Secret Six #21 - DC

Well . . Blake is still on the trail of the guys who kidnapped his son. I think he's given up hope that he's still alive, but . . he's still going to make the guys pay who did this. And maybe, somewhere deep down . . as a father, he does have some hope that he can save him. But if so . . he's hiding it very well. He's focused on one thing only . . stalking and hunting his prey. This issue we actually get a little glimpse of Tom as a child. His mother cares for him deeply, but his father is a narcissistic bastard who thinks of everything, including his wife and son, as his possession . . or trophy. Depending on how good of a mood he's in. Basically we get the picture that his father is the one who shaped him into the man he is today. I actually feel sorry for the guy. Anyways, from the last issue he's picked up a lead. He's looking for a guy . . 'Big guy. Near seven feet. Speaks Afrikaans. Goes by the name of Loki.' He's goes to South Africa to warn one of the low-lifes that he knows. He wants him to warn Loki. He wants Loki to know that he's on his trail. For some reason this Loki guy has himself deluded that Blake is going to fight him with honor. That he'll come at him like a lion. But, I think, what he fails to take into account is that in Blake's eyes . . there's no honor in what these guys did to his son. All sense of honor was thrown out the window when his helpless, infant son was dragged into whatever beef they had with him. Plus . . Blake really isn't a nice guy. And he's definitely not one of the 'good guys'. And like the cats that are his namesake, when his family is threatened . . he will attack . . fiercely. Which he does. He sneaks up on Loki by jumping in the back of his truck when he's leaving a bar. In the garbage back there, he finds one of his sons stuffed animals . . the one you see on the cover. Blake takes him apart piece by piece. But the only information he gets from him, before turning him over the his lion friends is that his son is still alive . . and waiting for him. Next issue should wrap up this story-arc with all the ferociousness that is in Blake's heart. The other part of this story that I liked was the teams use of Black Alice. Well not the whole team, just Scandal, Deadshot and Ragdoll. They have no idea how to keep up with Blake, so they're relying on Alice to use her supernatural powers to assist in the tracking. She starts out by borrowing Dr Occult's powers. But she has no idea how to use them. And later for some reason . . some how, she taps into Jason Blood's powers and turns into a female version of Etrigan. I'm not really sure what the Etrigan part of all of that was about, but . . it was interesting. And amusing. And Jeanette and Bane have put together their own team to aid in the search. They've gathered up Giganta, Dwarfstar, Lady Vic and King Shark. We don't get to see them in action. They're just making their acquaintances for now. I know we're on a serious story-arc right now, but . . I love the way that Gail Simone can still write some subtle humor into her stories. And while doing that, keep the Blake part of the story so intense. I continue to be impressed by Gail's talent every month. I also thought that J Calafiore did a great job with the art. This book continues to be one of my favorite team-books out there. It's a great bunch of characters and I really like the dynamics and relationships between them. By the way . . another great cover by Daniel Luvisi.