Comments on: 365 Reasons to Love Comics #286

By: Comics Should Be Good! » 365 Reasons to Love Comics Archive

Comics Should Be Good! » 365 Reasons to Love Comics Archive — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 02:13:06 +0000

[...] 286. The Riddler [...]

By: Comics Should Be Good! » 365 Reasons to Love Comics #290

Comics Should Be Good! » 365 Reasons to Love Comics #290 — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 03:32:48 +0000

[...] Some baddies have very obvious names that describe their entire villainous function. The Rhino’s a big rhino dude. The Riddler riddles. The Tinkerer tinkers. The Shocker… well, okay, he vibrates. And the Melter? He melts stuff. [...]

By: Scavenger

Scavenger — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 16:58:55 +0000

Although I despise the era it refers to, the Gaiman story is one of my favorite stories, also.

By: stephen cade

stephen cade — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 20:53:08 +0000

Yeah, I forgot to mention I put him on my top ten list too.

By: John Trumbull

John Trumbull — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 20:44:27 +0000

The Riddler is definitely my favorite Bat-villain, and Frank Gorshin is a big part of that. I got to meet Gorshin at a convention a couple of years ago & he signed my DVD of the 1966 Batman movie. He was very nice.

Kudos for posting the cover of my all-time favorite Riddler comics story: Batman #362. The story by Doug Moench, Don Newton & Alfredo Alcala is a classic IMO. Also check out Batman #292 for a great story about how the Riddler “killed” Batman.

By: Vincent Paul Bartilucci

Vincent Paul Bartilucci — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 18:02:25 +0000

The Riddler is one of my favorite villains, secoond only in the DCU to Black Manta! As others have mentioned, much of my Riddler-love has to do with Frank Gorshin. Gorshin scared the living &^%# out of me as a kid! He was the only villain on that campy West / Ward Batman show who seemed like he might really be insane; like he might just snap, pull out a pistol, and gun down the Dynamic Duo.

Also, the Riddler has one of the best motivations in comics. Simply put, he wants to stump the world’s greatest detective. That’s just perfect. You don’t need to delve any deeper into his psyche than that if you don’t wish to. He wants to prove himself smarter than Batman. Any kid can understand that perhaps unhealthy desire to prove that you’re better than someone else. That’s why the Riddler, to me, is the best Bat-villain, of all.

By: Matt D

Matt D — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 17:55:43 +0000

I actually liked the revamped Riddler that came out of Hush and it’s a shame they went backwards (even in an interesting way) with the character.

Ah well.

By: Mike Loughlin

Mike Loughlin — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 17:54:49 +0000

I liked Caesar Romero’s Joker! He was fun, and (to my young self) properly “villainous.” Also, I liked how he rolled his /r/.

He was no Riddler, though. The Riddler was my favorite villain because of how Gorshin played him.

As for good Riddler stories, my favorite is one of the Puckett & Parobeck stories from the Batman Adventures comic (can’t remember which issue). The Riddler gets out of prison, and goes back to crime at the urging of his gang. He actually wins, too! Well, sort of…

By: kirbydotter

kirbydotter — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 14:43:51 +0000

The Neil Gaiman and Bernie Mireault Riddler story from SECRET ORIGINS is one of my all-time favorite comic book story! A prefect match of talents. It’s a shame Neil and Bernie never worked together again…
I liked the fact that it was abig homage to the Batman of yesterday, especially to the great Bill Finger with all those signature giants props (we see a giant camera here but they where many more all over the story. Very nice.

I loved Frank Gorshin’s acting. I always thought that he should have played the Joker instead of Cesar Romero. Riddler should have been a more cerebral character. Roddy MacDowell, who played a villain called Bookworm in the TV series, would have made a good Riddler I think.

By: Jason

Jason — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 06:36:23 +0000

Sorry about the lack of HTML…I keep forgetting not to use brackets here. Also, it’s “Riddler’s Reform” with no question mark at the end.

While I’m double-posting…Was anybody else annoyed that Riddler was reduced to a silent figure after “Reform”? This came with the last version where he had a bald head for no good reason (including the Superman-as-Batman ep). And I remember the Judge ep where Eddie’s doing his thing, saying, “Hey diddle diddle, time for a riddle,” and the Judge comes in and freakin’ destroys him. Not good.

By: Jason

Jason — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 06:33:14 +0000

What about John Glover voicing Riddler in B:TAS? He only starred in three episodes (“If You’re So Smart, How Come You’re Not Rich?,” “What Is Reality?,” and “Riddler’s Reform?”), but it was a nice departure from the lameass in Challenge of the Superfriends, and the one with the weird speech pattern from the Sixties.

As for great Riddler stories, I’d add his “Year One” tale back when DC used that theme in their annuals.

By: Rebis

Rebis — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 04:33:00 +0000

Ahh, The Riddler! Huzzah for Edward Nigma! He easily made my Top Ten List that I sent to Cronin, but sadly he didn’t make the Top Fifty. Of course Frank Gorshin is a HUGE reason why The Riddler’s so cool, but he’s got a really great premise to begin with. (Speaking of great performances on that show: Cesar Romero was always a disappointment as the Joker, but Burgess Meredith is almost as brilliant as Gorshin; it’s just that the Penguin isn’t nearly as cool as The Riddler.)

One of my favorite Riddler tales comes from the “I Killed Batman” four-parter. Great cover on that issue, too:
http://www.comics.org/coverview.lasso?id=31496&zoom=4

And “Hush” was overall a stinker, story-wise, but I loved how it helped restore the Riddler to prominence. I would totally buy a Riddler series with him as a crooked P.I. who bends all the rules to solve crimes and make money. I’ll be totally fine with it if he never goes back to being a straight-up villain.

By: stephen cade

stephen cade — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 03:35:15 +0000

I have that Batman issue to the right of frank Gorshin, (Your right, not his–the newer issue)–It’s one of my favrorite Riddler stories. I was actually disappointed by Dark Knoght, Dark City. It had some good points, I even wrote them about it, and I believe they published an edited version of my letter on it.

That Secret Origins issues was fun–it featured other Batmna villains with an interesting framing story about a News show doing stories on Batman’s villains, and there was discussion that their criminal careers were Batman’s fault. But it was doen with a sense of humour.

By: Matthew E

Matthew E — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 01:29:55 +0000

We need the Riddler to either join or fight the Croatoan Society.

By: Da Fug

Da Fug — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 01:04:31 +0000

If my comic boxes weren’t all stacked on top of each other, I’d go dig up the Dixon/Nolan Riddler story that I remember as being particularly good.

By: km

km — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 00:55:49 +0000

Definitely one of the best and most original villain concepts ever. Also, well, Frank Gorshin.