For such a little guy, Oswald Cobblepot couldn’t be bigger right now. After winning some serious respect—from both Gothamites and TV viewers—in HBO’s critically lauded Colin Farrell series, the longtime Bat-villain reminded comic book readers why he deserves his place at the top of the rogues gallery food chain with the recently concluded The Penguin. Written by Tom King and drawn by Rafael de Latorre and Stevan Subic, the twelve-issue limited series made it shockingly clear how age hasn’t slowed Oswald down in the least—or curbed his oversized ambitions.

While the Penguin’s recent comic book thriller explores similar themes to the live action series, it does benefit considerably from someone who was missing from the show—Batman. The Dark Knight plays a critical role in the book that’s likely to surprise readers, who may find themselves pondering just how similar the hero is to his umbrella-favoring nemesis after they’ve finished with the series.

With The Penguin comic now complete and the second graphic novel collection in stores today, we thought we’d chat for a few minutes with King about the enduring appeal of the character, why he seems to be having a moment right now and what the truly surprising relationship he’s revealed to have with Batman says about both of them.

We’ve now had two entirely independent stories chronicling the Penguin’s origin as a Gotham City crime boss. What is it about this character that you think is really resonating with people right now?

Penguin’s special power is how everyone underestimates him. I think it’s true both in the TV series and in the graphic novel I wrote. The idea that when you look at this man, you think he couldn’t possibly take on the Falcones, much less take on Batman. He seems vulnerable, slimy and out of control, and what you slowly realize in both series is how much of that is calculated. How much of that he uses as a weapon—he uses his weaknesses to overtake people.

I think in our current moment, there are people who have been underestimated or dismissed who are sort of rising from the ashes.

In The Penguin, we get to see all manner of people discussing Oswald Cobblepot. We get a picture of him from all kinds of perspectives, from people who work for him to everyday people who live in Gotham. Other than his being underestimated, how would you personally see the Penguin? What would be your perspective on him?

He’s a man who was denied power at the age when you really need it. He was denied agency at the time when he was young, and his desperation comes from this hole that he’s just constantly trying to fill. He’s the kid who was denied the lunch counter, who was mocked, who for his whole life has been trying to get back to that moment and comfort his childhood self and sort of find the love that was denied him as a child.

Probably the most remarkable thing about your Penguin series is the unique relationship we discover he has with Batman. What does that say about the Dark Knight, the fact that he’s willing to work with the Penguin in this way?

Having written a lot of Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman, I think what makes Batman an essential character in our universe, what makes him utterly fascinating, is he is a man of right and wrong and a champion of justice, but he’s not afraid to go into the grey areas. He’s not afraid to lurk in the place between the shadows and the light. So, he does make compromises and does things that Superman and Wonder Woman wouldn’t do, and I think that’s the heart of his relationship with Penguin.

You continue to write heroes for DC like Wonder Woman and Black Canary, but The Penguin is the third book you’ve written that’s directly focused on one single villain, after One Bad Day: The Riddler and Joker: The Winning Card. What is it that you find interesting about working with villains, and are there others you might like to work with eventually?

I find every character at DC fascinating. I mean, I would write Brother Power the Geek. I think every single human being has a story to tell. If you’re the most boring person in the world, what a freaking interesting story. How’d you get that title? What was the ceremony like? There’s no story I don’t want to tell.

With villains, in particular, I think we’re all born into a society of codes and rules, and as we grow older, we choose which ones to follow. What makes villains interesting is why they choose to follow the ones most of us don’t. Digging into that and the consequences of that, you can really talk about what it means to be alive.

Your story about Oswald is now done, but if you had to speculate, where would you see him going after the book’s events? What his next move?

We set him up in sort of this Ray Bolger way at the end of the series. I think we’ve set up a confrontation with Batman that will come that’s essentially asking, “Will Penguin drag Batman into the darkness or with Batman drag Penguin into the light?” It’s sort of the endless discussion. I think that’s what the end of the HBO show teases and that’s what the end of our series teases.

Since you’ve mentioned the HBO series, for people who watched and enjoyed it, what would be your reason for them to also check out your story?

This story was written with the idea that if you loved the HBO series—which I love and I think a lot of people did—we want to give you more. We want to give that audience an opportunity to get the thrill of reading a comic with similar appeal. It’s the same vibe, it’s the same character, it’s a lot of the same themes. The whole idea was if you liked HBO’s Penguin and you don’t want to wait however long for the next season, this is for you.
 

The Penguin Vol. 2: All Bad Things by Tom King, Rafael de Latorre and Marcelo Maiolo is now available in bookstores, comic shops, libraries and digital retailers. You can also read The Penguin in full on DC UNIVERSE INFINITE.