Gail Simone's next series reunites the fan-favorite writer with some characters fans have been asking about since the New 52 debuted in September, 2011.

Announced Thursday morning via Hero Complex, an all-new "Secret Six" launches from DC Comics in December, and it stars a pair of characters the writer is very familiar with: Black Alice, who was co-created by Simone and artist Dale Eaglesham, and Catman, a Batman villain long considered a joke until the writer took him under her wing and overhauled him into a credible threat.

Simone never lost her affinity for Catman. Versions of the character populate the background of her Tumblr account, where she discussed some of her plans for him.

"Catman is bisexual," she stated in October 2011, shortly after the DCU rebooted, "and when we bring him back, that will be explicitly in canon." Nearly three years later, Simone says that remains the plan, along with some other revelations. "You're going to see right away kind of what Catman's about," she told Hero Complex. "I don't want to reveal too much just because it is part of his character and part of his story to unfold these things through the story."

Simone won't name or discuss the four remaining characters yet -- though the first issue's cover reveals a Talon, presumably Strix from "Birds of Prey," is part of the group -- opting instead to play up the mystery aspect of the series. Calling the book the "Twin Peaks" of superhero comics, Simone says the first issue opens with the six characters, strangers to each other, waking up to find themselves trapped in a locked room together with no knowledge of how they've arrived in their shared situation. "They instantly do not like each other," SImone said of the group dynamic, "and they instantly do not get along with each other."

"Secret Six," written by Simone, illustrated by Ken Lashley and featuring covers and character designs by Dale Eaglesham, debuts in December.