Edward "The Riddler" Nashton

Hello bat world, Poison Quinn here to bring you you're weekly villain lesson. With Batman: Arkham Asylum finally being released to you gamers in 13 days, I thought over the next two weeks, I'd do some characters, that are in the game as well as playing a role in Batman comics. Get you even hyper for the game. :)So today's pick is The Riddler. So, sit back and enjoy this lovely article and fill your brain with knowledge. :D



Name: Edward Nashton
Aliases: The Riddler, Edward Nigma
Height: 6'1"
Weight: 183
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Black

Abilities: Genius Level of Intelligence, Expert Detective
Powers: N/A

Edward Nashton was born into an abusive and broken home. His mother was absent and his father was very abusive. Edward started his riddling life at an early age. When he was in school, there was a puzzle contest being held and he was excited about actually winning. Showing signs of being obsessed with puzzles, he snuck into the school at night and worked on the puzzle until he was able to solve it with ease. Having this advantage, Edward won the puzzle contest and was awarded a puzzle book. Upon recieving the book, Edward completed the book with ease mastering puzzles, mindgame and riddles. He was a very intellgient young man and passed exams and tests with ease, which led to his father doubting him and becoming very jealous. Figuring that Edward was cheating, his father supposedly caught him cheating and beat him repeatedly so he wouldn't lie and stay out of trouble. From the abuse, Edward developed a compulsion, he is known for, constantly telling the truth to prove his innoncence. The abuse led to his obsession with riddles as well as driving him into the life of crime.

When Edward got older, he moved out becoming a carnival performer cheating the carnival goers out of their money with his skills. Feeling he needed something more, he creates the persona, The Riddler, and decides to pick Batman as an adversary in his riddles and games. The Riddler felt Batman was an intelligent and worthy opponent. He started out as a simple informant and criminal profiler for the underworld of Gotham City, as well as for Batman. Over time Riddler became more of a villain to Batman, becoming an adversary to the Dark Knight constantly testing his analytical abilities to the limits.

Later Riddler was diagnosed with brain cancer and cleverly found one of Ra's al Ghuls Lazarus pits and cured himself of his diesease.

The Riddler was first introduced into the DC world in the Detective Comics #140. Riddler has made his apperenaces in a number of comics, for example, The Long Halloween. Riddler appears as a smooth talking informant who was hired by Carmine "The Roman" Falcon in search of who kills the Holiday Killer. Riddler is also seen in Batman: Dark Victory, in which is opponent Batman turned to him to figure out the significance of the lost games of hangman that are left at the scenes of the Hangman killer's crimes.


As you can see the Riddler plays a big role in the Batman comic world using his obsession with riddlers to help where he is needed or a nuisance . Knowing that The Riddler is in Batman: Arkham Asylum, I'm sure we all will be faced with some mind busting riddles through out the game, which I'm absolutely excited about.

Here some fun Trivia about Mr. Edward "The Riddler" Nashton.

• 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?"
• He often has two female assistants that help him, usually named a combination of Quiz, Query or Echo.
• The Riddler has a counterpart in the Antimatter Universe called the Quizmaster who is a member of Lex Luthor's Justice Underground.
• In an episode of the BBC television series Wire in the Blood entitled "Torment", psychologist profiler Tony Hill explains at length the Riddler's obsessive/compulsive nature to a young boy.
• The Riddler is one of the Batman's few foes who has actually managed to discover his secret identity. Others include Professor Hugo Strange, Ra's al Ghul and Catwoman (although Batman willingly revealed his secret identity to Selina).
• The Riddler's online screenname is "Wizard101."

*Trivia was used from DC Comics Database, this is not my own writing.*

Thanks for joining me for another Treacherous Tuesday. :-)

See you guys tomorrow when I'll be discussing a female who's real close to Batman, Talia al Ghul.

-Poison Quinn

Zatanna Zatara

Welcome back my wonderful people to Women of DC Wednesday. Today's lucky woman is a close friend of Batman and a has a magical touch. (lol) I know I seem to say every week that each character is my favorite...but she's another favorite I've added to the list. Shoot me I have a lot of favorites. :-p So...here you go guys Zatanna.

