Riddle me this!

Okay, so I went diving in the fifty cent bins last week and picked up a few books. On a complete whim, one of them happened to be:

Batman/Judge Dredd: The Ultimate Riddle $4.95 (DC Comics)

Creative Team: Alan Grant and John Wagner, Carl Critchlow and Dermot Power, with letters by Richard Starkings and Comicraft.

What's it about? Well, seems villians across multiple universes are trapping various heroes (and I use the term loosely) so that they will be forced to fight it out against one another until only one survives. Both Batman and Judge Dredd get pulled into the sick little game nad are forced to team up if either hopes to survive.

Why you should read it: There's really only one reason to read this book. No, scratch that, one reason to look at this book, and that the absolutely beautiful artwork. I don't think I've ever seen a better looking Batman, and the fact that it's painted makes it even better. Plus, i only paid fifty cents. The five dollar cover price may be mandatory with this being a prestige format book, but it'snot worth it. There is a nice plot twist, tying into events from DC's past (or present, possibly, depending on when this originally came out) but when you stop and think about it it doesn't make a hell of alot of sense. Still, if you find this laying in a twenty-five or fifty cent bin, it's worth it justfor the pictures. Hell, I'd even pay a dollar to see it. With a little more effort, and possibly a better villian, this would've been a great read, but instead it's a mediocre plot, with cliche dialogue, that looks friggin' fantastic.

-L