Continuing off volume one is this, and it's just as great as its predecessor. Like the previous volume, it's split between two main story arcs, with a bit of filler in the middle (tying into the "Battle of the Cowl" storyline of Batman, I believe). The characters are still great, whichever ones are still left in the story that is, with the addition of Bane fitting in naturally, even when he's sympathetically portrayed. The new character, Jeannette/Banshee, is also a great fit as well. Catman is a bit less in focus compared to the previous volume, but still plays a major role and everyone is given appropriate time to further develop their interesting yet severely flawed characters. Gail Simone really knows how to write them well, and the art by Nicola Scott is just excellent.
The first arc deals with a case that the Six are hired for: to retrieve an incarcerated woman and something she has in her possession. However, a notorious criminal overlord is also interested in her item as well, and spares no expense in hiring other villains to take down the team. Given that our "heroes" were(/still are) villains themselves, once they learn what they are really transporting it's entertaining to see pretty-much all of them contemplate betrayal. What really makes this arc memorable is this new villain, nicknamed Junior, who is clearly established to be ruthless and cruel, and the review of Junior's identity and true face is rather unsettling to both them and to the reader, given the bodily horror we see. It's full of memorable moments, such Catman's rather lengthy battle with Batman (both physically and verbally), but also has its comedic moments such as parts of their stay in Vegas and the double date half the team goes on.
The second arc focuses one another job of theirs: To help run this prison colony. They do what they're hired to do, but each one has objections to this and that on the prison isle. It does a great job developing the newer additions to the team (Bane and Banshee), showing their insecurities and their issues as a bit more focus is placed on them. The #$%^ really hits the fan when Wonder Woman shows up, though, not understanding the Six's role there. It's just great fun watching everything descend into pandemonium.
My only complaints are that there are some key story elements missing, which I understand happened in non-Secret Six titles from a little research. Which can't be helped, and Gail Simone does a decent job of filling us in here and there but it was VERY confusing to not be given an exact story as to Knockout's death. Coming off of Vol.1, I had no idea what happened exactly, and was only given minimal detail. It's very important to understand Scandal's character, and to establish a new love interest for her. In addition, I was rather clueless as to why Bane was on the team since he didn't join in the previous volume either and was just magically there from my point of view. He's written into it nicely, but it's rather jarring at first since this is also a bit unlike his previous persona. I won't fault it too much for that, and the only issue I do have with Simone's writing is that she introduces and places Banshee on the team but doesn't really explain how she can so easily trade in her previous life running the hotel for rounding out the Six. It's a minor complaint overall, but one worth mentioning since it did stick out to me while reading.
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