Essentials:Published April 14, 2010
Written by Tony S. Daniel
Art by Guillem March
Colors by Tomeu Morey
Letters by Jared K. Fletcher
Story Title: "Riddle Me This, Part 1"
Verdict: 3.5 bats out of 5
After almost a year following a single storyline, this month's installment begins a new and shorter episode in Dick Grayson's tenure as the Batman. As the cover implies, this issue also continues DC's recent focus on the supposedly reformed Riddler, who has not yet returned to a life of crime, but has been showing some darker tendencies in his recent appearances. Here he assists in the investigation of a serial killer, much to Batman's chagrin. "Riddle Me This" will conclude in Batman #699 next month, just in time for the momentous anniversary of Batman #700 in June.
With all the attention the Riddler has received in multiple DC titles over the last few months, one wonders why DC doesn't give him his own series, so that he can stop stealing the spotlight from the title characters. Since the loss of his memory last year, the Riddler--as a private detective--seems to have integrated himself into every case of interest that goes through the Gotham City Police Department. While the Riddler is a fascinating character, and deserves more attention than he's received in the past, his frequent gu
est roles overshadow the actual protagonists.Many of the best moments in this issue come not from the actual mystery, but from the interaction between the "reformed" Riddler and a skeptical Batman. Even when he's talking his way into a police investigation, Riddler--who insists on using his civilian name, Edward Nigma--loses none of his smugness, and Batman's every expression shows just how much he detests having to rely on a former criminal.
The ostensible villain of this piece is a new one: Sebastian Blackspell, a magic-themed villain whose appearance would not be out of place in a silent film melodrama. There is, however, something suspicious about this new criminal: with a prominent hat, glasses, and a substantial mustache, very little can be seen of Blackspell's actual face, and he never once speaks. This suggests that there may be something more to Blackspell's identity than meets the eye, although there is of course the possibility that the writer was too focused on the banter between Batman and the Riddler to write dialogue for this almost-incidental villain.
The first scene of Batman on his own is a surreal dream sequence, starring a young Dick Grayson as he swings on a circus trapeze. He begins the dream accompanied by his long-dead parents, but before he wakes up, he has encountered almost every major figure in his life, including a skeletal Bruce Wayne. The imagery is fairly unoriginal, but well-executed. The rest of the Batman-centric scenes feel more like filler, taking up the space between dramatic appearances of the Riddler. Every breakthrough in the case comes not from Batman, the World's Greatest Detective, but from the timely arrival of the Riddler. Even if the Riddler is somehow behind these murders, which seems distinctly possible, it wouldn't have hurt for Batman to find at least one clue on his own.
Artwork
Guillem March is less anatomically inaccurate than usual, perhaps because most of the prominent characters are male. (Some of his work on Gotham City Sirens' female protagonists is almost painful to look at.)
