Who Wants Cake?
When we last left our, for lack of a better term, heroes, they had all become victims of various assassination attempts. Among the more gravely injured is Knockout, the lover of Scandal Savage, daughter of immortal DC villain Vandal Savage. (Really, I thought she was the Daughter of The Penguin) Scandal Savage handles the attack on her girlfriend as calmly as you'd expect, by taking the woman who perpetrated the crime and violently torturing her for information. Then we get a few flashbacks of how the rest of the Secret Six. The best of them being Deadshot's. Deadshot has an opportunity to kill his assailant, but opts not to do so in front of his young daughter. I like that moment. Deadshot is a complete scumbag much like the rest of his colleagues, but criminals are still human beings and you get a sense that he does care about his family. It actually makes the character seem more human than some of the heroes we tend to read about. The only one not to escape was Ragdoll, who we'll get to a bit later. Right now, the rest of the team has regrouped and are enjoying a nice pot of coffee while listening to the sweet sounds of a woman being tortured. Eventually the woman (I honestly forgot her name) reveals that she was hired by the villainess, Chesire. Now that they've got all they need, the six should probably kill her. Scandal wants to, but cannot bring herself to because she doesn't want to become like her father. So Deadshot does it, and then asks if anyone wants cake, Cool. Anywho, Scandal says that Cheshire is presently hiding out somewhere in the Himalayas. They of course make short work of the guards so Cheshire pops up and drops the bombshell that she has given birth to Catman's child..... Okay, time out. Now I am not the sort to use sexist language to describe people, fictitious or otherwise, and nor do I believe Cheshire to be someone of moral fiber, but what kind of a whore is this chick? First Roy Harper and now Catman, is she just sleeping with people so she can use their children to protect herself from them? Man, that is one evil bitch. While Catman starts to get attached to his kid, Deadshot snaps everyone out of it, and demands to know who's funding this operation. I also love the part where he says to the kid, "Soon as you can, get some new parents." And so we end with Doctor Psycho (Really?) about to murder Ragdoll in the hospital.
What Works:
Deadshot really shines as a character in this issue, he's not the main character here, but he is the one who gets to do all the cool stuff.
What Doesn't:
Unlike the previous issue, this one doesn't feel as strong. We're starting to build toward the payoff of the arc and trust me, more awesome is coming, but this one feels like it's all over the place and the character focus does not feel as good as it did previously
Overall:
3.5/5
That may seem harsh, if I was looking at this issue in a vacuum, it may have gotten a higher score but as part of this greater story, it feels a bit weaker.