Warning: Spoilers for The Penguin #2 ahead!
Ra’s al Ghul has earned his title as Batman’s most dangerous foe, and those trained by him and the League of Assassins frequently rank among the top fighters DC has to offer. Now a new character, the Help (who is essentially an evil version of Alfred), reveals where he got his deadly skills — and his direct connection to the al Ghul bloodline.
Tom King, Rafael De Latorre, Marcelo Maiolo, and Clayton Cowles’ The Penguin #2 follows Oswald Cobblepot, who has been forced out of “retirement” and driven to return to Gotham by Amanda Waller. He begins his return by calling upon an old ally: The Help, an enigmatic and impeccably dressed assassin. However, upon arriving at the Help’s estate, the elderly man refuses, citing his age; the Penguin says age never slowed down the Help’s father, to which the Help retorts that “my father was hopelessly addicted to his pits,” (implying Ra’s al Ghul’s Lazarus Pits) and still refuses.
In turn, the Penguin drugs the Help and slaughters his entire staff. The Penguin proceeds to brutally beat his incapacitated host, telling him that his place is to serve others, not be served. The Help departs with the Penguin, returned to his service.
The Help’s Pedigree Is Finally Revealed
Having first appeared in the Batman: Killing Time miniseries by King, David Marquez, Alejandro Sánchez, and Cowles, the Help is a craggy, elderly man who is one of the tidiest and most proficient killers in the business — skilled enough to defeat Batman outright in their first encounter. The Help also has a tendency to name-drop the people he has trained during conversation, revealing him to have had a hand teaching almost every established fighter in the DC Universe, from Lady Shiva to Green Arrow.
With the Help implied to be Ra’s al Ghul’s son, many of the character’s mysteries come into focus. His skill in virtually every field (combat and otherwise) can be attributed to the intense training of the League of Assassins, which is training that produced both Batman and his sometimes-ally Ghost-Maker. Likewise, the Help’s advanced age makes sense in the context of Ra’s constantly using the Lazarus Pits to rejuvenate himself. This in turn implies that Ra’s had a son approximately a century ago who, for one reason or another, was not deemed ready to inherit the mantle of the Demon’s Head — prompting R’as to turn to candidates like Bruce Wayne and his later daughter, Talia.
The Help has turned his skills into services for hire instead of leading the League of Assassins, and this practice has led to him mentoring many legends of the DC Universe. It is an unorthodox expression of Ra’s al Ghul’s teachings, to be sure — though perhaps no more unorthodox than Batman’s choice to dress up as a bat to frighten criminals.
The Penguin #2 is now available from DC Comics.
