Penguin: Pain & Prejudice #3

Szymon Kudranski's moody cover for this third chapter of the five-issue miniseries says a great deal with shadow and stillness — the Penguin's silhouetted figure, top hat and long coat unmistakable, stands before a grid of images featuring live penguins and a startled young woman, hinting at the strange, tender obsessions lurking beneath Gotham's most underestimated villain. The juxtaposition of those real birds alongside the woman's alarmed expression gives the whole composition an unsettling intimacy that matches the story's title, "Blind Love," perfectly. Gregg Hurwitz and Kudranski are clearly committed to exploring Oswald Cobblepot as something more psychologically complex than a mere crime boss, and this 2012 issue makes a compelling visual case for that ambition.