Villains United #1-6 + Infinite Crisis Special

 Villains United #1-6 + Infinite Crisis Special

Originally released in 2005

Written by Gail Simone

Art by Dale Eaglesham (#1-2, 4-6 + Special), Val Semeiks (#3)

Continuing my build-up to Infinite Crisis, I'm reading Villains United, which seems to be about the founding of a new Legion of Doom or Secret Society. Going by the cover, the main members are Lex Luthor, Talia al Ghul, Black Adam, Deathstroke, Doctor Psycho, and a character on the far right of the cover that I don't recognize. (Who looks like Kevin Spacey)

In the aftermath of Identity Crisis, seemingly every supervillain knows that the Justice League wiped the mind of Doctor Light, which prompts them to become part of a larger group in order to have protection in case something like that happens again. Calculator (the one who I thought looked like Kevin Spacey) claims that the only villains who don't join are the deranged or suicidal, though as he's making a sales pitch, it's hard to know how much truth there is to that statement.

One of the few to turn them down is Catman, who's seemingly been reinvented for this comic (Talia comments on it, saying that his new persona reminds her of a great man; I assume it's Batman, though I could be wrong)  Doctor Psycho has a rather high opinion of himself, figuring that the only time where it's acceptable if someone turns down his offer is if it's someone like Darkseid.

The Secret Society seems to be something of a bait-and-switch, as the book focuses on the formation of the Secret Six - a group of six villains (Deadshot, Scandal Savage, Ragdoll, Cheshire, a Parademon, and the Fiddler, who's quickly killed off and replaced with Catman) who are operating outside of the Society under the direction of a mysterious backer known only as Mockingbird. (part of me expects this to be the Calculator, who's playing both sides so that he always comes out on top, or Lex Luthor, as a way to covertly take out anyone in the Secret Society who might oppose his leadership)

Mockingbird threatens the villains' loved ones to keep them in line (though I'm not sure how that would work with Parademon; I'm guessing Parademon is going to be replaced before the end of the miniseries), along with offering them a reward - once the Secret Society is beaten, each of them will get a continent of their own to rule or to do with whatever they please. (Antarctica isn't included)

An attempt at stealing from a smuggling ship turns out to be a trap - Calculator bugged the Secret Six's headquarters, and in a show of force, the Secret Society sends about sixteen supervillains to take out the Secret Six, including Weather Wizard, Captain Nazi, and Killer Frost.  Displaying either nobility, overconfidence, or a death wish, Catman holds them off single-handedly to give the other five time to escape.

The team is overwhelmed, captured, and tortured for information about their team and the identity of Mockingbird. (That last one will be difficult to answer seeing as nobody knows who Mockingbird is) The leaders of the Secret Society disagree on how to handle the prisoners, but with Mockingbird having buried explosives that could use radioactivity to poison large areas like Kahndaq for centuries, they need to learn who Mockingbird is quickly. (Though I'm still guessing it's one of those leaders; I feel like I can rule out Black Adam, Dr. Psycho, and Deathstroke, though)

Catman manages to escape from the torture and free the rest of the team; he definitely seems like the main character of this story, with it seeming like Gail Simone wanted to redeem the character's reputation after he's been treated as something of a joke. (From a glimpse shown in flashbacks, an appearance at some point before this in a Green Arrow book had him out of shape and humiliated, which is why he reinvented himself)

Parademon gets a bit more characterization than I expected - he finds the torture relaxing (at least when compared to his experiences on Apokolips) and becomes devoted to protecting Ragdoll because humour is alien to Apokolips and he thinks Ragdoll's a clown. After the team strikes back against the Secret Society, Cheshire comes to the realization that Catman wants to be a hero, but doesn't care as long as he gives her a baby.

As the Secret Six tries to covertly dig up information on Mockingbird, Lex's Secret Society appears to already be falling apart before it even reaches Infinite Crisis.  Vandal Savage turns in his resignation, not specifying why.

