Meandering Through Catman, The Six, And His Son

First off, I need to mention I was wrong about something in my review of Secret Six #19. I said Catman would only earn his son one year of life if he killed his entire team. Upon rereading, it turns out he earns his son one year for each team member he can kill in the next five minutes. Potentially six years for his kid.

A couple of points. This might have worked better if there had been any indication in the series up to this point that Catman cared about his son, or hell, even had a son. I was vaguely aware of it, somehow, but I can't recall it having been mentioned once in the series so far. He and Cheshire were even in the same room briefly during the opening arc and it never came up (though Blake was probably more concerned with not being poisoned anymore). Cheshire told Jeanette she had a baby, but she didn't say it was Thomas'. I suppose if you've read the earlier mini-series (or have read people discussing them like me) you know the score, but it does come out of the blue. Of course, there's no guarantee Catman will play ball. He really might not care about his son.

Say he does, I started thinking about how many of his teammates he could kill. Given enough time to pick them off one at a time, I suppose he could take all of them. In five minutes, I'd suggest he go for Alice or Floyd. She's potentially the most powerful, but also the most likely to freeze up, which would leave her as a completely human, and easy target. Other than her (say she swipes Misfit's powers and 'ports out), Deadshot strikes me as the easiest. No super-powers like Jeanette, no regenerative ability like Scandal, not extraordinarily strong like Bane, or already accustomed to mutilation and injury like Ragdoll (who didn't show much ill effect for having fingers cut off by his sister). The trick with Deadshot obviously being one has to get close enough to kill him before being shot.

Then I realized even those aren't practical options. He goes after Alice, Ragdoll will wrap him up, and vice versa. Alice might not do it a smart way, but yeah, I think she'd try and fight Catman if he attacked Ragdoll. If he went for Floyd, Jeanette would probably scream him down, or simply toss him across the room, and Floyd might shoot Blake if he attacked Jeanette*. Certainly if he goes at Bane or Scandal, the other will attack him instantly. Which is the point when it dawned on my that Blake is somewhat isolated on the team, at least in the sense there's no one he's close to. Scandal and Bane have their daughter/father thing. Floyd and Jeanette their on again, off again, then on again relationship**. Now Alice and Ragdoll have their puppy love creepy thing. Catman is on the outside. I don't think Blake dislikes any of his team members (perhaps Bane), but I'm not sure how much he likes them, or how much they like him. He and Floyd have whatever it is they have. Blake lets Floyd borrow suits, they pick up ice cream and smokes together, maybe that's friendship amongst the Six. It's a mutual understanding, at the very least***. I'm not certain it trumps what Floyd and Jeanette have going.

Combine this with Bane's statement earlier in the issue about the value of a sacrifice and I wonder if this will be the point Catman steps out of the group. It seems unlikely, but he's always been the team member who has the most crises of conscience it seems. The one who worries that maybe he went too far with those poachers in Africa, who may be thinking about doing better for Huntress.

* Though she's the team member I think would need the least assistance, Blake could try and cut her near the neck, see if she starts flashing back to her execution as she did during The Depths. That seemed to incapacitate her for a time.

** The off portions being whenever Floyd shoots her, which has happened a couple of different times so far.

*** I think Blake understands Floyd, and I think Floyd understands Blake as well as Blake understands himself, which is not terribly well, but it's something.