DICE

Villains don’t usually have enough charisma to carry off a regular series, but a miniseries such as “Penguin: Pain & Prejudice” is a great vehicle to put the shadow-dwellers in the spotlight and let readers see what makes them tick. That’s just what Gregg Hurwitz does here. Five issues long, filled with details of Oswald Cobblepott’s life, this series has been a great read all the way through. Hurwitz has played to the strengths of the Penguin as an organized crime boss and frequent foe of Batman. He’s also shown us the tender side, reminding readers that deep down, even fiendish foes started out with the same basic need to be loved. How does that get balanced by evil, or better yet, how does it get displaced? Can it ever be reclaimed? Hurwitz pays it all off in this issue. There’s a wink and nod to longtime fans of Batman and the Penguin as he was portrayed by Burgess Meredith in the form of a single panel and understated word balloon that reads, “Wah wah wah.” Hurwitz also man

This issue is a little more jumpy than the previous two, but it matches the mindset and general uneasiness circling the title character. Oswald Cobblepot suffers an immeasurable personal loss and flails about, trying to comprehend the loss, fighting to continue swimming, and, oddly enough, struggling to find a surrogate to fill the freshly minted void in his life. This leads Penguin to a bit of personal time at the zoo, where he happens across a young, blind lady named Cassandra. The two make a connection and Cobblepot is smitten with her. He sets her up in a place in his life and returns to the empire he has worked so hard to build. Gregg Hurwitz showcases the dichotomy of the Penguin extensively through juxtaposed discussions with a paramedic and a hospice worker. Both were on the scene of Cobblepot’s loss. Both are destined to receive an imprint from Cobblepot upon their own lives. One receives unwavering terror, the other boundless generosity. Cobblepot’s machinations are dist

For the past decade or so, the Penguin’s role in various Batman comics has remained constant: Batman (or a sidekick) roughs up the Penguin when something bad happens, the Penguin proclaims innocence (and gives a piece of information), and Batman swings off while the Penguin mutters things about the stupid flying rodent. It’s become an unfortunate shorthand for giving a piece of information to Batman, and in the process it’s diminished the Penguin from a character into a plot device. With “Penguin: Pain and Prejudice,” Gregg Hurwitz and Szymon Kudranski are successfully turning the Penguin back into an actual character. This issue flashes back to the Penguin’s childhood, when little Oswald Cobblepot was picked on and demeaned by his entire family, save for his mother. And so, even as his relationship with his mother improves, the rest of the family begins to suffer. It’s a pretty standard plot, to be fair, but Hurwitz makes this comic attention-grabbing. There are no shock tactics, n

For whatever reason, whether it was due to Burgess Meredith’s portrayal of him, or his direct visual connection to the flightless fowl of the same name, I find the Penguin to be a fascinating and entertaining foe. While fellow readers and more specialized Batfans might favor the Joker, Two-Face, Riddler, or Catwoman, I gravitate towards the adventures of Oswald Chesterfield Cobblepot. Sure, Penguin’s not the most intimidating opponent based solely on appearance, but then again, neither was Napoleon. Over the past decade or more, DC Comics has chosen a different tack with Cobblepot, presenting him more as a crimelord than a petty criminal. Sure, he is still motivated by a need for pretty baubles, but he is less prone to waddling around using trick umbrellas to accomplish his dirty work. Make no mistake, though, he does still waddle. Gregg Hurwitz is given significant latitude in the form of a five-issue mini series to elaborate on the origins and inner machinations of the Penguin, a