Endings

Of all the things I will miss about this version of the DCU I think I will miss Secret Six most of all.

There was something sadistically charming about that series -- and by extension the characters therein. Gail Simone and her collaborators should be commended for creating something fresh and different in an environment where all too often writers and artist go with the easy or safe thing.

The violence in Secret Six never seemed gratuitous to me, either. Sure, it was seriously violent. But it just felt like it had to be. These were violent, messed up people. But they were still people, and we got to see that even super-villains are human beings too (unless, of course, they are shark-men).

But for me the most remarkable thing was the strange journey of Bane. Indeed, in some ways this volume of Secret Six is Bane's story as much as anyone's. He joined the Six in issue one and the last issue ended with him destroying it.

I'd like to say that I'm looking forward to where Bane goes from here. But I can't say that, as I have no idea if Bane is going anywhere. I don't know what his place will be in the new DCU you. I hope he'll find a place -- and he hope he finds his kingdom.

Pants

It seems that after a brief flirtation with pants on Wonder Woman DC has decided against it. It's kind of sad, actually. I'd really started to like the pants.

Now I'm not one to say that Wonder Woman wearing the swimsuit style costume is a bad thing. But I do think trousers on the woman was a good thing. If DC was looking to make her appear more "modern" and "hip" the pants did that.

Then again, the decision to not use the long pants may come from screaming from certain segments of the fan base. I can't say who these people might be, but I can only assume that they are male and receive the majority of their female companionship from Wonder Woman comics.

Okay, that might be taking it a step too far. But really, the pants looked good. I liked them, and for the life of my I can't figure out why they decided to backpedal on that particular costume change. Does it have to do with the JMS Wonder Woman storyline? Because I'm pretty sure that's going to stay out of continuity...

The End of Aquaman

Let's try and get this thing going again, shall we?

Try not to be too surprised by the title of this post. I don't mean the end of Aquaman. I mean the end of "Aquaman." The end of the popular conception of him as a dork, a loser, and a joke. Because that's what I think is coming.

You've probably already seen the first few pages of Aquaman #1. Say what you will about Geoff Johns, but he does a pretty good job in those four pages of dispensing with a number of the popular misconceptions about Aquaman.

From the very beginning it's set up that people don't take Aquaman seriously -- the cops and the criminals both treat him as a joke. He's a guy who talks to fish! What can he possibly do in land?

And we get to see what he can do. We see Aquaman quickly and efficiently deal with the bad guys and show everyone that he's not someone to be trifled with. We're shown that Aquaman is a force to be reckoned with. And I assume we're off to the races.

We'll have to wait for the actual full comic to find out if Geoff Johns does as good of a job of rehabilitating Aquaman's reputation as he has with Hal Jordan's. Personally, I think things are looking good.