In The Penguin #10, the war between Oswald and his children heats up, and Batman appears to be playing both sides.
The Penguin #10 main cover by Carmine Di Giandomenico
Title: The Penguin #10
Writer: Tom King
Artist: Rafael De Latorre
Colors: Marcelo Maiolo
Letterer: Clayton Cowles
Main Cover: Carmine Di Giandomenico
Variant Covers: Christian Ward
Release Date: May 28, 2024
This comic book review contains spoilers.
The Penguin #10 opens with Penguin and Batman meeting on a roof in the rain to discuss Penguin’s children. Before they get started, Oswald Cobblepot needs a smoke. Luckily, Batman is always prepared and pulls out some matches from his utility belt. (What doesn’t he keep in there?)
Cut to Penguin’s children torturing a man who is from Metropolis and a part of Intergang. He has come to tell them that a shipment was not made, because of Batman, and is promptly killed by the twins. Addie still shows no fear of the Batman.
The twins have taken up all of Penguin’s deals and operations, and since Penguin is feeding information to Batman, they know exactly how to stop it. We get a pretty sweet two-page sequence of Batman in every vehicle taking down Cobblepot operations. We see the Batplane, Batboat, Batcycle, Batcopter, Batjetski, and of course, the Batmobile. The more vehicles, the better.
The twins keep picking off the men from Metropolis and are burying them. In need of some help, they turn to Black Spider. With Oswald’s help, Batman is really putting a dent into Addison’s plans. He comments on how she is just as smart as her father. We’re treated to another great spread by Rafael de Latorre of Batman just punching out henchmen, and it’s just as cool to see as the vehicles.
Addison and Penguin meet and talk at the park. She tells him that Metropois is coming for her and that they are going to kill her. Oswald casually tells her not to worry, and they he’ll have killed her long before then. It’s a great little scene written by Tom King of two people who hate each other but are pretending to be nice.
Batman thinks to himself of how peaceful Gotham is as we then cut to the next day as Addison has sent her brother and her men to kill Oswald. Of course, Oswald and the Force of July stop them, and Oswald spares his son, so he can deliver a message to his daughter. The message is that they will never surpass his legacy and will always be beneath him.
The issue ends with Addison turning to Batman for help as he offers her a light.
(Credit: DC Comics)
Now this ending is interesting. Batman knows that Oswald constantly lies to him and has from the start. Addison knows all his lies and secrets and is willing to tell them all to Batman in exchange for protection. The question is if Batman is truly looking to take down Oswald for good or will he use this opportunity to take the Cobblepot empire out for good? Or is he still on Oswald’s side?
Like I said, I really like the art. The two main set pieces were great. Any time you can throw in all the Bat-vehicles in an issue is major points from me. I just wish we saw the Whirly Bat.
King usually leaves a great hook for an ending, and this might be his best one yet. It will be fun to see which way Batman goes and how he is going to play this. Knowing King, however, we’ll find out four issues from now. I hope not.
