The Penguin

For as much as I love the madness that was the comics of the 1990s, I cannot even imagine how incredible it must have been to be a comic-loving kid (or weird comic loving adult) in the 1950/60s period known as The Silver Age. Within this gallery, I've put together only the smallest of fractions of some of the entertaining, out-of-context fun that Batman's 75 years of non-stop published stories have afforded us. Try your best to make sense of them.

Q: Has Batman ever been overtly political? Was there a time Batman ran for office? If so, would you vote Batman? - @ShaneMBailey A: To answer your last question first, yes: I consider myself a staunch Batocrat on virtually all of the most important issues, like crime, child labor laws, funding for the development of personal rocket cars, and batarang control. But even though I would happily cast my vote for the Caped Crusader if I had the chance, the occasions where Batman chooses to take a political office are pretty few and far between, especially if you don't count the time he was secretly President of the United States for a weekend. Of course, there was that time Batman ran for Mayor to keep the Penguin from gaining control of Gotham City.

50 years ago today, the classic Batman TV series premiered, kicking off a three-year run as one of the greatest adaptations of comic books ever made --- and while Adam West and Burt Ward's earnest, stentorian heroes were the stars, I think it's fair to say that the real attractions came from the villains. The bizarre heists, the deathtraps, the colorful costumes and scenery-chewing monologues made them favorites not just for the fans, but for the actors lining up to take roles on a pop culture phenomenon. But as is so often the case when we start talking about a fantastic roster of characters, it inevitably leads to the question of just who was the best. Was it Julie Newmar's purr-fect Catwoman? Frank Gorshin's surprisingly intense riddler? Victor Buono's King Tut? Heck maybe it was even a long-shot candidate like Bookworm! It's too hard to pick, which is why we're leaving it up to you. Check out the villains and vote below to crown the true King or Queen of Crime!

The Penguin has always been one of the hardest Batman villains to get 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, the umbrellas, the pretensions of high 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, and 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 interesting character.

The 1966 Batman television show was one of the most successful and influential adaptations of comic books to mass media of all time. Over the course of three seasons and 120 episodes, the series became a cultural force with its unique combination of tongue-in-cheek humor, thrilling superhero adventure and celebrity guest stars, and shaped the way the public would view the Caped Crusader for the next five decades. Now, in the midst of a well-deserved renaissance of the show, ComicsAlliance is proud to present The Batman ’66 Episode Guide, an in-depth examination of every single adventure, arch-criminal and deathtrap cliffhanger of the series. This week, it's the final episode of the first season - and the Episode Guide - as the Penguin strikes at Gotham's richest millionaires!

The 1966 Batman television show was one of the most successful and influential adaptations of comic books to mass media of all time. Over the course of three seasons and 120 episodes, the series became a cultural force with its unique combination of tongue-in-cheek humor, thrilling superhero adventure and celebrity guest stars, and shaped the way the public would view the Caped Crusader for the next five decades. Now, in the midst of a well-deserved renaissance of the show, ComicsAlliance is proud to present The Batman ’66 Episode Guide, an in-depth examination of every single adventure, arch-criminal and deathtrap cliffhanger of the series. This week, the first season finale begins... and the Penguin targets Alfred!

The 1966 Batman television show was one of the most successful and influential adaptations of comic books to mass media of all time. Over the course of three seasons and 120 episodes, the series became a cultural force with its unique combination of tongue-in-cheek humor, thrilling superhero adventure and celebrity guest stars, and shaped the way the public would view the Caped Crusader for the next five decades. Now, in the midst of a well-deserved renaissance of the show, ComicsAlliance is proud to present The Batman ’66 Episode Guide, an in-depth examination of every single adventure, arch-criminal and deathtrap cliffhanger of the series. This week, it's the moment we hoped we'd never have to report... The death of Batman and Robin!

The 1966 Batman television show was one of the most successful and influential adaptations of comic books to mass media of all time. Over the course of three seasons and 120 episodes, the series became a cultural force with its unique combination of tongue-in-cheek humor, thrilling superhero adventure and celebrity guest stars, and shaped the way the public would view the Caped Crusader for the next five decades. Now, in the midst of a well-deserved renaissance of the show, ComicsAlliance is proud to present The Batman ’66 Episode Guide, an in-depth examination of every single adventure, arch-criminal and deathtrap cliffhanger of the series. This week, Batman and Robin gain an ally in the never-ending fight against crime... the Penguin?!

Viewers have had plenty of opportunities to see the lead characters of Fox's new not-Batman-we're-serious series Gotham staring ahead and looking solemn, but they haven't seen everyone just yet. Entertainment Weekly has published eight new character portaits, and though they include some familiar faces -- Ben McKenzie as James Gordon, Donal Logue as Harvey Bullock, Jada Pinkett-Smith as Fish Mooney, and David Mazouz as Bruce Wayne, to name a few --the feature also comes with some new ones. Not only are viewers getting their first really good look at Edward Nygma, a.k.a. the Riddler (Cory Michael Smith), they're also seeing the show's version of Poison Ivy, played by Clare Foley. You'll notice she's not Pamela Isley anymore.

What would the Penguin was a young, skinny bro without a monocle? This guy, apparently; an actor called Robin Lord Taylor. Best known for appearances in After Earth and The Walking Dead, Taylor will portray a new and seemingly deadlier version of the famous villain in Gotham, the forthcoming Fox television series based on the DC Comics characters.