WARNING: The following contains spoilers for the story "The Riddle" from Batman: Black & White #5 by Kieron Gillen, Jamie McKelvie & Clayton Cowles, on sale now
Despite his lack of any actual superpowers, Batman has always found a way to overcome all sorts of villains and threats. Despite the capabilities of his enemies, Batman always seems to come out on top -- and DC just codified the mindset that gives Batman that ability.
Batman: Black & White #5 revealed the key to how Batman always defeats the Riddler -- and every one of his villains -- by refusing to play their games.
"The Riddle" focuses on the Riddler and Killer Croc teaming up against Batman. Kidnapping a host of orphans from across Gotham City to lure him into their trap, the Riddler's "Unmaze" quickly proves to be full of terrifying and impressive death traps -- each more lethal than the last. The story is framed as a "choose your own adventure," with the reader getting the chance to decide how Batman proceeds through the maze. Wrong decisions result in a number of terrifying and gruesome endings for the Dark Knight -- ranging from Batman being cut in half, being torn apart by Killer Croc, and being blown up by a bomb disguised as a puzzle piece for a giant challenge.
As various hypothetical versions of Batman engage the mission to recover the plans for the building, they all suffer inglorious deaths. Riddler has created a trap with no way to escape, with each logical path leading to Batman's inevitable death. Instead, the story ends with the only way for Batman to earn victory -- going against the Riddler's plans and defeating him by refusing to play his game. Instead, Batman just chases the Riddler down and beats him and Killer Croc before they can surprise him. By refusing to play Riddler's game and follow the "rules" that the villain has set up for him, Batman is able to avoid all of the traps and bring Riddler down.
While Riddler complains that this means the Batman didn't technically win, it doesn't matter much to Batman. He doesn't consider his battles against the Riddler to be a game like Nygma does, allowing him to approach it with a more open and adaptable mindset. There's no trap the Riddler can set that Batman won't find a way of escaping because he refuses to simply follow the logic of the trap. In essence, it's another instance of Batman "cheating" to earn a victory -- something the character does better than almost anyone in the DC Universe. At his core, this is how Batman is able to beat all kinds of villains who otherwise threaten to kill him and wreak havoc on Gotham in the aftermath.
If Batman were to engage the villains on their level, the Dark Knight likely wouldn't last a night. But by refusing to play games with his villains, all the death traps in the world will fail against him. The clever presentation of "The Riddle" highlights this, with Batman's various gory failures pointing out the results of trying to engage villains on their level. It's the key to Batman being one of the DC Universe's greatest heroes, and his success with all kinds of threats that have come his way over the years.
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