The Penguin Appeciation Thread

Nice gifs, I love how well Meredith could make Penguin seem conceited without even saying a word.
 
Burgess was a brilliant scenery chewer. I mean just puffing on that cigarette holder and making those mischievous grins through clenched teeth was awesome.
 
Burgess was a brilliant scenery chewer. I mean just puffing on that cigarette holder and making those mischievous grins through clenched teeth was awesome.
He's still my favourite version of the character. For a campy show, the B66 Penguin was quite a balanced portrayal. Believable and likable as a charmer as well as a plotting crook.
 
I've been rewatching the 1966 series with my young brother, and Burgess Meredith's Penguin is easily the strongest villain we've seen in the show so far, and that's no small feat compared to Gorshin's Riddler or Romero's Joker.

I would've liked to see what Beware the Batman would've done with Penguin, considering they teased him several times.

3784978-btb+penguin.jpg
 
He's still my favourite version of the character. For a campy show, the B66 Penguin was quite a balanced portrayal. Believable and likable as a charmer as well as a plotting crook.

And quite ruthless, too. In his first episode alone he tried to roast Bruce alive in his furnace just because he thought he was a spy from a rival umbrella company.

I've been rewatching the 1966 series with my young brother, and Burgess Meredith's Penguin is easily the strongest villain we've seen in the show so far, and that's no small feat compared to Gorshin's Riddler or Romero's Joker.

I would've liked to see what Beware the Batman would've done with Penguin, considering they teased him several times.

3784978-btb+penguin.jpg

I really like that design. His hand gestures remind me of Mr. Burns from The Simpsons.
 
I've never seen this one of Burgess before;


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I love it. It always amazes me how visually close to the comics the characters were on that show.
 
Very nice, I think if they toned down the campiness of Meredith’s Penguin and put him in one of the darker movies, it would probably be fantastic. That characterization of him was so calculating and callous that I think he would make an excellent movie villain if done properly. Though, they’d have to recast him, and it would be a shame since Meredith had that charm.
 
Happy Birthday, Paul. I always loved his elegant and menacing vocal performance as Penguin.
 
I hate seeing how Penguin has been degraded to being just an informant in some of these comics; it completely destroys his potential when Batman beats him up to simply get news on other criminals. I think he’d work better if they could use the idea of making him an occasional outright criminal and other times make him a nightclub owner. Kind of like making him take a few days off to plot a dastardly scheme.

Plus the great bird gimmick he has can be put to use easily. Like in that Englehart story from Detective Comics #473. That was a great crime, and a lot of these older Golden Age Penguin comics have schemes that could be adapted into newer stories but modernized.

Unfortuantely many writers don't seem know what to do with Penguin, or find him interesting in himself

He's quickly becoming an undervalued and underrated villain. He needs a good story and a good movie to bring him back to A-lister status
 
I think I'm gonna end up buying this. I mean for pete's sake it even has the duck!!!

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The Penguin

Burgess Meredith
Jeff Bennet
Danny Devito
Paul H Williams
Tom Kenny
Robin Taylor
 
Unfortuantely many writers don't seem know what to do with Penguin, or find him interesting in himself

He's quickly becoming an undervalued and underrated villain. He needs a good story and a good movie to bring him back to A-lister status

Well... say or think what you want I feel Gotham is bringing him back up in status. Hopefully future writers for comics and movies take note. I'm not saying copy every aspect down BUT they get their creative gears turning. He's one of the most popular characters in the show. I've talked to people who feel this is finally the Penguin they can get behind. He's an informant BUT has proven to be a very worthy criminal as well.
 
Pengy has been on top form for the last few years. He's had some great comic book stories like Penguin Pain and Prejudice. He's been a major player in the Arkham games, and he's by far the best character on that Gotham show.
 
There's a lot of layers to Penguin. He fits so well into Batman's world because he's as psychologically complex as the best of the characters.
 
Funny, i was thinking about this character a lot this week. I REALLY want to see this character on the big screen, in a good sized role, done properly. Now i'm hoping it's not in the DCEU because i don't want them to screw him up to the point where nobody wants to touch him on film for another 20 or 30 years. Please JUST WAIT UNTIL THE REBOOT!

I don't remember what Finger said about the creation of Cobblepot.
 
I can't believe I've missed this thread (well I've been gone for a while).

The Penguin is actually my favorite Batman villain... hell maybe even in general. It's a shame how often he gets overlooked for a lot of the Arkham loonies. I'm going to have to check out a majority of those stories on page 1 out! Heck I think it was Penguin Triumphant where Batman said Penguin was even smarter than the Dark Knight himself...

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Funny, i was thinking about this character a lot this week. I REALLY want to see this character on the big screen, in a good sized role, done properly. Now i'm hoping it's not in the DCEU because i don't want them to screw him up to the point where nobody wants to touch him on film for another 20 or 30 years. Please JUST WAIT UNTIL THE REBOOT!

I don't remember what Finger said about the creation of Cobblepot.

A close friend of mine gave me a book where Finger talked about how the Penguin came about, and Finger’s account was that he had seen an article on penguins and they reminded him of fancy Englishmen in a club, inspiring the famous look of a tailcoat, umbrella, and top hat. I also came across interviews from others, including Finger’s son, where they talked about how Finger was the creator of Penguin.


Kane actually did slip up at one point in an old interview and say Finger created Penguin.
 
When everyone was speculating on who the villain was gonna be in the third Nolan Batman movie, A sizable portion wanted Black Mask but honestly there's nothing he could do that the Penguin couldn't do just as well if not better.
 
Pretty much, but i think Black Mask has a more intimidating or "cool" look to him, and he's more violent. So on the surface i can see people getting excited about Black Mask in a Batman movie compared to a character like Penguin that most people know but think of as a joke. But on the surface you're supposed to look at him as a joke, and not take him seriously. But he is incredibly dangerous. People just don't want to see a pathetic villain i guess. So i get it, as a marketing tool, Cobblepot might not be a good idea these days. It's really unfortunate. There's a lot of potential.
 
This may sound like a silly question but does anyone think that a more traditional version of The Penguin could hold his own as the main villain of a Batman film? (not the sole villain but a main villain)

I've developed a great appreciation for him and I think he could do better than just be a casino owner/Informant.
 
Classic Penguin can totally be a main villain in a Batman movie. Easily.
 

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