Penguin

Penguin

The Penguin, aka Oswald Cobblepot, is a round, waddling, short man who first appeared a year and a half after Batman’s debut as an art thief in Detective Comics #58. Penguin became one of Batman’s common enemies, taking over the local mob and making a name for himself around Gotham. The Penguin, along with Batman and other villains, had some fancy toys. Some of these included umbrellas that acted as guns, umbrellas that released toxic fumes, and umbrellas that hold swords. Even from the moment he was created, Penguin was a “homicidal madman”. He would attempt to kill the Dynamic Duo on a regular basis and didn’t care about the casualties. Throughout many comic stories, The Penguin would compete with villain, The Joker, to kill the Dynamic Duo. Sometimes Penguin even kills his own men without a second thought. In one comic issue, he accidentally killed one of his men trying to kill The Bat. As terrible and gruesome as the situation was, it wasn’t paid much attention to in the rest of the story.  During the 40s, around the time that comics revealed Penguins true identity to be Oswald Cobblepot, the Penguin character started to soften. Umbrella guns and swords started to become nets and other non-lethal gadgets. Throughout the 50s, Penguin wasn’t written into any of the comics because of the issue with Comics Code Authority. He didn’t come back till he was written into books by author Julie Schwartz. The Batman television show with Adam West showcased all the villains, including Penguin, to be “not so bad” villains. Yes, the Penguin was a corrupt thief who always tried to kill the Dynamic Duo, but he was also funny. All the traps he set for the Duo never worked out and he was always caught in a speedy manner, giving The Penguin a  “not so bad” feel overall. The Penguin became an over-exaggerated, crazy, deranged, killer in the movie Batman Returns. He was fatter, his hair was unkempt, his mouth was black, and his eyes were sunken in, which over fed into the crazy madmen look The Penguin was first created to have. In the new hit show Gotham, on FX, Penguin is a young, power hungry, deranged, yet cunning, killer villain to be.

Penguin back-story, written by Alan Grant: Oswald was a lonely orphan who lived with his aunt. He was constantly made fun of by his peers and ultimately felt utterly alone. He soon became this cold and unfeeling criminal hell bent on being noticed by important people like gang leaders and Batman.

In one comic Batman made a comment about how Penguin would be so much more successful he would be if he let others carry out his elaborate plans. Once the Penguin started to follow this Bat-advice, tracing crimes back to him became more difficult and gave writers greater opportunities to get creative with their stories. Once Penguin stopped carrying out his own plans he had more time to open up the Iceberg Lounge, a front for money laundering. He also became more focused on respect and how badly he wanted it from everyone.