Batman: Run, Riddler, Run

(1992 - three issues, prestige format, DC Comics)

Written by Gerard Jones. Pencils: Mark Badger.

Bruce Wayne becomes intrigued and supportive of a new development project that proposes to be a city-within-a-city...and free of crime. But when residents of the slum that is going to be torn down to make way for it start staging protests, he begins to see the situation is more complex than he thought. His ambivalence is further fuelled when he discovers the developers have hired a paroled Riddler as a security consultant. But things really get out of hand with the developers pet security force -- dressed in cyborg battlesuits and given sweeping powers by the government. And pretty soon both the Riddler and the Batman are being targeted, forcing Batman to ally himself with his old foe.

Run, Riddler, Run is one of those prestige format mini-series which didn't really need to be a prestige format project, per se. Still, it acts as a self-contained adventure. And a pretty enjoyable one, even if not without its flaws.

Although I like Batman, I feel a lot of his stories can fall into too many familiar ruts involving the obsessively grim dark knight battling his rogues gallery or crazed killers. What's nice about this tale is it sets Batman against a semi-real world of urban development and social ills and where, despite the Riddler, the characters are all original to this story. In a way, it put me a little in mind of the sort of tale Bob Haney might've written for the Brave and the Bold years ago. As well, writer Jones treats us to a less grim Batman -- oh, he's not cracking wise, but he is capable of smiling, and human relationships. This is the BatMAN, rather than the BATman. Some of the fight scenes are interestingly staged as we see Batman thinking his way through battles with more powerful adversaries.

There is a light-heartedness threaded throughout, particularly with the Riddler who seems particularly deranged with his obsession with puzzles and games, but also goofily humorous -- the Joker without the mayhem. The scenes between Batman and the Riddler are often quite fun. In fact the lightness sometimes jars when the story veers into darker or brutal areas.

But though I say I like the story for its more realist backdrop, that then becomes a problem, because the story is frequently unbelievable (even ignoring the super suits of armour -- hey, this is a comic book adventure!). For instance the security force is given almost carte blanche authority at one point -- but I'm not sure a municipal government has the authority to grant that power! Obviously Jones wanted to write a story about Batman up against a police state-style force (the serves might more accurately have been called Run, Batman, Run, as Batman is a more paramount character than the Riddler, and he is the one who finds himself being hunted), but to get there, kind of stretches credibility. Likewise, his handling of Batman seems a bit naive -- Batman's initial interest in the project is the dream of a crime free city, but he never really asks how hat will be achieved (nor does Jones offer an explanation). Again, it seems like a plot point for exploring themes rather than a developed story idea.

In a way it reminds me of Jone's later, Fortunate Son, where he wrote Batman as someone obsessively anti-rock and roll in a way that seemed like the themes were driving the character, not vice versa.

Still, as mentioned, this is a likeable, more even-tempered Batman than is sometimes portrayed.

Admittedly, though the story clips along well, and has enough going on to fill out the page count, it's not maybe a complex story, per se. The villains' agenda is pretty straightforward, and there aren't necessarily a lot of twists and turns given this comes out to almost 150 pages! I'm not even sure of the logic in a few spots -- again, the story needs the villains to seem to have total authority, and Jones doesn't mind glossing over the details to get them there. (There's also a scene where the villains start executing a roomful of people -- and I'm not sure who those people were; and, again, mayoral decree or not, you can't just kill people willy nilly).

As well, for a story involving the Riddler, complete with plenty of riddles...I wasn't entirely sure Jones had a knack for coming up with such puzzles.

Mark Badger's art is kind of a mixed bag. It's of a rough, cartoony style that can be a bit out-there at times, and some of the action scenes are confusingly staged, but there is a verve and energy to it that goes with the brisk pacing to help make this a nice, well paced romp.

And maybe that's the best part of the saga -- it feels like a romp. Humorous and fun without being annoying, serious without being too dark or grim, enough character stuff to flesh out the action, enough action to keep it from being too introspective, high-minded enough, "dealing" with questions of freedom vs. law & order, big business vs. the little guy, to seem more than just a dust up, without getting bogged down in its earnestness -- Run, Riddler, Run is uneven but enjoyable.

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