Originally published on Patreon
I'll admit something that might lose me some DC geek points, I'm not that fond of The Killing Joke. I think it's a perfectly fine, average Batman story, but that's about it. So, an entire series of one shots taking the theme of 'one bad day' being all it takes to create a villain that was originally brought up in that book had me a little unsure whether I was looking forward to reading this. And this first issue, focused on the Riddler, really doesn't help.
Batman: One Bad Day: The Riddler begins with a lengthy scene in first person as we follow the life of a random man in Gotham, hearing about his family. Several pages into this scene the Riddler walks up behind him and shoots him in the head. The Riddler then waits for the cops to arrive and arrest him.
This sets up a big question for the GCPD and Batman, what's the riddle? Riddler doesn't do things for no reason, so what's his game. Well, it turns out that there is no game. There is no big riddle. He's just shown Batman what he's capable of, and then tells him that if Batman ever comes near him again a random person in Gotham will be murdered.
He then uses threats against the families of cops, prison guards, and literally anyone else in his way (including mob bosses) to set himself up as the untouchable king of Gotham.
All of this is interspersed with flashbacks of Edward in school, failing to get perfect grades because one of his teachers includes a riddle on tests. When Edward fails to get perfect scores his father, the headmaster, beats him. This pushes Edward to his 'one bad day' where he murders the teacher.
Oh boy, do I have very little good to say about this book.
Firstly, the story. So. The Riddler tells no riddles, has no schemes or mysteries, he simply uses random murder and threats to get what he wants. So who the hell is he now the, because he's certainly not the Riddler. Like, who would Mr Freeze be if you stripped away everything around his cold gimmick? Just Mr Person? There's nothing about this version of the Riddler that makes him the Riddler, and this story could have been told about any villain, or even just a random guy. And perhaps would have been better if it was.
Batman also tortures people in this book, almost needlessly. He repeatedly dunks a tied up, bleeding man in shark filled water even when he's offering up the info Batman wants purely because I guess Batman feels he needs to suffer more first. And, at the end of the book it's heavily implied that this is also Batman's 'one bad day', and that he kills the Riddler in order to stop him. Fucking awful.
The flashbacks to Edwards past are bad too. Edward is a struggling kid, coming to his teacher begging him not to go against the school rules and put test points on a riddle, telling him that its causing him distress, that he can't cope with it. And the teacher claps him on the back and goes 'don't let it worry you dude, it's just life, be chill'. It's like the teacher thinks he's some kind of Dead Poets Society scenario when he;s instead fucking up a kid.
There's also the implication that Edward is pushed into snapping because his father abuses and beats him for not being perfect. This is one of those gross false narratives and stereotypes where it says that those who're abused become abusers, killers. It's pretty messed up that we're still using that concept in the year 2022.
A lot of the supporting characters act really poorly too. There's a scene where the Riddler is surrounded by cops who've been ordered to put a straight jacket on him, and because of his threats to their families the cops all freak out, turn on each other, and everyone in the room but the Riddler and Commissioner Gordon guns each other down. Huh?
There are some decent moments to be found, one or two I think. The scenes where Bruce spends some time with the widow of the Riddlers random victim are incredibly sweet, and show a decent side to the man that is often overlooked for big superhero stories.
The art on the book feels like a weird mixed bag too. There are a lot of pages that are incredibly busy and crowded feeling, with odd staging and rain and smoke effects everywhere. It can sometimes be a bit overpowering, and it can help to make the scenes feel overly oppressive and gloomy. There is a two page spread that's absolutely gorgeous though, where a basketball court is split into the present and a flashback, with two very different colour schemes in each section. The split between the two sides is gorgeous, and it makes for a great visual of the flashback ending and the present beginning.
Overall, I think I kind of hated this story. If was slow and dull in a lot of places, had what felt like bad story decisions and awful character moments, and might be the worst Riddler story I've ever read, because it never felt like the Riddler. I'm hoping the other one-shots are better than this, because if they're not this is going to be a poor series for sure.
This article, and many others, can be read a month early on my Patreon for as little as $3 a month!
No comments:
Post a Comment