Villains Month continues onward and this time around we see Scott Snyder’s only contribution to the event: a Riddler issue. According to him and stuff that I have heard, Snyder stated that this issue will tie into his Zero Year event, so I am interested and ready to check this one out. Is it good?
Batman #23.2 (DC Comics)
The Justice League is dead and Batman is gone. With no one smart enough to challenge him, the Riddler heads for Wayne Enterprises with a couple of riddles going through his mind. What’s his reason for doing so and how exactly will he get past every single person there? You’ll have to read to find out.
Riddler got that move from watching White Collar.
Okay, so this wasn’t a tie-in to Zero Year like I thought it would be. Sure, it references it and some minor events, but this is pretty stand alone and you really don’t need to know anything going on with Zero Year to understand this.
Despite that, this is still a pretty solid one-shot, showing off why the Riddler is good villain that needs to be used more. He’s incredibly smart and crafty, these qualities exemplified as we watch him go through the entire building with ease. His ultimate plan was interesting and the ending quite amusing once you figure out what it is he set out to do.
Ray Fawkes teams up to co-write this book with Scott Snyder and honestly, both of them work very well here: There’s smooth dialogue and narration, good pacing, enjoyable riddles, and not a dull moment to be found. You get interested and a bit engaged in seeing what Edward Nygma has up his sleeve and what his goal is.
Though one thing kind of stood out to me: maybe I’m not familiar enough with the character, but did he always have a problem with people touching him? (What is he, Howie Mandel?)
When causing trouble, there’s always time for a yogurt break.
The artwork is by Jeremy Haun and it’s solid overall. There’s really nothing too special about it though since it’s rather average in a way. It’s all good, but nothing really stands out or is really that memorable, outside of maybe one scene involving electricity. The coloring is sort of the same way, where it’s good but kind of dull with its flat tone and shading. This difference in art is definitely noticeable especially coming off of Greg Capullo’s work on the title so far.
9.0
- Great one-shot story.
- The writing is excellent.
- Riddler is awesome in this story.
- This is not really a Zero Year tie-in like advertisement says.
- The art, while good, is rather average and boring.
Is It Good?
It certainly is. While it may not be the Zero Year tie-in we thought it would be, it’s still a very enjoyable one-shot Riddler story. Fans of the character will definitely want to check this one out, even if they haven’t been reading Batman up to now.
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