Batman: One Bad Day: The Riddler #1

Batman - One Bad Day: The Riddler #1 is a frightening yet irresistible tale. It removes the restraint from a character that can often be considered comical or ridiculous, turning him into something terrifying. The usual format that Batman and Riddler stories usually unfold with is fractured and it means that it is very difficult to predict what is happening. It is an achingly pretty one-shot as Gerads brings his evocative style to the book. This is a creative partnership that only leads to gold. Read Full Review

Batman: One Bad Day: The Riddler lives up exactly to what it needed to be. I loved it! This is the Killing Joke for the character. Read this book Batfans! You won't be disappointed! Read Full Review

An excellent start for the One More Day series, as Tom King and Mitch Gerads deliver a compelling psychological thriller about one of the greatest villains the Dark Knight has confronted. Read Full Review

Mitch Gerads brilliantly captures the dark intensity of the story with the art. The style beautifully lends itself to the gritty, film noir detective vibe of the story and that final page is both intense and visually thrilling. Read Full Review

The artwork and writing connect on an emotional level that penetrates the soul. A must-read. Read Full Review

Definitely a strong start for the line. Read Full Review

BATMAN: ONE BAD DAY THE RIDDLER #1 by King revamps the RIDDLER and puts a frightening spin on the character that fans will hope gets explored further by Tom and Mitch. Fans of the RIDDLER should definitely check this out, as well as King BATMAN haters. Sure, the narration and dialogue were disconnected at points BUT the overall theme and understanding were understandable, clever, and edgy. Continuity aside, as someone whos been extremely hesitant of Kings BATMAN work, I can openly admit that this issue of BATMAN: ONE BAD DAY was a winner and deserves a good read. Let me know what you think, have a great week, and God Bless! Read Full Review

This is a great study in how to write and draw a psychological thriller that includes beloved characters that have a long and established history. Whatever you think you knew about the Riddler and the Batman - you can leave it behind when you turn the cover. Read Full Review

Batman: One Bad Day Riddler is a hell of a start to this series of one-shots. It delivers a rather unnerving tale as the Riddler unravels and builds himself back up. It's a new status-quo that hopefully becomes the Riddler we know going forward creating an even more frightening foe for Batman to tangle with. On it's own, it's one hell of a read that'll stick with you. Read Full Review

The craft used in creating this book is breathtaking. If it were labeled as an Elseworlds, or better yet, told with analogies Watchmen style, this would be a bright star. As it is, it's good, but clearly, a cute detour before we turn back to the same circular road. Read Full Review

Batman: One Bad Day - The Riddler #1 has only one goal: Push Batman to break his one rule. Unfortunately, it's set it up in such an unbelievable way that you're horrified by the misery of the story while dismissing it under basic examination. This story will leave you feeling dirty and depressed. Read Full Review

One Bad Day: The Riddler is another failing, flailing attempt by King to find that spark he once had on Batman before the aborted wedding twist. If youre a fan of Gerads art this is almost worth checking out for his stellar work. Otherwise, this start to the One Bad Day focus gets off to a mean-spirited, miserable start. Read Full Review

"One Bad Day Tom King in his zone, doing what he does best, and with excellent artwork to boot. But if you're not a fan of nine-panel grids focused on character trauma, then it's okay to pass. Read Full Review

Batman: One Bad Day: The Riddler #1 is a beautiful book, but it stumbles over its half-earned attempts at cleverness. This is not an origin story we will remember in years to come. Read Full Review

It's a potent comic book that continues to engage Batman readers after nearly thirty-five years, and a fine point of inspiration for that exact reason. Yet the first installment of One Bad Day is so devoted to crafting an homage to The Killing Joke that it never bothers to define the most significant portion of its title: The Riddler. Read Full Review

This book is bad. The whole "One Bad Day line seemed pointless in the first place, and I'm still honestly not even sure what the theme is. Is it Batman's bad days? Is it a showcase of these villains origins? Do we need it? The Riddler issue certainly seems to point to no. Read Full Review

KittyNone

Aug 16, 2022

Tom King has done so many stories that stay too long and get lost in themselves that it's easy to forget that he can do some really excellent work if his worst tendencies are curbed. Dropping the Riddler into Dead Poets Society is a really inspired take on his backstory, and while many attempts to make the traditionally goofy Riddler a terrifying sociopath are joyless and edgy, King & Gerads really hit the bullseye here. Maybe King should stick to one shots for a bit; the format clearly brings out the best in him.

