Detective Comics #140 (October 1948), the first appearance of the Riddler. Cover by Win Mortimer.

The Riddler is a DC Comics supervillain, an enemy of Batman. Created by Bill Finger and Dick Sprang, he first appeared in Detective Comics #140 (1948). Detective Comics #140 (October 1948). ... Detective Comics #140 (October 1948). ... Categories: Comics stubs | Batman | DC Comics titles ... October is the tenth month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar and one of seven Gregorian months with the length of 31 days. ... 1948 is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). ... DC Comics is one of the largest companies in comic book and related media publishing. ... The Green Goblin, a supervillain and enemy of Spider-Man. ... Batman Real name Bruce Wayne Publisher DC Comics First appearance Detective Comics #27 Created by Bob Kane Bill Finger Batman, more properly known as The Batman and occasionally as The Bat-Man, is a fictional character and superhero who first appeared in Detective Comics #27 in 1939. ... Bill Finger (1914-1974) is the co-creator of Batman, along with Bob Kane. ... Categories: Comics stubs | Batman | DC Comics titles ... 1948 is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). ...

Known for his green, question mark-covered costume (either as a skintight catsuit or a business suit and derby hat), the Riddler is obsessed with riddles, puzzles, and word games. He delights in planning crimes and forewarning police and Batman of his capers by sending them often complex riddles. A question mark is a punctuation mark and, more pedantically, a tone mark. ... A catsuit is a skin-tight one-piece garment with sleeves and long legs, and sometimes with feet or gloves, sometimes with a hood. ... A suit, also known as a business suit, comprises a collection of matching clothing consisting of: a coat (commonly known as a jacket) a waistcoat (optional) (USA vest) a pair of trousers (USA pants) Though not part of a suit, a shirt and tie very frequently accompany it. ... Unidentified man in derby hat, 1874 A Derby or Derby hat is an American hat made of stiff felt with a rounded crown and a narrow curved brim. ... A riddle is a puzzle, consisting of text with a question to answer. ... A puzzle is a problem or enigma presented as entertainment; that is written down, acted out, etc. ... Word games can be of several different types: Letter arrangement games, where the goal is to form words out of given letters: Anagrams -- both a simple game of rearranging letters and a linguistic recreation of making anagrams that seem to illuminate something about the original word, such as dog for...

Like most Batman villains, the Riddler has become darker in recent years. Whereas he was once portrayed as a playful trickster, he is now the victim of an intense obsessive compulsion. In the study of mythology, folklore and religion, a trickster is a god, goddess, spirit or human hero who breaks the rules of the gods or nature, sometimes maliciously (for example, Loki) but usually with ultimately positive effects. ... For other things named OCD, see OCD (disambiguation). ...

The Riddler was popularized by Frank Gorshin’s over-the-top portrayal of him in the 1960s Batman television series. Comedian Jim Carrey played him in 1995’s Batman Forever. Frank Gorshin (born April 5, 1934) is an American actor and comedian from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. ... Centuries: 19th century - 20th century - 21st century Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s - 1960s - 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s Years: 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 Events and trends The 1960s was a turbulent decade of change around the world. ... Burt Ward as Robin and Adam West as Batman Batman was the title of an exceptionally popular TV series based on the comic-book character Batman that aired on ABC TV for 2 1/2 seasons from 12 January 1966 to 14 March 1968. ... James Eugene Carrey (originally Carré) (born January 17, 1962) is a Canadian/American film actor, comedian, writer and producer who was born and grew up in the Toronto suburb of Newmarket, Ontario. ... 1995 was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Batman Forever ( 1995) (official on-screen title is simply Forever) is regarded by some as less serious than Batman and the 1992 sequel Batman Returns. ...

Full history and analysis

The Riddler discovered how fun and challenging puzzles were when he was a young boy (he cheated on a puzzle in school to win a prize), and he gradually turned to crime as he matured.

