In The Penguin‘s tenth issue, the focus is squarely put on Batman and the Sibs’, the pair of siblings that are Penguin’s offspring. They are the point of view from which we see the effects of Penguin’s schemes. The story opens and closes poetically, with Batman offering help, and in his act, showing that he needs help in return. More and more it is revealed how our favorite vigilante’s lonesome crusade isn’t as self-sufficient as he’d like everyone to think. The line between hero and villain blurs, morality in constant exchange for what is necessary. All that’s left are characters that possess power over others, and those that don’t. In The Penguin comic, everyone is someone else’s puppet, no one is exempt, maybe not even the puppeteer.
Having written Batman for over eight years now, we rarely get to read Tom King’s version of the Dark Knight’s inner monologues. Here, it is used to convey Batman’s stoic and direct appraisal of his predicaments. With his relationship with Penguin getting so much play, it is interesting to see how much of this will affect the long-term status quo, and how other writers could build upon it in unique ways. Inevitably, it is apparent that the two foes are getting closer to where the series begins in medias res with both men side by side near death. This ending put at the beginning paints their every interaction with a sense of impending doom.
DC Comics
De Lattore and Maiolo’s art is careful to always cover Batman’s visage in shadow, while other characters are contrasted by cold base colors and warm light highlights. The caption boxes for each character are also associated with these colors, lights that always seem to follow them no matter where they are, making it easy to identify all the different players in the drama. Two examples are Silver St. Claire always having pink around her, while Penguin’s daughter has orange. These softer colors are offset by sudden bursts of exclusively white-on-red panels that effectively convey brutal violence without using explicit gore.
One thing worth mentioning is that the action in these issues is usually a means to an end, they are rarely a focus and sometimes even devoid of tension, especially with the time jumps and non-linear storytelling. More often than not, they are foregone conclusions, and it is less about who wins a fistfight, but more about what leads up to it and how the separate parties deal with it. The tension lies in the intrigue, in how one character manages to outsmart the other, rather than who can land the most hits. Gravitas is given more to the simple act of lighting a match or holding a pigeon, rather than gimmicky umbrella gadgets.
The Penguin #10 is poetic, impactful, and dramatic, all dressed in the mundane, of people talking in benches and not scuffles in tights. In other words, it is everything you’d expect from a Tom King book, and De Lattore and Maiolo’s art only enhances the experience. If that is what you’re looking for, then this is something that you definitely should not miss on the shelves.
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