The Penguin, Vol. 1: The Prodigal Bird

The Penguin (2023)

by Tom King, Rafael De La Torre (Illustrator), Marcelo Maiolo (Colorist)

After retiring to Metropolis following his “death,” Oswald Cobblepot finds himself forced back into the unpredictable and violent Gotham City underworld as a pawn for the United States intelligence community!

Gotham’s criminal element has been evolving since he was last in the city, with his bastard twin children ruling the Iceberg Lounge. And what of the man he framed for his death—Batman? Is the Penguin walking into a death sentence?

From award-winning and bestselling writer Tom King (Batman, The Human Target) and artist Stefano Gaudiano (Gotham Central, The Walking Dead) comes a bloody, hard-boiled tale of redemption and revenge!

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Dc Comics, Batman, Comic Book, Superheroes, Mystery

200 pages, Paperback

First published June 25, 2024

Reviews

[Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dark take on Penguin.
Suddenly the beaky little guy whose catchphrase is wak! wak! appears to be a complete psychopath. And he scares the shit out of all the seemingly bigger, badder, and bolder characters he waddles into contact with.



This comes out of the Failsafe storyline, and to be quite honest, I liked it a lot more than whatever nonsense Batman was getting up to with his robot. Maybe because Failsafe wasn't really anything new? But this...?
Yeah. A bit.
This is a story that I didn't know I even wanted until I read it.



Years ago, Gregg Hurwitz made the character out to be deeper and darker than anything I'd previously read in Penguin: Pain and Prejudice. That's when I started to look at Cobblepot as something a little more than just another kitschy villain in Batman's rouge gallery.
But in that he seemed more damaged. Maybe even sympathetic?
In this, though?
Yikes.



It's a continuation of the fallout of Failsafe and a pretty fucking cool origin story all tied together. I don't want to give spoilers, so I'll just say that I'm really looking forward to seeing where Tom King takes us.
Recommended.

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tom King seems to be a Marmite writer; you either love him or hate him. Personally, I’m in the former camp; I’ll read anything he writes and he hasn’t let me down yet.

This wasn’t my favourite Tom King book but that’s probably due to my not liking the artwork much and the fact that books with villains as the protagonist aren’t normally my preference (although there are exceptions).

Still, I’m looking forward to seeing how all this buildup pays off in volume two.

3.33 stars

[ShamNoop · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is very good, and VERY bleak. The focus is almost entiely on character-work and each issue does a great job of being somewhat standalone and focusing on different characters. It does suffer from being nothing but set-up for the rest of the series, but I have faith King can pull it off.

[Jiro Dreams of Suchy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the HBO show, a really REAL version of the penguin that lets him be just eccentric enough to be captivating while still feeling like it COULD maybe happen.

This series runs in the same vein (other than the last Catwoman comic which I’ve read before and hated then, but especially after a really interesting collection). Penguin is a conniver and always playing both sides, his superpower is being able to see the big picture and do anything to get there. He is just so evil and mean, a great rainy day read. I’d say the two issue “an unimportant man” are two of the best penguin stories I’ve ever read- just pure gangster scheming with a pinch of Batman. Really great collection and I DIED when I read HEY MA (best quote from the show)

[Robert]

DNF after one dreary issue.

WAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!

[Matthew Ward · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.75 stars. I enjoyed this one a lot almost as an anthology of characters in this world. My biggest complaint pertains to the dialogue, which goes along with my biggest enjoyment with this one. I could not stand the expletive language being symboled out constantly. It really took me out of the experience because of how incredibly often it occurred. But outside of that, King’s dialogue with the rest of the series and these characters were great! I enjoyed the art and the different ways of seeing Ozzie and ultimately, The Penguin through various relationships in Gotham.

[Frédéric · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the end, Tom King is never better than in crime stories. I was a little disappointed by his Wonder Woman, but then I picked up The Penguin and found again the Tom King I love.
It's as decompressed and wordy as ever, but I get the impression that it really serves the story's construction - the different stages in The Penguin's takeover of Gotham - rather than pompously delaying the action.