Toonstrack

Aug 17, 2022

Riddle me this. I am four numbers, yet two numbers, yet one number. I am a fraction, yet I am still a whole. I represent perfection, yet dissappintment often follows in my footsteps. I am sought by so many, yet acquired by few. Once acquired, the quest to acquire me instantly begins anew. What am I?

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Batmanaholic - Aug 18, 2022

You meant a 1.0 right? this is the worst Batman comic ever written

Toonstrack - Aug 18, 2022

Wrong answer.

Hex - Aug 18, 2022 (edited)

Something I have learned about people who have 'Batman' in their names, they tend to be the most annoying Batman fans who don't actually know a good Bat-book when they read it.

Toonstrack - Aug 18, 2022

Certainly the most close minded. I've got some preferences for batman myself but these guys take it way beyond reason

Psycamorean - Aug 19, 2022

Yeah, the worst Batman comic ever was obviously Bat/Cat #12

Batmanaholic - Aug 19, 2022

Well this book decided it needed to say the killing joke was all the riddlers idea at the start, and the riddler didn't have one bad day.... he had an entire bad childhood Then of course the riddler has known who Batman and every Robin is, and knows all the secrets of Wayne manor.. And we finish it off with Batman killing the riddler and breaking his only rule. How is a book that has to try and make the killing joke look bad to try and be good. A good story,

Psycamorean - Aug 19, 2022

That's a lot. But Bat/Cat has Catwoman in it, so it's already worse.

Toonstrack - Aug 19, 2022

This book literslly didnt say it was all his idea. He just provided some info needed for Joker to pull off HIS idea. This book doesn't say Batman kills riddler or not, its up to interpretation, much like the original killing joke was at the ending. These are dynamic characters. You can do much with them, if you have the imagination to do so.

Jeff Plaza

Aug 18, 2022

Holy Crap! I did not expect this issue to end up the way it did.

Hex

Aug 18, 2022

Before anything, I need those reading this to know I'm not King's biggest fan. And yes it's because of Batman and Heroes in Crisis. I haven't read anything else of his aside from Rorschach and the first 3 issues of Human Target. I know he's an EXTREMELY talented writer. I still have a hard time touching his work. I even love his first two arcs on Batman. This though... This is simply amazing. Its opening is unbelievable. It's such natural, flowing human dialogue that you'd just have this kind of conversation with anyone. So much comic book dialogue is filled with too much gravitas, emphasis or exposition that nothing ever feels grounded and real. Pair that with artwork and paneling that puts you right in the shoes of the perspective char acter to literally see as they do, you get lost in the first few pages engulfed in the story. Transitioning to the camera feed and interrogation by Gordon, everything here just feels real. No Batman yet. Just a criminal and an officer doing his job. I don't think for a second, nor should anyone that Edward Nygma is telling the truth about Jack's 'One Bad Day'. He's the Ridder. He's supposed to confuse you, get you thinking, get off balance. Taking him seriously or at his direct words will likely not yield you the right answer. The only trope that King falls into here of his that I have one of the biggest problems with is his stammering, unsure, uncomfortable dialogue. I only mean that in characters that are in a sad or uncomfortable position as was Mrs. Oates when speaking to Bruce Wayne. He tries to create a real conversation that is stuttery, broken and intentionally sad. Someone in pain trying to cope. Reaching out with words they can't find. Sometimes it translates to the page better than others and this is the only time I noticed it. This Batman is the Batman I have wanted to see from King. This Batman is terrifying. A force. An immovable object that is undeterred from his mission to find the truth. I've not in recent memory seen such an imposing and cold Dark Knight than here and is amazing. It wasn't until I saw Edward's teacher and the interaction with him that I realized why his father looked so much like Kurtwood Smith. King gave Edward a new origin that is a beautiful amalgamation of the studious but unsure Todd Anderson and the tragic rebellious Neil Perry from Dead Poet's Society. It's not subtle. He wasn't trying to hide it and Gerads and King even included his name in the files Edward rifles through to find his teachers'. If you haven't seen that movie, a lot of this is likely not to resonate with you as well. King is known for his love of film and it would be a disservice not to recommend everyone who reads this to watch that movie. This book like that film is a masterpiece. To say otherwise is just a flat out biased, bitter lie. Something a child would scoff at because they don't understand writing. Good writing. Great writing. I need to sing Mitch Gerads' praises in here as well. This is honestly one of the most beautiful books I have ever had the pleasure and privilege to see. I can't really describe how perfect it is. The colors are perfect, the lines are perfect, the perspective, depth and scale of every panel giving everything weight. Simply the best. Oh and The New Batman Adventures Batmobile. That is all. If 'ruining' the Killing Joke with one line or that it's doing an homage to that story is enough to get you to call this bad, you like Edward, are an idiot. If Batman, breaking his 'one rule' is enough to get you to call this bad, you really didn't understand the book or the point. Edward knows more than you think. He knows more than everyone thinks. If Batman thinks that his family was in real danger. He wouldn't hesitate. And he doesn't. That's what Batman does. The city is his family. Batman believes in mercy. He was giving mercy to his city. more

