The Penguin has always been one of the hardest Batman villains to glean a handle on. While the Dark Knight's other foes are usually built around these simple,evocative traits that mirror Batman's own obsessions, the Penguin suffers from an embarrassment of gimmicks. He's got the birds, and the umbrellas,the pretensions of tall society, the veneer of legitimacy and the nightclub with the giant iceberg in it --- he's even had a gimmicked monocle on more than one occasion. It all creates a complicated set of motivations and themes, or any other character who was saddled with all of that would've fallen into obscurity within a few years.
But for the Penguin,who made his first appearance on this day back in 1941, it only made him a much more complicated and provocative character.
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Source: comicsalliance.com