The Penguin first appeared in two consecutive issues of Detective Comics.
DETECTIVE COMICS #58 - "The Penguin"
Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson are visiting an art exhibition when they take note of an odd little man who resembles a penguin. Suddenly, one of the guards announces the two small Watteau paintings have been cut from their frames. All of the meseum's patrons are searched, but the paintings are not found. Later, the odd little man goes to a hotel of one of the biggest racketeers in town, known only as the "Boss," introduces himself as the Penguin and produces the stolen paintings from inside the handle of his umbrella. The Boss lets him join the gang, and soon Penguin is directing all of the mobs activities and planning their jobs.
The next day, Bruce Wayne is at the Stahl Auctioneering House and sees the same odd little man he saw at the museum the day before. Suddenly the lights go ouot, and when they come on again, the Great Columbia Diamond is missing! Later, at the Boss' headquarters, Penguin insists on his share of the money for the robberies he has planned, but the Boss says, "You're gettin' too big for your shoes -- I've gotta teach ya a lesson so's you won't step into mine!" The Penguin replies, "This was bound to occur sooner or later -- might as well get it over with now." He shoots Boss with his umbrella and takes over the mob.
Later, in a waterfront dive, a disguised Batman overhears two of the Penguin's men planning to hit the Stahl Auctioneering House again. Batman is there waiting for them, and manages to overcome them both before the Penguin himself arrives. When the Batman moves to apprehend him, the Penguin subdueshim with knock-out gas fired from guess where? the Penguin then frees him men, steals a jade idol from the vault, and trips the alarm. When the police arrive, they find the Batman just coming to his senses. they take the dazed Batman to a luxurious mansion as a "formality," explaining, "We want you to tell Mr. Boniface what happened to his idol." Just then, in walks Boniface himself: the Penguin!
Boniface alleges that the Batman has been threatening him for weeks, demanding protection money and saying that he himself so well-known that no one would believe Boniface if he spoke up and complained. Boniface presses formal charges, and the police have no choice but to haul him off to the station in a paddy wagon. On the way, however, the Pernguin's men t-bone the police van. The cops are knocked unconscious and the Batman is dazed. Penguin's men haul himback to the mansion, where Penguin explains the frame-up. First of all, his idol was insured, so he'd collect for it being "stolen" anyway. Now that the Batman has "escaped" police custody, if he stays there he's guilty, but if he escapes he runs the risk of being shot by the police.
They tie him up, but he activates his wireless radio (which is now in his boot rather than his belt buckle where it has been all along) and taps out a message in Morse code to Robin that he's being held in the Boniface Mansion on Lincoln Ave. Robin arrives and a fight ensures, but the Penguin gets the drop on them with his umbrella and calls the police. Batman decides to beat a strategic retreat, but for the next several nights a blind man and a street urchin are seen standing outside the Penguin's mansion. They trail him to the gang's next job, in the bowery where a "humble flop house" stands next to the "tall stately building" next door which houses the diamond exchange.
B&R burst in just as the crooks have broken into the vault, but the Pengiun shoots acid at them from his umbrella. He misses (and hits one of his own men in the process), but escapes in the confusion. Batman chases him to the elevated train station nearby. Their scuffle throws them onto the tracks on an oncoming train. Penguin manages to leap aboard the express train on the next track, but Batman is trapped under the local until it departs. Batman is able to clear his name, but the Penguin has gotten away. "Somehow," he speculates, "I feel we'll meet him again!"
DETECTIVE COMICS #59 - "The King of the Jungle"
"Again" comes in the very next issue. Batman knows the Penguin's name and address, so the Penguin switched to a frieght train heading toward the midwest. Inside the boxcar he meets Lefty Larry and Mike the Tramp. He gets their attention by shooting the hat off Mike's head (with his umbrella, 'natch), and outlines his new plan. Mike and Lefty spread to word to all the tramps with criminal records to gather in the hobo jungle (the "jungle" of the title) outside Boswick. His plan to to turn each of the hobos in for their respective rewards, break them out of jail, them split the profits. Coincidentally, Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson happen to be on vacation and are on a train passing through Boswick when Dick spots the Penguin.
