COMIC BOOK OF THE WEEK – “Detective Comics” #610 (January 1990)

'Detective Comics' #610 (Jan. 1990)

This week’s “Comic Book of the Week” is “Detective Comics” #610, which was published by DC Comics in January 1990. This issue was titled “Ode to a Penguin” and was the first part of an ongoing series called “Snow and Ice.”

This issue’s creative team included Alan Grant, writer; Norm Breyfogle, penciller; Steve Mitchell, inker; Albert De Guzman, letterer; Adrienne Roy, colorist; Daniel Raspler, associate editor; and Dennis O’Neil, editor. Breyfogle was the cover artist for this issue, which sold for $1 at newsstands.

This 24-page issue begins in Gotham Cemetery where a crowd of onlookers is attending the funeral of Oswald Cobblepot, aka, the Penguin. Not only are Batman and Police Commissioner James Gordon there, but also a number of organized crime bosses as well as a TV news crew are in attendance. Supposedly, the Penguin died from a heart attack while working out in the prison gym, but Batman and Gordon are suspicious and wonder if the Penguin’s faking his death. Gordon tells Batman that two doctors examined the Penguin's body and verified his death.

After the funeral and burial, Batman and Gordon discuss the “old-fashioned wake” that’s being held in honor of the Penguin at the Ritz Hotel. Gordon plans to check it out to see “what crawls out of the woodwork.” We see later in the issue that the hotel will be hosting the “World’s Most Fabulous Diamond Show” starting the next day.

While Gordon heads for the hotel, Batman checks out an old man from the funeral he didn’t recognize. Batman watches the old man from his apartment window and determines that the man is nothing more than an ornithologist. Figuring that the Penguin probably befriended the man through their mutual interest in birds, Batman swings off into the night.

No sooner does Batman leave, then the old man opens a secret sliding bookcase to reveal a hidden room containing a workshop filled with all sorts of weapons and umbrellas. From the looks of things, this man built and supplied the Penguin with all of his gimmick umbrella guns over the years. The scene ends with the man throwing a bottle of liquor into a display case of umbrellas.

In the next scene, we return to Gotham Cemetery, where two of the Penguin’s henchmen, Tony and Knuckles, dig up the Penguin's body. As soon as they open his casket, they try to awaken the Penguin with the words “Okay, Boss. Time to Hatch Out.” Apparently, the Penguin’s been hypnotized to appear dead, but these words fail to bring him out of his trance. Not knowing what else to do, Tony and Knuckles remove the Penguin’s body from the cemetery and rebury his casket.

From there, we’re taken to Gotham Penitentiary where Tony and Knuckles have arrived in a hijacked helicopter to break out Mortimer Kadaver, who obviously helped put the Penguin in his deathlike state. Using a grappling hook and a rope ladder, Tony and Knuckles free Kadaver and fly him out of jail amidst a shower of bullets.

In the following scene, we’re taken to the Penguin’s “wake” at the Ritz, where Batman, Gordon and a bunch of organized crime bosses are in attendance. Once things get started, an announcer tells the small audience that the Penguin has decided to donate all the money he left behind to start a new fund dedicated to ensuring the survival of penguins and the maintenance of their Antarctic habitat. At the end of his remarks, the announcer pulls a cord, which sends a spray of windblown snow and ice across the audience.

Back in the helicopter with Tony and Knuckles, Kadaver admits to giving them the wrong phrase to awaken the Penguin because if he had given them the correct phrase he knew that the Penguin wouldn’t have upheld his promise to break him out of jail. Kadaver only agrees to say the words after Tony hands over his gun. Once Tony gives up his gun, Kadaver leans over and whispers the correct words in the Penguin’s ear. The issue ends with the Penguin awakening with a loud birdlike “Auk!”

This comic (unless I’ve sold it) and others are available for purchase through Peacock’s Books on Amazon.com. If you’re interested in buying it, search for it there by title, issue number and date of publication.