Real Name: Zatanna Zatara

Current Alias: Zatanna

Height: 5’7”

Weight: 127

Eyes: Blue

Hair: Black

Powers: Sorcery (Elemental Magic, Telepathy, Chlorokinesis, Enhanced Strength and Durability, Flight, Telportation, Dimensional Travel, Probability manipulation, Sense Magic, Dispel, Telekinesis, Elemental and Molecular Conversion, Regeneration, Size Alteration, Spectral Sight, Elemental Transmutation, Magical Manipulation.)

Abilities: Stage Magician, Good Combatant, Occultist, Hypnotist, Improvisation

A member of the Homo Magic race, Zatanna Zatara is the daughter of famed magaician Giovannit “John” Zatara and Sindella. Zatanna is a direct decendant of the artist and magician Leonardo da Vinci and is also related to Nostradamus, Alessando Cagliostro, Nicholas Flamel, Evan Fulcanelli and Lord Arion of Atlantis.

Before she discovered her true magical powers while investigating the disappearance of her father, Zatanna was a successful stage illusionist. She was successfully reunited with him with the help of the Batman, The Atom, Elongated Man and others. Unfortunately, their time together was cut short due to the death of both of her parents, on separate occasions, while trying to save her life.

Before being elected to full membership of the Justice League of America, Zatanna assisted them with a number of cases proving herself worthy of the team. During her time with the JLA her powers levels had diminished briefly allowing her to only control the four elements: Earth, Wind, Fire, and Water. After a while her powers were fully restored due to unknown causes. Deciding that her father's style of magic wasn't her cup of tea, she then decided to explore her mothers mystical heritage.

If you've read “Identity Crisis” which I highly recommend you read, lol, you all know Zatanna was apart of the incident that happened when they caught Dr. Light. Zatanna used her magic to screw around in Dr. Lights mind a little bit to erase a tragic memory that involved Sue Dibny. She also erased Batman's memory after he tried to stop them from what they doing to Dr. Light.

Batman and Zatanna were very close, childhood friends even, until he found out what she had done to him. This led to him distrusting her and his other friends in the super hero community. Over time their relationship began to re kindle and he came to her when he needed help and even gave her the nickname Zee.

Zatanna departed from the JLA and continued her stage career and her vocation as a defender against mystical threats, becoming a member of the Sentinels of Magic. Currently Zatanna is a reserve member of the Justice League aiding them from time to time when her magical expertise is needed. Feeling a need to take a break from heroics she declined a full membership to the JLA. But she still serves as a regular guardian against mystical threats.

And there you have it folks Ms. Zatanna "Zee" Zatara. Catch you all next week.

-Poison Quinn

Thomas Elliot

FYI, a small spoiler alert. I tried, but the information about Thomas Elliot is pretty much straight from Hush Vol. 1 and 2. I promise I didn't spoil TOO much, I hope. :D lol

Welcome back to Treacherous Tuesdays my fellow Batman fans. Today I'll be going over a close friend turned foe of Batman, Thomas Elliot. For those of you who keep up on your graphic novels, I'm sure you all have read the great Hush novels that give you a nice tale of Dr. Thomas Elliot. So without further babbling on...I present Dr. Thomas Elliot.

Name: Thomas Elliot
Alias: Hush
Height: 6'3"
Weight: 220
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Red
Place of Birth: Gotham City
Occupation: Surgeon

Powers and Abilities: Although Thomas Elliot doesn't have any superpowers, lets not underestimate him folks. Elliot has spent a vast amount of time mastering the skills to be a match for the Dark Knight. Elliot is also a master planner with tactical skills equal if not exceeding those possessed by Batman. Hush's greatest skills is his ability to think like his opponents and use their motivations against them. Hush is an expert marksman who is able to shoot two batarangs out of the air and set off C4 using twin M1911.45 caliber pistols, his very own weapons of choice.

