Each Friday, we'll be letting a different DC.com writer share what they'll be reading over the weekend and why you might want to check it out. Here's this week's suggestion for a perfect Weekend Escape!
 

Do you love morally gray, messy heroes and villains who also happen to be queer? Well, it’s time to discover the all-new Secret Six. This is a DC Comics team the people need more of. The trade paperback collecting all six issues of the limited series is out now, and you should definitely cancel your plans this weekend and read it! What can I say? I’m a sucker for an unexpected team-up (and clearly so is writer Nicole Maines).
 

The Premise:

Following the events of Suicide Squad: Dream Team and Absolute Power, Secret Six explores the aftermath of Amanda Waller’s attempt to rid the world of metahumans. Having taken things too far, Waller is now locked up in Belle Reve with the intel in her head psychically locked away. But when she goes missing, an unexpected group of heroes and villains come together to find her before the world can realize she’s gone.

The Secret Six in this new reimagining is made up of Dreamer (Nia Nal), who was a pawn in Waller’s Suicide Squad along with Black Alice (Lori Zechlin); Superman (Jon Kent), whom Waller turned into a cyborg and forced to hunt down his father and friends; Gossamer (Jay Nakamura), whose country was taken and mother killed by Waller and her Suicide Squad (he’s pretty pissed at Dreamer and Black Alice); Deadshot (Floyd Lawton) and Catman (Thomas Blake), who now find themselves working with a bunch of highly dramatic super-teens! The intel in Waller’s head is one of the most powerful and dangerous weapons in the DC Universe. It would be a disaster if it fell into the wrong hands. Can this new Secret Six come together for the greater good…or will they all kill each other first?
 

Let’s Talk Talent:

Secret Six was written by Dreamer herself, Nicole Maines. Since playing the original character in the Supergirl TV series, Maines has gone on to write a number of comics for DC including Bad Dream: A Dreamer Story and the GLAAD Media Award-winning Suicide Squad: Dream Team. Maines knows how to pack a punch with action-packed character-driven stories. Secret Six does a fantastic job exploring the trauma that Waller caused to these characters while seeking to define what it means to be a “hero.” If you love messy, morally gray characters, Maines has you covered in this series!

Maines is joined by artists Stephen Segovia (Reign in Hell, Action Comics), Cian Tormey (The Question: All Along the Watchtower, Alan Scott: The Green Lantern) and Roger Cruz (Knight Terrors: Terror Titans), who masterfully illustrate her emotionally driven scenes and exciting action sequences. Their work is tied together by Rain Beredo’s (Batman Beyond: Neo-Gothic, The Vigil) vibrant colors. Issue #3 especially has some fun imagery and outfits. This book is stunning!
 

A Few Reasons to Read:

• Witness the fate of Amanda Waller following the events of Absolute Power. Absolute Power was insane! Amanda Waller almost permanently altered the fate of the DC Universe and she killed and hurt countless people while doing so. See what becomes of Waller in Secret Six—who possesses no intel to give her leverage or power. Will she get her memories back and continue her quest for the end of all metahumans, or will the Secret Six stop her once and for all?
   
• Are they heroes or are they villains? Characters like Dreamer, Superman and Gossamer would define themselves as heroes, but after what Amanda Waller did to them, and made them do, the lines between heroism and villainy are blurred. As is true so often, many heroes are a decision or a mistake away from being “villains,” and that’s certainly true of the three here.
   
• Who decides these things anyhow? Here’s a line that Black Alice says to Dreamer after being judged by both Jon and Jay for her decisions: “…I don’t think it’s fair to hold you to their definition of goodness when they’ve already decided we’re the bad guys.” She makes some good points!

• Casual queer representation. Casual representation is incredibly important and this superhero story just happens to have multiple LGBTQIA+ characters at its forefront. We get to see characters like Dreamer, Jon and Jay balancing romance and superheroics, while Catman and Deadshot definitely have some tension! I love these messy, queer metahumans! Seeing people like myself within DC comic books is something I’m eternally grateful for.
   
• A unique team dynamic. Superman’s son is on a team with known supervillains. Jay hates Nia for what she did when she was part of Waller’s Suicide Squad. Black Alice is certified sassy. And Catman and Deadshot have to deal with super-teen drama and their complicated past with each other. This team shouldn’t work, and because of that, their dynamic is incredible!
   

Why It’s Worth Your Time:

One of my favorite tropes in comics is the internal struggle of a hero, and this comic is chock-full of characters dealing with that. While Secret Six is action-packed and has some fun and humorous moments, I can’t help but love these angsty characters. After the events of Absolute Power, it’s exciting to see Dreamer, Jon and Jay again, this time with some unexpected teammates who create a fun dynamic and offer them an opportunity to grow and process the traumatic events they’ve been impacted by. Maines is the real deal when it comes to comic writing, and Secret Six is a powerful argument for why we should all hope there’s a lot more from her ahead. Let’s not keep it a secret any longer, Maines’ Six is absolutely sensational.
 

Secret Six by Nicole Maines, Stephen Segovia and Rain Beredo is available in bookstores, comic shops, libraries and digital retailers as a softcover graphic novel. It can also be read in full on DC UNIVERSE INFINITE.

Sami DeMonster writes about superheroes, horror and sci-fi for DC.com and reviews comics every week on social media. Follow her at @samidemonster on Instagram and Substack.

NOTE: The views and opinions expressed in this feature are solely those of Sami DeMonster and do not necessarily reflect those of DC or Warner Bros. Discovery, nor should they be read as confirmation or denial of future DC plans.