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seriousficSo, finishing watching The Long Good Friday at Hefner's recommendation, I come to a thought--instead of postulating the Penguin as either sewer-mutant or flabby gink Batman beats up to get information about what the Penguin is doing, why not just make him Bob Hoskins?
There's a need for an 'old-school Mafioso' in Batman canon. Someone who can do the kind of stories that Daredevil writers do with Kingpin. They tried making Black Mask into that character, but everyone involved would much rather watch Saw 12, so no-go. But here's my idea--think of Penguin as the successor to Carmine Falcone, and especially someone who sees himself that way. He longs for the days when "the Godfather of Gotham" was a celebrity in his own right, a fixture of the social scene, a pillar of the community. He looks on Harley Quinn and Killer Croc like Vito Corleone would look at <i>Mob Wives</i>... "this is what it's come to? This is what we're reduced to?" And so, although Penguin has a Cockney accent (that he hides well, most of the time) and is a junkyard dog who can beat a man to a pulp with a fireplace poker for annoying him, he considers himself the height of sophistication and dignity, and carries himself as such. He still deals guns and heroin, but he has a weird code of honor--he won't participate in a Mr. Freeze scheme to ice half the city. And when he gives Batman information, it's always part of a Xanatos scheme to enrich himself--turning conversations between him and Bats into Machiavellian chess matches.
The great irony is, due to his family's wealth, his outsider status, and some unfortunate birth defects (in fact, barring some unforeseen unfortunate implication, you could even make Cobblepot queer or a racial minority--after all, if you're going to start racelifting people, some of them are bound to be assholes), Penguin never would've made it in Falcone's circle. Batman's destruction of the Mafia and the rise of the Rogues has entirely allowed for his reign. That's why he's in Gotham in the first place--you think he likes tangling with Batman? But what other city could have a circus freak as their don? All of which has occurred to Penguin, and just made him harder, angrier, more bitter and more determined to prove himself to the world. So every now and then you could have a story about him sending some men to Coast City or wherever, trying to take over--good excuse to have a Gotham Rogue or Bat show up in someone else's title.
There's a need for an 'old-school Mafioso' in Batman canon. Someone who can do the kind of stories that Daredevil writers do with Kingpin. They tried making Black Mask into that character, but everyone involved would much rather watch Saw 12, so no-go. But here's my idea--think of Penguin as the successor to Carmine Falcone, and especially someone who sees himself that way. He longs for the days when "the Godfather of Gotham" was a celebrity in his own right, a fixture of the social scene, a pillar of the community. He looks on Harley Quinn and Killer Croc like Vito Corleone would look at <i>Mob Wives</i>... "this is what it's come to? This is what we're reduced to?" And so, although Penguin has a Cockney accent (that he hides well, most of the time) and is a junkyard dog who can beat a man to a pulp with a fireplace poker for annoying him, he considers himself the height of sophistication and dignity, and carries himself as such. He still deals guns and heroin, but he has a weird code of honor--he won't participate in a Mr. Freeze scheme to ice half the city. And when he gives Batman information, it's always part of a Xanatos scheme to enrich himself--turning conversations between him and Bats into Machiavellian chess matches.
The great irony is, due to his family's wealth, his outsider status, and some unfortunate birth defects (in fact, barring some unforeseen unfortunate implication, you could even make Cobblepot queer or a racial minority--after all, if you're going to start racelifting people, some of them are bound to be assholes), Penguin never would've made it in Falcone's circle. Batman's destruction of the Mafia and the rise of the Rogues has entirely allowed for his reign. That's why he's in Gotham in the first place--you think he likes tangling with Batman? But what other city could have a circus freak as their don? All of which has occurred to Penguin, and just made him harder, angrier, more bitter and more determined to prove himself to the world. So every now and then you could have a story about him sending some men to Coast City or wherever, trying to take over--good excuse to have a Gotham Rogue or Bat show up in someone else's title.
