Secret 6

The series is often hailed as a great example of Simone’s strengths in writing, dialogue, characterisation and character development. Though most characters are murderous psychopaths, which results in grim stories.

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Organization

Full Name:
Secret Six.

Purpose:
Making money.

Modus Operandi:
Scandal acts as go-between with clients, the entire team deciding on whether or not to accept a job.

Extent of operations:
Global.

Bases of Operations:
The House of Secrets.

Major Funding:
They’re mercenaries.

Known Enemies:
The Society, Cheshire, Vandal Savage, Mad Hatter.

Known allies:
None.

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Membership

Number of active members:
Seven (usually six).

Number of reserve members:
None.

Organizational structure:
Scandal organizes jobs, but otherwise things tend to be informal, unless Bane takes charge.

Known current members:
Bane, Catman, Deadshot, Jeanette, King Shark, Ragdoll III, Scandal Savage

Known former members:
Black Alice, Cheshire, Dwarfstar, Fiddler, Giganta, Harley Quinn, Knockout, Lady Vic, Mad Hatter, Parademon

Known special agents:
None.

Membership requirements:
Acceptance by the other members (usually invitation only).

History

Villains United

When The Society formed and began coercing super-villains to join their number, Lex Luthor, became aware someone pretending to be him was a member of the Society’s inner circle. As a result, Luthor adopted the codename Mockingbird. He then assembled a team of those refusing to join the Society, using various means of blackmail or bribery to gain their service.

The initial Secret Six were Scandal, Deadshot, Cheshire, Ragdoll III, Parademon, and the Fiddler. The Fiddler failed on a mission, and Mockingbird ordered Deadshot to kill him, which he did. This left a vacancy, which they recruited Catman to fill.

Their continued attacks against the Society became enough of an irritant that a trap was laid for them. Dozens of super-villains sprung from hiding, and the Six were captured. Taken to one of the Society’s facilities, they were tortured by the Crime Doctor.

After a couple of rounds of this, Catman broke free of his restraints, easily subduing the Doctor, and freeing the rest of the team. Subduing their guards, they executed the Hyena as a warning to the Society, and fled.

Relentless

Their next mission took them to Acre, in Brasil. There they discovered a Society base holding Firestorm prisoner as a power source. They handled the forces stationed there, and gained access to the Society computers. But when reinforcements arrived led by Black Adam, the Six freed Firestorm and fled while he battled the Society.

Cheshire soon betrayed the team’s base to the Society. This resulted in an attack led by Deathstroke on the House of Secrets. Deathstroke shot her anyway, as he didn’t trust her. Fighting overwhelming odds, the Six nevertheless managed to stay alive. That was partially thanks to Knockout being revealed as Scandal’s lover, and their mole in the Society.

Parademon was killed in the battle, but the other four (now five) survived, even if badly wounded. Scandal’s father, Vandal Savage, held the Society’s Lex Luthor at knifepoint to secure his daughter’s survival.

The remaining members of the Six, with Knockout joining them, decided to continue the team, without Mockingbird, whose identity had been revealed.

Six Degrees of Devastation, part 1

Catman recruited the Mad Hatter to fill the group’s vacant position. The other members then came under attack from super-powered mercenaries. Knockout was badly injured, left unconscious for a while as she recovered. Ragdoll was left hospitalized. The others escaped relatively unharmed.

They hunted down Pistolera, who’d fired the shot that had injured Knockout. The enraged Scandal tortured her for the information they needed, that Cheshire had hired Pistolera and the other mercenaries. Deadshot then executed Pistolera, so Scandal wouldn’t have to.

The trail initially led to a monastery in the Himalayas, where they found Cheshire. Blake also met his son, Thomas Jr. Learning that she was just the go-between, and due to the child’s presence, the Six left Cheshire unharmed.

When Ragdoll was healed enough, they got him away from the police watching his hospital room. But on the next mission they learned that Doctor Psycho had visited while he’d been there, and programmed him to try to kill them.

They survived, although it did make their following fight with the Doom Patrol more challenging. They only won due to the Mad Hatter taking out the Patrol almost single-handedly.

Six Degrees of Devastation, part 2

Contacted in her dreams by her father, Scandal learned he’d orchestrated the attacks, as he wanted her to produce an heir. She tried to deny him, but realised he wouldn’t stop coming after her friends.

Scandal then found Knockout sleeping with Deadshot, with the alien Knockout not understanding the betrayal in her act. Scandal seized the occasion. She pretended to be more hurt than she actually was, leaving the group and going to her father.