The story is skilfully constructed, with random characters giving their point of view on a particular event, contradicted or amplified by the drawn action, with the inevitable but often hard-hitting closing punchlines. What I'm reading here is a good detective story by someone who has mastered its codes and brought a more modern approach to it.

It's not without its faults, sometimes too long, too wordy or too trashy, but King is clearly more at ease with this environment and its tropes.

De la Torre and Subic are both excellent choices for the visual style.

[Rod Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tom King bangs out a dark crime fiction spin on Penguin in time for synergy with the HBO show. It's not his best work but it's pretty engaging for a story centered on such a foul man.

The first half of the book is Cobblepot assembling a crew to help him take back his criminal empire in Gotham City. It's the exact same plot as the recent Batman: One Bad Day - Penguin, but at least Tom King's take is better.

The back end of the book is a revamped secret origin for the Penguin that puts him in a dance of mutual manipulation with Batman.

If I have one big criticism of the series so far, it is that King has decided to go super overboard on inner-monologue captions, giving us voice-over narration from even the most minor of characters in the story: government agents, butlers, goons, thugs, drunks, and an old woman, to name a few. Big choice, minor failure.

Oh, the last tale in the book collects the Chip Zdarsky back-up stories from his Batman run that set up the status quo for Penguin that exists at the start of this book. It's a sort of FYI afterthought, but it does remind me how even King's mediocre stories set a much higher bar than Zdarsky's.


FOR REFERENCE:

Contains material originally published in single magazine form as The Penguin (2023) #0-7.

Contents:
• The Rule of Thumb [from Penguin (2023) #1] / Tom King, writer; Rafael de Latorre, illustrator
• In Service [from Penguin (2023) #2 / Tom King, writer; Rafael de Latorre, illustrator]
• Patriot [from Penguin (2023) #3] / Tom King, writer; Rafael de Latorre, illustrator
• The Ex [from Penguin (2023) #4] / Tom King, writer; Rafael de Latorre, illustrator
• A Higher Power [from Penguin (2023) #5] / Tom King, writer; Rafael de Latorre, illustrator
• An Unimportant Man, Part One [from Penguin (2023) #6] / Tom King, writer; Stevan Subic, illustrator
• An Unimportant Man, Part Two [from Penguin (2023) #7] / Tom King, writer; Stevan Subic, illustrator
• Two Birds, One Throne, Parts 1-3 [from Batman (2016) #125-127 and reprinted in Penguin (2023) #0] / Chip Zdarsky, writer; Belén Ortega, illustrator
• [Covers/Variant Covers] / Scorpio Steele and Stefano Gaudiano, David Marquez and Brad Anderson, Darick Robertson and Diego Rodriguez, Stephen Segovia and Elmer Santos, Dustin Nguyen, Carmine di Giandomenico, Christian Ward, Stevan Subic, Francesco Mattina, Belén Ortega and Alejandro Sánchez, illustrators

[Sarospice · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ugh. Wouldn't have picked this up if I had seen it was Tom King. Can someone in his circle please tell him he's not David Mamet. Or is it just Yes People? Cause girl, when you @#$#$ every other word it loses all meaning. Here's a game: think BUCKET every time you see @#$#$ in the text. Pretty soon you'll think why all the buckets? Also, his need to rewrite characters instead of write characters. It's the sign of a bad writer. No, this Penguin isn't more interesting than the one we've known for decades. See, Penguin is dead, except he's not. Yawn. He's had plastic surgery ( but no ozempic?) and runs a flower shop now. Except not really cause he'd still like to put the screws to Batman. So, why not get a gang together again? I don't know. Why bother with any of it.

[Rory Wilding · Rating 4 out of 5]

Despite being one of the iconic among Batman's rogues gallery, Oswald Cobblepot AKA The Penguin has often been the butt of the joke depending on which creators have tackled him in whatever media. His episodes weren't always the best in Batman: The Animated Series, whilst Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo didn't treat him too kindly during their Batman run. However, Tom King doesn't treat him like a gimmick/punching bag as seen his Batman run and whatever time he was with the character, King is interested in taking the Penguin in interesting directions.

