The Batman's Riddler is Still G-Rated Compared To DC's New Villain
Warning: spoilers for I Am Batman #8 are ahead.
In The Batman film, Paul Dano's Riddler terrorized Gotham City in an attempt to peel back the truth of the city's corruption, but even his methods look tame in comparison to DC Comics' newest villain, Manray. With striking similarities to the goals of Dano's Riddler, Manray takes Nashton's horrifying antics even further in a new issue of the series, I Am Batman.
The current arc of I Am Batman follows DC's new Dark Knight, Jace Fox, as he adjusts to life after moving to New York City. As the son of longtime Batman ally, Lucius Fox, Jace is adamant about forging his own legacy that is separate from his family's status and the shadow of Bruce Wayne. Since moving to New York, Jace's Batman has encountered a terrifying new villain called Manray, who has targeted high-profile individuals in the city. After gruesomely murdering his victims, Manray leaks evidence of his victims' darkest secrets and crimes, bringing attention to the corruption of the city.
In I Am Batman #8 by writer John Ridley, artist Christian Duce, colorist Rex Lokus, and letterer Troy Peteri, Manray's latest kill bears striking similarities to the Riddler's murder of Commissioner Savage in The Batman. While the Riddler killed Commissioner Savage in The Batman with rats, Manray's methods are even more brutal. Manray murdered New York's police Commissioner Becket by blinding, dismembering, and disemboweling him, later uploading evidence that Becket was a racist who participated in online hate group forums. Additionally, just like the Riddler, Manray admitted that he was "inspired" by Batman because of the Dark Knight's commitment to "go[ing] after powerful people who think they're above the law."
The extent of Manray's violence has shoved the blistering truth of New York's corruption into the faces of its citizens. Manray's previous victim was a philanthropist named Devlin Rubel, whose involvement in sex trafficking was only made known after his death. While Manray and the Riddler's motivations are similar, based on their desire to end the "lies" circulating around their city, the goriness of Manray's kills brings attention to the specific violence his victims perpetuated while they were alive. This has put New York's Batman and citizens in a moral bind, as the deplorable truth of Manray's victims coupled with the brutality of their murders creates a sense of cognitive dissonance with regards to "justice."
The crime scenes left behind by Manray are stomach-churning, as even Jace himself admits, and lean into the horror elements of Batman's comics canon. As is the case in Matt Reeves' The Batman, Jace's Dark Knight is a powerful symbol in his city whose relentless crusade for justice has inadvertently backfired. While The Batman's Riddler is utterly terrifying, much of his affect is psychological, as opposed to the physical response that Manray's brutality provokes.
I Am Batman #8 is available now from DC Comics.
Source: Screenrant
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