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Batmanaholic - Aug 19, 2022

..... the fact it's a homage to the killing joke is in the name. It's been set up as the riddlers killing joke. We where told this since the book was announced. And I was really excited for this book. But if you need to try and say the killing joke was all riddlers idea, and beneath him and that he just gave the idea to joker. Is dumb. And your last part about Batman giving his city mercy is terrible. The city has been under way worse threats and Batman never had to kill anyone.

Hex - Aug 19, 2022

You clearly didn't read any of my review aside from the last paragraph. Which makes me call into question the idea you even actually attempted to read this issue being 60+ whopping pages. Like the last issue you and I had an argument about, your tastes in comics are like your reading comprehension. Nonexistent. Watch Dead Poet's Society, read the actual review and the book then come back. Read real literature to understand what good writing is.

Hex - Aug 19, 2022

Also, like Toonstrack said in their response to their own review, much like The Killing Joke, there is nothing here that outright states that Batman killed the Riddler. I said he showed the city mercy. His self-proclaimed weakness. It doesn't mean he did what you thought. It's supposed to be thought provoking and incite discussion. You just went with your gut reaction and called King a hack. You're just flat out wrong.

The Brave and the Bald - Aug 19, 2022

A villain telling a likely lie to get under a hero's skin? Surely this has never occurred in any media work!

Batmanaholic - Aug 19, 2022

Considering he didn't lie at any other time in this issue. Why would that have been the only lie? He made good on every other threat .... why would he lie about that one?

The Brave and the Bald - Aug 20, 2022

Because his entire goal in that scene was to torment Jim Gordon. Please, for the love of God, develop some media literacy.

Hex - Aug 20, 2022 (edited)

tHiS bOoK iS bAd BeCaUsE i DoN't UnDeRsTaNd BeTa MaLe ToM kInG tRyInG tO cUcK aLaN mOoRe. Meanwhile, has only read The Killing Joke and The Watchmen and has no idea what they are actually about.

motorik - Aug 21, 2022

Best review I've read on here in a very long time. I get that people are angry with King because of his run as the main Batman writer. He isn't anymore, let the hate go. I just read his Vision comic again. Utterly magnificent.

Hex - Aug 21, 2022

Thank you so much. I am glad some people have actually taken the time to read it and I really hope they enjoyed the issue as much as I did. I'm definitely trying to read more of King's work because of the bias I have. This has certainly helped erase a significant chunk of it.

retcon_D

Aug 21, 2022

This is some of the best Batman Tom King has put out. This is truly incredible.

Hobgoblin

Oct 21, 2022

Fantastic- Kudos to King for a masterpiece!

Avanvolk

Feb 27, 2024

This was utterly spectacular. As someone who wasn't a fan of most of King's Batman run, I could not have been more pleasantly surprised that he crafted such a genuinely enthralling Batman story here. King made Riddler into a seriously terrifying villain and this is probably my new favourite Riddler story ever. That ending was just...so good. SO good. And Mitch Gerads' art was nothing short of perfect. Tom King haters are always gonna hate, and Batman purists who can't handle the slightest alteration from their perception of what the Dark Knight should be are gonna be thoroughly triggered by this story, but as for me, this will go down as one of my favourite Batman comics ever and another absolute masterpiece from King.

