[Editor’s note: This review may contain spoilers!]
Writer: Tom King
Pencils: Mikel Janin
Summary
The war between Riddler and Joker has reached a turning point with Batman joining Riddler’s side! With Joker’s alliances mostly gone, all that remains is the Joker himself holed up in a tower in Gotham! Riddler and Batman have a plan to break in, but once the plan succeeds, just who will betray who?
Positives
This story was an awesome continuation of King’s previous issue. The Riddler and Batman have made a dangerous alliance, and Joker soon sees the consequences of it. Using Kite Man’s kites for flight, Batman, Riddler and the remaining villains of his army fly into Joker’s tower to take him down. Joker is caught by surprise by the bold attack and has no choice but to surrender. Once Joker is beaten by Riddler, it’s the Riddler who attempts to betray Batman, however thanks to Kite Man, Batman, as always, is one step ahead.
Negatives
Once again, Tom King gives me no negatives on this issue. The story is well told and driven, the action is intense and the art by Mikel Janin brings each page to life. I really enjoy seeing Riddler as a rival in this book as opposed to the nerdy look he usually gets in others before. Here King gives Riddler his own persona–far from being a geek obsessed with riddles. Here the Riddler is a straight killer, often using knives and he’s also decent in hand to hand combat as witnessed when he fights Joker solo. In this series, Joker and Riddler really come off as long time rivals for the power of the Gotham underworld and it works.
Verdict
Overall I’ve enjoyed every issue of this series so far. The war between Joker and Riddler has literally spread across all of Gotham and the lines have been drawn! We’ve always seen Joker run Gotham throughout the years but we’ve never seen a story where Riddler has actually been a threat! That’s probably what’s most enjoyable about the entire series is the fact that it’s the Riddler and not Two-Face, Penguin, Scarface or another mob boss in Batman’s rogues gallery! It’s good to see another villain step up to take on Joker’s reign in Gotham besides those mentioned and I can’t wait to see how Tom King concludes this series!
