Read past the end of the review for a final message on my time with Batman News.

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.

In the age of the internet - especially streaming - how we release and distribute our art has become a more prevalent question than ever. Do you go the way of Stranger Things and release your show in one giant clump, for you to binge at your leisure? Do you stick to the old week-to-week model, allow people to discuss each chapter of a story as it comes out? These are questions without one single answer - although the most profitable way might not necessarily be the best, artistically.

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.

This is all a preamble to explain why I've been harping on this point so much, throughout all five of my previous reviews on the comic. But these discussions never exist for long: eventually, the whole story is out, and conversation pivots to how the product works as a whole. I've long said this will work better as a trade, and now I get to find out if that's true. I read the final issue of The Riddler: Year One, and then I read the entire thing in one sitting. I've done it: I've read the book how I wanted it to be read, and how I suspect it was intended to be.

So: Is the final issue good, and is it better as a trade?

Yes, and yes!

Well, it's not fantastic. But it is good, and that's more than enough.

While issue #4 of Riddler is a dedicated flashback and issue #5 is a stream of consciousness, the finale is largely concerned with the practialities of a prequel. What does Eddie do in the days before the events of The Batman? How does he fit his schemes with his day job, and what happens to the people in his life that we don't see in the film? Most of this is tackled and wrapped up, with a few interesting exceptions.

Mr Stone - Riddler's corrupt boss at his accounting firm - has his story conclude here, and while I didn't entirely get what writer Dano and illustrator Subic were trying to portray in his final scene, it made enough sense for me to follow along. Ana Joon, meanwhile, is a woman caught up in the corrupt scheme that Eddie unravels throughout the book, and her ending speaks to a humanity in Riddler that we don't see much of in the film. When I read the final issue on its own, it seemed almost out of character! But upon rereading the book, the concept of a person like Riddler losing their sanity, save for a glimpse at human connection, struck a much stronger chord.

A few little things are unresolved, though. Who was the person speaking to Eddie in the shadows outside of his apartment? Who was the person who got Eddie into his company's files? These are interesting questions, and I honestly don't mind that they're not answered; it's little things like these that might keep you speculating on the book following its conclusion. They help make the world of Gotham from The Batman feel fleshed-out! It makes one feel like there's something new to be afraid of around every corner.

My favourite example of this comes from Stevan Subic's layouts for this incredible double-page spread. Riddler following the distribution of drops - the drugs we see throughout this series and The Batman - gives a specific geography to this version of Gotham City that I really appreciate. The sequence is dark and depressing, but it does a great job at sinking you into the doom and gloom that The Batman is dripping with for half the film. There are parts of this book that make me feel like jumping into The Batman the moment I'm done.

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.

This isn't unordinary, mind you. At the end of the day, ignoring all its bells and whistles, The Riddler: Year One is a movie tie-in. It's not like the upcoming Penguin show, where there's room to show growth and development in the larger story - it's telling a specific story about how a character gets to a certain place at a certain time. I shouldn't expect anything more; really, the book gave me no reason to! And that's okay. But what it means is that we need to assess this book as a support piece for another product, rather than simply a comic that can stand on its own two legs.

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?

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.

Recommended If:

• 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.
• 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.
• 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.

Overall

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.

Score: 7.5/10

——————

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

Author’s Twitter: @ObnoxiousFinch

A Farewell

"You're in."

I got that message from my boss, Andrew, on the 30th of July 2019. It only recently struck me that this was four years ago - and more recently still, it struck me how much has changed since then.

The application process for Batman News was an extensive one: it involved creating several sample reviews of currently releasing comics, reading and reviewing Batman: Odyssey, and watching every single episode of The Batman animated series. Initially, I wasn't sure I was going to apply at all! I'd always wanted to work in comics, and I worried that reviewing them would make people see me as shallow and hypocritical. "How can I judge others' art while shying away from improving my own?", I thought. It's a question I've gone back and forth on.

It's also, strangely, why I've prided myself on my reviews. When I read a comic - be it Dark Crisis, Three Jokers or the Miracle Molly special (the one book I ever gave a 10, if I recall correctly) - I have always tried to make a point to consider the people behind these books. The paradox of art vs industry is something artists need to wrestle with every day; to me, it's important that reviewers do the same, as an exercise in empathy. I didn't always get it right - I made mistakes, and some of my angrier and more spiteful reviews were the ones that got the attention. That's a strange thing to reconcile - that the effort you put into something doesn't control how people react to it.

But I'm going to miss it. It's time to go, I think, but I'll miss it still.

I'm working in journalism full-time now, if you're interested! I still love comics. I read a little less now, but I still love them. I'm currently trying to focus on independent graphic novels, though you'll also find me going through IDW's run of Transformers. I'm still working on making them, too - follow my Twitter for that, or wherever I else I start migrating to.

There are so many people I want to thank for my time here - I'm hoping they all know who they are. I'll make a point to thank Andrew: for giving me a job in the first place (and for paying for a really nice meal when I visited his place in the US). It's his critique that got me here! Trying to impress him was always on my mind, whether I was interviewing Ram V or making a new entry of Upcoming Comics.

I wanted to end this by showing you something that makes me a little sentimental. One of the final steps of the application was a drawing: a recreation of a comic book page, to show we understand the principles of framing and the effort it takes to make sequential art. Andrew had picked a page out of the Batman/Elmer Fudd special.

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.

Goodnight, Batman News. Goodbye, the wonderful people who have read and commented for all these years.

Goodnight, goodbye, and goodnight.