That night, the Penguin turns one of the bums in for a $15K reward. Later, "a pudgy, smartly-gloved hand drops a tiny pellet into the jail's ventilating system." The resultant gas knocks out the guards and the hobos free Mike. Back at the hobo jungle, Batman and Robin go on the offensive, but they, too , are overcome by knockout gas fired from... Aw, you guessed! They come to their senses with their feet tied together, hanging upsidedown from hooks in a box car. That's not much of a "deathtrap," so they quickly free themselves and return to Gotham City. Once there, they consult Batman's "personal rogues' gallery" and learn that Penguin's man "Bignose" is wanted in Memphis, Mike the Tramp in Arkansas, and Lefty in Texas.
Days later, the Penguin runs his scam in Memphis, and Batman deduces that Arkansas will be next. They fly there in the batplane in time to catch Penguin in the act of his next job. He fires teargas, from his boutonniere this time (ha! fooled ya!), but the handle of him umbrella is weighted with lead. Batman and robin pursue him to the Mississippi River where he and his men board a riverboat. A fight ensues. Batman and Robin are knocked overboard, but ride the paddlewheel back on deck. The Penguin attacks Batman with his unbrella-sword, but realizes he is outmatched, jumps overboard and does not resurface.
BATMAN: Well -- the end of the case -- and certainly the end of the Penguin, eh, Robin?
ROBIN: I dunno! I've got a funny feeling --
BILL FINGER: Only the silent waters of the Mississippi know the answer of the Penguin's end, and they won't tell!
Replies
WORLD'S FINEST #49 - "A White Feather for Batman!"
Penguin hits upon the idea to get Batman "to show the white feather" and begins pullimng a series of feather-relaterd crimes, starting with one using a feather duster and one using a quill pen. He also sends a white feather to Batman along with a series of notes warning Batman of bad things that might happen: his bat-rope might break, he might get shot, Robin might get killed, etc. These notes seem to have a real effect on Batman, and he begins behaving in a fearful and overly cautious manner.
Penguin's next crime involves fly fishing, and he escapes with the help of a belted kigfisher, whose call sounds like the clicking of a fishing reel. A clue, a deliberately-cut piece of a white feather, leads B&R to Penguin's next crime: stealing a valuable necklace from the set of movie studio. (Apparently, "many movie studios use finely chopped white feathers as artificial snow!") But when Penguin's men draw guns, Batman cowers, seemingly in fear.
The crime after that involves the feathered arrows at an archery range. Penguin forces Robin, at gunpoint, to shoot an apple off Batman's head, but Batman faints at the thought. He rallies and tosses the apple at the gun-weilding thug, leaving Robin to capture the Penguin. Before lapsing into unconsciousness, Batman manages to say the words "ornithosis" and "psittacosis.". This self-diagnosis helps the doctor determine that he is suffering from a form of "pigeon feaver" or "parrot fever," which he contracted from the feather Penguin sent him on p.3. (Also, the Penguin was shown with a parrot on p.6.)
Robin gets the final zinger by comparing Batman to "Yankee Doodle" (who "stuck a feather in his cap") because Batman is "just dandy!"
I have only five more "Penguin" stories before I have all the "Batman Villain" threads synched up. I hope to power through those today, starting with...
DETECTIVE COMICS #171 - "The Menace of the Giant Birds!" -
By this time, National had apparently given up hope of presenting a consistant "Joker" continuity, but every Penguin story begins either with him breaking out of jail or being released on parole. In World's Finest #49 he escaped, in this one he's on parole. (Whichever state Gotham City is in must have an extremely lenient parole board.) Again, the Penguin purports to "go straight," this time buying the old Curtis Estate to open a bird refuge, which he stocks with giant replica birds, nests and other props. B&R follow him around town, basically harrassing him, as he returns several of the items he has stolen over the years. But actually they are gas bombs, which are set to go off at a certain time triggering a crime spree. The "giant birds" from the sancuary can be easily converted into helicopters, and all this leads to an excite aerial battle between the Batplane and the helicopters. The Penguin himself is piloting a "bat-copter" (which he continually refers to throughout these stories as a "bird"). The "final zinger" falls flatter than most of them as the Penguin's men refer to the state pen as a "bird refuge."
Giant props: Bird houses and nests
WORLD'S FINEST #55 - "The Bird Sayings Crimes!"
...every Penguin story begins either with him breaking out of jail or being released on parole.
I take that back. this one begins with Penguin free with no explanation whatsoever. Other Gotham criminals take advantage of the occasion of Penguin's birthday to taunt him with "bird sayings," such as "dead as a dodo," "eat crow" and "jailbird." This inspires Penguin to base his next series of crimes on bird sayings: 1) "a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush," 2) "birds of a feather flock together," 3) "the early bird gets the worm" and 4) "kill two birds with one stone. Birds used: homing pigeon, Lazuli bunting bird, kingfisher, stonebird. Batman reveals that he uses the "Encyclopedia of American Birds by Hausman" for research (and I'll bet the writer did, too).
