Edward Nygma (The Riddler) is a perfect example of being a smart, but dumb person. He thinks people should bow to his superior intelligence because no one can solve his riddles (even though they're solved fairly often). However, his arrogance leaves him blind to things that are in front of his face. This happened during Chip Zdarsky’s Batman: The Dying City.
Batman No. 156 creative team:
- Writer: Chip Zdarsky
- Artist: Tony S. Daniel
- Colors: Tomeu Morey
Riddler started working with the Court of Owls to become wealthy and create a company that could rival Wayne Enterprises (Batman No. 153). Now that he had that, Gotham's mayor under his thumb, and Owl henchmen, Nygma could go forward with his next course of action. Unfortunately for him, Leonid Kull was using him. The servers at Nygmatech gave Leonic access to encrypt and decrypt the world’s most secure servers. And, as Batman points out, Leonid now has access to nuclear weapons around the world.
Riddler will always be his own worst enemy. He defeated Batman earlier in his career (Batman: Zero Year), but his narcissism cost him the battle. Since then, Nygma hasn’t been the major player that Joker (Joker War), Bane (City of Bane), and even Scarecrow have (Fear State). He’s had some big moments, but nothing that warrants being mentioned. His role in Batman: The Dying City will serve as another example of what could have been a great moment if he got out of his own way.
""Nygma...for someone so damned smart you're an absolute fool." -Batman"Writer: Chip Zdarsky
This writer will add something obvious. The Dying City isn’t over yet. Jim Gordon may have beaten Nygma for causing him to kill the former Mayor of Gotham, Christopher Nakano, and the Russians played him, but Riddler could be playing possum. Hopefully, he was smart enough to have a contingency plan in place. He mentioned to Leonid Kull that he wasn’t going back to prison.
In Batman No. 148, Zur En Arrh Dr. Daniel Captio attempted to cure Riddler of his need to prove himself. There must be a reason Zdarsky used him there and added him to this arc. The next issue is the conclusion of Batman: The Dying City and Chip Zdarsky could reveal there was a riddle in something Nygma said or did to avoid going back to prison. Maybe he’s cured and this is only part of his plan. It’s more likely that hubris is Edward Nygma's biggest weakness and he’ll fail and end up in prison again. However, we won’t know until the storyline ends.
Stay tuned to Caped Crusades to learn Riddler’s true fate.
What's next for Riddler? Is he going back to prison or is something else going to happen? Let us know on the Bam Smack Pow Bluesky, Instagram, and Twitter.