This Is My Riddler

You can have your super-smart Riddler; you can have your "reformed" private detective Riddler; you can have (and keep) your Jim Carrey Riddler.

But as for me...this is my Riddler:






Because everybody needs an incompetent goofball in their rogues' gallery...even The Batman.

Extra bonus footage: Nigma being bumfuzzled by the Question:





Oh, Eddie...

The Riddler meets Philosophy 101 in The Question #26 (1989) by Denny O'Neill, Bill Wray and Malcolm Jones III

Friday Night Fights--? Style

Sometimes the music and the hero go together too well to ignore.

Tonight we'll have the almost silent battle of the Question, Vic Sage, versus some motorcycle thugs.

And to accompany that? ? And The Mysterians!!

Yes, you young turks, there was once a band called ? And The Mysterians. Yes, their lead singer was named ?. Just ?.

Hey, it was the 60s, what do you want? It's no sillier than 98% of the stuff Jimmy Olsen did in the 60s!! And 96 Tears just happens to be one of the best frakkin' songs ever, so show some respect, dammit!!

Take it way, Vic and ?:

Too many teardrops for one heart to be cryin'
Too many teardrops for one heart
To carry on

You're gonna cry ninety-six tears
You're gonna cry ninety-six tears

You're gonna cry cry, cry, cry, now
You're gonna cry cry, cry, cry

Ninety-six tears c'mon and lemme hear you cry, now
Ninety-six tears (whoo!) I wanna hear you cry

Night and day, yeah, all night long
Uh-ninety-six tears cry cry cry
C'mon baby, let me hear you cry now, all night long

Uh-ninety-six tears! Yeah! C'mon now
Uh-ninety-six tears!

[fade]

Any questions? Ask Spacebooger!

Question #22 courtesy of Denny O'Neil, Denys Cowan and Malcom Jones III.

Lyrics for 96 Tears.

And the video--try not to let your head explode from the Mod-ness:

Manic Monday Bonus--Hub City Jokes

Did you here the one about...

Stop me if you've heard this one...

I just heard this funny one...


Even foreign countries are getting in on the comedy gold mine:

I've goot a million of them, folks...

From Question #8 & #10 (1987)

Friday Night Fights--Question Style!!

Since by Bahlactus' high command we're doing black and white this fight, we should pay tribute to one of the more film noir mainstream comics of recent decades: The Question!

Denny O'Neil and Denys Cowan (with cover by Bill Sienkiewicz!) took off with the recently acquired Charlton character, creating an odd but enjoyable melange of violence, philosophy, and masked adventure...think Rorschach done noir. Hub City was a seething cesspool of corruption--think Sin City a decade early and done by DC, and you've got the idea

I always felt the series should have been done in B & W, especially as it was a "deluxe" book, and in those days it often seemed as if the colorists hadn't yet adjusted properly to the new paper/printing process, as the colors often looked muted and washed out. Well, here's our chance...

The Question has come into conflict with baddies who have hired Lady Shiva to protect their interests.

At this point in his career, Charlie is pretty much just a thug with a trick mask, not the kick-ass fighter he would become later. So, as they battle in the snowstorm, we know what to expect:



Finally Shiva backs off, and let's the goombas take over:



Note how Cowan switched to white panel breaks here. Before, they were black (and effectively invisible), as Shiva's attacks were one continuous ballet of violence...with the goombas, it's a crude, formless beatdown...

Anyway, the "fight" ends with the Question being shot in the head and drowned in the river. Quite a way to end the first issue, eh?

Probably the least effective debut for any hero took place in Question #1, 1986

Law & Order: Superhero Investigation Squad

This is why Batman should be spending less time with JLA and the Outsiders and more time taking care of the home front:


Yup, only smart people are murderers. Jails are full of 'em.

PS-when, o when, is Batman going to realize/react/acknowledge to the fact that someone called Batwoman is operating in Gotham City? He hasn't even freakin' mentioned it yet...

Keystone cops--uhh, I mean Gotham heroes from the inimitable Countdown #38. Remember, as the issue number goes down, so does the series' IQ!!