"Privileged to Spill Her Blood"
Writer: Gail Simone
Artists: Val Semeiks (p), Prentis Rollins (i)
Publisher: DC Comics
Plot: The Secret Six are subjected to torture at the hands of the Crime Doctor who has been tasked to discover the identity of the mysterious Mockingbird. The good doctor is surprisingly good at his job, as several members of the Six are starting to crack under the pressure. However Catman continues to emerge as the cool character in this miniseries as he effects an escape, and after freeing the others, Catman joins them in carrying out their revenge upon their captors.
Comments: The halfway point of a miniseries seems like a rather unusual spot to flesh out the central characters, but Gail Simone does such a good job of it that I can't be overly critical of this issue's rest stop quality. I'm getting a little worried though that Gail Simone is trying a little too hard to make Catman into the coolest character to come out of the DCU. While part of this is the Deadshot fan in me wanting Lawton to be the character that'll inspire the readers to start requesting a monthly series, the simple fact of the matter is that the book is starting to feel a little too weighted toward presenting Catman as the coolest cat in the room. For me, it's starting to bounce back against the character. Still if Gail Simone is able to pull it back a little and dish out the fanboy pleasing moments a little more evenly among the six characters, than I'll be left without a single thing to whine about, as this is a very enjoyable bit of work. In fact, if nothing else this issue shows why Gail Simone is quickly moving her way up my favourite writers list. She's quite adept at fleshing out the characters she's given to play with. There's a wonderful little exchange in this issue where the characters are busy discussing what Mockingbird has done to secure their loyalty, and by the end all the characters have managed to gain an engaging element that I can latch on to. I also rather enjoy the little moments where Gail Simone reminds readers that she knows these characters, from Cheshire's anger when she tries to hide her weakness from the others, to the awkwardness of Deadshot as he makes an attempt at thanking Catman. Plus, you know a writer is doing something right when she can make super-villains playing Monopoly into a very funny running gag.
It's never a good thing when a miniseries suddenly switches artist teams, and this time out doesn't really prove to be the exception to the rule. While Val Semeiks does a perfectly capable job on this issue, the work doesn't quite match the level of detail that Dale Eaglesham brought to his issues. The art also weakly conveys the unsettling quality of the Crime Doctor's less than kind attentions, as the expressions never quite get beyond the wide eyed expressions of terror. Still, the art does a solid job on a couple key character moments, as there's a lovely little sequence where Cheshire is pulled out of her depression when Catman starts asking questions about the collars that they're wearing around their necks. Catman's feral qualities are also well conveyed by the art during the scene where the character makes his escape. And any book that offers up a cover by J.G. Jones will earn itself a gold star in my book as he's yet to produce a cover that didn't leave me impressed.
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