Section 8 (comics)
| Section 8 | |
|---|---|
Panel from Hitman #18. From left to right: Defenestrator, Friendly Fire, Sixpack, Shakes, Jean de Baton-Baton, Dogwelder, Bueno Excellente, Flemgem. Art by John McCrea.
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| Publication information | |
| Publisher | DC Comics |
| First appearance |
Hitman #18 (September 1997) |
| Created by |
Garth Ennis John McCrea Steve Dillon (Dogwelder only) |
| In-story information | |
| Base(s) | Gotham City |
| Member(s) | Sixpack Bueno Excellente The Defenestrator Dogwelder Friendly Fire Jean de Baton-Baton Flemgem Shakes |
Section 8 is a fictional comic book team of superheros appearing in books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Garth Ennis and artists John McCrea and Steve Dillon, the team first appeared in Hitman #18 (September 1997). The team's name is a pun on the military designation Section 8, which means "mentally unfit for duty".
The team is based in The Cauldron, the Irish section of Gotham City, and is led by Sixpack. They apparently have some sort of heroic history (though this is questionable, owing to the fact that several of their members seem prone to complicated hallucinations) prior to the events of Hitman. The team is headquartered on an artificial island in a sewer. As of the start of the series, the team is split up, although they are all still located within Gotham City. Friendly Fire, Shakes, and Jean de Baton-Baton had retired; the Defenestrator was in Arkham Asylum after throwing a cop through the same window fourteen times; Dogwelder and Flemgem were still stalking the streets of Gotham. Sixpack was a regular at Noonan's Sleazy Bar, believing his drunken dreams of superhero work were real.
The team reforms to provide critical support for Tommy Monaghan and his crew during the "Ace of Killers" storyline. Collectively, they kill many mafia soldiers that were trying to kill Tommy, Natt the Hat, Detective Tiegel and Catwoman. The group later aids Tommy during his encounter with the Czarnian mercenary anti-hero Lobo. Specifically, they aid Tommy in creating material blackmailing a stunned Lobo with the help of Bueno Excellente which prevents Lobo from taking revenge against any of them. Sixpack makes several solo appearances in Hitman as comic relief and an ally in some battles.
In their last appearance, the team was starting to split up again after Friendly Fire pointed out how pathetic they were and that all they did was meet once a month and achieve nothing. Sixpack is left distraught when Friendly Fire points out, in anger, that all his 'superhero' missions are just drunken dreams. However, when the demonic Multi-Angled Ones arose in Gotham, Section 8 rallied to fight them. Their attempt was completely unsuccessful: most of the team die or accidentally kill themselves. However, the Many-Angled Ones become interested in Sixpack when the flames from an explosion don't touch him, and when he tells them that he'd be willing to die standing against them because "that's what superheroes do". The demons are left amused and a deal is made where Sixpack will leave with them and try to battle against them for his own soul, in exchange for leaving Earth alone.
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Wikipedia