Speedball: The Return!

Could it be? Robbie Baldwin will no longer be the sado-masochism enthusiast known as Penance??

Is this the return of Speedball?

According to Joe Quesada, the answer is "yes."

So this indeed might be the end of Penance. His pierced nipples will be missed:

Fan Cuts Self Making "Penance" Custom Action Figure

A creative and industrious fan of Penance from the Thunderbolts cut himself while making a custom action figure of the character.

The customizer, who goes by the name "TFMANIAC" on the action figure message board The Fwoosh, wrote,

"yup i got the hard metal wire sharpened the tips with the dremel
cut off the tip
and repeated till i got about 50 of em..
didnt need to used them all thank God"

He also posted a picture of his bleeding finger:


The Occasional Superheroine blog applauds all fans who go the extra mile to balance the injustices served by the unimaginative toy companies.

Approves:

Occasional Reviews - Penance: Relentless

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.

Penance: Bad-Ass Emo Cutter Butt-Kicking @$%^%

"From the pages of Civil War, Robbie Baldwin, the man blamed for the Stamford tragedy, has assumed the guise of Penance and it’s time for him to embark on a quest of redemption in Penance: Relentless #1 (of 5). From Civil War: Front Line scribe Paul Jenkins and fan favorite artist Paul Gulacy comes this tale of one man’s slow descent into madness, obsession and perhaps the end of life as he knows it! When Penance takes one of the Thunderbolts’ missions into his own hands he puts himself on a collision course with Norman Osborn—better known as the Green Goblin—and it’s a battle of wills that will leave one man defeated!"



disapproves:


approves:


mclovin: