Joshua's Jottings

  Yep, it is now time to take a look at Batman's best female rogue (sorry, Catwoman and Harley Quinn): Pamela Isley a.k.a. Poison Ivy! Created in 1966, Poison Ivy has gone on to be a staple of the Dark Knight's rogues gallery, appearing in numerous adaptations outside the comics and has even gotten her own comic series in recent years, with rumors of a live action TV show in the works. Yet despite her undeniable popularity, Poison Ivy is arguable the one prime Batman villain who the writers can never quite agree on how to portray. Sometimes she will be portrayed as a wicked fem fatale motivated solely by greed, other times she will be a misunderstood anti-hero with her own strict set of principles, a damaged woman who thrives on being able to control and dominate others as form of catharsis, or her most common and well-known depiction: a nature-loving psychotic who seeks to kill anybody that dares threaten plant life in any way.  To be honest, despite it being arguably Pamela...

  Riddle me this, readers: who is one of Batman's most iconic adversaries that always leaves clues and riddles for the Dark Knight to solve? If any of you actually answered the Cluemaster, we are going to have words. No, it's Edward Nygma a.k.a. the Riddler! Created in 1948, the Prince of Puzzles; the King of Conundrums has become a mainstay in the Caped Crusader's rogues gallery and for good reason. A villain who leaves cryptic riddles and clues for the heroes and readers to solve was bound to make an impression and so he did. However, despite being one of Batman's most popular villains, the Riddler is also one of the toughest to write. An antagonist who's entire schtick is leaving behind cryptic riddles and puzzles has one big challenge: he's only as smart as the people writing him. Coming up with new sets of challenging riddles each time is not an easy task and as such, there are a lot of writers to tend to treat Edward as a joke simply because it's simpl...

Despite being created in 1993, much later than most of Batman's other villains, Bane has still gone on to become a main staple of the Dark Knight's rogues gallery and for good reason. A lethal combination of brains and brawn, Bane is definitely one of Batman's toughest foes, with an excellent backstory to boot. But let's be honest, what's the first thing you think of whenever Bane is brought up? Yep, the iconic moment where Bane breaks Batman's back over his knee during the iconic Knightfall  story. And why not? To this day, this moment stands as one of the biggest victories a villain has ever achieved over the Caped Crusader. It's shocking, brutal, devastating and one of the most impactful sequences in Batman history. As such, I really don't need to tell you why  Knightfall  is Bane's best story. Indeed, nothing the character does afterward will ever quite be able to match his spine-shattering debut. However, what if I told you that there were other...