Coinciding with what Chip Zdarsky has been doing with his Batman run, which opened with Oswald faking his own death in order to frame the Dark Knight for his murder (which triggers the "Failsafe" storyline), the Penguin now resides in Metropolis, choosing to live the quiet life without crime. However, when he is forced to work for the federal government where he has to rebuild his criminal empire in Gotham, where his bastard twin children ruling the Iceberg Lounge, the Penguin embraces the dark side again. To quote Michael Corleone: "Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in."

Although some of Batman's greatest villains have had their own solo comic, it was hard to know what Tom King had in store with the Penguin, a character who is about to have his own TV miniseries with Colin Farrell reprising his scene-chewing turn from 2022's The Batman. From the first issue alone, King sets the tone for his own series which starts with the titular villain living a peaceful life, no matter what antagonism is thrown at him. It is only when his life is literally taken from the forces high above, he reverts back to his old self by beating to death a tailor who accidentally commented on his weight.

What's interesting about this title is how mysterious the Pengiun's mindset is, in that you never get inside what he is thinking, at least in the context of this volume, which covers the first seven issues. Surrounding Oswald is an ensemble cast that narrates throughout the series, giving their own perspective of themselves as well as the Penguin, some of which have issues entirely devoted to them, such as Black Spider. Amongst the supporting cast are two characters who previously appeared in Batman: Killing Time – one of King's weaker DC titles – including The Help, who is forced into working with Oswald, and the potty-mouthed Agent Nuri Espinoza, who initiates Oswald's mission to regain power.

Being another of King's twelve-issue narratives, this is a crime epic that is playing with a lot of characters, including former members of the Force of July, an obscure superhero team, continuing a recurring theme with the writer picking out of obscure periods during DC's history. Although it can be hard to follow with the amount of chess pieces that King is playing with, no matter how good some of the characters' narrations, at least with the stunning work from artist Rafael de Latorre and colourist Marcelo Maiolo. Best known for drawing some issues during Zdarsky's Daredevil run, de Latorre revels in the gritty crime aesthetic that oozes throughout the book.

With this volume, King saves the best with the last two issues, which takes a step back from the main narrative and focus on the Pengiun's first encounter with Batman. Whilst he still doesn't narrate, these issues are the closest you are going to get to psychologically understanding the titular character who is introduced here as an unimportant figure working for crime boss Carmine Falcone, whilst taking care of his dishevelled mother who doesn't regard him as his son. Having been kicked around all his life, he actually manipulates Batman in helping him to his initial rise to power. Known for his recent work on The Riddler: Year One, Stevan Subic is deliberately murky with an emphasis on shadows, whilst the Penguin is somewhat grotesque in his design.

Whilst you could see this as partly a Batman book, proving that Tom King still can't escape the clutches of the Dark Knight, the first volume of The Penguin is all about its titular character who hasn't been this interesting in a long time, and I'm curious how this all wraps up.

[Anna Quilter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Even though it doesn't relate to the recent HBO/Max TV series....which I think was one of the best things I saw on TV this year...it does retain the tone.

The Penguin-Elevated

To a nasty vicious piece of work...ready to kill any loose ends and manipulate those around him...including the Bat.

Plus it's Tom King writing...so you know it's going to take some unexpected turns...lots of ****** and some carry ons from Batman: Killing Time.

[Roman Zarichnyi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Том Кінґ – це автор, у творчості якого завжди відчувається амбіція та бажання запропонувати свіжий погляд на героїв. Проте, його реалізація часто балансує на межі між захоплюючим і нудним. Він здатен створювати як шедеври, так і роботи, які не викликають особливого інтересу. Однак, «Пінгвін» виглядає коміксом, де його ідеї та стиль вдало збалансовані. Принаймні перша сюжетна арка «Блудний птах».

