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Riddler Butthurt By Lex Luthor for Year of the Villain in September

Published Thu, 13 Jun 2019 11:44:25 -0500

Last updated Thu, 13 Jun 2019 11:45:46 -0500

Lex Luthor is going around the DC Universe making "The Offer" to all of the best super-villains, and bestowing upon them "The Dark Gift," which, yeah, we gotta admit, definitely sounds like he's banging them. But actually, it's about helping them reach their full villainous potential or something. There's just one problem: one of the best villains — at least according to him — got neither The Offer nor The Gift.

That's right, Lex Luthor has spawned The Riddler, and Riddler is really kind of butthurt about it. That's the Premise behind The Riddler: Year of the Villain #1, a one-shot hitting stores in September by Mark Russell and Scott Godlewski. Multiversity had the EX-X-XCLUSIVE reveal of the solicit, along with an interview with the creative team, where they talk about why Lex Luthor dissed the Riddler so badly.

"I think Lex sees the Riddler as being tragically flawed," said Russell. "The Riddler is clearly a very smart man, but he's content to be what Lex Luthor considers a "gimmick villain." Somebody who's more committed to his schtick than to actually accomplishing anything. It's actually with great affection that Lex Luthor chooses not to enable the Riddler's self-delusion, but challenges him to evolve in much the same way that Lex Luthor himself has."

"I agree with Mark here," Godlewski said. "I imagine Lex thinks so little of many of Batman's gimmicky villains. Lex goes toe to toe with the most powerful man on the planet while Riddler can't even put one over on a regular dude in a bat costume. And I would argue that many readers don't hold Riddler in any sort of high esteem. So he makes sense to be singled out in this way."

Check out the solicit below:

THE RIDDLER: YEAR OF THE VILLAIN #1
written by MARK RUSSELL
art by SCOTT GODLEWSKI

Lex Luthor has presented dark gifts to super-villains across the DC Universe, setting off what can only be called the Year of the Villain. Unfortunately, resources are limited, so not everyone got something. The Riddler is one such person, and he is most displeased about it. Was this merely an oversight or a deliberate slight? The Riddler is determined to find out which—and so should you!

ONE-SHOT | ON SALE 09.11.19