Originally published on Patreon
The Batman One Bad Day series has had two issues already, one awful, and one really good, so I felt like a lot was riding on this latest issue, which focuses on the Penguin, as it would help me decide if the series was either a good one or a bad one. And it kind of landed pretty much in the middle of being perfectly fine.
Unlike some of the other villains in Batman's rogues gallery, there's not much to the Penguin really. He's not a crazed clown, he doesn't leave mysteries behind, he doesn't have ice powers or shape shifting. He's just a man. A smaller, often ugly man, but a man nonetheless. So what can you do with him? Well, John Ridley decided that the best thing that could be done with him is to tell a fairly small, ordinary crime story. And it was probably the best decision that could have been made.
The book begins after the Penguin has been ousted from power by one of his own underlings, the Umbrella Man. Walking back into Gotham with an old gun with one bullet, he begins to try and get his criminal empire back. Whilst that may seem like a tall order he soon turns that old gun with one bullet into a new gun with three bullets; so he's clearly got some motivation and skills.
Over the course of the story we watch as Penguin starts to put together a small crew, learns where he went wrong before, and puts himself into a position where he can reclaim everything that he lost. This is all set to a Gotham that's in the middle of a barely contained crime wave, where the police and Batman are being run ragged, because Umbrella Man doesn't care about the death and chaos that happens under him.
And that's one of the main points of the story, the thing that Penguin says to Batman himself. He might be a criminal, he might be hated by Batman, and hate him in return, but he's necessary. Penguin has his fingers in so many pies that he's able to keep the city running smoothly, that no one is able to get too powerful or too out of hand, and that the police and Batman are able to stop them before they do thanks to his tight control. He's the man who keep the crime happening in Gotham, yes, but he keeps it level. It's an interesting interpretation for the character, and makes a good point for why Batman mostly lets him carry on with what he's doing; only stepping in when Oswald goes too far.
The book isn't really a super hero type story, and Batman himself is hardly in it. With a few small tweaks this could be a realistic mafia story, and that's why it works as well as it does. It's entertaining and manages to keep you interested for it's extra sized length, whilst not overstaying its welcome. Whilst not as good as the Two Face story, it a good example of a perfectly solid, well crafted comic.
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