ACW #623 – Secret Six

Action Comics Weekly #623 (Secret Six)
“Standard Allowable Abductions”
Writer – Martin Pasko
Pencils – Frank Springer
Inks – Frank McLaughlin
Colors – Carl Gafford
Letters – Albert DeGuzman
Editor – Robert Greenberger


It’s Secret Six day… and, believe it or not, we’re not even halfway through this stint.  Considering we’re still technically dealing with everything we’d read in the initial (overlong) stint… this one is really starting to show its age.


Hopefully this chapter signals an upturn… let’s find out together.


—

Picking up where we left off, LaDonna and Steve have just been surrounded by some armed folks inside Crandall Stadium at Jefferson University.  LaDonna has radioed to the rest of the Six for assistance… and does something rather ingenious.  She surrenders her piece, however, before doing so… triggered it to blow!  I can’t believe I’ve never seen that done before!

The explosion result in a literal “moving of the goal posts”… actually impaling one of their armed pursuers!  That’s far more gory a scene than I was expecting to see.  LaDonna dives for their gun and picks off a few more of the baddies.

Then… a car pulls it, and if I’m not mistaken… the Hunter S. Thompson-looking guy gets out.  I thought he died a few weeks ago?  Oh well.  Either way, he demands LaDonna and Steve get into his car.  For whatever reason, they comply.  Maybe they really wanna meet Mr. Fenedy?  As they leave the scene, the Secret Six VTOL approaches.  During the ride, “Hunter” notices LaDonna’s Signal Watch… and comments that he’d confiscated one just like it a few days prior.

Speaking of which, we shift scenes to check back in with Tony and his hitchhike-hostage.  They stash her car in a parking garage, and flirt/fight about their next move.  It’s here we learn that Shelley is a fashion model… because, of course she is.

We jump back to the previous scene, and the Sixers has followed LaDonna’s signal to her ever-changing location.  The VTOL sets down in the car’s path… and LaDonna is able to wrestle her way to freedom.  Steve tries to flee, but Luke is able to convince him (at gun-point) to hop on board.

We wrap up in Tony and Shelley’s motel room… and, naturally… they do it.  Stockholm Syndrome is a helluva thing.

—

Not gonna lie… the fatigue is real with this Secret Six feature.


This isn’t bad… but, c’mon, how many more twists are we gonna get before we put this one to bed?  There’s something to the law of diminishing returns with this.  I’m more and more underwhelmed with every twist, turn, and reveal.


I really thought Hunter Thompson-dude died in pursuit of Tony several chapters back.  I mean, he drove off a bridge, didn’t he?  Maybe Fenedy has an army of dudes who look like that?!  I don’t know… and, unfortunately, this late in the game I really don’t care.  I just want a resolution… and, unfortunately, we ain’t getting one for like two months.


The Shelley and Tony scenes were pretty baffling… and are written in such a way where there’s this odd familiarity between them.  I keep feeling like there’s something to their relationship that I’ve been missing this whole time.  The fact that they hop into bed at the first opportunity doesn’t really help matters.  Oh well.  Next week promises to be “Tony’s Story”… maybe that’ll shed some light on this.


Overall… this feature really needs to step it up.


Tomorrow: From the mouths of babes