Deathtrap: When a stonebird flies through an electric eye beam beam it will set off a bomb, killing two "birds." Batman uses a marble from his utility belt (which has "saved us so many times before"), and paints it to look like an egg to keep the stonebird from flying away. then he and Robin free themselves by rubbing the ropes bionding them against the stone wall.
Final zinger: Batman has the Penguin's prison cell painted yellow, like "a bird in a gilden cage."
BATMAN #70 - "The Parasols of Plunder!"
This story begins with Penguin working in the prison umbrella-making shop (which seems ill-considered, taking into consideration how he escaped in Batman #61). But he doesn't escape this time; the warden and the parole board let him go free. The warden says, "Penguin, you've been a model prisoner, starting an umbrella shop for us and setting an example of real industry, so the parole board is releasing you... on one condition! Your bird crimes put you behind bars, so you must promise to give up keeping birds! They're too much of a temptation for you!" the Penguin readily agrees... then immediately changes his M.O. from "birds" to "umbrellas."
He opens an unbrella factory and tricks Batman into giving him an endorsement. His unbrellas are twice as expensive as the Acme brand (because of superior steel materials), but with Batman's endorsement, the Penguin has soon produced 50,000 units. The first rainy day, he magnetizes the umbrellas in a quite unlikely yet highly successful scheme to bilk his customers of their cash and jewels. After that, he moves his base of operations from Gotham City to an island beach in the Carribbean. There, his beach umbrellas not only spin fast to blow enough sand to cause chaos and confusion, but also to prevent the batplane from landing. B&R drop a lod of fish on the Penguin's escape boat, however, and let the seagulls swamp him.
BATMAN #76 - "The Penguin's Fabulous Fowls!"
The story opens with the Penguin being released from prison, having served his sentence. Again, he promises to go straight. This time his stated objective is to capture legendary birds which his "vast knowledge of bird lore " has convinced him are real, living in remote parts of the world. Weeks later, a chartered schooner arrives in Gotham Harbor. The Penguin has several crates, supposedly containing mythical birds, but he won't allow the press to see tham because he plans to "make a fortune" exhibiting them. the crates are labeled "Basilisk," "Phoenix," "Thunderbird," "Roc" and "Winged Lion," plus one "Mystery Bird" which would "destroy Batman's career" if he should release it... which he won't do because he is niow a "law-abiding citizen."
Batman and Robin arrive at Penguin's "country-place aviary" just in time to witness "enraged crooks" set all of Penguin's birds (except the "Mystery Bird") free because he has refused to resume his life of crime. The mythological birds immediately begin attacking Gotham City, and B&R race to help. Penguin soon reveals his true colors, and the "birds" are revealed to be sophisticated robots. The "Mystery Bird" ends up being a giant "Man-Bat" intended to turn the citizens of Gotham against Batman, who quickly captures the Penguin in any case. Robin gets the final zinger: "this latest scheme of his really laid an egg, didn't it?"
It is funny to think that one of Batman's chief villains is a well-dressed fat guy who's obsessed with birds and umbrellas. Not something that just anybody would have thought of.
BATMAN #99 - "The Golden Eggs!"
The story opens with B&R tracking Penguin to his hideout. But Penguin has "flown the coop" to his second hideout, taking with him only a box of unhatched eggs. There are several varieties, include ing that of a water ouzel, a herring gull, a crow, a chimney swift, plus one other egg Penguin can't identify. He places the box of eggs near a potbelly stove and decides to pull off a crime based on each egg as it hatches. the first egg to hatch is that of the chimney swift. He sends the shell to Commissioner Gordon. Batman has becaome such an expert on birds after all these years of vying with the Penguin that he is able to identify the species of bird by its shell. the crimes are...
For this last crime, he uses the call of a Kukiburra bird to escape, a ploy he has used before; Batman shouldn't have fallen for it. Finally, the "mystery egg" hatches, and out comes a baby alligator which bites Penguin on the leg, causing him to be caught. (He had picked up the alligator egg in his haste to escape.) The prison guard gets the final zinger, asking how Penguin would like his eggs cooked: sunnyside up, boiled or scrambled.
It was an entire year between Batman #70 and #76, three between #76 and #99, and it will be another seven before he shows up again.
