Book Review: Batman: One Bad Day: The Riddler by T. King et al.

Batman: One Bad Day: The Riddler by written by Tom King and illustrated by Mitch Gerads

The Riddler is a member of Batman's rogues gallery that usually does not get much respect. His M.O. is giving clues to the crime he is about to commit. That turns out to be counterproductive, though it makes for entertaining stories. Who doesn't like a good riddle? In this book, The Riddler has moved on from his usual shtick. He kills a man in broad daylight without any prelude and waits around for the cops to cart him off to Arkham Asylum for the Criminally Insane. He makes repeated efforts to get Batman to visit him, increasing his brutality towards fellow inmates and guards. The contemporary story is intercut with scenes from The Riddler's adolescence at a prep school where he is forced to excel by his father, who happens to be headmaster. His unhappy childhood led to his unhappy livelihood. 

This book is inspired by Alan Moore's The Killing Joke, where The Joker creatively and brutally tortures Jim Gordon in an attempt to make him insane. The theory is that "one bad day" can turn any good man to madness or evil. This story seems more like The Riddler had the "one bad day" and has changed from a less-than-serious opponent to a full-blown psychopath who scares everyone on the police force...and maybe even Batman himself. The plot is very grim and has a lot of violence without the levity or cleverness of a typical Riddler story. I can see what the creators were going for but I found it hard to read and hard to enjoy. 

Not recommended.

Book Review: The Vision Vol. 1 by T. King et al.

The Vision Volume 1: Little Worse Than a Man written by Tom King and illustrated by Gabriel Walta

The Vision decides to find a more normal life. He makes a family for himself: a wife named Virginia and twins Viv and Vin. They move into a house in Arlington, Virginia, where the kids go to school and The Vision works as a liaison between the Avengers and the President of the United States. The story doesn't focus on the work, it focuses on the family life. Each family member has the same phasing and flying powers that The Vision has. They have trouble fitting in to the neighborhood and school. Making a family is more of an obsession than an experiment, and like most obsessions it quickly turns to tragedy.

While I found this premise interesting, I found the execution less satisfying. The Vision wants to be more human and finds an interesting way down that path. The family has to deal with prejudice from the neighbors and the school, though not always, so there is a good balance. There's a lot of reflecting on the situation, some of which are profound insights, others of which come off like nonsense. That would be okay if the nonsense was The Vision's plan falling apart or his faulty thinking. The rantings of the less than sane can be entertaining and explain how things go wrong. But that's not the case here. It's a shame, because the general idea is something new and different for a superhero comic.

Not recommended.