Among the many mythical baddies who routinely take on Batman, is The Penguin. Eccentric and dangerous, he is one of the most recurring villains in comics, which we have also seen in the Dark Knight series and movies. With the appearance in the film The Batman of Matt Reeves and the rumors of a possible own series on HBO Max, we will tell you everything you need to know about the character of Batman's The Penguin.
El Joker, Catwoman, Two-Face, Enigma... Batman's cast of villains is enormous and, among them, stands out one who has made life miserable over and over again for the Dark Knight. It is about The Penguin, a dangerous villain who, throughout the history of Batman, she had a complex relationship with him.
We tell you everything, as well as the most important of the character.
Origin
the penguin was created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger, appearing for the first time in the Detective Comics issue 58 dated December 1941.
Since that story, in which he stole valuable canvases by hiding them in the handle of his umbrella, this genius of crime has put Batman in many troubles.
who is the penguin
The Penguin, whose His real name is Oswald Cobblepot, he is a Gotham City crime lord with a deformed physical appearance.. Similar to that of a penguin due to its short stature, its beak-shaped nose and its amorphous and clumsy body, they have earned it that nickname that it carries with pride and has become its hallmark.
However, he cannot be underestimated for his appearance, as he is a criminal mastermind who operates out of his nightclub, the Iceberg Lounge, in order to be the master of Gotham's underworld.
Molded by ridicule for his looks and height since he was a child, he has dedicated himself to inspiring respect and fear through his criminal exploits. In many of them, he has run into Batman directly, and has even allied himself with other supervillains, forming part of The Injustice League, The Secret Society of Super Villains and even The Suicide Squad.
On other occasions, The Penguin and Batman maintain a complex relationship, coexisting in a tense way, and even helping each other, both in the exchange of information, and by allying directly. This is the case, for example, of the Batman number 60, where face Bane together.
what superpowers does he have
The Penguin actually does not have superpowers. However, he does possess some abilities above normal, such as his genius level intellect
His usual weapon is his umbrellas modified with different lethal and other gadgets hidden inside. Similarly, he has a fencer's skill with this weapon and tremendous leadership qualities.
That has made him a respected Gotham crime boss, with many minions under his command.
Some of the most outstanding adventures
In his long relationship with Batman, he has appeared in a multitude of legendary stories, which explored both his most camp of the early days, like other much more serious ones.
It is true that his stories do not have the cataclysmic scope of other Batman stories (such as when he meets with The Justice League), but are much more "earthly", without major events, like threats from other dimensions, try to conquer the world or destroy it.
However, that makes it more interesting, as they allow for better character exploration, rather than resorting to huge fights with a multitude of superheroes and villains.
Here are some of his most important "feats".
- In one of his most interesting adventures during the call Silver age, (Partners in Plunder, February 1965), The Penguin performs various random misdeeds. Batman, being "the greatest detective in the world" tries to find out the evil master plan behind them. But there isn't, The Penguin lets Batman build that plan for him with his findings. A truly witty story.
- On another occasion (love bird), The Penguin seems to reform, opens an umbrella factory and falls in love, but Batman is not so convinced and investigates what is really behind in a story that seems like a romantic comedy. Compared to the darker Batman stories, The Penguin is, at times, a welcome break from the blackness.
- En Batman: Earth 1, we see an alternate universe where Penguin is mayor of Gotham and the man behind the murder of Batman's parents. Because yes, in almost every alternate universe, the bat tragically loses its parents.
- who laughs last is another great story that shows the darker side of The Penguin. told by him Joker, tells us about the book that Oswald Cobblepot keeps with the adventures and obituaries of all those who have ever laughed at him.
- En Batman issue 39 we see again the impossible alliance of The Penguin and Batman, when the first helps by facing the Joker, who has gone too far in the chaos he has wreaked on Gotham.
- Red Hood (Jason Todd, who was the second Robin) shoots Penguin in the head, hitting the eye that wears the monocle. He does not die, but since then He'll wear a patch instead of that monocle so characteristic.
Some curiosities
Finally, here are some things about Oswald Cobblepot that you probably didn't know.
- In that adventure in which he allies with Batman to face Bane, the motivation is that Bane has murdered Penny, with whom it seems that The Penguin had fallen in love. However, Penny is not the name of a woman although she seems to be that all the time, but rather we discover details such as that she has a beak and feathers. Yes effectively, it is less-subtly implied that Penguin has had sex with or fallen in love with a bird.
- The Penguin has a son, Ethan, whom he abandoned and does not want to know anything about, except for the fact that he supports him financially and little else.
- In one of the most disturbing storylines, Penguin tries to kill everyone in Gotham with a serum. It is then revealed that this formula actually kills those with low testosterone. That has the disturbing implication that his plan went through liquidate all women and children.
- In the comic in which Joker tells the story of the Penguin and his darker facets, we meet Violet, a woman who falls in love with Cobblepot. However, the dark side of her makes her want to leave him... The result is that the last time we see Violet, is caged by The Penguin, implying that he locked her up forever for wanting to leave him.
As we can see, The Penguin is a tortured soul, with a more than complex relationship with The Dark Knight.
Sometimes he's an endearing villain, other times he's even an ally of the bat, and still others, he's a sinister character with tremendous streaks of cruelty.
Be that as it may, Gotham's most feared crime lord remains one of Batman's iconic rivals who, even though his aesthetic seems to have no place in more modern stories, remains one of DC's most interesting characters.