Penance: Relentless Writer: Paul Jenkins
Artist: Paul Gulacy
Penance: Relentless is really, really emo. It has to be.
The titular character (if you would excuse the expression) of the series, Robbie Baldwin, has rings on his nipples. And watches Marquis DeSade DVDs.
Robbie Baldwin.
Robbie Baldwin!
Robbie Baldwin, formerly Speedball, now Penance, is batshit insane. He wears an iron maiden (dude! Iron Maiden!) as a costume and is, in the parlance of his generation, a "cutter."
He is wracked with guilt over the Stamford Disaster, the accident that he inadvertently helped cause (unless you believe Squirrel Girl & Dan Slott), and now spends his hours reciting seemingly endless numbers and glowering in a black hoodie.
He was originally a rather crappy member of the Thunderbolts, due mostly to the fact that he is batshit insane, but recently takes a turn for the "better," scares the terrorists, gets the codes, and tells his supervisor Norman Osborne to piss off.
What is Robbie's plan?
When will the pain stop and the healing begin?
This is a decent little comic that needs to give me more information as to where it is heading in order for me to really get a sense of it. I've got some good starts with background on Robbie's mental disorders, the action with the Thunderbolts, and Robbie/Penance's new found defiance of his authorities.
Paul Gulacy's art lends the book and the character a very dynamic and edgy quality that truly signifies the "childhood's end" of this particular comic book character. Gulacy's Penance is a haunting figure with a very real face that gives what could easily be a ridiculous character (Speedball with nipple rings) a deep sense of gravity.
My own quibble with the art is that I don't think Gulacy's art lends itself (or really needs) color-holds. The strength of his work is in the lines themselves -- to give them the same treatment as, say, an Ed Benes or Jim Lee book and go crazy with the holds and other color "tricks" distracts from the purity of his design.
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