Історія знайомить нас із Освальдом Кобблпотом (Пінгвіном), який після інсценування своєї смерті оселився у Метрополісі, намагаючись жити мирно. Однак доля має інші плани: уряд змушує його повернутися до Ґотема, щоб відновити свою злочинну імперію. Там на нього чекають не лише старі вороги, а й власні діти, які тепер керують клубом Айсберг Лаунж. Пінгвін знову занурюється у темний світ, залишаючи спроби стати кращим.

Освальд повертається до кримінального життя, буквально забиваючи до смерті людину через образливий коментар про його вагу. Це підкреслює, наскільки далеко він готовий зайти. Вимушена співпраця з урядом перетворює його на маріонетку у руках вищих сил. Це додає сюжету напруги та моральної неоднозначності.

Художник Роберто Де Ла Торре створив атмосферу, яка ідеально підходить для розповіді про Пінгвіна. Темні, брудні відтінки й увага до деталей чудово підкреслюють кримінальну складову історії. Візуальний стиль виглядає водночас витонченим і тривожним, що підсилює загальну атмосферу Ґотема. Але це й не дивно, адже талановитий художник у своєму доробки має багато хороших робіт. З останніх можна згадати «Конан Варвар» Джима Заба.

«Пінгвін: Блудний птах» – це, на мій погляд, вдалий старт, який пропонує як цікаву історію, так і якісний малюнок. Том Кінґ добре балансує між гангстерською драмою та психологічним портретом персонажа. Якщо друга арка продовжить розвиток сюжету на такому ж рівні, цей комікс має всі шанси стати ще одним хорошим у сценариста.

[Dakota Morgan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tom King takes on the Penguin, giving him a fresh backstory and making him a far more formidable foe than his name would suggest. This first volume is mostly a team-building exercise, which is perfectly fine by me. The Penguin, last seen as a florist in Metropolis, is lured back to Gotham by Amanda Waller's government operatives. "Spy on the Bat for us!" they say "We'll make you a crime kingpin again!" As this volume shows, Penguin was plenty capable of making himself Kingpin without their help.

That said, he does need The Help, a hyper-competent butler who is a welcome addition to any Bat-tale. Penguin also gathers up a forgotten superhero team and Gotham villain to do his dirty work. All the while, Batman watches, waiting for Penguin to go full evil (perhaps in the next volume). A two-issue return to the Penguin's roots in Gotham ends the volume, showing how the man climbed the crime ladder with Batman's surprise help.

A terrific, engrossing read that has all the Tom King-isms you might expect. Sometimes the heavy use of voiceover can be grating, but I appreciated here that King varies who's talking from one scene to the next, giving you an interesting secondary perspective on the story. Firmly on board for the conclusion.

[Billy Jepma · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was sure this would be a drab read—if not because I don’t care that much about The Penguin, then because I didn’t love all of King’s characterization of the gangster in his Batman run—but lo and behold, it’s a brutal, violent slow burn that could be setting up something really special and unique. This is a full-blooded gangster tale, with these introductory issues essentially functioning as Penguin’s “let’s get the band back together” moment, which is just as cool/scary as you might expect.

King doesn’t hold back, either, and I was surprised by how far DC’s editorial let him go with some of the violence. Even the suggestions of violence are just as potent and, not uncommonly, more unnerving than the actual blood that’s shed on the page. Penguin is as cold-hearted as can be here, and King’s writing leans into the hardened criminal vibe in great ways. The artwork brings all of those vibes right to the forefront, too, and gives the comic a dirty, palpable grit that I really loved. There’s not a ton of momentum here—at least on the broader plot King is developing—but the foundations are rock-solid so far. I’m very eager for more.

[Bill · Rating 2 out of 5]

The setup for this, with the government secretly enlisting Penguin, seems needless, maybe even stupid. The ultra-violence is his trademark in this and always seems to be simmering below the surface. And it is how he coerces or enlists his “team” but other than his sly cleverness and willingness to inflict damage and death, nothing explains how Penguin does so to much stronger and able men. Oh, he uses his umbrella? How did I miss that. What I disliked the most was the interior monologue blocks that were used on every page, almost every panel, but were confusing to me as to whose mind we were in. Hated that.

