“An Unimportant Man”
Writer: Tom King
Artist: Stevan Subic
Color Artist: Marcelo Maiolo
Letterer: Clayton Cowles
Review by Philip Clark
The Penguin #6 is out this month and things are heating up. We’re treated to a little blast from the past as King takes readers back in time, to the years before Cobblepot became the bird-themed villain we’ve all come to love/hate.
We also have a surprise guest star in this issue, who really ties things together. Finally, we get to see some of the foundations for Penguin’s relationship with Gotham’s underbelly being laid.
Tip of the Iceberg
I’m quite new to Tom King’s work, as I’ve been out of the comics scene for a few years, but he’s very quickly becoming one of my favorite writers. His way of conveying, and telling a story by just using the inner monologues of those around the main character is sublime. We’re six issues in and we’ve yet to get a single panel of what Cobblepot himself is actually thinking. That’s incredible, particularly considering that the name on the cover is The Penguin.
Breaking up the main story arch here is interesting timing. I’m left wondering what happens next in our regularly scheduled reading, though, of course, I appreciate the insightful look into Oswald’s past; I’m just not sure it was entirely necessary. I’m sure I’ll be bowing down to King come the end of this run, though.
Artist’s Alley
With the change of story beat also comes a change in artist… sadly, I have to say that I’m not a fan. I felt straight away that the characters looked different in this issue, so I had to check the credits page to confirm my suspicions.
Now, I do need to say that the artwork in this issue isn’t bad by any stretch of the imagination, it’s very good, but it’s just not to my taste. I’d gotten used to De Latorre’s work for the last five issues, so it was just a bit of a shock reading this issue and seeing Subic’s surreal handiwork. (I’ve been told that I need to read The Riddler: Year One, where Subic pencils, inks, and colors his own work… with spectacular results).
Conclusion
The Penguin #6 was a very well-rounded issue, although it seemed a little out of place with the way the main story was progressing up to this point. King has me hooked on this series, so I’m along for the ride either way. I just want to get back to our normal story, and creative team as quickly as possible.
Images Courtesy of DC Entertainment
