Originally published August 31, 2016. Updated October 24, 2022.
Emma Withington reviews Penguins of Madagascar Vol.4: Secret Paws…
The fantastic flippered four are back! Skipper, Kowalski, Rico, and Private join voices with super-secret organisation, The North Wind, to fight against computer-controlled crocodiles and vultures -and how is Kevin the Lemming involved in all this? Plus, who is the mysterious and dangerous ‘Arctic Fox’…? Epic adventures don’t come more epic – and funny – than this!
Penguins of Madagascar Vol.4: Secret Paws, contains the two final instalments of the ‘Elite-est of the Elite’ saga: ‘Elite-est of the Elite Part Two’ and ‘Arctic Foxed’. This volume also collects together the bonus short story ‘Broken’.
First up we have ‘The Elite-est of the Elite Part Two’. ‘The Penguins are battling it out for the ‘Elite Undercover Interspecies Elite-est of the Elite award’ against The North Wind – oh, and Kevin-X Action Lemming Extraordinaire…yes, you did read that correctly and no, you are perfectly sane.’ Read my review of ‘The Elite-est of the Elite Part Two’ here!
Next up in Penguins of Madagascar Vol.4: Secret Paws we have ‘Arctic Foxed’, the final part of the miniseries. After the Penguins improved The North Wind’s one liners and set things ‘write’ with Classified’s laser pen – there were still questions to be answered following the ‘Elite Undercover Interspecies Elite-est of the Elite Awards’. Primarily: how did Kevin the Lemming get hold of such advanced tech? The plot thickens as The North Wind and the Penguins are ‘out foxed’…
The final story in Penguins of Madagascar Vol.4: Secret Paws is ‘Broken’. The North Wind have been framed for stealing ‘Microfisch’ from the Elite Undercover Interspecies Taskforce archives! Their position is compromised and The North Wind must make like a ball-bearing and S.L.I.N.G.S.H.O.T – Subterranean Localised Indestructible Nested Groundbreaking Specially Hyper-Designed Ovoid Transporter – outta there. It’s exactly what it sounds like…The North Wind are in a race against time to clear their name and find the true culprit, before all of their ‘secret’ bases are destroyed!
Penguins of Madagascar Vol.4: Secret Paws is charming, absurd, and I challenge anyone not to crack a smile – at the very least. Cavan Scott has written for beloved franchises such as Doctor Who and Adventure Time, and he reflects the individual characteristics of the Penguins of Madagascar-verse incredibly well. The Penguins take the base genre of action spy-thriller and inject a great deal of heart and vibrancy; full of twists, turns, tropes, parodies, and pastiche. Sure there’s nothing revolutionary here, but it certainly transports you back the cartoons of yore – such as Looney Tunes or Tom and Jerry in it’s overt, slapstick nature. From plummeting anvils to giant slingshots and hare-brained schemes…
Penguins of Madagascar Vol.4: Secret Paws is not a particularly lengthy volume – but at £7.99 (or less) it’s a light, entertaining read full of flippin’ fun and plenty of laughs!
Rating: 7.5/10
Emma Withington – Follow me on Twitter
