Posted in: Batman, Comics, DC Comics | Tagged: Absolute Batman, eric canete, scott snyder

Where Did The Riddle Of Absolute Batman #17 Come From? Spoilers

Where Did The Riddle Of Absolute Batman #17 by Scott Snyder and Eric Canete, come from? Batspoilers...

Published Tue, 17 Feb 2026 12:57:09 -0600

Article Summary

Absolute Batman #17 explores Bruce Wayne's monster-transformed friends under the threat of Absolute Joker.
A unique donkey-themed riddle appears via Riddler, its origins traced back to a Reddit post from seven months ago.
Harvey Dent and Oswald Cobblepot undergo shocking changes, deepening the dark narrative of Gotham's elite.
The mystery of how a Reddit riddle made it into DC Comics raises fresh questions about creative inspiration.

This week's Absolute Batman #17 by Scott Snyder and Eric Canete as well as revealing the new Absolute Poison Ivy, sees Bruce Wayne going round visiting his friends, all transformed into monsters by the Absolute Joker, to see how they are all doing. We have these panels… spoilers of course… you have been warned…

With Bruce Wayne tracking down Waylon Jones, King Croc, to see if the cure he obtained working with Absolute Wonder Woman had kicked in. Maybe, maybe not…

Harvey Dent, classically Two-Face, has had his brain bifurcated. Suffering callosal syndrome, so that each hemisphere of the brain will have its own separate perception, concepts, and impulses to act. And so we have Two-Face. And then there is whatever happened to his old friend Oswald Cobblebot, classically The Penguin in his Iceberg Lounge.

And then we get Eddie Nygma, classically The Riddler, answering no calls, not even a riddle. The answer to which is "ass", but an unfamiliar riddle, which sent me down a rabbit hole.

Because seven months ago, Reddit user Benthegeologist asked "I need a riddle about a Donkey. The more difficult, esoteric or obscure the better; thank you for your wonderful riddles, your adequate riddles and most of all for your riddles that make me exasperated!" And Benthegeologist got a response, written specifically for the thread by user Runnyplease, "Best I could do. I will never be king, they call me Jack. My queen, I met in the field out back. A prince is born from our unmatched pair, but my line ends with my heir. What am I? I am a male donkey, a jack. My queen is a horse, and she gave birth to a mule, which is sterile. I intentionally wrote it to hint at being about playing cards or royalty to throw off the reader. Then I made it rhyme for fun."

It looks like a search for an ancient riddle that would fit the scenario above, instead resulted in one written for Reddit seven months ago. I expect AI is to blame; it usually is. I suggest Scott Snyder reaches out to the pseudonymous riddle writer and offers them a signed rare copy in recompense… Absolute Batman #17 is published by DC Comics tomorrow.

ABSOLUTE BATMAN #17
(W) Scott Snyder (A) Eric Canete (CA) Nick Dragotta
ABSOLUTE POISON IVY SINKS HER TEETH INTO ARK-M! Dr. Pamela Isley has been unleashed from the Ark-M facility with an unending hate and burning fire for revenge on Gotham City, and those who put her in the belly of the beast. When Batman hunts her down, he must survive a labyrinth of leveled horrors, one more gruesome after the next, as he tries to save the city from a monster it created. $4.99 2/18/2026

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