Book: “Secret Six (Vol.4): Cat’s in the Cradle” by Gail Simone, Jim Calafiore (Ill.), R.B. Silva (Ill.), and Alexandre Palamaro (Ill.)
Publishing Info: DC Comics, January 2011
Where Did I Get This Book: The Library!
Book Description from Goodreads: Gail Simone’s fan-favorite team of rogues and bad guys returns in an all-new collection that pits one team member against the whole group.This volume finds Thomas Blake – a.k.a. Catman – heading to Africa to find the three men who kidnapped his long lost son. Catman leaves a trail of destruction in his wake that threatens to destroy the Secret Six once and for all.
Review: As I am sure it was clear in my previous review of the series “Secret Six”, I was worried that the story was starting to become stagnant and repetitive. I knew that I still liked it enough to keep going, but I was starting to fret that things weren’t going keep my interest. But when I picked up “Cat’s in the Cradle”, I was immediately pulled back into the story, because the focus was, very clearly, going to be on Catman.
The thing about Catman is that of the entire group, he is the one who is the most morally ambiguous. He has been labeled a villain, and tries to wear that label with pride, but there is something in him that makes him tread towards goodness at times. We finally got some more insight into his past, and why he is the way he is. Spoilers: it’s absolutely heartbreaking. Along with being a story about underdogs and misfits, “Cats in the Cradle” explores the story of fathers and sons. The title alone, clearly taken from Harry Chapin’s song about a father and son relationship that is beyond broken, let’s you know what is in store. Catman finds out that his son with Cheshire has been kidnapped, and while he goes looking for the baby, he thinks about his own relationship with his father, who was abusive and violent.
I liked that Catman didn’t all of a sudden become a no fault hero in his son’s time of need. In fact, he was actually willing to sacrifice his son for his team, and then take bloody awful revenge later (perhaps it’s more fair to say he gambled with the baby’s life, as he was almost totally convinced that the kidnappers would balk). It was nice to see that in a moment where betrayal seemed inevitable, Simone made Catman find another way. I also liked seeing his past, and seeing just why it is that he’s so afraid of being a Dad, and knows that he can’t really be one because of the choices he’s made. I got very misty-eyed at the end. Okay fine, I cried.
It was also nice to see that while the team split up because of Catman’s decision (with Bane and Jeanette leaving the group), there weren’t any hard feelings between anyone. I was thinking that when the team split there would be a whole lot of drama, and yet they seem to be perfectly amicable and understanding. It was a nice choice, and not the obvious one.
And this volume marked the return of the funny and unique side stories! The first one involved the Six as prey in a ‘most dangerous game’-like situation, where a compound of wealthy men with Presidential aliases think that they can hunt the Six and live to tell about it….. I’m sure you can guess how well that goes. The other story was an alternate universe story of the Six, which took place in the Old West. It had some steamy scenes with Jeanette and Deadshot (yes please!) and some cute and fun moments with Ragdoll as a puppeteer. But then…. Well, it ended very dark. And I’m very worried that the ending is a hint as to what is to come in the last two volumes. It served as a reminder that these guys aren’t heroes, they’re villains. And villains aren’t known for winning in stories like this…
I am very pleased that the Six are going strong. I can’t wait to dig into Volume 5, “The Reptile Brain”. If they can keep up the momentum, I feel like this series is going to stick the landing. We can only hope.
Rating 8: The Secret Six are back on track, with new character development and some very dark themes. But the humor and the heart is always present.
Reader’s Advisory:
“Secret Six (Vol.4): Cat’s in the Cradle” is included in these Goodreads lists: “Diverse Heroes in Graphic Novels/Comic Books”, and “Swancon 2013 Reading List”.
Find “Secret Six (Vol.4): Cat’s in the Cradle” at your library using Worldcat!
Previous reviews of “Secret Six”: “Villains United”, “Unhinged“, “Depths”, “Danse Macabre”.
The Library Ladies 