[Emmett Spain · Rating 2 out of 5]

What starts with great promise ultimately devolves into a disjointed, dull, and ponderous affair. Each page is so overwritten that it drains the goodwill out of you. By the end, I couldn’t care less what was happening or why. Penguin is wretched, and this book does little more than affirm that.

There are two Tom King’s, I think … the genius and the one who sees himself as David Mamet and gets utterly lost in his own hubris. This is a book by the latter. Avoid it.

[Alana · Rating 4 out of 5]

The cursing thing is so boring. Either write the words or standardize them or WHATEVER, but all the symbols are so irritating to me, like playing MadLibs in the middle of a paragraph.

Otherwise, a very good Penguin book in a world with very few of them. One Bad Day was good too so I think I like this modern Penguin.

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 So much of this was build up, and to what? I promise we don't have to make every Rogue's Gallery member ~darker and edgier. This one mostly felt like a ripoff of the Gotham TVs series Penguin, but with obnoxiously bleeped swearing. Liked seeing more of the Help at least.

[Samuel · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.25/5.

The art was good for the most part, but each issue just jumped around timeline-wise a bit too much for my liking. The plot varied in quality a bit too. I liked that Catwoman issue at the end though, so… it was a decent read overall, I guess.

[Rahul Nadella · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is the most purely noir-influenced book King has ever done, and it's horrible. If you like well-written comics, I'd recommend you skip this as well. The script isn't terrible and the art is good but it's just so dumb in concept that everything falls apart. Though the flashback story is far more exciting and interesting than the main story. Hopefully the main story can cover, but for now, this interlude serves as an interesting origin for The Penguin.

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This felt more like a 2.5 for me. Some of this was confusing like they never finished the part of the story where Bats and Penguin were sinking in the batplane.....wtf happened did they die? did they get out????

[Josh · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'll admit it: after the HBO series I needed a little more Penguin in my life, and this scratched the itch for a while. A fairly complex reimagining of the character with a whole rogues gallery of characters, all sharply written.

That said, the endlessly censored swearing was endlessly distracting and actually made the dialogue nearly unreadable.

[Omargg7785 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesante. Hay algo en el estilo de narración de Tom King que no acaba de convencerme, pero merece la pena darle una oportunidad a este primer tomo.

[Tim Hoar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really good. Something of John Wick to how it starts and the ruthless, constant violence. Also caked in film noir vibes. But with the vicious Penguin at its heart. Keen to read more of the series.

[Rick Ray · Rating 3 out of 5]

Of all the villains in Batman's rogues gallery, it's clearly the Penguin who is going through a bit of a cultural renaissance period right now. It only makes sense for a solo comic series starring Gotham's "Gentleman of Crime" to have been greenlit. Just a twelve issue series, "The Prodigal Bird" collects the first six issues of the Tom King and Rafael De Latorre series along with the backup stories from Chip Zdarsky's Batman run collected as The Penguin #0.

The setup is simple and rather plain - the now retired Penguin is press-ganged back into a life of crime by Nuri Espinoza, an agent for the US government under the command of Amanda Waller. Agent Espinoza hopes to control Gotham's crime using the Penguin as a figurehead, but obviously the conniving Oswald Cobblepot has more in mind than just retaking the Iceberg Lounge. What The Penguin really delivers on is being a solid crime comic that doesn't feel the need to lean too much on the superhero stuff, and instead builds on Cobblepot's character in interesting ways separate from that of the Batman. Told in a somewhat nonlinear fashion, the Penguin's efforts to retake the Gotham crime underbelly is paralleled with his initial come up as a stooge in Carmine Falcone's organization. It's evident that some of Matt Reeves' film is playing inspiration for the setup, but King's version feels distinct enough. Towards the end of this first volume, the relationship between Batman and the Penguin is explored a bit, and its a choice I'm sure many Batman fans will find divisive. I actually quite enjoyed the choice and hope it leads to some more interesting storytelling in the second half of this miniseries.

[cauldronofevil · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m not ready to do a deep dive into the Penguin. I’m not a fan. I appreciate that he has been re-branded in some interesting ways and I’ve read some good stories.

