The Penguin vol. 1: The Prodigal Bird

Oswald “The Penguin” Cobblepot is dead.  In actuality, this just means he’s faked his death to get out of the cycle of crime and punishment that every Bat-villain endures while they’re in Gotham.  He’s now living the quiet life in Metropolis, which (surprise, surprise) comes to an abrupt end when he’s recruited by one Agent Nuri Espinoza (a.k.a. Agent #)$%&*) to go back into that hellhole.  The U.S. Government – or is it just Amanda Waller – has demanded that he take back his criminal empire as part of their long-term-plan to take down Batman.  The Penguin is no fool and he also knows that he can’t do it alone.  Which is why he’s going to need assistance from some goons, his ex-wife, an inside man, and also The Help.

While it wasn’t solicited as such, this is another twelve-issue series from “Mr. Maxiseries” himself, Tom King.  It’s his first one focused around a villain, however, but that hasn’t made it any less readable so far.  In fact, it’s pretty entertaining seeing Oswald be ruthless, clever, violent, and needy – sometimes individually, sometimes in combinations, occasionally even all at once – in order to get back what was taken from him.  However, if you’ve never warmed to the writer or are annoyed rather than tolerative of his writerly tics, this might be a harder sell for you.  Moreso here since it’s hard to tell whether or not the callbacks to his previous work (“Killing Time” in particular) really do work on their own.

Vol. 1 does have good art, of course, with Rafael De La Torre handling the main story with gritty and dramatic aplomb.  This story may be set in a superhero universe but the artist makes the story’s serious tone work with the genre’s more outlandish bits.  Same goes for Steven Subic who handles the two-issue story at the end which revises The Penguin’s origin for the present era.  It’s a complete departure from the main story, but it’s good enough that I didn’t mind.  Which certainly bodes well for seeing how King and De La Torre wrap things up in vol. 2.