The Penguin Special #1 – Jeremy Adams, Bill Finger, Alan Grant, Jason Aaron, Writers; Howard Porter, Bob Kane/Jerry Robinson/George Roussos, Sam Kieth, Jason Pearson, Artists; Hi-Fi, Tom McCraw, Dave McCaig, Colorists
Ray – 8.5/10
Ray: With “Oz” Cobblepot having his own TV series now, DC is releasing this oversized one-shot to catch us up with Gotham’s most notorious bird-lover. This book does feature an original story, but it also features three iconic Penguin tales – the character’s first appearance by Finger and Kane, which cast him as a charismatic umbrella-themed thief who actually gets the better of Batman and gets away; as well as a Secret Origins Special from 1989 that reinvented him as the bird-obsessed crime boss who was once a lonely and abused child – but could be capable of incredible cruelty when pushed. Most infamously, it reprints the Joker’s Asylum story by Jason Aaron and the late Jason Pearson that showed us Penguin at his most sadistic and terrifying – one of Aaron’s only early works for DC, and a foundational text for Cobblepot that every writer since has tried to equal.
And to add to the mythos, Jeremy Adams and Howard Porter give us a new tale as Cobblepot visits a woman named Madeline in a hospital, where she seems to be in a catatonic state. This story is only around eight pages, but it delivers a hefty dose of horror, as it’s revealed that the woman is actually Penguin’s ex-wife – the mother of the doomed supervillains Aiden and Addison, who played a key role in the recent Penguin maxi-series by Tom King. This is a sadistic coda to that whole story, reminding us of just how monstrous Penguin can be when he’s back on top and has his power – and how dangerous he is when anyone crosses him, even accidentally. Adams is a surprising choice for this story, as he usually sticks to the more superheroic parts of DC, although he’s written quite a few Batman animated movies. Wouldn’t mind at all if this is the first step of him playing a bigger role in Gotham.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
