warn!Contains spoilers Batman: Urban Legend #17!
While the Joker often serves as Batman’s primary antagonist, the Riddler is actually the Dark Knight’s more compelling adversary, and DC knows it. The Riddler is often compared to the Clown Prince of Crime because riddles and jokes are somewhat similar concepts. Despite their similarities, the Riddler can push Batman to his limits in a way that not even the Joker can.
Batman is known for his strict moral code when it comes to fighting crime. Although he is a skilled marksman, he does not use firearms because that is how his parents were killed. He will not take the lives of his enemies, no matter how heinous their crimes. The Joker often pushes him to his limits at this point, often attacking the Dark Knight himself to goad him into killing him. But Batman refused, saying that if he killed the Joker, he would go down a path that would lead him to murder any criminal he encountered. But what’s interesting is that despite the Joker’s more extreme personality, the Riddler could actually get Batman closer to breaking his code than the Joker.
In the story “On His Worst Nights” written by Dan Watters and art by Riley Rossmo Batman: Urban Legend #17, The Riddler escapes from prison and Batman must track him down. The Riddler used his prodigious intelligence to pull off a seemingly impossible escape, so Batman faced his various other villains in search of answers on how he escaped. As each villain proves to be another dead end, Batman becomes increasingly frustrated, allowing his hatred of the Riddler to overwhelm him. The Riddler explains that Batman hates them most because of the nature of riddles and their solutions, how they force people to transcend the boundaries and rules that normally define the world. After all, if the rules don’t apply to every situation, then maybe Batman’s strict moral code shouldn’t apply to every situation either.
It’s a fascinating aspect of Batman and the Riddler’s relationship. Unlike the Joker who pushed Batman to the edge of breaking the rules of crime-fighting through his heinous acts, the Riddler was able to do so using something as harmless as a riddle. While no one would blame Batman for one day biting the Joker, given all the damage he’s done to everyone and ruining his life, killing the Riddler would be a less heroic act. So every time the Dark Knights clash, the Riddler actually threatens the Dark Knight’s heroic nature, which makes their dynamic that much more interesting.
The Riddler’s popularity outside of the comics will hopefully convince DC to use the character more often. The Joker appears so often that he risks becoming stale, and this story shows that there are still many interesting aspects of the Riddler to be explored in future episodes. By pushing Batman to his limits in such an interesting way, the Riddler shows that he should be the Caped Crusader’s primary foe, rather than the overused Joker.
Batman: Urban Legend #17 is on sale now from DC Comics.