Loafy Trophy

Aug 18, 2022

King and Gerads together are a magical team and they do a killer job kicking off a new line dedicated to paying homage to Batman's greatest villains through the lens of The Killing Joke. This spin on the Riddler is a bone chilling one; he's angry, meticulous and untethered from the usual rules. King spends a lot of time exploring the nature of the game between Bruce and Eddie, and then delves into potential implications of what would happen if the rules of the game changed. The final scene alone was brilliant and absolutely worth the build up. But Gerads is the real star here, delivering on all of his signature techniques. He's a master of subtle movement and facial expression, which imparts a lot of humanity into each of his charac ters. The scenes from Edward's youth are a great example. The teacher exudes a warm familiarity which contrasts perfectly from the cold, calculating nature of the younger Eddie. Gerads also hits readers with shades of green and red throughout, with flashbacks bathed in warmer red tones to contrast with colder green tones on every other page to further evoke the feelings mentioned above. The result is something harmonious, that builds to a perfect crescendo when they finally collide near the book's climax. more

Bigpoppa393

Aug 22, 2022

incredible

Afre

Oct 19, 2022

I'm late on this. As someone who sometimes truly dislikes King's work, I loved this. It was amazing. Simply put amazing. The amount of misdirection Edward gives here is just wonderful. Was the Killing Joke truly his idea? Or did he just make Gordon more angry, because he knew it would work? I really liked this.

REYNARD

Aug 16, 2022

Riddler's Killing Joke! I loved how terrifying King and Gerads were able to make the emerald enigma in this book. The flashbacks were great, and addressing the cyclical nature of Batman and his rogues was done extremely well. I'm a big fan of Batman when a writer is willing to evolve the character or take him in new directions that stay true to his portrayal across his entire history. This evolution of the Riddler was very fascinating, although this story does the most possible to elevate his threat level compared to all the other rogues. Killing Joke was about two broken men taking trauma in polar directions; a study on the limits of sanity and the breaking points of good men. Dreadful Reins is all about the game; the rules of eng agement when two geniuses decide to use the world as their chess-board. The last page was brilliant, and the ambiguous nature of if Batman broke and killed the Riddler vs if he just put him away once more to continue the game is thematically perfect for the overall Killing Joke parallel. I also loved Batman's final riddle, which reminded me a lot of one of Morrison's best Batman stories: "Time & The Batman". The mystery always comes knocking! It's for you to decide to get up and answer the door! more

The Brave and the Bald

Aug 16, 2022

We can argue all day long over whether or not this is the Riddler's "Killing Joke", a definitive story, or "not my Riddler", but at the end of the day, what is here is a cat-and-mouse thriller that offers an interesting possibility for the Riddler's backstory. There are times when the exposition is a tad too much, but when it comes to Batman and Riddler confronting one another, it's just pure tension. It's a story about self-imposed restraints, and asks how far can we go once those restraints are removed.

thecomiccookebook

Aug 17, 2022

Tom King and Mitch Gerads have another hit on their hands. It’s a very unique spin on Riddler, a character I have always loved but hasn’t had a definitive story. It’s too early to say if that’s the case for this one shot but I’d definitely recommend this. I truly believe that Tom King and Mitch Gerads will both go down as some of the best from this era of comics and this is just more proof positive of that.

Psycamorean

Sep 27, 2022

I recently reviewed Killing Joke and didn't like it. If you're interested in why, go look at that review. This book is very similar in construction as that one. I spent a lot of the middle of this book not really loving it. The big difference is that while Killing Joke's ending is great and it is fairly definitive for the Joker, it doesn't make what came before it worth it. It doesn't tie together properly at all, in my opinion. This book also has a great, definitive ending for the Riddler and it actually manages to tie the entire story together in a satisfying way. Are there a few moments that I think don't work? Yeah. But the whole thing together works very well. I am shocked that Tom King produced a good Batman comic.

