Emma Withington reviews Penguins: The Elitest of the Elite #2…
Skipper, Kowalski, Rico and Private get their flippers in a flap – it’s the International Undercover Elite Interspecies Task Force Awards – and they’re not invited! Something must be wrong, and something most certainly is… but it’s not what the Penguins expect!
SEE ALSO: Check out a preview of Penguins: The Elitest of the Elite
Penguins: The Elitest of the Elite #2 is the second installment in a four-part miniseries, starring the show stealing penguins of Madagascar (2005). The Penguins are arguably the best thing about the Madagascar series (for me, its only saving grace) and this popularity has certainly been realised by Dreamworks. These highly successful penguins have continued to feature in the Madagascar sequels, spawned a stand-alone film and their very own TV show – which I definitely didn’t occasionally binge on (I was unemployed, I had the time).
The Penguins: Skipper, Private, Kowalski, and Rico continue their capers in print after the events of the film Penguins of Madagascar (2014) – not that an extensive knowledge of the mythos is necessary, all you need to know is it’s not a tie in to the TV series spin-off.
In this issue Eva isn’t answering Kowalski’s calls, Classified hasn’t been responding to Skipper’s ‘top secret communications’, and so concern mounts for The North Wind. Disregarding Private’s instinct that maybe they are just being ignored, conclusions are swiftly jumped to and they decide that The North Wind is in deadly peril; so, naturally, instigate a rescue mission.
Penguins: The Elitest of the Elite #2 is addled with ‘so bad it’s good’ puns kicking off with, ‘Operation: Trapped Wind’ and barreling along from there into ‘eel never know what hit him’. It also comments on its own pun absurdity, ‘I don’t know what hurts more – the K.O or the pun’ – not taking itself seriously or trying too hard. The humour is effortless and if you are already a fan of the Penguins, you won’t be disappointed with their presentation here.
After infiltrating the North Wind’s ‘impenetrable’ secret base, an invitation to the ‘Elite Undercover Interspecies Awards’ is discovered. It appears the Penguins have been snubbed and take it upon themselves to crash the awards ceremony, find out why they were not invited, and possibly not even shortlisted…
In addition to this, Penguins: The Elitest of the Elite #2 includes two bonus short stories – The North Wind: Broken Part 2 and The Baby Penguins of Madagascar: Ice Baby Part 2. The madness continues…
While demographically for a younger audience, wonderfully colourful and well-defined, Penguins: The Elitest of the Elite #2 certainly managed to make me audibly chuckle at the ripe old age of twenty-five and is a nice light read for anyone who fancies a pick me up, or something you can easily dip into without much investment of time or concentration.
Rating: 7/10
Emma Withington
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https://youtu.be/b7Ozs5mj5ao?list=PL18yMRIfoszEaHYNDTy5C-cH9Oa2gN5ng
Originally published April 6, 2016. Updated November 13, 2019.
