Describe (if such a thing exists) a cool version of The Penguin from the comic books

[shy_guy]

Check out this for a good Penguin origin story. Warning: it is dark.

I’m normally someone who doesn’t really care for ultra gritty portrayals of Batman and his supporting cast, but this one is pretty good.

I like how they handled him in the later episodes of Batman: TAS, as the owner and operator of the semi-legitimate Iceberg Lounge. There’s the danger of making him too much of a Kingpin knockoff, but keeping some of the flamboyant bird/umbrella stuff helps with that.

[bienville]

@shy_guy

Check out this for a good Penguin origin story. Warning: it is dark.

Thanks, that looks worth checking out. Does the edition at that link compile the entire five issue series? I’m not seeing that explicitly stated in the description. It does say 144 pages.

[Kamino_Neko]

@bienville

Thanks, that looks worth checking out. Does the edition at that link compile the entire five issue series? I’m not seeing that explicitly stated in the description. It does say 144 pages.

Yes, it collects the whole series, and then some - it also includes the Joker’s Asylum - Penguin special from a few years back. Here’s the book’s page at DC’s site.

[The_Other_Waldo_Pepper]

@Kamino_Neko

He’s a completely normal (if short and not exactly going to win Sexiest Man Alive) human, intelligent (though not to the freaky levels that Joker, Riddler or Batman get), with oodles of money, slightly outdated fashion sense (a monocle? Really, Ozzie?), some unusual but not terribly out there quirks (always carries an umbrella, which is often a disguised weapon

Interestingly, he’s sometimes housed equipment in accoutrements other than umbrellas – such as the aforementioned monocle, or his old-timey cigarette holder. So there’s ample room for expanding the Penguin’s signature gimmick: he can build a one-shot weapon into anything from a vintage pocketwatch to a silver flask to an engraved lighter, just so long as it’s something an upper-class type would’ve carried a hundred years back.

[Miller]

@The_Other_Waldo_Pepper

Interestingly, he’s sometimes housed equipment in accoutrements other than umbrellas – such as the aforementioned monocle, or his old-timey cigarette holder. So there’s ample room for expanding the Penguin’s signature gimmick: he can build a one-shot weapon into anything from a vintage pocketwatch to a silver flask to an engraved lighter, just so long as it’s something an upper-class type would’ve carried a hundred years back.

Basically, a steampunk cosplayer gone rogue?

Also, another view of the Penguin.

[Left_Hand_of_Dorkness]

@pravnik

The Penguin of Arkham Asylum comes off as a tuxedoed, monocle wearing version of “Brick Top” from Snatch, which is actually a pretty good fit.

I don’t remember him from Asylum, but certainly in Arkham City he was a great mob boss character. Still four-color, but not as absurd as Burton’s Penguin.

[Smapti]

I don’t follow the comics and I’m not sure if this is canon anymore since the 2011 reboot, but it’s my understanding that in recent years the Penguin more or less gave up directly running criminal operations and became the proprietor of a seedy nightclub on the wrong side of Gotham, where his main stock in trade was that he “knew people” and could get you in touch with anyone for the right price. Which always struck me as a more appropriate role for the character than that of being a criminal mastermind in and of itself.

[pravnik]

@Left_Hand_of_Dorkness

I don’t remember him from Asylum, but certainly in Arkham City he was a great mob boss character. Still four-color, but not as absurd as Burton’s Penguin.

:smack: D’oh! I meant Arkham City. Haven’t actually played Asylum.

[Prof.Pepperwinkle]

@Smapti

I don’t follow the comics and I’m not sure if this is canon anymore since the 2011 reboot, but it’s my understanding that in recent years the Penguin more or less gave up directly running criminal operations and became the proprietor of a seedy nightclub on the wrong side of Gotham, where his main stock in trade was that he “knew people” and could get you in touch with anyone for the right price. Which always struck me as a more appropriate role for the character than that of being a criminal mastermind in and of itself.

Right now he’s back to being a major crimelord, and a fairly secondary character.