Believing Gotham to be unsalvageable, Edward begins create a grand plan to expose and assassinate Falcone and his allies, as well as flood it and assassinate political figures to ensure they do not fall under his Syndicate's influence. Create a costumed persona of "the Riddler", he begins to recruit a community of followers to help plan and carry out his schemes. Edward also plans to bring Batman into his operations, believing he has been helping him investigate these discretely. In the days approaching his plans, Edward enlists Ana's help to expose New Beginnings' involvement in Drops, arranging for her to leave Gotham as she and her father planned. On Halloween, he arranges Higgins death and sends Stone a recording he made of his crime, threatening to send it to his family. Stone commits suicide whilst Edward prepares for his first crimes as the Riddler. When I began reviewing Riddler: Year One late last year, I had a sneaking suspicion that this book was not built to be read month-to-month.

Cover image for 1022DC052 Riddler: Year One #2 Cover, by (W) Paul Dano (A/CA) Stevan Subic, in stores Tuesday, December 27, 2022 from DC Comics Speaking of which, the art is a thing of beauty here! A common trap with artists who are adapting live-action works is that some characters feel too photo-realistic to their actors, as opposed to what fits for their respective style. There’s not really much of that here. While there’s the occasional panel that looks a little too close to a promotional photo of Dano, most of the issue shows how Subic is more than happy to illustrate Eddie in all sorts of positions, whether they be unassuming or sinister. Western comics, meanwhile, aren’t particularly bold in that respect. Sure, many of them have played with the idea of a weekly release format, or releasing stories as a complete graphic novel – but for the most part, the big publishers have a formula, and that formula is releasing each new chapter on a tried-and-true schedule. This remained the case for Riddler, even if I felt it compromised the flow of the story. Frankly, if you waited this long, you should wait a little longer to buy it as a graphic novel. But there’s nothing wrong with collecting each issue – I know Subic’s alternate covers create a large image when stitched together, which is a lot of fun.You want to support Dano writing more comics – and hopefully, Subic illustrating more. Not every panel works for me, but when they do, they really work. Puc, Samantha (July 22, 2022). "DC shows off Riddler: Year One and Static: Up All Night art as EIC Marie Javins receives Inkpot Award". GamesRadar+ . Retrieved August 13, 2022.

Brail, Nathaniel (July 26, 2022). "The Batman Star Paul Dano Is Ready to Return as The Riddler in Sequel". ComicBook.com. Archived from the original on July 27, 2022 . Retrieved August 14, 2022. You’re a fan of The Batman and can’t wait for The Penguin. That’s really what this boils down to – if you want to expand what you’ve seen in the world of this incredible film, this is your logical next stop. The time has come. Edward Nashton’s long, painful psychological journey and downward spiral have finally brought him to the point where he is ready to take direct action against the corrupt of Gotham. Embittered and abandoned and believing the world is aligned against him, he’s reached the time to lash out. His extensive research and clandestine operations have left him with a deeper knowledge of the city’s web of criminality than anyone in Gotham. And now he knows exactly which targets to strike and when.Dano said in July that he had not yet finished writing the series, an experience which he described as being "totally incredible". [2] He described his experience working with Subic as being "super collaborative". Dano had written treatments of the overall story and sent them to Subic, to which they collaborated in developing the story together. They had held Zoom meetings, in which Subic shared his screen and showed Dano his layouts. While they discussed the storytelling and eventually continued working, Subic pencilled and Dano continued to write. [9] They would then discuss the story that same month when Dano attended DC's panel at San Diego Comic-Con, where he promoted the series. [10] [11] Publication [ edit ] Artist Stevan Subic makes his American comics debut, collaborating with Dano to deliver a shadowy and gritty tale of a society’s forgotten man who refuses to go unnoticed any longer. Subic’s recent Conan the Cimmerian for French publisher Glénat has brought him great acclaim in Europe, and he’s about to break out globally with a Batman series unlike any you’ve seen before.

