Gotham Underground #6 - DC

Ok, the thing I get from this series, which I thought was just going to be kind of a showcase of Gotham's criminal element, is that there will always be a Gotham Underground. Suicide Squad has been gathering up the villains . . . in Gotham that number is a pretty large part of the population . . which effectively left a vacuum. Well, as with any vacuum, something has to fill the void. So, what we see here, two factions are actually coming to bear. Tobias whale has gathered up as many men as he can and is making a bid for the ruling class of the pits of Gotham. Meanwhile, Penguin, whom supposedly was on the straight and narrow, has been gathering up tokens and mementos from every "super" fight that has ever happened, it appears, in the streets of Gotham. In that endeavor, he has accumulated quite a storage bin of bits and pieces from various heroes and villains. He actually has a version of Lex Luthor's armor in here. Anyways, he's delved out all this bounty to his men and has them remaking themselves in the new image of Gotham . . or at least Penguin's image of it. To that end, he's the one that gave out Spoiler's costume to a new deserving . . in his eyes . . girl. However, her identity has been conveniently shielded from us. Also, at this point in the story, Batman hasn't learned yet what going on with all the missing criminals, or with the Suicide Squad's involvement. But, he's about to figure all of that out as, in his identity of Matches Malone who is incarcerated right now, he's finally gotten in to the infirmary and the room they're keeping the Great White in. Through what's he's told him, he's now able to piece most of it together. But it may be to late. Even as Alfred helps break him out of the prison, the Whale's and the Penguin's accumulated armies have started going to war against each other. And, in the process, Nightwing, who's also undercover in Penguin's gang, has been fatally shot by the Vigilante. Robin and Wildcat are on their way . . but, will they get there in time? This series actually opens up a lot of questions, and speculation. Foremost in my mind being, what's all the major players going to think about all of this when they return? It may be a while, but, eventually, they will. And that's when the craps really going to hit the fan. So far, in my eyes, this has been a fantastic series. Frank Tieri is doing a bang-up job with the stories, and J Calafiore is the perfect artist for this book. He's got the perfect feeling for all these villains and their motives. The problem is . . . we only have 3 issues to go. So enjoy it while you can.