Batman Dear Detectives Riddler Twist Confirms Why the Dark Knight Will Never Win

Batman Dark Detective has a shocking villain taunting Bruce Wayne  with a dark twist revealing why Batmans campaign will always be a lost cause.In Batman Dark Detective by Lee Bermejo the artist and writer collected his Detective Comics covers over the years and turned them into a prestige format graphic novella. Its a unique story with riddles in between the covers taunting the Bat to evoke the kind of haunting tense mood fans saw recently in Matt Reeves The Batman.

And make no mistake just like Paul Danos Riddler mentally worked Batman this storys ciphers while simpler do leave a trail of breadcrumbs hinting that the Riddler is behind the sinister eerie letter again once again. However by the time the narrative wraps a dark twist ensues that proves the Dark Knight will never win his crusade. 

This storys quite thoughtprovoking as the character teases how theyre a monster thief murderer and psychopath. Theres a degree of psychoanalysis present that gives the impression this Riddler knows Batman the best. The letter deems Bruce a scared lonely child stating that he belongs in Arkham Asylum with all the other inmates he put there. In fact the author teases theyll always own Gotham and ensure that the city will make Bruce become what he hates most.

At this point the covers speak to Bruces sidekicks the torture and torment they endure and how Jason Todd died  joking about Bruces breaking point and encouraging him to ignore his nokill rule. The Riddler also questioned if Jim Gordon the Batsignal or the asylum work. After all no matter what happens the rogues always end up back out nodding to Joker Penguin Clayface etc. Once more it appears the Riddler was poking fun at that existential dread within Batman and how hell never see success despite trying to become the embodiment of justice. However by the time the book closes the keyword thats left to decode revealed the identity of the author. But the thing is its not the Riddler  its from crime itself.

This big twist shows how Bermejo gave crime a personality and made it an immortal neverending foe. Upon reconciling this reveal with these interlocking images the book reminds Bruce that despite the fight against his villains Bruce wont ever be able to heal Gotham or himself. Its because crime never dies. Its a futile mission  an emotional hydra where heads keep popping back up and multiplying  so his lifelong mission at the end of the day doesnt matter.

Its a hard pill to swallow given all Bruce has sacrificed and what hell continue to give up for his war on crime. Ultimately its a losing battle and a war that the Caped Crusader despite small battles being won will never come out on top of. Crime damaged him in the alley with his parents and even outside the rogues petty crime and that sinful mentality wont change due to humanitys selfish nature making this quite a nihilistic read.