You watched Paul Dano's creepy movie Riddler, now meet the comic book Riddler

Detective Comics #1059
Detective Comics #1059 (Image credit: DC)

DC's longest-running series Detective Comics is getting its latest new creative team this July, but current writer Mariko Tamaki still has some unfinished business and it involves the classic Batman villain the Riddler, just off his big-screen star turn in The Batman portrayed by Paul Dano. 

Detective Comics #1059 cover (Image credit: DC)

Dano and director Matt Reeves' interpretation of the character as a masked serial killer is a bit of a departure from the traditional comic book version. But the comic book Riddler evolves all the time and his latest return to Gotham City is as a populist media personality.

Using his platform and newfound media influence to confound Batman, the Dark Knight Detective has to piece together the Riddler's latest clues as he places his followers in Gotham City in the line of fire.

The start of a new story arc, Detective Comics #1059 is co-written by Tamaki and Nadia Shammas with interior art and a cover by superstar artist Ivan Reis and variant covers by Lee Bermejo and  Rodolfo Migliari.

"When is a criminal not a criminal?" If you have the answer Batman could use your help on April 26.

Here's that five-page preview of Detective Comics #1059:

Detective Comics is just one of the new Batman comics coming every week from DC.

I'm not just the Newsarama founder and editor-in-chief, I'm also a reader. And that reference is just a little bit older than the beginning of my Newsarama journey. I founded what would become the comic book news site in 1996, and except for a brief sojourn at Marvel Comics as its marketing and communications manager in 2003, I've been writing about new comic book titles, creative changes, and occasionally offering my perspective on important industry events and developments for the 25 years since. Despite many changes to Newsarama, my passion for the medium of comic books and the characters makes the last quarter-century (it's crazy to see that in writing) time spent doing what I love most.

Read more
Young Bruce and Selina run.
Absolute Batman #3 teases a new origin for the Riddler and delves into Bruce and Selina's childhoods
Commander Star looks on as chaos erupts in Gotham City.
Who is Commander Star? Batman #156 reveals the secret identity of Gotham’s sinister new hero
Batman (2025) #1
A new Batman #1 from Matt Fraction and Jorge Jiménez launches this September with a "revamped aesthetic," a throwback costume, and a new Batmobile
Batman is the Dark Knight.
All the new Batman comics, graphic novels, and collections from DC in 2025
Absolute Batman.
Absolute Batman #5 pays homage to an iconic scene from The Dark Knight
Batman (2025) #1
DC’s new Batman relaunch finally has me excited to follow the Caped Crusader again
Latest in Dc Comics
Cover art from Resurrection Man: Quantum Karma #1.
13 years after his New 52 series ended, cult DC hero Resurrection Man is back in Quantum Karma
Jo Mullein on the cover for Absolute Green Lantern #1.
Absolute Green Lantern puts Far Sector's Jo Mullein front and center as a cosmic mystery comes to Earth
Batman (2025) #1
DC’s new Batman relaunch finally has me excited to follow the Caped Crusader again
Peacemaker and Eagly.
DC's new Peacemaker comic takes place in the universe of the show – and James Gunn was its story consultant
Absolute Wonder Woman in a vortex.
Absolute Wonder Woman's new lasso changes everything
Supergirl with Krypto and Streaky.
Supergirl gets a new costume and a new comic from former TMNT writer Sophie Campbell
Latest in News
The Witcher 3 lead says "not many games" were trying to match the RPG back in 2015, and that meant "there was a risk" to making it in the first place
The Blood of Dawnwalker
The Witcher 3 dev says his new vampire RPG Blood of Dawnwalker wants to challenge genre conventions, but only if "we're changing them to actually achieve some goal"
Daredevil recap: The Defenders
Marvel fans are discussing which of the Netflix series characters would have survived the Blip
A misty, forested mountainside in Prologue: Go Wayback!
PUBG creator's wilderness survival game actually draws inspiration from an unexpected place - a whole raft of zombie games like DayZ, Project Zomboid, and Left 4 Dead
The Blood of Dawnwalker: A screenshot of the vampire Brencis holding up a crown during the trailer for the upcoming game.
The Witcher 3 devs created a Jekyll & Hyde-style character for their new vampire RPG "because nobody yet has done that"
Charlie Cox as Matt Murdock in Daredevil: Born Again
Daredevil fans are wondering if Born Again season 2 will set up a darker comic book arc for Matt Murdock