I’m not big into Batman, so excuse my ignorence. From what I’ve seen of the riddler, he’s a lame villain. His main novelty is giving away information about his crimes, which is pretty stupid. However, is there something interesting about him, that I’ve overlooked?
I don’t think this really answers your question, but…
In the recent Batman #615, Batman gives his perspective on the Riddler: a villain who used to perplex him with his riddles, but now is pretty routine. Batman expected him to have retired by now. So basically, it’s getting old.
However, the Riddler has always been one of my favorite Bat-villains. My favorite portrayal of him was in the Animated Series (before the move to the WB). He looked cool as hell and had some good episodes devoted to him (I think the last time he should have been touched in animated form was at the end of the virtual reality episode).
I think the problem with the Riddler is the tendancy to portray him as more of a Joker knock-off than anything. Both the 60’s series and Batman Forever did this, and I think he works better as a more cerebral villain that doesn’t care as much about the crime itself as he does trying to create a puzzle that Batman can’t solve.
The Riddler was always my favorite Batman villain and I really have no idea why. As the OP says, the guy’s claim to fame is that he helps get himself caught and doesn’t have anything else going for him. I always liked Mr Freeze too.
But I hated the Joker.
This is how I’ve always imagined him - as a man who fancies himself the Moriarty to Batman’s Holmes. All this, of course, being only in his head.
I like the way Seanbaby put it: “Look out, world. Here comes a guy as tough as a regular guy, only easier to catch.”
I like the Riddler as much as the next guy, and I understand his whole letting himself get caught as a form of telling the world he doesn’t really care about crime. But what do you have against The Joker?
I just never liked the guy. Granted, I’m no fan of Batman (I generally hate superheroes without super powers… especially ones that can somehow defeat deities, but that’s another thread) and my exposure to him is through the 60s TV show, the 90s cartoon, and the movies, but I never cared for any of his portrayals.
I picked up a Batman storyline written by Peter Milligan a few years ago. It was a pretty cool reinvention of the Riddler. Batman would often show up on the scene as the Riddler was up to something unlawful, only to find some disaster in progress, or to get trapped in some bizarre circumstance. Bats had to perform an emergency tracheotomy on an infant that Riddly made swallow a ping pong ball. Another time, he was trapped in a fun house in the Hall of Mirrors with a goat while the Riddler’s henchmen shot at him with flame throwers.
Turns out the Riddler had taken up witchcraft, and was getting Batman to recreate a ritual designed to summon a demon. He had to get Batman to slice a baby’s throat, dance with a goat in front of flames (symbolizing dancing with the devil in hell) etc.