Penguin: Pain and Prejudice is a dark, gritty and psychological tale taking you all the way back to his childhood and the abuses that turned him into the ruthless and powerful Crime Lord. It tugs at the heartstrings making young Cobblepott a figure of mockery from the earliest possible age; spurned by his father, mercilessly taunted by his older brothers and his peers. The story is crafted in such a way that the reader gains a huge amount of sympathy for young Oswald but without condoning his violent actions, as an adult you are swiftly reminded of how cruel and evil a man he is. He has grown to overcome his tormentors becoming one of the most feared men in Gotham City, this makes the clashes with Batman so interesting as The Dark Knight is the real ruler of Gotham. The Penguin sees him as the one final bully he has yet to overcome. A novel story highlighting his past but doesn't get too confined to that approach. Mid way through the narrative moves away from the grim and brooding character portrait and proceeds to the secondary plot involving the meeting a of a young woman as a love interest, in whom would give him the one this he was looking for.
It is a dark and disturbing tale of a man who has and can get everything, but lacks the means to get the one thing that would truly make him happy: love. It explores this notion as Penguin meets a young woman name Cassandra, who is not concerned with external beauty. He quickly falls for her but there's more under the surface here making the subtext so compelling. That is the beauty of the series, it's a much deeper story than the Penguin showing off how he always get what he wants, it's why the series is such accomplishment. When he meets a and falls for Cassandra, you believe it as it's genuine. He is not using her, he shows that he is capable of love, but is dubious because his own self loathing. You feel a great swell of pity for him as he finds himself incapable of trusting his love interest. On another occasion The Penguin demonstrates he's not a complete monster. For those that show love and kindness are generously rewarded displaying a humanity, a caring side previously unseen. While others that he views as having been disrespectful or wronged him suffer a horrible fate. Doing what he feels is right based on his own experiences, the Penguin doesn't just get even with someone, he ruins their lives with a series of horrible events befalling their loved ones. It works well because we've seen the the beginning of this in his childhood, isolated by his appearance he cultivates his precocious intellect to concoct schemes to rid himself of those that jeer him. He is rightfully feared.
Batman's appearance is limited in throughout the story. When he does appear, the reader is given only brief glimpses where very little of The Dark Knight is view. As we are repeatedly shown how young Oswald Cobblepot suffered at the hands of bullies as a child, we see how he views Batman as the worst bully of them all, who even acknowledges as much in a conversation with Jim Gordon. Questioning if it is fair that the people they protect are often just as terrible as the him. A view shared by the Penguin retaining that belief that has been the definition of the character since he was child persecuted because of his appearance. Batman and Gordon's heroism is preserved in the story, rather than portraying them solely as villains from the titular villain's perspective.The art is well suited to the materiel, The Penguin's world is a cold one, the overwhelming darkness reflects the way the light has gone out of Oswald’s life. Also included in this book is Batman: Joker’s Asylum: The Penguin #1 He Who Laughs Last, it shares a similar plot and could be viewed as inspiration and expanded into the five issue mini series.
One of my favorite Batman stories is Year One and The Long Halloween, stories that utilized mobsters and crime bosses such as Carmine "The Roman"Falcone. The Penguin is Gotham's current crime boss. It is a great story and the also gives fans of the Gotham TV series a better understanding and background of the one of the show's main antagonists. Pain and Prejudice gives us a new origin for The Penguin, the only back story I was familiar with was that of Tim Burton's Batman Returns, the climatic ending of the story is very and reminiscent of the movie.
It's not just a story that gives you a better understanding of a villain so evil and cruel but allows them to empathize with in a character driven story, seeing his point of view. It has similarities to Alan Moore's and Brian Boland's classic Batman: The Killing Joke. Building on DC Comics trend of villains in the main role in their own graphic novels and mini series.
The New 52 universe's examination of the character exhibits that the Penguin is rightly feared crime lord. It's dark, menacing, unsettling at times but more importantly fascinating. He is capable to kindness in rare circumstances as this story examines his pain and his prejudices. We see how young Oswald Cobblepot has went from being his mother’s good boy to the leader of underworld gangs and adversary of the Batman. Penguin: Pain and Prejudice is a thrilling and emphatic story of one of Batman's most memorable villains that can highly be considered as a definitive Penguin story.
Thanks for reading and more to come,
K
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