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Penguin: Triumphant – Financial Crimes And A Gentleman Thief
DC Comics Reading Recommendations

Penguin: Triumphant – Financial Crimes And A Gentleman Thief

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Bat-Classics is a regular column in which How To Love Comics recommends Batman stories from yesteryear. You can find all the reading recommendations here.

Penguin is one of Batman’s oldest enemies, having debuted all the way back in 1941’s Detective Comics #58. For a long time, he was simply an animal-themed villain – albeit one with a fixation for deadly umbrellas and a passion for birds. The emphasis of those elements ebbed and flowed throughout the decades but remained in some capacity with every appearance. However, the 1990s saw an evolution of the character, shifting him towards being a businessman operating in legal and not-so-legal practices.

For this edition of Bat-Classics, I’m diving Penguin: Triumphant – a 1992 one-shot that was a formative story for the Batman foe. Written by John Ostrander, pencilled by Joe Staton, inked by Bob Smith, and coloured by Lovern Kindzierski, this 48-page story was responsible for planting the seed that would eventually become the modern interpretation of Penguin.

Penguin: Triumphant cover by Brian Stelfreeze.
Penguin: Triumphant cover by Brian Stelfreeze.

The comic begins with a dream sequence, acting as a metaphorical passing of the characterisation torch. Inspired by A.J Raffles, Penguin imagines himself as a gentleman thief – tall, handsome, debonair, and able to easily charm women. On the other hand, Batman and Commissioner Gordon are depicted as old-timey British policemen, “Hallo, hallo, who’s all this, then?” and all. While an aspirational dream for Penguin, it represents a juxtaposition of the romanticized thieves of yesteryear with the kind of criminal he will become. What kind of criminal is that? Penguin says he’s going legit by playing the stock market. However, since we’re reading a Batman story, we know there will be criminal intent.

Manipulating the stock market nabs Penguin a lot of money along with the status that having it affords. (That being said, he proves that just because you have money doesn’t mean you have class.) Ostrander uses this as an opportunity to explore money’s power over others. Penguin uses his newfound money for money to get back at a schoolyard bully in one instance. In another, we see a flashback to him bribing the most popular girl in school to go to the school dance with him. As a result, money and power are intertwined for Penguin and motivate every decision.

Penguin: Triumphant page by Joe Staton.
Penguin: Triumphant page by Joe Staton.

As a result of this character exploration, this tale is more a Penguin story than a Batman one. Yes, the Dark Knight is featured throughout, but he’s not the primary point of view character. Most of the focus is on the villain, exploring his past and present. Batman also has to share the spotlight with Bruce Wayne. Although, this makes sense with parts of the story operating in the world of Gotham’s elite. It also leads to a bizarre situation where Penguin leases Wayne Manor, while Batman and Robin sit down in the Batcave.

This is not the first time we have featured artist Joe Staton in the Bat-Classics column, having already appeared in our Batman: Going Sane coverage. His pages and panels are clear and concise. You never have to stop reading to try and figure out what’s happening on the page. With that solid foundation, he adds personality to the characters. For instance, in the previously mentioned dream sequence, Staton gives Penguin’s idealised self an air of swashbuckle. There’s the charismatic smile directed at his pursuers, knowing he’s in a jam, but it’s nothing he can’t handle. That confident body language extends beyond the dream sequence. There’s a great example of this in the stockbroker’s office. Staton dedicates half a page to highlight Penguin strutting through the door – umbrella swinging, head held high, and a billow of cigarette smoke. You can tell he’s barely through the door and he’s has control of the conversation already.

Penguin: Triumphant art by Joe Staton.
Penguin: Triumphant art by Joe Staton.

While this foray into financial crime could’ve easily been a one-off, it appears to be the impetus for the modern interpretation of Penguin – as seen in comics and on screen. In subsequent stories, he will be introduced as a criminal businessman, operating in organised crime and running the Iceberg Lounge, an Arctic-themed nightclub. This shift to the facade of legitimacy worked for Lex Luthor in the latter half of the 80s and stuck the landing for the Batman villain.

Those looking to read a Penguin story should keep this on their radar. It’s a fun little story that explores money and power and is very charismatic through how the creative team depict the Batman villain’s confidence. It’s also worth checking for how it became the seed of the modern interpretation of the character, which many future stories are now indebted to.

Penguin: Triumphant can be found for a couple of bucks at comic book shops, online retailers, eBay, and Amazon/Kindle. It can also be read digitally on DC Universe Infinite or in the Batman Arkham: Penguin trade paperback collection.

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