The Penguin #7 – Tom King, Writer; Stevan Subic, Artist; Marcelo Maiolo, Colorist
Ray – 9.5/10
Ray: Tom King has been taking a break from the Penguin’s quest to reclaim his empire to show how he gained it in the first place, with Stevan Subic stepping in on art for the arc. This is just as fascinating a story as the main narrative, because this is really a chapter of Gotham we’ve never seen before and it shows both Batman and Penguin compromised in a fascinating way. Last month, we saw Oswald Cobblepot rise from an abused bartender to the owner of the Iceberg Lounge through one unexpected secret weapon—Batman. Cobblepot and the rookie crimefighter traded information back and forth, using it to take out Gotham’s cruelest crime bosses—with Batman at first being unaware he was enabling something even worse. Penguin is now taking his revenge, seemingly in bursts of random violence, and pretending to know nothing as Batman comes to investigate the deaths.
But all isn’t good at the Iceberg Lounge. Even as Cobblepot begins a relationship with Lisa St. Clair, who we met in the last issue of the main story, enemies are coming with him. This drives him to The Help, the mysterious assassin who has played a key role in several of King’s stories. The Help is deputized on a secret mission, while Penguin and Batman—who are becoming increasingly wary of each other—develop their own plan to protect Penguin. After all, it wouldn’t do for people to know they’re working together. This is a fascinating development that explains so much about Penguin’s various incarnations, from crime boss to bird-obsessed gimmick criminal. The tension in this arc is through the roof, and there are so many fascinating developments throughout relating to the past of both the protagonists. This is the most purely noir-influenced book King has ever done, and it’s fantastic.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
