The Penguin #11 – Tom King, Writer; Rafael De La Torre, Artist; Marcelo Maiolo, Colorist
Ray – 9.5/10
Ray: This series has been the story of Penguin’s slow return to power, as he gathered one ally after another to take the war back to Gotham and back to his estranged children. And just like that, it all falls apart. After being dismantled by her father, his twisted daughter plays the only card she can—going to Batman. And Batman, despite knowing Penguin for twenty years—or maybe because of that—believes her. Their deal is over, Batman immediately strikes against Penguin’s underground empire, and one by one his allies desert him or are taken off the table. This is done in the rotating style King has used through this series, with every two pages often being narrated by a different character. It can take a bit of figuring out to determine who is speaking in each segment, but it becomes very compelling once you piece it all together. And soon Penguin finds himself with no allies and more enemies than ever.
With his allies and even his lover deserting him, Penguin returns to the woman who kicked this off—the twisted, brain-damaged federal agent who blackmailed him into his current mission in the first place. She’s not particularly helpful, so Penguin retreats to his apartment and waits for the end to come. And it does—but not in the way we expected. The criminal element arrives—and so do the federal agents, and so it descends into a ballet of ultraviolence, with enemies taking each other out and Penguin awaiting the winner with a razor-tipped umbrella. And while Batman may have removed himself from the equation, it may not stay that way as this series draws to a close. One issue left, and King still has a lot to resolve, but this is easily going down as the defining story for this underrated Batman villain. I’ve never seen a book that so perfectly captures the gritty, corrupt nature of Gotham.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
