One Panel #478-479: Greatest Foes of the Batman

From Batman: "One of the Most Perfect Frame-Ups" by Bill Finger, Bob Kane, Jerry Robinson and George Roussos, Detective Comics #58 (December 1941)

I'm gonna go with big splash pages this week to celebrate the first appearance of the Penguin, who some might call Batman's #2 archenemy. Not so sure about that? Well, he appeared in the very next issue of Detective, so his creators obviously thought they had something good on their hands.

From "The Cross-Country Crimes!" by Bill Finger, Bob Kane, Jerry Robinson and George Roussos, Batman #8 (January 1942)

Of course, Batman's #1 remains the Joker, who was making his eighth appearance. That's still worthy of mention, and I'm even breaking the rules a little bit by letting him lord over several tiny inset panels. THE JOKER DOESN'T PLAY BY YOUR DAMN RULES!

Comments

Green Luthor said…
I suppose Batman's #2 archenemy depends on whether or not Catwoman is considered an enemy or an ally or what (it changes so often, especially when the latest reboot always seems to reset her to a criminal). (Penguin's at least more consistently a bad guy, so he has that going for him.)
May 7, 2020 at 3:44 PM
Siskoid said…
That was my reasoning as well.
May 8, 2020 at 3:49 PM
LiamKav said…
Penguin is the dependable, adaptable villain. There are better characters in Batman's rogue's gallery (Two-Face, for example) but they can overwhelm a story in a way that Penguin doesn't.

(I remember reading somewhere that Penguin gets sent to Stonegate when he's arrested rather than Arkham, because he's clearly not insane... he's just a professional criminal. Dunno how true it is but I like the idea.)
May 11, 2020 at 7:19 AM
Siskoid said…
I think that mostly holds true, yes. Eccentric, but not criminally insane.
May 11, 2020 at 8:02 AM
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