The Society only stuck together out of fear that the Justice League might wipe their minds like they did with Doctor Light. If that's no longer a threat, then Lex intends to make the Secret Six seem like more of a threat to keep the three hundred or so supervillains work together and (more importantly) following his orders. A more concerning detail is that Pariah Dark, from Crisis On Infinite Earths, has been found on the main Earth. He's cursed to follow universe-ending disasters, forced to watch as worlds die, so his presence doesn't exactly bode well.

Mockingbird knows that the team has been trying to figure out who their employer is, so when faced with threats to family members (or, in Parademon's case, the threat of letting Granny Goodness know where he is), Catman makes an offer leading into the final issue of the miniseries - they go on what will undoubtedly be a suicide run to try and take out the Secret Society, since that's been Mockingbird's goal all along. If they succeed, Mockingbird gets what they want, and if they fail, then they'll be dead so they won't be Mockingbird's problem any more; either way, their loved ones (though in Catman's case, it's just the big cats in zoos that are being threatened) are left alone. Mockingbird agrees.

Unfortunately, this is the point where things go horribly wrong.  Upon finding out that Deathstroke quit smoking three years ago (after the smell of cigarette smoke tipped him off to someone, supposedly Deathstroke, slaughtered the lions that Catman had been living with), Catman determines that Deadshot was the one responsible. Now Catman wants to kill Deadshot (moreso than usual), and Cheshire uses this opportunity to reveal that she's defecting, and she's brought the Secret Society to their doorstep.

Pariah indicates that there's another Lex Luthor out there; both are aware of the other's presence and subtly waging war against each other, and I assume that the Lex leading the Secret Society is the alternate universe doppelganger. (Which also serves as a convenient "get out of jail free" card for Lex when the Secret Society comes crashing down - "I didn't commit those crimes - it was a criminal version of me from another universe!")

The battle between the Secret Six (well, the Secret Five but that doesn't have as much of a ring to it) and the Secret Society is mixed.  The Society have a numbers advantage, but the Six have a home field advantage, along with a mole in the Society - Scandal's lover Knockout.

Vandal Savage, discovering that his daughter is being targeted, forces the Lex that's running the Secret Society to call off the attack. This gives the Secret Six some breathing room, and Mockingbird reveals that the threats towards Scandal's mother, Deadshot's daughter, and so on were a bluff, seemingly out of gratitude for their role in this.

I also decided to read the Infinite Crisis Special, since it seems like the creation of the Secret Society will play a large role in Infinite Crisis. Midway through Villains United, a member of the new Royal Flush Gang threatened a warden into releasing a bunch of supervillain prisoners or else his wife and daughter's lives are at stake. Now he intends to make good on that threat if he won't cooperate.

Similar threats are made around the world, resulting in a well-coordinated mass prison break.  This also includes Arkham Asylum, but even if it hadn't been planned, there probably would have been a mass breakout at Arkham anyway given how that place is.

Lex doesn't seem too concerned when the Arkham inmates are stopped before getting too far, viewing them as a distraction and too difficult to manage. He betrayed Black Adam off-screen, using him to power generators, so despite forming this society to get his fellow villains to work together, his true colours are shining through.

Despite a lot of the A-listers and powerhouses being occupied by some kind of major attack (it's not clear what; maybe that will be shown in Infinite Crisis), Oracle and Martian Manhunter coordinate to get heroes from around the world to work together to prevent the escapees from getting too far.

With Black Adam imprisoned in Kahndaq, Doctor Light seems to have taken his place in the Society's inner circle.  He may have symbolic value, serving as a living reminder of what the Justice League could do and why they've banded together, but he's even more hated than Doctor Psycho, and that's saying something given that Psycho is a misogynistic xenophobe (among many, many other issues).

The issue ends with a redheaded man (who may be the Luthor doppelganger?) talking about his plans for the Society as Doctor Psycho reveals a key part of the Society's attack on Metropolis: Doomsday, who's been mind controlled by Psycho.  The Secret Six got the League the information that was needed to get the superheroes to Metropolis in time, but they decide that this isn't their fight.  Reading this last issue makes me feel like I should read the other Infinite Crisis Specials that I skipped over previously. (From the Rann-Thanagar War and the OMAC Project) This issue seems like it is a crucial tie-in to the Infinite Crisis event and might even overlap with it, which has me concerned about what else I might have missed.