BATMAN #155 - "The Return of the Penguin"
By 1963, the Peguin had not apeared for so long that DC felt the need for the following introduction: "Perhaps you're not aware of it, but Batman once had an enemy who actually rivaled the joker in crime and cunning! his name? -- The Penguin! Now that master of fowl play spreads his wings again! Now that oily bird swoops down like a vulture to feather his nest with ill-gotten gains! Now, like a thieving crow, he squaks his challenge to Batman and Robin in... The Return of the Penguin."
Batman and Robin follow a Chinese Bat-signal to temple in Chinatown. There they find the temple's dragon statue missing its ruby eyes. Suddenly the Penguin appears and announces, " It was I who flashed the Bat-signal -- to show you that I mock the name of Batman by my theft froma staute with bat-wings!" they pursue him into a courtyard when they are attacked by eagles defending their nests. In the confusion that follows, the Penguin escapes riding an ostrich. After the Penguin's last stint in jail, he really did go into retirement... for a while. But all it took to lure him back into a life of crime was being taunted by a few criminals in an underworld hangout.
The next day, Commissioner Gordon receives two clues: a golden egg (painted), and an ordinary rock. Batman deduces that the gold egg is a reference to the goose that laid the golden egg from Jack and the Beanstalk, the the rock represents the mythical roc. The giant in the story had a farm in the sky, and millionaire Big John Tompkins loves farm so much that he put a farm atop the Tompkins Building skyscraper. The "roc" takes the for of a penguin-shaped blimp. B&R pursue the Penguin for 2+ pages, but ultimately he escapes.
The next day, Alfred delivers a package addressed to Bruce Wayne. Inside the box is a live penguin. Batman immediately thinks that Penguin has figured out his secret identity, but Commissioner Gordon and Vicki Vale each receive live birds as well. Actually, a totla of 24 prominent Gotham citizens got penguins, and I soon as that number was revealed I knew exactly where this was going. The Friends of Birds Society is holding its 24th anniversary meeting, and guess what novelty dessert is being served? In addition to "four and twenty blackbirds," from out of the pie pops the Penguin, to steal several framed original sketches made by John Audubon. A stray shot sends the museum's giant mechanical bird models amok.
The Batman seems to be everywhere the Penguin tirns to run. Actually, Robin had set up several of Batman's spare costumes at every exit to serve as scarecrows. Later, in jail again, the Penguin has lost his appetite for chicken pie (a gag they used once before).
Giant props: Blackbird pie, mechanical bird models.
BATMAN #169 - "Partners in Plunder!"
The story opens with the Penguin having served his most recend prison sentence, but with a dearth of ideas a crime "worthy" of his talents. He decides to provide Batman with a series of false clues and let Batman determine what "crimes" they represent. At 9:30 the next morning, his men hand out umbrellas to patrons of a new jewelry store for a fake contest celebrating its grand opening. At 10 AM sharp, the umbrellas upon and do a variety of things (shoot electricity, emit smoke, spin, etc.), yet no crime is committed. At 10:15, the same thing happens at a bank across town. On their way to the Penguin's umbrella shop, B&R encounter two large umbrellas "rigged to roll along like juggernaut wheels." Then, a HUGE umbrella floats from the sky and lands in Gotham Square.
Just before they arrive at his shop, the Penguin moves his monacle from one eye to the other for no reason other than to confound Batman and Robin. They've got him on charges of obstructing traffic, disturbing the peace and so on, but Penguin maintains that he simply sells the umbrellas and is not responsible for what happens to them after they leave his shop. That night, two umbrellas float light up the sky like the Aurora Borealis. B&R take them back to the Batcave and brainstorm what his "clue" might mean. they determine that Penguin's target is the jewelled meteorite on display at the museum. They also speculate how he might steal it, but one of the umbrellas is bugged and the Penguin is listening to every word.
Penguin uses Batman's plan to steal the meteorite, with safeguards against getting caught. He is caught anyway and taken to jail. The only part of the affair Batman couldn't figure out is why Penguin moved his monacle from one eye to the other. Penguin counts this as a "win." This story was adapted into TV episodes #103/104, "Fine Feathered Finks" and "The Penguin's A Jinx."
Looking back, it's hard to believe that Batman examined the umbrellas for clues yet didn't find the bug! What if it was a tracking device?
And luckily, there WAS a crime that these random "clues" fit! Imagine if there wasn't! What would the Penguin had done?
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