we rejoin Vic who is out dining with his girlfriend/wife.  She asks him what she should tell “Gary” about them.  Vic ain’t wantin’ to hear none’a that.  He leaves the restaurant (their bill was covered by Mr. Byrd), and decides… he ain’t gonna join up with this Secret Six, and he’s just going to keep his sight-giving device anyway.  Well, not so fast kemosabe… no sooner does he decide this, than it’s lights out.  What Mockingbird gives… Mockingbird can take away.

we close out this chapter with the original Secret Six in route to San Francisco.  Wouldn’tcha know it, halfway there… the plane goes boom!  We’re getting a few “explosive” endings this week, ain’t we?

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Well, those are your new Secret Six!


Last week I kind of wrote off the Secret Six feature for having some pretty poor pacing and transitions.  This week is better, yeah, but we probably should have gotten some of this information in the opening chapter.


We mainly follow Vic Somers here… which, he seemed like he was going to become our Point of View character (no pun intended, of course), but I really haven’t formed enough of a fondness for the fella to really care about his personal life.  I mean, sure, everything that happened to him really sucks… but, I just don’t know him well enough to really invest.


Mockingbird is depicted here as a fairly creepy and controlling dude.  Offering the newbies things they couldn’t resist (things that he has complete control over the function of, to boot!), and (I assume) orchestrating the originals being wiped out.  I don’t think we can trust this guy… which might make for a pretty interesting story moving forward.


Overall, like the Wild Dog story from the other day, it feels like the foundation is being laid here for what’s to come.  So far, so good… especially since we now have names for these folks!


Tomorrow: Wrapping up #602 with Blackhawk!