“And what are you, then?” A question posed to Oswald Cobblepot, a.k.a. The Penguin, during an interrogation scene in THE PENGUIN #1 and the central question author Tom King seeks to explore in a strong debut for the new series highlighting one of Batman’s most iconic villains.

King uses the POV from a variety of characters — a tailor, his enamored wife, an obnoxious customer, a federal agent, and a caped crusader — to introduce Oswald’s new life in Metropolis after faking his death and being forced out of Gotham by his usurping children. By all accounts he’s a changed man — a passive demeanor, putting others ahead of himself, and leaving his past criminal life behind him. But what King does so effectively is keeping readers off-balance by never letting you know what’s going on in Oswald’s mind. Did he truly changed or has he fooled them all? It’s not until King has lead the reader along a good chunk of the issue do we finally get a glimpse of Oswald’s mindset and it’s done entirely through the impressive work of Rafael de Latorre’s art, Marcelo Maiolo’s color, and Clayton Cowles’ lettering. It’s a masterful use of unreliable narration and subterfuge you’d find in the best novels.

The standout work by de Latorre, Maiolo, and Cowles isn’t reserved just for the climax though. The issue oozes with visual nuances that complement the “is-he-or-isn’t-he” tone of the book. De Latorre’s designs and bodily mannerisms for Oswald show an older, oafish man from afar, but his facial expressions show there’s something not quite right. Maiolo’s colors use muted tones to great impact and sprinkle in pops of color for dramatic effect. As King’s story reaches a crescendo, Maiolo matches it with an inverse color scheme that emphasizes the action on the page.

With so many POV’s appearing throughout the book and King’s story requiring a lot of exposition and dialogue, Cowles’ approach to lettering is the unsung hero of the book. King’s meticulous writing looks gorgeous thanks to Cowles and it allows readers to seamlessly follow along as POVs switch.

If there was one negative to the issue for me, it’d be the character of Agent Espinoza, who was first introduced in King’s Batman: Killing Time. I find her to be a bit of new-age comic caricature and she became more-so as the issue went on. Her penchant for cruder language felt like forced humor but we’ll see how much that’s used in subsequent issues.

THE PENGUIN #1 has King’s fingerprints all over it and I’m fully bought in. Fans of his previous work, including the recent HUMAN TARGET series, will likely find this instantly relatable even if they aren’t huge Batman fans and Batman fans will enjoy this unique view on a classic character. The flash-forward tease King dangles at the beginning and end of the story also offers a hook to draw readers in for the long haul.

Rating: 9/10