I thought the TV show Gotham made both the Riddler and the Penguin scarier than they have ever been in comics.

So it’s possible. But I’m only reading this because Anne gave it a good review.

”The Penguin #1”

”Like me, nothing is this damn car is working right.”

Batman is in the bat boat and both are sinking in the Gotham river.

But in the passenger seat is the Penguin and he knows Bruce’s name.

I do appreciate the comic tradition of having city streets and areas named after comic book creators, but I always wonder. Is there a map?

For what it’s worth, this art is terrific. MUCH better at conveying ‘gritty’ and realistic than the Gotham Central art. That’s probably just me, but this is very immersive.

Sorry, back to the story.

We are seeing Penguin in Metropolis where he moved because his kids kicked him out of Gotham. The police are keeping tabs on him, even trying to trap him into doing something violent, but he just acts like an old man feeding pigeons in the park.

I was wondering who would breed with the Penguin but he goes home to a beautiful fiance.

Oswald is taken in by Amanda Waller and her Agent Espinoza. Agent Espinoza is telling Oswald that he now works for the government and is going to go back to Gotham, retake his criminal empire, all the while working for the government. They are keeping his fiance, Rita hostage.

Whew! That was a great story! Very creepy with the cops just as creepy as the Penguin and the Penguin super creepy because he was so quiet. Until he wasn’t.

The story is a little slow paced, but it’s a slow burn.

I’m giving this a strong 5 stars. The art by Rafael de Latorre is great. I’m looking forward to reading the next one.

”The Penguin #2” has Penguin making a visit and thinking on his retirement at 85 years old!

He shows up to a mansion that appears to have Lex Luthor in it. Penguin asks him for help ‘taking back what is mine’ in a violent and bloody way. Lex refuses to help him.

But they go bird hunting the next day. Then Penguin turns the gun on Luthor and threatens him by shooting at him.

Luthor turns and smacks Penguin to the ground, breaking his nose.

Luthor’s doctor fixes Penguin’s nose, and then Penguin strangles him to death.

Later Penguin is having a drink with Lex and asks him one more time - offering 10% of the profits. Lex says no.

Penguin then shoots his servant and drugs Lex’s wine. When Lex wakes up all his servants are dead and lying around him.

Penguin then berates him for having servants and beats him with his umbrella.

This one fell flat for me. It seems like a lousy way to hire a bodyguard. I’m giving it 1 star.

The art was good but the constantly shifting word balloons with no attribution was annoying.

”The Penguin #3 - Patriot” first starts with Penguin complaining about being in Gotham. Feeling like Superman is watching him.

Then talking to a foul-mouthed handler about stuff that happens in another comic - the Gotham War which is annoying. And the constant #$%@% substituting for cursing isn’t very fun to read when there is a LOT of cursing.

Again, lots of word balloons with no clear idea whose thoughts they are.

Two homeless guys get in a fight. Penguin shoots one of them. The other one he offers to help.

Next is Major Victory, leader of the Force of July working out. He is boxing with Penguin’s help/butler guy. The butler beats the crap out of Major Victory.

Next Penguin is trying to recruit a female who is thinking about her garden by telling her he knows Poison Ivy and he can introduce them. She wants to meet her.

I suspect she is either Mayflower or Lady Liberty. Former teammates of Major Victory. I’m betting she’s Mayflower.

Next Penguin is in a bar talking to a sassy woman. This is Lady Liberty. She makes it clear that she expects to be well compensated.

Next Penguin has the butler hold a gun on the tied up sister of a guy who just got home he calls Sparkler. Another former teammate of Major Victory.

Penguin tells him that the other four were booted from government service and their enhancements were taken away and they all became desperate. Penguin is going to use the threat on his sister’s life to recruit him.

Penguin has gathered all these former superheroes as his ‘goons’. He tells them to kill the next person who comes through the door.

This was largely good. Certainly it was pretentious and faffed about a lot in ways there were more muddy than moody. But I like the idea of it. I’ll give it 3 stars. It had a good idea that could have been told better.

