The Penguin #3 – Tom King, Writer; Rafael De La Torre, Artist; Marcelo Maiolo, Colorist
Ray – 9.5/10
Ray: Tom King’s comics are always fascinating, because while they form a larger narrative, individual issues often feel more like stage plays than anything, pulling in tight on a very small cast of characters. While Penguin is the main character, after the first issue this book has largely focused on his terrible impact on other people. Now that he’s forced The Help back into his employ, he needs more muscle. He’s targeting the obscure patriotic superhero team Force of July, a team of wetworks agents who played a role in the Outsiders in the 1980s. The project has long been shut down, the agents have lost their superpowers, and all have fallen on hard times. Penguin intends to bring them back together as his personal enforcement squad—but each of them requires a different incentive. And that’s what makes Penguin so fascinating as a villain—he’s versatile.
The first man he targets is Silent Majority, whose multiplication powers left his mind shattered. He just needs someone to save him from the wreck that is his life. Mayflower desperately misses her powers, and Penguin has the connections she needs. Major Victory wants to be restored to his former glory, and doesn’t take much convincing. Lady Liberty is embittered, and just needs a drinking buddy to commiserate to. And then there’s Sparkler, who was the only one who slipped back into civilian life seamlessly—and Penguin knows exactly who to threaten to make him give up the life he’s worked so hard for. We don’t know these characters too well—they were largely all just bit characters and kind of jokes—but King does an excellent job of introducing us to them in only 20 pages, before setting them up for a nightmarish ride that is likely to get worse with every new recruit Penguin finds.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
