ACW #605 – Secret Six
Action Comics Weekly #605 (Secret Six)
“If That Mockingbird Don’t Sing…”
Writer – Martin Pasko
Art – Dan Spiegle
Letters – Carrie Spiegle
Colors – Carl Gafford
Editor – Dick Giordano
Alright, who’s ready to end this nonsense with TechnoDyne? I’m pretty sure I am… so, let’s put it to bed!
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We open atop the TechnoDyne Building, where Mitch and Vic found that hidden helicopter… and, unfortunately, where the TechnoDyne Brass found Mitch and Vic. While they’re being held up, they ask for some information about the Orsonville Acid Rain. Back at the Enchanted Forest, our Bert Convy-looking pal, Rafael is visited by a pair of officers who bring with them news most unfortunate. Ya see, I’m not sure if this has been made clear yet, but Rafael’s last name is di Rienzi… he’s the son of original Sixer, Carlo di Rienzi, who, along with his teammates, appear to have perished in that crash from a few chapters back.
After the officers leave, Rafael is called into another room by a strange voice… the voice… of Mockingbird! The Boyd taunts him a little bit, and hints that Rafael is in his debt. Ya see, he really ought to be wheelchair bound… and he’s only walking upright due to a medication Mockingbird provides.
Back at TechnoDyne, the Sixers trigger an explosive charge they’d hooked up to the rigging prior to being discovered. In the distraction, Vic and Mitch climb into the TechnoDyne Cropduster. Hopefully one of ’em knows how to pilot the thing!
Back at the Enchanted Forest, Mockingbird and Rafael argue some more… with the former referring to the latter as a “non-operative”. Mockingbird basically tells him to keep his nose out of the “Secret Biz”.
Back to TechnoDyne… again. Mitch and Vic manage to get the ‘duster airborne… just as a fella called Lichtfield hops onto the landing gear. Lucky for the good guys, that the Secret Six’s aircraft is nearby waiting to extract ’em. Poor Mr. Lichtfield goes down in a blaze of glory… well, a blaze anyway.
We hop to our next scene, which features young Elvis Brockman delivering an address trying to pitch TechnoDyne’s all-new “impenetrite”. As he speaks, however, footage of him coming clean to Clarence the Handyman the night before plays on a nearby monitor. Whoops.
With TechnoDyne’s reputation in the toilet, li’l Elvis is nyoinked away from the podium by a pair of dudes.
We wrap up with Rafael opening a wall safe. Inside, is a package… with instructions that it is to be opened in the event of Carlo’s death.
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Nice tidy little ending to the TechnoDyne “saga”… with just enough of a cliffhanger to nudge us into the next stage of this arc. I’ve got my fingers crossed that we’re done with TechnoDyne, anyway… just don’t see what more we could do with ’em.
But, everything came together, which I dug… and several of our Secret Sixers got to flex a bit of muscle throughout this story… even if I feel like the nonsense with the crop duster was a bit unnecessary. I think that was just to give us a little bit of “action” this time out.
My biggest takeaway here is… Rafael di Rienzi (I should probably start calling him by his real name now, eh?) is referred to by Mockingbird as a “non-operative”, and yet, da Boyd has “gifted” him with some handicap-negating means… just like he did with the Six actual operatives. Begs the question… why?
Why would Mockingbird a) Help Carlo’s kid, and b) not just enlist Rafael in the new team? Interesting stuff here… and I’m really looking forward to finding out. Really neat stuff here.
Tomorrow: Blackhawk… in chains?
