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classic Carmine Infantino cover; 1st Silver Age app of the Riddler; COMIC BOOK IMPACT rating of 8 (CBI)
While the Riddler first appeared in the late Golden Age, he didn't really make a full impact until the mid-60s, when his garish costume, high-camp modus operandi, and cynical demeanor fit perfectly in the Infantino-designed "new look" of the series. It's not an accident that this fast-paced, ceaselessly inventive relaunch was directly adapted as the opening adventure of the pop-art Batman TV series, as the show took its colorful, meta-comic tone from the series' successfully remodeled style. The bright, poppy colors and gleefully improbable staging on this issue's cover were a stunning riposte to the challenges DC faced from its brash Marvel competition. Epic and over-the-top where Marvel was gritty and intimate, wildly diverse when Marvel was cannily spreading its Kirby-derived house style across its line to solidify its readership, this issue proved the template for the DC gogo era to come, a sleeper milestone revered by DC and Batman fans and a major turning point for the industry as a whole.