”Penguin #4 - The Ex” starts with Penguin on a plane and being served wine by a stewardess who feels sorry for him because he seems afraid of flying.

He is driven to the St. Claire hotel in Las Vegas where his team of washed-up superheroes - the Force of July - are all watching the hotel in various positions. As usual, he treats his driver badly.

Penguin seems frightened. He is escorted to the best suite the hotel. He makes a call to Lisa, his ex-wife who asks him to meet for dinner.

He meets her with her own bodyguard. She is of course, beautiful.

At dinner they snipe at each other about their children and the reasons they divorced.

And then the help/driver tries to pull out a sword and stab Lisa. Her bodyguard stops him. Apparently killing him. He kind of had it coming for being a dishrag.

The police pick up the rest of the team around the hotel.

Lisa shoots Penguin a couple of times.

Later Lisa services Penguin a drink. He’s apparently recovered. He asks her to help him take back Gotham.

And then the Help who was not killed by Lisa’s bodyguard, kills her bodyguard. For no discernible reason.

Meh. This book reads like a bunch of James Bond super-villain scenes that were cut for being cool looking but slowed down the movie by a lot.

You go through all the trouble to set up a team of super-villains and then just get rid of them? What was the point? Why should a reader find that interesting?

The art is good, but it feels very padded. The story is just not interesting.

I usually give at least 2 stars for good art, but I’m starting to feel gipped by this story. 1 star.

”Penguin #5 - A Higher Power” begins with a cool idea. That thugs will dress up like henchmen - Batman ‘66 style - just so people will be more scared of them than normal thugs. Thinking they work for a madman.

Of course, masks aren’t scared of henchmen. This mask (Spider maybe?) comes into a drug lab and starts gunning them down. Black Spider actually. Cause, you know, black.

It looks like he’s working for the Penguin’s daughter. And getting paid in drugs. Venom. But maybe not for himself. For his lover.

Interspersed is basically Black Spider being interviewed by the Penguin (I think).

Thing is, out on the job, he has poor impulse control.

Penguin’s daughter is not happy about him not following the strict orders he’s given.

That was a much better story! Not indulgent, not wannabe Sopranos. But good tight storytelling, character based. Good art. A good time at the movies. 5 stars.

”Penguin #6 - An Unimportant Man” has Penguin playing bartender to Mr. Falcone. This is probably a flashback. Of when Oswald started the Iceberg club and had to take a lot of guff from the patrons.

This comic continues the seriously annoying habit of changing who’s speaking in the captions without any sort of acknowledgment that it’s someone else’s voice or whose voice it is.

The long and winding and dreary story ends up with Penguin tipping off Batman about who masterminded a robbery. Penguin heard things in the club. Penguin says he’ll give tips to the Batman maybe Batman can slip him some cash. Batman takes the deal.

The deal pays off for Batman who catches a lot of crooks from these tips. So Batman gives Penguin the money to buy the bar.

Okay, well the story actually did pay off. It was kind of an origin story for the rebooted Penguin and as such wasn’t bad. 4 stars.

”The Penguin #7” has Gordon (not a commissioner at this time) get a call about a gangster murdered at the Iceberg Lounge. Of course, the reader knows the Penguin killed him. This is a year after Falcone (the old crime boss) has died. Gordon decides that if he calls the cops, they’ll just get bribed. He turns on the bat signal.

Batman meets the Penguin. They are allies at this time. Batman knows Penguin is lying and Penguin knows that Batman knows it. Batman goes to the crook Penguin set up and finds incriminating evidence Penguin planted on him. The crook’s date sees Batman for the first time.

”A pouty boy who doesn’t know how much fun he’s having. ”

Penguin meets with The Help for the first time to hire him as an assassin.

It really feels like this story should have come long before the other stories where the Help looks like a dumbass.

Penguin is with another crook he pays who tells Penguin he’s not afraid of the Batman. Penguin smashes his face in and tells him that he should be.

Later the Penguin is with Batman telling him that his ‘mother’ committed suicide. This was the old bird lady he pushed off the roof. He’s also telling him about the bartender who was found ‘mysteriously’ murdered in a dumpster (see above).