When the Six caught up to her at her father’s place, she took advantage of the distraction to strike at her father. The battle ended with Scandal hanging from high battlements, her father dangling from her free hand. Unwilling to drag her down with him, he let go, falling to his temporary inconvenience.

Following the fight Ragdoll secretly pushed the Mad Hatter off a high wall, deciding the Six only had room for one dandy freak.

Dead of Winter

Recruiting Harley Quinn to replace the Mad Hatter, the Six accepted a job guarding a secret weapon for Russian General Kerimov. During its unveiling at a formal ball in Azerbaijan , the weapon, a suit of Rocket Red armour, was taken by the Birds of Prey. They fled with the Six in pursuit.

Their immediate pursuit was slowed when Hawkgirl attacked, sending their car off the road. They inevitably caught up to the Birds of Prey, and a fight ensued.

It ended when they discovered the secret weapon was inside the armour. The dead Justice Leaguer, Ice, had been revived and partially brainwashed by Kerimov. The General arrived, and ordered Ice to kill both teams. Deadshot killed him before she had the chance, freeing Ice.

Oracle then sent the recording of Kerimov’s murder to the authorities, forcing the Six to make a hasty exit.

Salvation Run

Harley was dropped from the team after messing up a bodyguard job in Rio. Knockout then fell victim during the murders of the New Gods, leaving Scandal devastated.

The remaining members of the Six were among those abducted by the Suicide Squad. They were shipped with a number of other super-villains to a hostile distant planet. Deadshot was a member of the Squad at the time, but Waller double-crossed him and sent him with them.

They escaped the planet with most of the other villains, and returned to Earth.

The Card, part 1

With Bane as a new member the team accepted a job from an anonymous source to abduct the vigilante Tarantula (Catalina Flores) from Alcatraz. They then were to recover a Card she’d stolen, and take both to Gotham. Huntress called Catman to warn them off the job, and he travelled to Gotham to confront Batman over the message. While they fought the rest of the Six broke Tarantula out.

They learned the card had previously belonged to a mythic boss of organized crime on the West coast, Junior. By the time they recovered the Card they learned Junior had assembled an army of super-villains by putting a bounty of $10m on each of their heads (which later rose to $20m). As a result, they had to run a gauntlet to deliver their cargo.

They also learned the reason the Card was so valuable, after the writing on it, in Aramaic, became legible to them. It read ’Get Out of Hell Free‘. While sceptical of its authenticity, the possibility of it being real slowly began to affect them, causing division.

The Card, part 2

They stopped in Vegas to pick up their newest member, Jeanette, only to be ambushed in her casino by some of the super-villains. They escaped, but not before Junior had taken Bane captive and tortured him. Catching up in time to save him, they learned Junior was actually Ragdoll’s sister, Alex.

The divisiveness caused by the Card appeared to reach its peak when Deadshot stole the Card and Tarantula. He then took off for Gotham on his own. Howbeit, he may have done so to save the rest of the team from the squabbles possession of the Card had caused.

He met the assembled super-villains on the bridge into Gotham, just as the rest of the Six caught up to him. They learned that they’d been hired for the job by the Mad Hatter, with every intention of it getting them killed by Junior.

Junior also caught up to them. When Peter offered her a truce, she retaliated by slicing off some of his fingers with her scissors. Junior died as Tarantula grappled her amid a flurry of blasts from the super-villains she’d employed. Everyone believed one of them had the Card.

Depths

The Six were hired by a Mr. Smyth. When they arrived at his base they learned their job was to protect the super prison he was building with slave labour. This jail was a single location in which to imprison the world’s criminals. The place already held a number of Amazons who’d launched an attack on Washington.

The nature of the place again caused division among the Six. As Jeanette broke Artemis out, Scandal and Bane joining her in resistance. It didn’t stop all of them clashing with Wonder Woman when she came to free the Amazons, but Jeanette took her down for a short while before the two factions split.

Eventually they worked together to free the Amazons. Deadshot was the last to do so out of sheer irritation with the rest. The Amazons were freed, Smyth killed, and the Six again avoided getting paid for a job.

Unhappy with their lack of professionalism, Bane assumed control of the group, with Jeanette’s backing. He sidelined Scandal, which she surprisingly accepted.

Black Alice

After seeing them kidnap a serial killer for the father of one of his victims, Black Alice confronted the Six, demanding to join. While some were concerned by her youth, her power made her difficult to turn away.

Bane let her join, taking Scandal’s place.