Jawsh

Sep 29, 2022

Conflicted because this was such an effective, engrossing, macabre story of crime, trauma, and senseless violence. The artwork is stellar, the writing is fantastic, the tone is consistent and engaging. There are moments here that are so horrifying it's essentially a horror book. It just doesn't feel like Batman, Riddler, or Gordon. It would be perfect if it wasn't Batman and I wish this would have been reworked as a separate crime thriller or something. Just the rules of a comicbook universe don't allow this to work as well. What came before it and what comes after it, this book won't matter. So I'll take it as a stand-alone elsewhere story, and like that this is one mighty, fine thriller.

A 40 Year Reader

Oct 11, 2022

Perhaps overly dark and arguably out of character with some hard-to-believe elements, but this was a truly amazing and memorable read. Enough so that I felt compelled to create this account to review it and tell someone, "Wow, that was really great!" I don't know if I'll be collecting many of these, but this has me thinking I should.

I Love Punchline

Aug 17, 2022

Continuing his characterization of Riddler from his Batman run (going so far as to blatantly copy a scene from War of Jokes and Riddles,)this out-of-continuity one-shot goes from a semi-realistic if a tad cliche take on Edward’s origins to full on Looney Tunes near the end. Seriously, I was laughing so hard when I saw the Mary Sue-levels of ridiculousness that went into trying to make Riddler the scariest bad guy who beats everyone and doesn’t afraid of anything. I’m not sure if this was the intended effect Mr. King wanted to inflict, but regardless, this easily remains the funniest work of his so far. After about the eight thousandth over-the-top showcase of Riddler’s big brain intellect you kinda just have to smile to yourself, go with the flow and ask “Okay, what CAN’T this villain do?” If you go into this with a certain mindset, I highly recommend reading it if you could do with some harmless, unserious fun, as is the case with most Tom King books. I had a great time once I realized what this was. As always, Mitch Gerards killed it with the art. Sadly, there was no appearance of Punchline which naturally detracts from the score. more

daspidaboy

Aug 17, 2022

the issue isnt bad, its good and tom king's Batman content is slowly getting better. just not a fan of the 9 panel issues and it may be a bit wordy and this is too similar to The Killing Joke. But its a good issue nonetheless. Just might not be for everyone

Hydro-Man

Aug 19, 2022

Everything King does with Batman is so hit or miss. I guess OBD Riddler actually succeeds in what it aims to do, but is that necessarily a good thing? First, I am huge Alan Moore fan. By far my favorite writer of all time. That said, Killing Joke is one of my least favorites of his works. The whole idea of Killing Joke being the flip-side of Batman's origin sounds poetic but it's really corny and trite. My biggest issue was that it took this maniacal, unreasonable monster and made him sympathetic (like Rob Zombie's Halloween did for Michael Myers). You walk away going, "jeez, no wonder he's so messed up." Plus, there's the sadistic torture porn part with Batgirl. OBD Riddler was just Tom King emulating Alan Moore at his worst . You have a Riddler who is beaten by his father and later finds out that his mother is a prostitute that his own henchmen are banging. He also kills a completely innocent person as a "warning" to Batman that he can do that anytime he wants if Batman pisses him off. It is also complete with a not-as-vague ending where Batman kills him (similar to the Killing Joke). It's really amazing that in 2022, writers can still only barely scratch the surface of what an amazing writer Alan Moore was and all his potential. The most they come away with is dark, brooding neurotic heroes/villains. I guess none of them read his America's Best Comics stuff or even Supreme. more

Nightmare of Solomon

Aug 21, 2022

Only the art has value -- because the writing is just TK using Alan Moore as a springboard while writing some edgelord crap on par with Mark Millar's Nemesis.

Payaso

Aug 18, 2022

Great art, awful writing

Batmanaholic

Aug 18, 2022

That was quite possibly the worst comic book I have read, it's definitely the worst Batman story I have ever read. Tom king should never be allowed to write a Batman comic again after that. Don't try and ruin the killing joke because your a hack writer. No spoilers but everyone who gave this a 8/19-10/10 is on glue. Your all dumb for saying this is a perfect story. It try's to say the riddler came up with the plan for the killing g joke and also has Batman break his only rule it seems. Such an aweful book. Do not read this book save your money or just light it on fire or give it to a homeless person. Worst Batman comic ever.

