It is said that all good things must come to an end. Apparently, this is sometimes true of evil things as well. And there are none more deliciously vile, cruel, wicked, and yet strangely lovable as the Secret Six. Spinning out of DC Comics event story Infinite Crisis, the series followed the misadventures of six (sometimes more) supervillains-for-hire, and quietly became a cult classic among fans. Now, the secret is out, and our favourite scoundrels must face their final fate in The Darkest House.

We begin with a brief crossover with the Doom Patrol (another favourite series of mine, also sadly finished). A lazy teenager inherits his dead grandfather's crime syndicate and tries to set himself up as an old-fashioned supervillain, hiring the Six to take over the Doom Patrol's island headquarters for himself. Needless to say, the two misanthropic teams collide with entertaining results.

It was refreshing to see Keith Giffen writing the Patrol again, considering that their final trade collection was cancelled. God, I miss those guys. He and Gail Simone blend together perfectly, both sets of characters meshing very well with sarcasm and razor-sharp wit all around. Although the writers seem confused as to whether the villain's team is called C.R.U.S.H. or S.M.A.S.H.

The central storyline sees our anti-villains taking a trip to Hell itself to rescue Scandal's ex Knockout, calling back to the plot of Unhinged in which the team secure a "Get Out of Hell Free" card. Indeed, this final collection is appropriately littered with subtle shout-outs to past stories. And yes, the whole "voyage to Hell" idea has been done in many mediums, including comics, several times, but it is always interesting to see different characters in this scenario, and Simone does not disappoint.

J. Calafiore's rigid, detailed artwork keeps up respectably with Simone's darkly poetic imagination as she sculpts this nightmare around the Six. Visually and narratively, this is a vivid picture of Hell.

Admittedly, Black Alice's disappearance from the team, and the entire story, is abrupt and without a real sense of closure. Although King Shark is far too funny as her replacement, and soon takes your mind off it. Everything he says is hysterical.

Regardless of such crude shuffling, the best thing about this series for me was always the character work. In the seven years since they debuted, we have seen deep into the souls of these ruthless killers, thieves and perverts, and it has only made them more endearing. It is during their time in the Inferno, however, that we really see what they are made of. Loyalties are tested, private fears are exposed, faiths are shaken, and the armies of the damned face their greatest challenge in the Six. These are people who stand for nothing except themselves, and as Bane says, "We will topple your kingdom if it takes an eternity." This is who they are, forged over the course of this entire run, and you feel it in every fibre of their being.

After this hellish (heh) ordeal, and a rather beautiful personal moment -- painfully teasing what might have been -- Bane finds the foundations of his beliefs shattered, and tasks the Six with his ultimate life goal: Destroy Batman. One cannot help but feel warmed at the "full circle" element this brings about, as well as its quaintness compared to the previous story. With Hell behind them, these guys just get back to regular supervillain stuff. It's nice, in an evil kind of way.

I won't spoil the ending, but, well, Batman still has umpteen on-going series in DC's New 52 and the Secret Six don't have any. But I think these guys finally realised that success isn't as important as the people beside you while you try.

And so, we say goodbye, farewell, and amen to the core Sixers: Fearless leader Scandal Savage, noble yet wild Catman, apathetic assassin Deadshot, wonderfully twisted Ragdoll, strong wiseman Bane, and the delightfully deadly Jeanette. They were six of the best, and they'll be sorely missed.

Rating: 4/5

Writers: Gail Simone, Keith Giffen
Artists: J. Calafiore, Matthew Clark and Ron Randall
Publisher: DC Comics
Collects: Secret Six #30-36; Doom Patrol #19 (2011)