Villains United (Classic Review)

Originally released in 2005.

Writer: Gail Simone

Artists: Dale Eaglesham and Val Semeiks

Publisher: DC Comics

Collects: Villains United #1-6

Back during DC's Event story Infinite Crisis they released four tie-ins that added extra backstory or angles to the overall plot. Villains United explored the formation of Lex Luthor's "Secret Society" and their "scrappy underdog" counterparts (and adversaries), the Secret Six.

The anti-villain characters of Scandal, Deadshot, Catman, Ragdoll, Cheshire and Parademon would prove to be so popular a team dynamic that, with a few minor changes to the ever-fluctuating roster, they eventually got their own ongoing series out of it.

But Villains United is where it all started. With the Secret Society recruiting pretty much every supervillain in the DC Universe into its ranks, the Six were formed by the mysterious Mockingbird to uncover the Society's true purpose. Six villains who were either too insignificant or too proud to join the Society, but were swiftly transformed into some of the most intriguing characters in the DC pantheon.

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD!

The main focus of the plot is the Six trying to uncover the Society's scheme, further elaborated on in Infinite Crisis -- and, indeed, the revelation that Luthor is an impostor and his true intentions were both quite shocking at the time -- but the real brilliance here is in the characters.

With Scandal and Ragdoll, Gail Simone has created two new legacies (although Scandal's father isn't mentioned until later; yet another rewarding surprise), and with Catman and Deadshot she has completely fleshed out two C-listers, very dramatically in Catman's case. Cheshire and Parademon, however, are removed by the end, having served their purposes as traitor and pawn sacrifice respectively.

But all of these individuals feels very unique and deep, each with their own motivations and chequered pasts. Even Cheshire, who is devilishly amoral, and Parademon, who provides hearty laughs, never feel like dead weight, even when one knows the outcome. As for the core members of the Six -- headstrong leader Scandal, morally-troubled Catman, cold-hearted Deadshot, and crazy comedian Ragdoll -- we are left wanting more from both their pasts and futures. Thank God for that ongoing.

Eaglesham's art is suitably sexy, and although it seems somewhat chaotic here at times, it makes up for it with clear-cut designs. Fill-in artist Val Semeiks is slightly grittier and more simplistic with layouts, but it is barely noticeable with just one issue. And the splash-pages of the one zillion villains who appear in this story are very exciting to behold and not overused in context.

Villains United would probably have made an exciting story on its own, but I for one am glad that the Secret Six got their own spin-off, as Simone and Eaglesham created (or adapted) some damned interesting characters with this oppurtunity.

Rating: 3/5