Dr. Thomas Elliot is a close childhood friend of Bruce Wayne, and just like Bruce, born into a wealthy family. Elliot was the complete opposite of Bruce when it came to the love of his parents. Elliot hated his parents and despised his drunk and abusive father along with his frail mother, who happened to come from a background of poverty and willingly endured the abuse to her and her son to keep the lavish lifestyle Elliot's father provided. Instead of taking the role of a loving mother, she forced him to memorize Aristotle, as a way to deal with the abuse from his father, which Elliot never forgave his mother for.

Elliot had a strong desire for wealth and independence, he cut the brakes of his parents' car causing them to be in a fatal crash that killed his father. His mother was saved in an emergency operation done by Dr. Thomas Wayne, which only lead to Elliot being enraged and very angry. While at summer camp with young Bruce, Thomas attacked a boy and ended up in a psych ward. He blamed Bruce and Martha Wayne for his outburst, but was soon released by an intern named Jonathan Crane. Thomas was forced to take care of his mother over the next few years. And well as I see I get further into this...I feel I'm telling FAR too much. I don't want to ruin too much for those who actually want to read the Hush novels. For those who have read it...you guys already knows what happens between Thomas and his mother. Let's just say..Thomas becomes a very disturbed individual, this is when he created the persona Hush.

Having a great deal of hate for Bruce Wayne, he decides to team up with the Riddler to bring Bruce down. Hush begins with with their attempt to destroy Batman, they convince and manipulate other villains to help. This included Joker, Harley Quinn, Jason Todd, Poison Ivy, Scarecrow, Killer Croc and Clayface. Part of this scheme includes fooling Bruce that Tommy is the latest victim of the Joker. This results in Batman almost killing the Joker but is stopped by Commissioner Gordon. Hush manipulates his way into trying to bring down Batman. Although Batman believes Hush is Thomas Elliot...he isn't able to unmask him. Being the great detective Batman is, we all know he eventually finds out who Hush is.

And that is it for today folks. I honestly wish I could go into more detail about hush, but it will ruin far too much if you were interested in reading about him.

Here's where you can read more about Dr. Thomas Elliot and his transformation to Hush. I really enjoyed reading about Hush and I definitely recommend reading Hush Vol. 1 & 2 and Heart of Hush. I haven't read Hush Returns...BUT...knock yourself out. :)

Hush Vol 1, Hush Vol. 2, Hush Returns and Heart of Hush

Thanks for reading, catch you guys tomorrow where I'll be discussing another close friend of Batman, Zatanna.

*Three Weeks until B:AA* :-D

-Poison Quinn

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Batman: Face The Face

Hey guys, after a very slow week in Batman comics, I'm back with this week's Graphic Novel Monday. This week's review gives center stage to one of the most prolific characters in Batman continuity, Harvey Dent a.k.a. Two-Face. With a story penned by James Robinson that takes place after the events of Infinite Crisis, one could say that this may be one of Harvey Dent's finest moments. We'll see in this review of Batman: Face The Face.

Infinite Crisis was a huge moment in DC Continuity, it marked the death of Tim Drake's best friend, Connor Kent. The return of the fallen Robin, Jason Todd, and caused the three biggest names in DC, Superman, Wonder Woman and Batman to take a year off from the superhero business. A year later, a rejuvenated Batman and Robin return to Gotham City, and are greeted by cheers from the Gothamites and the GCPD (even Harvey Bullock.) Batman and Robin (Tim Drake) are better than they've ever been, one person even remarks that their cohesive as Batman and the first Robin (Dick Grayson) were, which could prove that Gotham is on it's way to being resurrected as a safe city. But Batman wouldn't dare leave Gotham unprotected for a whole year, so he gives control of Gotham to former distract attorney, former psychopath, the rehabilitated Harvey Dent.

Harvey Dent is no longer Two face, and after a rough month of training, he's ready to take control of Gotham, which he sucessfully does for fifty two weeks. But when villains start turning up dead by the two's, with two bullets in their brains, all the signs point to the former DA. Batman believes Harvey is Innocent, but it wouldn't be the first ...or second time (pun intended) that Harvey Dent has gone rogue.