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Hex - Aug 18, 2022

*You're, its and awful. I'll take King more seriously than a review riddled (hah) with spelling mistakes. And I don't even like King. When 9/10 people think something is good and YOU'RE the odd one out, there might be something wrong with your perspective.

Batmanaholic - Aug 19, 2022 (edited)

9/10 people have never read another Batman book. It was nicely drawn, but if you have to try and say the riddler planned the killing joke plot, but it was beneath him to go through with it. It's a Terrible book, also do you think I care about grammar or spelling in a 1/10 review? I'm not proof reading that lol. That would mean I spent more time plotting this review. then Tom king did writing it. Also any Batman book Batman kills someone in is an automatic 3/10 or lower

Loafy Trophy - Aug 19, 2022

Does that mean The Killing Joke by Moore gets an automatic 3/10 or lower? Because there are multiple ways the ending can be interpreted......

Hex - Aug 19, 2022

Maybe you should proof read your own work. People would take you more seriously if you have a real point but it gives off the air of not having a clear understanding of your own words let alone more complex dialogue and structure like that of King's here. It's also a throwaway line that you are getting really worked up over. How many books have done something like that where it literally meant nothing or the person was straight up lying because... DUH?!

Hex - Aug 19, 2022

Didn't you like Scott Snyder's Batman?

Psycamorean - Aug 19, 2022

You guys are wasting your time. There are just some people on this site that will proclaim that King is the worst writer to ever dare writing, without anything close to a substantive reasoning for it. They're all still mad over that run from 2016. Why? I couldn't tell you. They're never going to meet you halfway, no matter how much you try to rationalize the objective issues with their perspective. His reasoning falls apart immediately after the sentence it was written into.

Batmanaholic - Aug 19, 2022

I actually enjoyed kings run up untill the knightmare arc, and it was really bad after that. His first 5 arcs are quite good, and since the killing joke is canon...... no you can only take the ending one way 🤷‍♂️ And if you have to try and make other stories look bad, and then also complete reinvent a character for your story to be good..... how good of a writer are you? I'd say a really bad one who doesn't know how to use 80 years of history to your advantage.

Psycamorean - Aug 19, 2022

How is Tom King trying to make other stories look bad? Also, reinvention happens all the time. Your favorite version of Batman is no doubt a reinvention of the character. This story is probably not in continuity (like that matters at DC anyway), and in that context, your complaints make even less sense.

Batmanaholic - Aug 19, 2022

By saying the Barbara Gordon plot from the killing joke, was all the riddlers plan. You are undercutting one of the best Batman stories. To try and make your story look better. How is that hard to understand?

Batmanaholic - Aug 19, 2022

And I lien almost all Batman, where it be morrison's Batman, miller's batman, Snyder's Batman, tynion's Batman, burbaker, O'Neil, Adams, even early tom kings Batman before thhe wedding, loeb, Cooke, Wagner, Dixon. All wrote great Batman stories without the need to try and do what king did in this book. I respect your opinion that you liked this book thag crapped all over the killing joke. I just found it absolutely aweful and disrespectful to the history of Batman 🤷‍♂️

Loafy Trophy - Aug 19, 2022

You might want to go read The Killing Joke again. Just because elements of the story ended up "in continuity" doesn't matter because the ending is clearly ambiguous. Saying the ending of the story can only be interpreted one way is just as stupid as saying King ruined The Killing Joke by writing an homage to it 30+ years later. Moore's story still exists, unchanged, exactly as it always has.

Hex - Aug 19, 2022 (edited)

Your history of the Batman really should expand then if that's all the writers you can come up with. You think Moore didn't take from other Batman writers? It just shows that you have only a surface level understanding of the Batman character & those who write for him & the reasons they put homages, references, straight up plot elements from the past or retcons. Moore retconned the Joker origin. Just because it was almost universally praised doesn't mean that he didn't expand on others' work.

