Tradewaiter: Penguin – Pain and Prejudice

writer and an artist I don’t know, telling a story about a Batman villain I barely care about? This would’ve been a definate pass if it weren’t for all the rave reviews it garnered. But hey, reviewers have been wrong before, right?

Written by Gregg Hurwitz
Illustrated by Szymon Kudranski
Learn how young Oswald Cobblepot went from being the apple of his mother’s eye to the leader of underworld gangs and adversary of the Caped Crusader!
144 pages / $14.99

This story was every bit as good as the hype surrounding it suggested. It wasn’t the ‘year one’ style story I expected, but it did expand on Penguin’s beginnings and motivations. Set after Penguin has established himself both as a leader of crime and an adversary of Batman, the plot centers on the death of Mama Cobblepot and a new romantic relationship for Oswald. Told from Penguin’s point of view, the character is sympathetic right from the first page. After four issues of apparent anti-heroims, the final issue brings him back to full villainhood.

The narrative is well structured, and I missed some of the chapter breaks the first time through. The book is helped greatly by the recurring flashbacks to Oswald’s youth and the complete lack of exposition recapping previous events. I don’t know if the individual issues had a prose page reminding the reader what happened previously, but each consecutive issue seemed to take for granted prior installments had been read first. Hurwitz’s characterization is among the best I’ve seen in recent years, and he did a good enough job I’ll buy the next thing I see with his name on the cover without even checking the premise.

Kudranski’s art compliments Hurwitz’s script wonderfully. His used of varied panel borders help let the reader know when something is real, a flashback, or being imagined. Near the end of the first chapter (why no page numbers?), Kudranski uses a red outline of a character’s previous expression over his current one to help us see him how the Penguin does. His lines are gritty and moody enough to evoke the right sense of noir for this tale, but remain clear and dynamic. There was only one spot in the whole book where I wasn’t sure what was going on: the first page of chapter four – what’s the henchman doing in the corner, and why is he crosseyed?

Colorist John Kalisz helps bring the line art to life. The pages are often monocromatic or have a muted, limited pallet, which brings to mind another great Batman tale, The Long Halloween. The muted shades help the contrasting sound effects pop, instead of getting lost in the suffle as they sometimes do.

This collection also features the “Joker’s Asylum” Penguin one-shot from…what, four years ago? It’s another tale of Oswald’s youth by way of Jason Aaron and Jason Pearson. I liked the issue when it came out, and it goes along with the main story quite well. The art is a bit stylized for my taste, but it definately gets the point across.

The bonus features are rather limited. There’s a gallery of cover concepts and a sketch of the Penguin. Given the placement of “Joker’s Asylum” after the gallery, it’s possible it’s supposed to be an extra as well.

At $15, “Penguin: Pain and Prejudice” is a great value. It’s equal the price of the single issues, making the bonus content and JA one-shot free. And, considering how well this book reads as one collection, there’s no way I’d recommend an interested party read this in anything but trade.

Final Verdict: 8.5 – A must have for any fan of Batman or good comics.