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The Penguin's Love That Dared Not Squawk Its Name

Published Sat, 24 Nov 2018 14:00:32 -0600

'To this urn let those repair/That are either true or fair/For these dead birds sigh a prayer.'

That is from The Phoenix And The Turtle by William Shakespeare. And it turned up in Batman #58.

An allegorical poem about the death of ideal unconditional love, the "turtle" refers to a turtledove, not the reptile.

The poem describes a funeral arranged for the deceased phoenix and turtledove, emblems of perfection and of devoted love. Some birds are invited, but others excluded. It goes on to state that the love of the birds created a perfect unity which transcended all logic and material fact. It concludes with a prayer for the dead lovers.

So, to Batman #58. With birds of different feathers.

We made mention a couple of weeks ago that the evidence pointed to the Penny Cobblepot of this story not being the Penguins daughter or young, unseen wife, but to a penguin that Conblepot had fallen in love with and married. But not everyone seems to have agreed. So here's the evidence. First, we never see Penny. Why? Because she's a penguin.

The death of Penny means a lot to the Penguin and his henchmen know it. But a dead human outside the door to a club might have raised more concern than a dead penguin.

Her father, who we also don't see is causing trouble, looking for her. Not asking questions or interrogating staff, just… looking.

Penny died aged twenty. That is around the lifespan of a penguin. Though her father may have had one or two years on her. But the description, small, silly, a thing, less than human… and the end of the Shakespeare quote, up top.

Penguin married a penguin, folks. And Bane killed her…

BATMAN #58
(W) Tom King (A/CA) Mikel Janin
The Dark Knight waddles into a turf war with the Penguin! Still reeling from the attacks on his Bat-Family and reputation, the Caped Crusader looks to track down the mysterious operator lurking behind the scenes in Gotham City. As the hunt rages on, Batman runs "a fowl" of Oswald Cobblepot. But the Penguin is on Batman's side for once, and the crime boss sees dangerous things on the horizon. How can he convince the Caped Crusader he's on the level? In Shops: Nov 07, 2018 SRP: $3.99

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