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Poker Face /
The Riddler In Questions That Begin With a Queue
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Main Story
Written by Ty Templeton
Pencils by Rick Burchett
Inks by Terry Beatty
Colors by Lee Loughridge
Lettering by Rob Leigh
Cover by Kelsey Shannon
Asst. Editor Harvey Richards
Editor Joan Hilty
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Back-Up
Written by Dan Slott
Pencils by Rick Burchett
Inks by Terry Beatty
Colored by Zylonol
Lettered by Rob Leigh
Asst. Editor Harvey Richards
Editor Joan Hilty |
Issue #11 - Poker Face / The Riddler In Questions That Begin With a Queue
Cover Date - April 2004. Released on February 18th.
Riddler’s reformed — but he still can’t stop planting riddles, forcing Batman to put him to good use! And in the backup, can Riddler keep himself from turning a bank errand into a bank robbery! |
Review
In a comic book world, there is
only one thing scarier than raw power: intellect.
Consider, if you will, that the greatest minds in the DC
Universe, from Mr. Freeze to Vandal Savage to Lex
Luthor, are almost invariably evil. Indeed, many of the
most brilliant minds in the DC Universe are
simultaneously so immensely dangerous and so immensely
intelligent that its citizens are darned lucky the
heroes are as absurdly powerful as they are. Within the
DC Universe, there’s little doubt that the greatest
intellectual talent lies on the side of the villains.
This, of course, begs a fairly obvious question: why not
use that massive brain power in some helpful capacity?
Instead of locking bad guys up in Arkham, why not put
them to work, satisfying their need for absurd levels of
challenge while providing the heroes with a useful
service. Shockingly, it doesn’t happen all that often,
but it does occur in Batman Adventures #11, and
it’s where our story begins.
After the events of Batman Adventures #2, Edward
Nygma is still a free man in every way but the one that
truly matters. Though walking among Gotham’s citizens
free of crime, the Riddler is still a prisoner of his
own compulsions. As illustrated (rather amusingly) in
the backup, the Riddler is tempted by the prospect of
crime and other misdeeds at practically every juncture
in his life. The act of visiting a bank fills his head
with visions of robberies and violence. He’s fighting a
constant struggle to stay on the side of right, and his
massive intellectual abilities, now going largely
unused, are driving him mad. It’s a funny twist on the
typical Riddler characterization: take away anything for
the Riddler to do, and he becomes a pathetic, even
pitiable, pile of neuroses. Even his business escapades
can’t keep his mind occupied, and the result is one
strung-up, stressed out, unhappy fellow. Again, we
revisit the idea of Riddler as a man fallen prey to an
obsession he has little to no control over. He’s in a
lose/lose situation: abandoning his flair from the
dramatic has left him free but mentally imprisoned, but
reverting to his old ways will scarcely do him any
better. An unlikely situation to his problem presents
itself, though, when Batman knocks on his door (he was
invited, of course) with a job offer.
Yes, you heard that correctly.
Batman is still desperate to solve the riddle behind the
Penguin’s election to mayor, and he’s prepared to put
Gotham’s foremost mind to work to that aim. It’s a
clever scenario, playing to both Batman and the
Riddler’s overlapping concerns, and serves to further
highlight Batman’s increasing level of desperation with
his plight. As setups go, it’s about as good as it gets,
and Templeton milks the premise for all it’s worth
(which is a good deal). The story’s packed to the brim
with all the cleverness one expects from a good Riddler
story. There are plenty of twists and turns, strong
character moments, and some intriguing dropped hints
about the possible illegitimacy of the Penguin’s
election. It’s an appropriate issue to address in the
final story arc, and while it alludes nicely to future
developments in the title, #11 stands very well on its
own, too, thanks to a very clever script and some
seriously fun developments. It’s hard to argue with
that.
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