BEYOND BATMAN IN SPINOFF PENNYWORTH

PENNYWORTH REVEALS THE PULPY ORIGIN STORY OF THE CAPED CRUSADER’S RIGHT-HAND MAN.

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN ‘peak TV’ meets the height of popularity for live-action comic adaptations? Marvel Studios complemented its groundbreaking Marvel

Cinematic Universe with spin-off series such as Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D, The Defenders and one-season wonder

The Inhumans (plus a new slate of shows for Disney’s new streaming service). Meanwhile, chief rival DC Comics brought out Arrow, The Flash and Titans.

But they weren’t all so straightforward. In 2014, Bruce Heller created Gotham, a Batman spin-off series about

young cop Jim Gordon, long before he becomes Police Commissioner and Batman’s ally. The crime procedural style of the series gave Heller the chance to explore the dynamics of Gotham City’s crime world, populated by criminals who would later become Batman’s nemeses.

For his follow-up to Gotham, Heller dives deeper into the Batman universe with Pennyworth, an original tale on the origin story of Batman/Bruce Wayne’s trusted

confidant and Wayne family butler, Alfred Pennyworth.

Set in an alternate version of 1960s London, the series focuses on the exploits of the titular character (played

by Jack Bannon), a former SAS soldier caught between

two clandestine organisations vying for power. Two of the spies Pennyworth meets: Thomas Wayne and Martha Kane, Bruce’s future parents.

Like Joker, also playing onboard this month (see p94), Pennyworth is a radical departure from the

masked vigilantes and flamboyant villains we’re used

to seeing in the Batman mythology. The idea sounds like a parody sketch on paper, but the series is a fun period spy romp that isn’t just aimed at Batman fans.

Rather than following official canon, Heller has fun

reimagining contemporary British history with shady spies, violent gangsters and even sadistic Satanists for

good measure. The series is clearly influenced by the R-rated film adaptations of the Kingsman comics (think

flying body parts and f-bombs aplenty), taking a pulpy

approach that doesn’t take itself too seriously, without leaning into camp. If you’re burned out from all the superhero stories out there, Pennyworth is the show you deserve and one you need right now.