The Riddler, unlike many of the other members of Batman's rogues gallery, is more of a cerebral than physical villain. Although he is quite suited for physical combat and often has weapons ready for use, he has probably always been among the least homicidal of the major Bat nemeses; indeed, one story showed him lamenting the rise of murderous villains.

His riddles are in fact a bizarre obsessive compulsion; his attempts to stop himself from sending them have met with failure. This extends to the fact he cannot simply kill his opponents when he has the upper hand, but put them in a deathtrap to see if he can devise a life and death intellectual challenge that the hero cannot escape. However, of Batman's themed enemies, Riddler's compulsion is quite flexible, allowing him to commit any crime as long as he can describe it in a riddle or puzzle. He often has two female assistants that help him, usually named as Quiz and Query. A deathtrap is a literary and dramatic plot device where a villain, who typically has captured the hero, attempts to use an elaborate and usually sadistic method of murdering him/her. ...

The Riddler, as seen in Hush. Art by Jim Lee.

The Riddler is one of the few rogues that has deduced the true identity of the Batman. However, there is no major concern that the Riddler will leak the information, as Batman explains "What good is a riddle which everyone knows the answer to?", playing with the Riddler's obsession with riddles and the greatest riddle of all: "Who is Batman?". The Riddler however, managed to have the last laugh; he alone knows the whereabouts of the body of Jason Todd (the second Robin) and continues to taunt the Dark Knight. How Todd's body fits into the Riddler's plans is still a riddle the Batman has yet to solve. The Riddler. ... The Riddler. ... Published 2002-2003 in monthly installments in Batman issues 608-619 by DC Comics Characters Batman (Bruce Wayne), Catwoman (Selina Kyle), Superman (Clark Kent), Nightwing (Dick Grayson), Robin (Tim Drake), The Joker, The Riddler, Hush, Scarecrow, Huntress, Ras al Ghul, Lex Luthor, Two-Face, Commissioner James Gordon, Oracle, Harley... Lees depiction of DC Comics Batman. ... A classic image of Batman and Robin reinterpretted by painter Alex Ross. ...

Real names

Many adaptations of the Batman mythos have give the Riddler the real name Edward Nigma or E. Nigma. Occasionally his full name has been given as Edward E. Nigma. Some have depicted this as a false name and his real name as Edward Nashton. In the history of cryptography, the Enigma was a portable cipher machine used to encrypt and decrypt secret messages. ...

In Canadian translation of various Batman comic books, his nom de plume is "Le Sphinx" (as in the riddle-posing monster of Greek mythology that Oedipus confronted), because the French language is spoken in some areas. Canada is a sovereign state in northern North America, the northern-most country in the world, and the second largest in total area. ... The Great Sphinx of Giza, with the Pyramid of Khafre in the background. ... Greek mythology comprises the collected legends of Greek gods and goddesses and ancient heroes and heroines, originally created and spread within an oral-poetic tradition. ... Oedipus or Œdipus, less commonly Oidipous, was the mythical king of Thebes, son of Laius and Jocasta, who, unknowingly, killed his father and married his mother. ... French (français, langue française) is one of the most important Romance languages, outnumbered in speakers only by Spanish and Portuguese. ...

In other media

• In the 1960s Batman television series and spin-off movie, the Riddler was played by Frank Gorshin and John Astin. Before the television series, the character was a minor villain, but the exposure of the series, especially with the manic portrayal by Gorshin, elevated the character in the comics to a major enemy.
• In Batman: The Animated Series, the Riddler was voiced by John Glover. For this version, the producers decided to play against the popular Gorshin image of a giggling trickster and have the character as a smooth intellectual who presented genuinely challenging puzzles.
• Jim Carrey portrayed the Riddler in the movie Batman Forever with Gorshin as his primary influence.
• In 2005, a new Riddler debuted in The Batman animated series. In this version, the Riddler has a very Gothic look, apparently inspired by Marilyn Manson, and is voiced by Robert Englund (best known for his role as a supernatural serial killer in A Nightmare On Elm Street).