Penguin is telling Batman that criminals are starting to suspect they have an arrangement because Batman doesn’t come after him. So Batman should jail him and then Penguin will be above suspicion and they can keep this arrangement where Penguin feeds Batman information about the criminals in his club.

I like the idea of what the are trying to do. I have no problem with this meaning that Batman lets people die all the time in this arrangement. It just doesn’t seem like it’s very well done. Maybe too rushed?

So Penguin figures he’ll come up with a theme and pretend to be a crazy super-villain and then when Batman ‘catches’ him, he’ll be out of Arkham in a couple of months and they can continue their arrangement.

This is actually a pretty cool idea.

Well, there were a lot of neat things in this story. As a re-imagining of the Penguin it’s pretty good. The artwork and execution is a bit ‘over the top’ and honestly it’s more expository than actual story. It seems like it might have been better packaged as ‘Penguin - Year One’. So it’s not perfect but certainly above average.

Though it never explains Batman and Penguin drowning in the bat boat.

4 stars.

”Penguin #0”
For some reason this is at the end of this book and it is a story that sees to be about Catwoman.

It starts in the Iceberg Lounge. Apparently Penguin is dead and a crime boss is trying to take over the club by gunpoint.

Catwoman stops the thugs, but then she is hit by another masked group that tell her that Ms. Hasigawa is taking over the club. Catwoman thinks its the Yakuza.

Then someone called the Underbroker and his huge bodyguard (the Executor) comes in and says that he is the mediator for the change in ownership. Apparently Penguin hired them to ensure his wishes were followed regarding is properties. They are going to read the will in seven days.

The Executor asks Catwoman to find some people that are requested at the will reading. He’s too big to do it himself. The ten people are the Penguin's children. She is offered money.

Two weeks later, all but one of his children are dead by strangulation. The last is Ethan Cobblepot.

Nice editor’s note referencing ‘Batgirl: Son of Penguin’ for more details. This is from the Batgirl of Burnside series. Good editors are nice!

As she breaks into his apartment she finds Ethan being attacked by a big bruiser. But she’s too late and Ethan is killed.

As Executor and Catwoman go over the will and a couple claiming to be the brother and sister of Oswald show up. They have paperwork with notarized DNA to prove their claim, even though they are not in the will.

They receive the Iceberg Lounge. But the $10.8 million goes to a bird sanctuary.

Catwoman recognizes the brother as the bruiser who killed Ethan.

That was a weird story. It seems almost completely unconnected to the six stories before it! But it was awesome. 5 stars.

Final Total: 4 stars.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

This, Gotham Year One and the first volume of Love Everlasting are the best things King has done in the past 5 years.

Hard to believe this is the same guy that’s writing the abominable WW ongoing at DC

Tom King swings from one extreme to another, rarely a middle ground with him

[Sesana · Rating 4 out of 5]

There genuinely isn't a lot that happens in this book. And yet, it's almost unrelentingly tense. This is a very dark take on Penguin, as someone extremely violent and cunning and willing to hide behind a comic facade. It works for me. The one thing that I didn't like is that a lot of characters in this book swear profusely. That's only a problem because either editorial or King himself insist on using symbols (*&@#!) instead of the actual words. If you're going to write character who swear a lot, let them fucking swear. It's really distracting to have to pause several times a page to try to figure out what the characters are actually saying.

[Danii Savage · Rating 4 out of 5]

Each chapter in this book was a unique story, and with that came both good and bad. Some chapters were almost too gritty and filled with @$%#@$% every other word which made it impossible for the verbiage to flow. Other chapters gave The Penguin an in-depth backstory that almost make you empathize with him. All of the art was great, with some I preferred more than others.
Like other reviewers have mentioned, this book is more of a prequel to the rest of the anticipated series. I look forward to reading more about the dark, calamitous future of The Penguin in his twilight years.

[Brandon Daniels · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some fun ideas here, but it’s a little hard to follow. I wish I had waited until both trades were out. I’ll likely forget most of this before the second half is released.