Hex - Aug 19, 2022 (edited)

O'Neil made Batman a drug addict, Snyder had him kill the Joker, Miller had Robin eat rats, Morrison had him travel through time then Snyder piggy backed off of that entire story to create the Batman Who Laughs. Cooke changed the psychology of Batman from what most people understood, dividing it into two personas, something Morrison clearly drew inspiration from. These all work together to change things little by little.

Hex - Aug 19, 2022

Giving this a 1 is just disrespectful. Even if you don't like King, or the writing of this book because you are biased doesn't mean that Mitch Gerads did NOTHING to elevate this book because it is beautiful. At least consider that. Comics are more than just the writing or the art.

Batmanaholic - Aug 20, 2022

Kings writing was so bad in this book to me it disrespected gerads art. The art is great but the story is just so aweful to me. The art cannot salvage the rest of it. Hey I'm glad you think this absolute crap show was the greatest Batman's Tory of all time. You like poorly written stories with characters acting out of character. That's fine lol I don't And you wanted me to list every Batman writer in history 🤣.... I figured the 12 off of the top of my head was a good start lol.

Batmanaholic - Aug 20, 2022

Also I think you need to re read the killing joke..... the joker even says if he was to have an origin, he'd prefer to to be multiple choice. So you don't even know if anything he said was true. King shows this as the new definitive backstory of the riddler, and a riddler who doesn't act like the riddler was dumb 🤷‍♂️

Batmanaholic - Aug 20, 2022

And I have said multiple times I enjoyed the first few arcs of kings Batman but after knightmares he just lost the ability to write a good or even half ok Batman story 🤷‍♂️

Hex - Aug 20, 2022 (edited)

I meant that you only took the most popular on any 'IGN's best Batman writers' list. No deep cuts to really show you have any more appreciation for the character than writers from the past 20 years. It's like a 15 year old who just discovered Batman and the Killing Joke is his favorite book of all time when he's read like 5 Batman stories. Cringey really.

Batmanaholic - Aug 20, 2022

Hahaha dude you are one miserable person, and yes I just read a bunch of names off my shelf quickly and put them on a list. Sorry I missed your favourite apparently 🤣, you still have yet too prove this was not just a wannabe killing joke, but with a worse story, that needed to talk down on the killing joke to try and be good, and with worse art then the original Brian bolland art aswell. Gerads is great but no bolland, and I only mentioned 2-3 writers from every decade since the 70s 🤷‍♂️

Batmanaholic - Aug 20, 2022

Also having max as your profile pic makes a lot of sense, since you are the lead member of the goof troop bud. And who did I miss englehart and rucka or Barr, How many authors did you want? 20 lol?

Batmanaholic - Aug 20, 2022

And there is a difference with what Moore did with the killing joke and what Tom king did. Moore didn't disrespect a story by having his villain talk down to previous stories, that are superior to anything kings able to write.

Psycamorean - Aug 20, 2022

Batmanaholic, how about you prove that this book was a wannabe killing joke and had to talk down on that story to be good with specific examples from the text? Give us excerpts from the text itself.

Hex - Aug 20, 2022 (edited)

You never proved that it was a bad book. Just that you have bias against King and you stroke it to the Killing Joke. You also directly insulted everyone else who said it was good IN your review. I did that too but you'd have to make spelling errors in your reviews then lame out an excuse when called on it to think it's a 1/10. There have been many other wanna be Killing Jokes. Most of them bad. This one can actually stand on it's own merits as an amazing story and you are hung up on one line.

Hex - Aug 20, 2022

Criticizing my profile picture when you are faceless 'Bat-fan2001' isn't really the insult you think it is bud. Max Goof is cooler than this review will ever be.

Batmanaholic - Aug 20, 2022 (edited)

I bet you stroke it to the riddler getting caned as a kid goof troop. It's ok you like to see kids getting spanked you weirdo.

Batmanaholic - Aug 20, 2022

........ when the riddler literally says he came up with the killing joke plan but it was beneath him...... maybe that's the part where it talks down to it bud lol

Hex - Aug 20, 2022

Great come back. You really got me. Give yourself a low five for that one. It was another HOMAGE to the movie the origin is based on. But you can't be bothered to know that. Two words: Reading. Comprehension. The Riddler saying something like that to mess with Gordon, saying it was his idea AND that it was beneath him sounds very much like the Riddler yes. So not only do you not understand the Killing Joke, Moore, King, or this book, you also don't understand the Riddler.

