Penguin: Pain and Prejudice #1 Review

Get familiar with the upbringing of Oswald Copplepot.

One thing is for certain: Oswald Cobblepot had one hell of a troubled upbringing. Not only did his dear old dad drop him on his head seconds after he was born, but he was also forced to watch his parents get intimate as an infant and was constantly picked on in school growing up. Writer Gregg Hurwitz takes every available opportunity he gets to throw Cobblepot under the bus throughout the various flashbacks in this issue to help explain how he becomes the man we know him to be in Gotham, as well explain as why he takes on "the Penguin" moniker. Essentially, Hurwitz writes the Penguin as a cranky old Gus that rotted from the core because no one was around to give the man a hug growing up. For the record: it works. 

We've always known Penguin to be the type of businessman that will scorch the earth if he doesn't get what he wants. Hurwitz may get this across better than most writers who have tackled Penguin before him. The majority of Penguin: Pride and Prejudice #1 is spent with Penguin getting everything he desires with simple nods and snaps of the fingers. He's a bully that no one messes with, and God help you if you do. Not only does Hurwitz's approach to writing the character work well to establish him as one of the most feared men in Gotham, but it also makes the cliffhanger of this book more impactful when Penguin meets the real owner of Gotham City. There's definitely one man that the Penguin can't bully around. I bet you can guess who that is. 

Szymon Kudranski's artwork might be this issue's best aspect, however. Kudranski's reliance on establishing atmosphere through shadowplay perfectly complements a series of this nature. With the help of colorist John Kalisz, Kudranski's pencils are perfectly moody and travel down some dark paths in lockstep with the issue's script. 

I'll be honest, I wasn't expecting much from Penguin: Pain and Prejudice #1. But the book thoroughly surprised me. The rest of Batman's rogues could benefit from similar mini-series to establish their place in the world of Gotham for new readers. Gregg Hurwitz and Szymon Kudranski have a solid handle on the Penguin character and I'm excited to see where this leads. Most of all, I want to know what the deal is with the Penguin's Norman Bates-esque relationship with his mother. It's creepy, to say the least.