Batman: Cataclysm (Prelude to No Man's Land) [Paperback]

Chuck Dixon (Author), Jim Aparo (Illustrator), Scott McDaniel (Illustrator)

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: DC Comics (June 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1563895277
• ISBN-13: 978-1563895272
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 0.8 x 10.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #171,525 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

CHUCK DIXON
Born in Philadelphia, Pa.

Chuck Dixon has more than twenty-five years of experience in the graphic novel field as an editor, writer and publisher. He has contributed well over a thousand scripts to publishers like DC Comics, Marvel, Dark Horse, Hyperion and others featuring a range of characters from Batman to the Simpsons. His comic book adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit continues to be an international bestseller. Considered to be one of the most prolific writers in his field, this award-winning storyteller currently writes G.I. Joe and A-team for IDW, The Good the Bad and the Ugly for Dynamite, The Simpsons for Bongo Comics along with many creator-owned projects for various publishers. He is also the co-publisher of an ambitious line of graphic novels based on the American Civil War.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Batman: Cataclysm, December 26, 1999

By 

c (PA, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Batman: Cataclysm (Prelude to No Man's Land) (Paperback)

Batman: Cataclysm was overall a great comic book, and very enjoyable. For Batman fans, the comic is much different than most Batman books. For example, you won't see too many of the regular vilians (Joker, Scarecrow, etc.). Instead Gotham is rocked by a huge earthquake destroying everything, even the Batcave. Batman is left to fight something he has no power over, mother nature. It makes for a very interesting tale, as Batman sees the city he loves burn and crumble into oblivion, and he can do nothing to stop it. Along the way, heroes like Nightwing, Robin, Huntress, Spoiler, and Catwoman join forces to help trapped citizens and fight off escaped convicts. Then, a man calling himself the Quakemaster takes claim for the earthquake and threatens Gotham with another one. In the end, the identity of the Quakemaster is very suprising. Batman: Cataclysm is one of the best storylines and definitely one of the most emotional storylines for a Batman series. It is a good read with great artwork, and it leads to the aftermath story of Gotham, Batman: No Man's Land.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Well put together, July 7, 2006

By 

Steve Fuson "comics geek" (Beaverton, OR) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Batman: Cataclysm (Prelude to No Man's Land) (Paperback)

Batman can handle criminals. But how can he fight a Earthquake? How can he fight the natural destruction of a city?

A lot of crossovers nowadays are pathetically poorly coordinated. But Batman: Cataclysm is very well coordinated and flows pretty well. If you don't read the writing credits you wouldn't be able to tell how many different writers were involved. The main story following Batman, Oracle, Nightwing and Robin are intersepersed with vignettes starring Two-Face, Ra's al Ghul and others. One of the few week points is a vignette starring Robin is put in out of order. In it Robin, while rescuing trapped victims, says in the narrative that he hasn't found his family, but about five pages before he was reunited with his family. But most of the story flows well, and it's believable. Batman and Alfred are trapped in the Batcave well below ground. How do they get out? The Batmobile exit is blocked, the stairs up to the mansion is blocked, the access to Robin's house is blocked. So how do they get out? It's handled very clearly and as realistically as any comic book can get.

The real strong point of this story though is the artwork. Almost every comics artist can draw a decent figure but there are a sad number of artists who don't or can't draw backgrounds. But the Batman creative crew is occupied by artists who can draw buildings and scenery. As Gotham city is an essential part of the Batman mythos this probably isn't a coincidence. As such the scenes of the destroyed city are amazing and horrific. The falling skyscrapers, Wayne Manor split down the middle, rubble two stories high are all handled well, and you really feel how intense it is for these people to lose their city, their home.

I was really impressed with this work. The story continues in the No Man's Land story arc, and after reading this I definately want to go read those.

14 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Read but....., May 21, 2000

By 

Jacob Malewitz "areaderseye.blogspot.com" (Lansing, Michigan United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Batman: Cataclysm (Prelude to No Man's Land) (Paperback)

Overall a great book. Gotham City faces something worse than even the Joker or Penguin could do to it, Earthquake! Batman battles those who come out of the darkness to take advantage of the destruction while Bruce Wayne fights to save his city politically. Only mistake I made was reading the No Mans Land Comics(which were even better) before I read this so It spoiled some of the suspense for me. I would advise against doing that.