Secret Six: The Reptile Brain (Review)

Writers: Gail Simone and Paul Cornell

Artists: J. Calafiore and Pete Woods

Publisher: DC Comics

Collects: Secret Six #25-29; Action Comics #896

Despite numerous brushes with the larger DC Universe, Secret Six has always felt like an indie book to me. Following a team of C-list villains (and Bane), it's violent, crude, sexy, and lots of other things that would make Superman blush. Being slightly off the rails has made it a thrill to read; with unpredictable storylines and captivating characters, it's one of the hottest mainstream series out there right now.

Which is why I was a teeny-tiny bit disappointed with The Reptile Brain.

With the team split in two, we get some fun new additions from the bottom of DC's collective rogues gallery. Every one of them gets the Gail Simone treatment; elevating them from "villain-of-the-weeks" into blank canvasses ripe for masterpiece. She makes King Shark disturbingly hilarious, and you just know something bad is gonna happen to Dwarfstar from his attitude.

Superman: The Black Ring, Volume One (Review)

Writer: Paul Cornell

Artist: Pete Woods, et al

Publisher: DC Comics
Collects: Action Comics #890-895

There was a time when it was a treat to see characters from different series together. When seeing Green Lantern fight the Joker, or Batman fight Sinestro would have thrilled and delighted in idea alone. But such things are taken for granted now. The bad guys team up every year, and nobody sticks to the confines of their own territory for long. We seek other thrills now.

It seemed like such simple wonders were behind us, and naught but shadows of a "less sophisticated" time.

And then a terribly entertaining Englishman called Paul Cornell swam the channel between Marvel and DC, and between past and present, to bring us The Black Ring.