Psycamorean - Aug 21, 2022

I swear these guys always out themselves as A. Dumb, B. Illiterate, and C. Degenerate. Why make a claim about Hex's proclivities, in such an odd, creepy manner?

Batmanaholic - Aug 21, 2022

Because I enjoy wasting your time and his trolling you both at this point? I only answer either of you while I take a dump, and I flush more intelligence down the drain. Then I read in either of your defences of this horrible comic. I am a pretty fair reviewer, this is the only book I hate. Sue me I do not like it, and both do you crying it's amazing will never change that I think it's absolute trash, and I should use it to wipe my a$$ next time I check your replies🤷‍♂️

Psycamorean - Aug 21, 2022

It says a lot that that's where your mind goes when trying to troll. You should get some imaging done, because you may have a gastrointestinal disease. A fair reviewer doesn't rate a comic a 1/10 because of one moment in a 64 page story. A fair reviewer would rate fairly, and explain their reasoning beyond a second grade level. ♿

Batmanaholic - Aug 22, 2022

I already have multiple times, Want a short form review for your little mind? The story is crap, Batman acts out of character, the riddler is 100000 times smarter then normal, Batman letting him walk away to his car was dumb as anything I've read... only to kill him 2 months later. Riddlers new origin sucks, everything in this book sucks other then Gerads but his art made the story a 1 and not a negative 4.

Psycamorean - Aug 22, 2022

What is Batman's character? You're talking about a character that has shifted so thoroughly over his 80+ year history, that pretty much any interpretation is acceptable. "The story is crap" says nothing about why the story is crap. Riddler is a character that is fundamentally supposed to be very intelligent. Now he's too smart? Again, the ending is up for interpretation (much like Killing Joke), and it is not clear that Batman kills Riddler.

Psycamorean - Aug 22, 2022

*Why* does Riddler's origin suck? Keep in mind, this isn't written as a canon story. And okay, rating a book outside the bounds of the given scale is not being fair reviewer, it's being an idiot.

Batmanaholic - Aug 24, 2022

Did you really enjoy the riddlers new origin being his mean ol dad spanked him everytime he didn't get perfect on a test? That's a really really lame ass origin

Psycamorean - Aug 24, 2022

You do realize that Riddler's actual origin is that he cheated in a puzzle contest in school, and won, and thereby became obsessed with puzzles and scamming, right?

Comics Code Authorities - Mar 21, 2023

I've read a few worse Batman stories. Not many, but a few. But I can say for sure this is definitely without a doubt the worst Riddler story ever. Way to kill another classic character, King.

myconius

Aug 19, 2022

More suicide fetish trash from Tom King. ....and he humps Alan Moore's leg on this one. HARD!

Comics Code Authorities

Jan 05, 2023

Way to ruin a classic character just to make a name for yourself King. That seems to be all today's comic writers care about. I'm frankly surprised how many 10s this pile of crap got. I figured most old fans would be mad at King for trying to ruin a 34 year old classic, and so badly as well. All so this would be a modern day killing Joke. 30 years from now no one will remember this, except those of us it makes sick. The whole story just kills almost 75 years of great villainy, not to mention one of Batman's biggest foes. This is not the same guy I used to read about. And I mean he's literally NOTHING like the Riddler was created to be. This book is just an insult by a glory-hungry usually poor comic writer who doesn't deserve the acclaim he already has as it is. Not to mention King obviously hasn't done his homework. Hey Tommy boy, Riddler learned Batman's secret in Hush, but eventually forgot it. He was just taking another writer's idea and reshaping it into total crap. The worst part of all is all King wanted out of this were 2 things, 1) To make a name for himself as the guy who "revealed the truth" about the Killing Joke and 2) to transform the Riddler into what HE thinks he should be. It's only too bad Covid hysteria and lockdown are over, because the pages of this book could have be used as a substitute for toilet paper and actually had a real meaning to its otherwise pointless existence. The review you see next to this review may be a 1, but that's only because it's the lowest mark they let us give. But my real review is actually a big fat well-deserved ZERO!!!! One Bad Day? One Bad Book is more like it. more