Secret
Jonathan Hickman’s work in comics so far has been exclusively in the science fiction or superhero genres. There’s certainly a lot of overlap between the two, but it would appear clear that these genres are right in his sweet spot as a writer and we’ll likely see more along the likes of “The Manhattan Projects,” “East of West,” and his current “Avengers/New Avengers” runs in the years to come. “Secret” is unique then in the fact that this represents his first work set in the real world without any fantastic elements at all. It takes place in the world of private security, birthed from the spycraft of the Cold War, and has at least a superficial similarity to the sci-fi-tinged thrillers the late Michael Crichton was famous for. Though there are plenty of parts where the narrative runs afoul of the “don’t tell, show” rule, there’s enough that works here to make for a satisfying read.
Grant Miller works for Steadfast Security Holdings who specialize in a very profitable business: Providing enough security for the secrets of the most powerful businesses around so that their owners will be able to sleep at night. Coming from a checkered past involving the Russian mafia and the CIA, he’s very good at his job even if it means that certain people get roughed up in the name of putting food on the table. That changes when his good friend Thomas is murdered on a business trip with Steadfast’s CEO, Miles Steadman, and Grant is told in no uncertain terms that he will not be participating in the follow-up to the crime. Incensed at not being allowed in on it for no good reason, Grant pulls his own team together and finds out that not only is his boss up to no good, it’s the kind of “no good” that involves a multi-billion-dollar ghost economy that some very nasty people have a large stake in.
“Secret’s” strengths are best seen in its very first issue. Things start off with a break-in and assault of a well-off businessman for access to his computer system at work, which then leads to him talking to his lawyer, who then meets up with the other partners in his firm for a meeting with Grant and Steadfast. There’s a break for a murder in London before we come back to Grant meeting up with the businessman (who was referred to him by his lawyer) and then follow Mr. Miller back to his office at Steadfast where we find out how all of this is connected.
It’s a real canny bit of storytelling that introduces you to most of the key players in the story as well as its themes. Each scene is also pretty entertaining in and of itself, from the tension of the break-in to the “there’s no way they’d ditch this scene if the comic is made into a movie” moment where Grant explains to the lawyers just why their current system is terrible. Moments like these, that reveal character as well as provide an interesting perspective on how the world works, are the title’s strongest point and I felt that there were enough of them sprinkled throughout to make it worth my time.
What would’ve elevated it beyond that and into the realm of, say, “a must-buy for the general comics-reading audience” is if Hickman had managed to integrate these kinds of scenes into the whole narrative. As it is, the narrative becomes increasingly expository as things go on. We see the characters talking about cool and interesting things like heists, the hacking of accounts and using an ungodly amount money to make some nasty problems go away. That last bit is particularly problematic as Grant addresses it in a dialogue that effectively serves as the book’s climax. It’s about as exciting as it sounds. Another problem with the ending is what happens to the primary antagonist on the last page. I get what Hickman was going for there — a nice bit of circular plotting that brings the narrative back to one of the key lessons Grant learned while growing up — but there’s too much left unfinished if you assume the same thing happened here as it did in a similar scene from earlier. Ultimately, it’s pretty unsatisfying.
Were I to hazard a guess as to why the book turned out like it did, I’d have to assume that the year-long delay between issues two and three may have had something to do with it. From what I heard, the book’s artist, Ryan Bodenheim, had a health scare and wasn’t able to draw the series until he had recovered. “Secret” ultimately wound up being seven issues, but it was originally solicited as a monthly title. I’m assuming that Bodenheim’s health issues necessitated the re-imagining of the title as a miniseries in order to salvage the work that had already been done. That’s too bad because what’s here is good enough that I’d have liked to see what the creators would’ve done if they were able to carry out their original vision. Assuming the first two issues were the best indication of that.
As for Bodenheim’s work, it’s pretty good all around. The man’s characters are expressive enough to carry the many, many dialogue-heavy scenes in this title even if their expressions are occasionally a bit too stylized for the grounded tone of the book. Though the layouts of the panels are fairly conventional and straightforward for most of the book, there are the moments where Bodenheim gets to experiment and throw us things like the “shattered” montage midway through the book.
It’s also worth noting that “Secret’s” colorist, Michael Garland, takes a rather unconventional approach to his work here. Rather than adopting a unified palette for each character and place, he adopts a full-panel approach to his coloring. This means that most panels are bathed in singular hues with additional colors only being added for emphasis on things like a gun, a bullet or blood. I can see this approach, and the color choices, annoying lots of people. Not me, though, as I wound up appreciating the man’s approach for its unconventionality.
Even if “Secret” doesn’t entirely click as a graphic novel, enough of it does work that it makes me want to see Hickman do more stories outside the sci-fi and superhero genres. His and Bodenheim’s efforts may have been derailed through circumstances beyond their control, but they still managed to salvage a decent story out of it. I can only hope that they’re working on something new right now to show what they’re capable of when life doesn’t get in the way.