This story has it all, I won't ruin it, but murders, deception, mystery, everything that makes a good Batman Novel is in Face The Face. That being said it's not perfect, some of the artwork is rather dark, and although it fits the theme it may turn off some readers. Also we don't get the epic clash that we're waiting for, which made me feel a little disappointed to say the least. Overall Face The Face isn't perfect, but it's far from bad, That's why I give Batman: Face The Face an 8/10.

"History of Batman in Video Games" (Part 4)

This week we have something a little different ... Darkwing Duck, a fellow member from the Batman: Arkham Asylum forums is doing the review of our feature this week, Batman: Return of the Joker! Enjoy!

Batman: Return of the Joker (NES)
NES, Sega Genesis

I could not possibly tell you how excited I've been to get to review this game. It's one of my earliest memories of gaming, alongside one of my earliest memories of Batman, and thankfully I've been given new reason to play this classic once again.

The plot is as basic as you get, so don't expect any award-winning material here. Put simply, the Joker is back wreaking havoc in Gotham and Batman has to stop him. Nothing more is explained, but I'm not worried about that, I'm here for some basic shooting fun.

Yes, that's right. Batman has a gun. Of sorts. You can power up your so-called "Batarang Launcher" using icons found in boxes throughout the game. Explained only by the letters N, S, C, and B. No, I haven't got a clue what they stand for either. All you need to know is that C is the best power up.

In terms of gameplay, it's really about as simple as it gets. But it seems I'm a simple man of simple pleasures, so I find it enjoyable. It is a welcome break from the complexity of modern gaming, I must admit. The game is a side-scroller in which your job is pretty straightforward. Shoot the enemies, avoid the obstacles and jump the gaps. Yet the game somehow makes this challenging, and I love it for that. The only forgiving element in the game is the password system. So when you throw your controller through the wall and pull the plug on your beloved Nintendo Entertainment System, you can come back later and have your rear end handed to you again.

There are twelve stages for you to battle through, including a snowy landscape, moving train, military base, and sewers. The first level is in a cathedral, possibly in tribute to the location of the Joker's demise in the Burton film. You will continually jump from location to location, but if you're really looking for an explanation about anything at this point, you should probably move on now. Or you could stick around for probably the best moments in the game.
Jetpacks.

Yes. Batman has a jetpack. These were the greatest levels in the game to me as a young'un, and the novelty hasn't worn off after all these years. You fly up, down, left, right, shoot and dodge. But it's Batman, on a jetpack. If that doesn't make you want to play this game, I don't know what will. It's Batman on a jetpack people!

Now for the boss battles ... These were probably the only part I didn't like about the game. Boss fights are generally pretty intense, but fall back into the pattern finding fights in which you have to figure out the pattern and exploit it. Also, who are these people? It would've been nice to have some familiar faces in there, but maybe I'm asking for too much in a NES game with no film tie-ins.

Visually, Return of the Joker looks good enough to be compared to some of the 16-bit games of the same era. While there is some room for improvement with breakdown in the images, the theme of dark shadows and dirty streets as well as intense battles is kept up fairly well. The different motions that Batman goes through in either looking straight ahead or upwards will captivate you for a while, though there isn’t much other than that. The weapons effects and the locations that you encounter are all top notch for an older Nintendo game and it shows.

The music is what you'd expect from a adventure game from the early 90's, just with a little attitude thrown in for good measure. To me, it matches up with the feel of this dark Batman venture. But others will disagree. Each to his own I suppose. The sound effects don't make much of an impact on what you do with Batman and really don’t have much demand on the overall experience of the game.

Return of the Joker is a decent game that will keep Batman fans happy throughout the various stages. You’ll find that the password feature helps to keep you in the game, even if you don’t play it for weeks on end and is always a welcome addition to the older action games. The difficulty is a little steep to start with, though seasoned vets of the action game genre should be able to kick through it with some ease. All in all, this is an above average game that belongs in any collectors bookshelf and is worth playing time and time again, that has stood the test of aging with this reviewer.

And you know, I'm still yet to complete it ...

-Darkwing Duck

Women of DC- Power Girl

Hello all! It's Poison Quinn reporting in with your weekly dose of Women of DC. And as promised I'm here to bring you some info on one of DC's top heavy women, lol. I present to you Kara-Zor L aka Power Girl.

