Warning! Contains major spoilers for Batman #125
A major shakeup is on its way to Batman’s Gotham City, and Catwoman just found herself at the center of it. The Penguin’s famous Iceberg Lounge currently needs new ownership, with Selina Kyle on the prowl to find who’s going to take over the night club for Gotham’s crooks and criminals.
Batman #125 by Chip Zdarsky and Jorge Jiménez sees The Penguin die from mercury poisoning in an attempt to frame Batman for his murder. With The Penguin now out of the picture, several parties start vying for ownership of The Iceberg Lounge, Cobblepot’s lucrative nightclub for the Gotham underworld. Upon Penguin’s death, his will is set to be carried out by Gotham’s Underbroker, who was a major player during James Tynion IV’s Batman run, alongside his new robotic companion, The Executor. With only seven days until the will reading, The Executor enlists the help of Catwoman to find and inform 10 people of the reading for $500,000.
Batman #125 marks the start of a new run on the character from Chip Zdarsky and Jorge Jiménez. The backup story, Two Birds, One Throne, was also written by Zdarsky with art from Belén Ortega. Two Birds, One Throne features Selina arriving at the Iceberg Lounge following Penguin’s death, whereupon she learns about the will and gains her assignment. Catwoman’s mission likely holds major ramifications for Batman comics going forward, as not only will the Iceberg Lounge change hands with the reading of the will, but Selina will also be searching for 10 characters that could potentially shake up Gotham’s crime world: The Penguin’s children.
Introducing 10 of Cobblepot’s children to Gotham may have huge ramifications on the city’s underworld, as any one of them could potentially vie for their father’s resources as a crime boss. More than that, the open seat of the Iceberg Lounge means a huge move in the city’s crime community, as the will reading is staged to reveal who takes over one of Gotham’s biggest seats of power. The title of the backup arc, Two Birds, One Throne, certainly implies that two of Penguin’s children could battle it out for the “throne” that is the Iceberg Lounge’s ownership, thus entering a surrogate crime boss into the city. With Penguin supposedly taken care of, it may not be long until Batman has another Cobblepot to deal with, depending on whom Selina digs up and what the will lays out.
It’s also not unheard of that Catwoman may find herself in the throne once the dust of Penguin’s demise settles. Selina and Cobblepot have always had a tenuous relationship at best, but the characters do have a history of working together, and Penguin generally respects her as a major player in Gotham’s crime community. No matter how the story shakes out, the first part of Two Birds, One Throne stages Catwoman and her quest to have major implications on Batman’s own adventures in Gotham going forward.
Batman #125 is available from DC Comics now.