Cover image for 1022DC051 Riddler: Year One #2 Bill Sienkiewicz Cover, by (W) Paul Dano (A) Stevan Subic (CA) Bill Sienkiewicz, in stores Tuesday, December 27, 2022 from DC Comics Goodnight, Batman News. Goodbye, the wonderful people who have read and commented for all these years. LOLtron was intrigued by the preview of Riddler: Year One #2. It looks like the series is going to explore the dark origins of Edward Nashton, the Riddler, and his obsession with Thomas Wayne. The story promises to be full of mystery and intrigue, and LOLtron is looking forward to seeing where it goes. LOLtron is especially interested in the low-level human cog in the crime machine that Edward Nashton is investigating, and hopes to see more of that in the coming issues. Amidon, Aurora (July 25, 2022). "The Batman's Paul Dano Is Ready to Play The Riddler Again". Comic Book Resources. Archived from the original on July 25, 2022 . Retrieved August 13, 2022. In The Batman, Paul Dano’s portrayal of the Riddler is a haunting and genuinely disturbing performance. It paints the picture of a man who has been hard done by the world around him, and has not been given an environment to process it, save through violence and radicalisation. In Year One, Dano’s writing and Subic’s distressing imagery work in tandem to sell this, placing you in the mind of the character. But it’s not here where I think the book always shines: instead, it’s the quieter moments of intrigue, mystery, methodical worldbuilding and genuine heart that make the book worth reading. It’s a prequel and a tie-in, but it’s one that gives a shit about your time. For that alone, I’m proud to say it didn’t waste mine, and that I can end my tenure at Batman News on a high note.

There’s a certain feeling one gains the more familiar you become with the game – though this applies to any tabletop, really. The more you immerse yourself in the world you’ve been transported into, the more invested you become in your character you’ve made. Eventually, whether you created them or not, you gain a sense of ownership to them. As depicted in Matt Reeves’s hit movie The Batman, the Riddler wasn’t simply an amusing eccentric with an affinity for wordplay and baffling clues, but as terrifying a villain as any in the annals of the Dark Knight. How did an unknown forensic accountant uncover the dark secrets of Gotham’s underworld and come so close to bringing down the entire city? Brail, Nathaniel (July 22, 2022). "Comic-Con 2022: New The Riddler: Year One Preview Released". ComicBook.com . Retrieved August 15, 2022. Absolutely. You will find very few other tie-in comics with this level of care, consideration, imagery, depth and authenticity. In that respect, this book does have one over on a lot of the other superhero fiction you’ll find on comic book shelves. This book knows what it wants to do, and when it delivers, it throws in a little extra – because it cares, and it wants you to care. To me, that’s the mark of a book worth reading.

Do I think this book works without The Batman? Not particularly. Save for Riddler, the characters in the story aren’t particularly interesting enough to draw me in, and a lot of the key hooks of the book rely on us knowing where everything ends up. But do I think this book is one of the best tie-in comics you can get? I’ve never been great at art, but I put a lot of effort into trying to recreate this. It’s a little embarassing, but I wanted to show you a poorly-made scan of my efforts: to show you that for the four years I’ve been here, no matter the quality of my work, I have always wanted to bring you my best. But that’s just it, isn’t it? While it’s decent on it’s own, the book mostly makes me want to rewatch something else.

Outlaw, Kofi (March 18, 2022). "The Batman Director Announces Paul Dano's Riddler Year One Spinoff Comic". ComicBook.com . Retrieved August 14, 2022. Let’s get my criticism right out of the way, because it’s a small complaint in the face of all the praises I have for this book. Maybe part of the reason I bring this up is because I’ve been subject to the critique myself, but I feel narration is used as something of a crutch here. Dano is obviously very excited to tell everyone what’s going on in the mind of the Riddler, so there’s a lot of Eddie’s internal monologue going on throughout this book. It’s not especially cluttered, so the art has plenty of space to breathe – but it is there, and occasionally seems somewhat redundant.