Real Name: Kara-Zor-L

Current Alias: Power Girl

Birth Place: Kandor, Krypton

Gender: Female

Height: 5’11”

Weight: 180 lbs.

Eyes: Blue

Hair: Blond

Powers: Kryptonian Physiology, Solor energy absorption, superhuman strength, invulnerability, superhuman stamina, flight, superhuman speed, super breath, enhanced senses (telescopic vision, x ray vision, microscopic vision, electro-magnetic spectrum vision, heat vision) superhuman hearing.

Abilities: Master combatant, genius-level intellect

Weaknesses: Magic, psionics, vision limitation, kryptonite

Power Girl is the Earth-Two counterpart of the Kryptonian Supergirl and cousin to Kal-L, the Superman of Earth-Two. Kara-L possessed the same superhuman strength and ability to fly, she soon took his place in the JSA after he entered into semi-retirement to focus on his personal life. Kara has become an important member of the JSA.

After discovering Krypton was about to blow up, Kara’s father Zor-L launched her as an infant to Earth in a ship at the same time that Kal-L’s ship was launched. Kara arrived decades after her cousin Kal-L due to her longer journey through space.

Unlike Kal-L's ship, Kara's "Symbioship" was designed to hold Kara in stasis during her development through the prolonged voyage. In addition, the ship's artificial intelligence had the life experiences and education of a Kryptonian in the form of a virtual reality program wherein she could interact with life-like copies of her parents and fellow Kryptonians. When she landed on Earth, Kara was the age of an adult woman in her early twenties.

Years after her arrival it was then Power Girl’s existence was revealed to the public. Cousin Clark and Lois provided her with a family environment to assist her transition toward real life relationships. In her first case Kara assisted JSA members Flash and Wildcat in containing an artificially induced volcano that had erupted in Peking, China. She also helped the JSA members defeat Brian Wave and Per Degaton’s scheme for total world domination. After her heroic help she was granted full membership when she took over Superman’s vacated spot on the team roster.

Since Kara was raised by the Symbioship with artificial Kryptonian life experiences, Power Girl had just a little trouble fitting into life on Earth. With the help of reporter Andrew Vinson, she eventually adopted the secret identity of computer programmer Karen Starr. She developed her knowledge in this field from treatment under Wonder Woman’s purple ray on Paradise Island. Never have worn a mask to differentiate between her two identities, it was bound for her identity to be revealed publicly. During this time she also developed a close friendship with Helena Wayne, the daughter of the Earth-Two Batman and Catwoman.

After the Justice Society disbanded, Power Girl joined the Justice League. Later on as a member of Justice League Europe, she was badly injured by a mystical being. Superman helped her in medical treatment, using his head vision to perform surgery on her otherwise-invulnerable tissues. Although she recovered, she was significantly weaker, losing all of her vision powers and temporarily her ability to fly.

I must admit, I wasn’t a big fan of Power Girl, for what reason, I have no idea. But after reading into her and writing this review about this busty young woman, I found a spot in my heart to want to learn more and read more about her. So there you have it folks, Power Girl. (now scroll back up and drool over the picture...I know you've been waiting. lol. jk)

Catch you all next week. :)

-Poison Quinn

Slade "Deathstroke" Wilson

Hey guys and welcome back to Treacherous Tuesdays. Todays choice is one badass guy who I think deserved some light to be shined upon him. Without further hesitation, Slade "Deathstroke" Wilson.

Real Name: Slade Joseph Wilson

Current Alias: Deathstroke

Base of Operation: Africa

Gender: Male

Height: 6’4”

Weight: 235

Eyes: Blue

Hair: White

Powers: Enhanced: Mind, Reflexes, Strength, Stamina, Speed, Senses; Regenerative Healing Factor, Enhanced immunity, Retarded aging.

Abilities: Masterful tactician, expert combatant

Equipment: Deathstroke’s armor and helmet are lined with Kevlar and promethium mesh, which means…this man is resistant to conventional injury. He also has a specially designed multi-million dollar flash bomb capable of incapacitating the entire JLA, yes including Superman. He’s only able to bring Superman down long enough to escape…can’t blame him for trying.

