Hm.

Hm.

Honestly, I could end my review right there. There's something to say about a comic that makes you furrow your brow in thought: maybe it doesn't leave an overly positive or negative impact, but it leaves an impression all the same. Is that the metric of a well-crafted comic? Something you can appreciate, regardless of if you actually like it or not?

Maybe. But when you ask for a comic and instead get a scrapbook, I think I'm allowed to give a few critiques anyway.

The Riddler: Year One is simultaneously the most important and most "nothing" issue of Riddler yet: taking place almost entirely in Riddler's journal, filled to the brim with manic notes and musings on the nature of his place in life. I feel like that's a harsh way to begin the review, and in truth, I don't hate it. But it's also not really what I was hoping to see, even if it did resolve some of my lingering questions about the larger series.

The most important thing to note is that despite the premise, the book is not absent of art. Quite the opposite, in fact: ignoring the design and notation of the journal itself (which you shouldn't!), artist Stevan Subic does an excellent job of blending provocative imagery over Paul Dano's text from beginning to end. It makes it hard to know if you're looking at a sketch of Riddler's design, or something that's bled out from his mind and fallen onto the page.

In addition to this, the journal also includes several photos taken by Riddler himself, along with a more traditional stretch of comic at the very end of the issue. They're a lot more in line with what we've come to expect from Year One, and I love the off-kilter expressions we see on Eddie's face in them. It's as if Riddler's joy is unfiltered - like he has no concept of how to express it in a way that might conform, so instead relegates it to the sinister and macabre.

All this being said, I still don't think the journal was the best idea. Yes, it makes clear how Eddie's mental state devolves to the point of criminal conspiracy - something I thought issue #3 also did quite well, upon reflection. Yes, it's a good way to link plot threads together, like Eddie figuring out the name of Riddler and his first message to his private sect of followers. What it also is, however, is a whole lot of words, and even less visual diversity to spice it up. You have six issues to tell the story of Riddler going from victim to villain, and your penultimate issue is spent on - essentially - one monologue, masked with an impressive level of font and formatting? I like supplementary text in my comics just fine... but there's a difference between reading the pages at the back of Watchmen, and having the entire issue be Nite Owl's autobiography.

There's one page I do find utterly fascinating: which is a fictional opinion piece written by one Ezra Klein, renowned journalist and columnist for the New York Times. It's written as if he himself is creating a piece for "The Gotham Times", in which he discusses Batman in relation to "the monopoly on violence" - a theory suggested by German sociologist Max Weber, in regards to how one determines control of a state. It's a baffling addition to the comic, which I mean as the highest possible praise! Such a strange guest contribution to include in a prequel about the Riddler, and yet - while your mileage with the actual "article" may vary - it does an excellent job of establishing the world of Gotham, from public opinion to the state of organized crime across the city. If I had any complaints, it'd be that I don't know why Riddler himself would include it in his scrapbook - since I'd argue the point Klein is making undermines Edward's ideology. In addition, I could have sworn the correct word in paragraph 5 is "legitimize", not "legitimate" - but hey, I'm not the NYT writer here.

Recommended If:

• You're okay with your comic not really being a comic.
• Riddler's journal in the climax of The Batman is something you wanted a closer look at.
• You have a previously undiscovered love for liberal American opinion pieces.

Overall

Bit of a shorter review this time, but personal matters have got in the way as of late. In general, I stand by the fact that this is a good comic! But it's starting to get lost within itself: just when the momentum should be picking up, a flashback and a diary entry are suddenly appearing as road blocks in the way of the story's climax. I'm hoping Dano and Subic bring it home, and I think they can - but be wary of reading this issue-to-issue. I'll be reading this all back-to-back come the release of issue #6 - my final review for Batman News.

Score: 6/10

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Disclaimer: DC Comics provided Batman News with a copy of this comic for the purpose of this review.

Author’s Twitter: @ObnoxiousFinch