Blackest Night

Hired to break a prisoner out of Belle Reve prison, the Six found it was a trap orchestrated by Amanda Waller (who’d secretly adopted the Mockingbird identity). She wanted Deadshot back in the Suicide Squad. While the Six and the Squad fought, Waller led another Squad to burn down the House of Secrets and try to capture Scandal.

The operation coincided with the Blackest Night, forcing the two teams to join forces against the undead forces raised by the Black Power Rings. The threat dealt with, Deadshot convinced Waller he had no intention of rejoining, and the teams parted.

Cats in the Cradle

The Six closed a partially successful (enough for them to get paid) job for an elderly millionaire, Macquarrie. However, the client then handed Catman the phone to take a call from a trio of mercenaries he’d hired to kidnap Catman’s son. They offered to keep him alive one year for every member of the Six Catman killed.

He refused, swearing to hunt them down, then hung up. Macquarrie apparently killed himself before they could do it, and Catman took off to hunt the kidnappers down alone.

Scandal, Deadshot, Ragdoll and Black Alice tried to catch up to him. Meanwhile Bane and Jeanette hired Giganta, Dwarfstar, King Shark and Lady Vic to continue the group’s jobs.

After killing the kidnappers, the trail led Catman back to the barely-alive Macquarrie. The old man admitted he’d actually taken Thomas Jr. because his mother Cheshire had been responsible for the death of Macquarrie’s wife and daughter.

Thomas Jr. still lived, and had been adopted by a loving family. Catman decided not to learn his location, and told Cheshire their son was dead.

The Reptile Brain

After completing their mission, Bane’s temporary Six were shanghaied into a job for elements of the US government by Spy-Smasher (Katarina Armstrong). They travelled through a portal to the world of Skartaris , to conquer it on behalf of the US.

The remaining Six were recruited by Tremor on behalf of another faction, via Mockingbird (Waller). They were to follow the others to Skartaris and stop them. While Bane’s group gained control of a rebellious faction, Scandal’s group allied with King Machiste.

They fought, with the expected devastation. However, seeing that their continued presence could only cause further damage, they agreed to leave. Nevertheless, Deadshot kneecapped Lady Vic and left her there, since she’d been one of the mercenaries who’d attacked him in front of his daughter when hired by Vandal Savage.

Returning to Earth, they found Amanda Waller had taken care of Spy-Smasher. Waller reluctantly gave them their pardons, with a caveat that they be willing to occasionally work for her.

King Shark stayed with the team while the other temporary members departed for various reasons.

The Darkest House

Finding the Card missing from her safe, Scandal attacked Ragdoll, seriously wounding him. While the others restrained her, Ragdoll grabbed the card from where he’d hidden it, and vanished. Black Alice’s knowledge of Hell let them follow him, but she was unwilling to return there, leaving the team as soon as she’d shown them the way.

With Etrigan as a guide, they found Ragdoll easily enough. That was only to learn he’d been made a prince, and had no desire to leave. They battled his Secret Six Hundred and Sixty Six, and learnt Ragdoll was engaged to the amnesiac Knockout.

The fight was interrupted by the arrival of Lady Blaze, ruler of Hell. She forced the Six to experience their own personal Hells. Ragdoll decided to stand with the Six, and Blaze let them leave, taking Knockout with them.

Caution to the Wind

All deeply affected by their visit to Hell, the Six proved willing to go along with Bane’s continuation of his campaign against Batman. Bane’s plan to strike at those closest to him. They began by kidnapped the Penguin, forcing him to give up his intel on their targets.

The Penguin’s security precautions transmitted their plans to their targets. So they ended up in a warehouse, surrounded by an overwhelming force of super-heroes. Desperate and unwilling to surrender, they all took Bane’s venom, and charged.

They were, unsurprisingly, beaten, and presumably taken to prison. Howbeit Bane escaped on the way, finished with the Six.

Marvel Universe History

Unhappy with the Civil War, but not yet willing to let his friends know he was alive, Hawkeye (Clint Barton) assumed his (believed to be) late wife’s identity of Mockingbird. He then organized a group of super-villains to oppose what was being done to his Thunderbolts, turning them into an army.

Following the War the Six decided to stay together after Mockingbird had finished with them, becoming mercenaries.

Recently they’ve been hired on occasion by the returned Bobbi Morse (Mockingbird) to work perform missions for her WCA (World Counter-terrorism Agency). An attraction developed between Morse (who used to be called the Huntress) and Catman, causing troubles with Hawkeye’s attempt to woo her back.

By Gareth Lewis.

Source of Character: DC Comics.

Helper(s): Frank G. Murdock, Darci, Sébastien Andrivet.

Writeup completed on the 9^th of June, 2012.