Weapons: Various firearms, promethium sword, power staff, explosives and other things to aid him in combat.

At the age of 16, Slade Wilson, enlisted into the United States Army, of course lying of his age. After serving in Korea, he was later assigned to Camp Washington where he was promoted to the Rank of Major. He met Captain Adeline Kane in the early 1960’s who gave him the task of training young soldiers in new fighting techniques in anticipation of brewing troubles taking place in Vietnam. After watching Slade at work, Kane was amazed at how skilled he was and how quickly adapted to modern conventions of warfare. Instantly she fell in love with him and realized he was the most able-bodied combatant she had ever encountered.

She privately trained Slade in guerrilla warfare, in less than a year, he mastered EVERY fighting form presented to him and was soon promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. Six months later Slade and Adeline were married and she became pregnant with their first child. At this time the war in Vietnam was beginning to escalate and Slade was shipped overseas. While he was gone, Adeline gave birth to their son Grant.

Some time into the war, Slade volunteered for a medical experiment designed to stimulate his adrenal gland in the hopes of increasing a soldier’s ability to resist truth serums. Slade fell into a coma due to unexpected errors with the experiment. When he awakened he discovered that he was now capable of using 90% of his brain capacity and his strength, durability and agility were increases to near superhuman levels. Slade then applied for re-assignment with the army but was refused. His condition was now stable and Slade fell into depression desperate to serve his country. Adeline then became pregnant with their second son, Joseph. Since he was unable to further his career in the military, Slade then turned to hunting. He became a world famous safari hunter and became pretty wealthy in this new career.

Some years later, a group of hired mercenaries broke into Slade’s mansion and kidnapped young Joseph. His wife tried to fight them off but was defeated due to the gas grenade that was used. Once Slade discovered this tragic event, he knew it was time to tell his wife the truth. Not only was Slade a world famous safari hunter, he was also one of the deadliest and most highly sought after assassins, Deathstroke the Terminator. Promising to save their son, they flew to Tangiers and fought off a rival mercenary known as the Jackal.

The Jackal wanted Deathstroke to reveal some information relating to a client or they would kill Joey. Thinking he could save his son before the order was sent off to kill him, he was too late. Josephs throat was slashed by one of the criminals before Deathstroke could reach him, destroying his vocal cords, resulting in Joey being mute. They rushed him to the hospital and awaiting results, his wife was enraged at his endangerment of her son, and she tried to kill Deathstroke by shooting him, only managing to destroy his right eye. Afterward, his confidence in his physical abilities was such that he made no secret of his impaired vision, marked by his mask which has a black featureless half covering his lost eye.

In Identity Crisis,(Best book ever!!) Deathstroke was enlisted as a bodyguard for Doctor Light, who was being chased by the JLA. Deathstroke nearly defeated the team of Elongated Man, The Flash (Wally West), Zatanna, Hawkman, Green Arrow, Black Canary, the Atom and Green Lantern (Kyle Rayner). Deathstroke took out every member exepct Green Lantern who was ready to defeat Deathstroke using his ring. This was interrupted by Green Arrow sticking an arrow in his right eye where Deathstroke began beating Green Arrow but was tackled down by the other members. Dr. Light used his powers and the two soon escaped. Near the end of Identity Crisis, Deathstroke confronts Green Arrow on a rooftop. Arrow sees his reflection in the windows of a nearby building, but when he turns to confront Slade, Deathstroke is gone. Instead Green Arrow finds Slade's cowl and a note stuck to the wall by the very arrow he stabbed in Slade's eye socket. The note reads, "This is yours - We're not done."

Deathstroke is one hell of a man. I must admit outside of Identity Crisis, I didn’t know much of Deathstroke….after researching for this article, he is indeed added to one of my favorite villains. There was so much more about this man that I had to leave out for you all to do some research of your own.

Until next time. Keep counting down the days until Batman: Arkham Asylum to drop and stay tuned to Batmania Reviews for all your Batman and DC reviews.

Be sure to join me tomorrow for my review of the busty and voluptuous Power Girl. Lol.

-Poison Quinn