Customer Reviews

Batman: No Man's Land

5 star:		(28)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The earthquake devastated Gotham City in a way that villains such as The Joker and Two-Face could never dream of accomplishing. Thousands died and seemingly millions wounded. The city desperately needs federal aid, but instead, the shocking decision is made to simply cut the city off from the rest of the country. All the saddened police commissioner could do is watch the explosives blow away the bridges over the Gotham River that connected the city to other parts of America.

The earthquake plunged Gotham into chaos. The national decision to isolate the city sends it into a deadly abyss. The cells of Arkham Asylum have been opened, releasing dangerous and psychotic criminals like Bane, Poison Ivy, Two-Face, and the Joker. These criminally insane villains have taken over NO MAN'S LAND. Only a handful of former Gotham City cops, a few superheroes, and Batman remain to protect the survivors, but infighting leaves them divided. No path gives any hope to these brave men and women or for those they vow to protect.

This adaptation of one of 1999's best running comic book story lines works as readers feel the devastation, loss, and helplessness confronting the citizens including the superheroes. The tale is filled with non-stop action. Though readers may wonder about a federal decision to cut off Gotham City, politics caused that response. Wizard magazine has Lex Luther as the 2-1 favorite to have forced the government into making that decision. Fans of Batman and anyone who enjoys a post holocaust story line will fully relish this novel and the comic books that Greg Rucka derived the story from. New "Dark Knight" fans should also try 1998's fabulous detective story, THE LONG HALLOWEEN.

Harriet Klausner

When I made my list of the best books of 1999, I had no idea a comic series would be at the top. Without a doubt the No Man's Land saga was the most compelling read of the year. A tour de force story that encompassed human emotion, strength, and the will to survive. The reader is taken on a journey into the depths of human hell where only the strong will survive. The basic storyline is this: An earthquake of epic porportions destroys Gotham City (home of Batman) beyond repair. The federal government declares the city No Man's Land after refusing to provide federal aid. If you want to be surprised and shocked, pick up this book. Plus, if you like Batgirl, you will love this book. (Note: This is how the real Batgirl should be and not the character we see in those awful movies). The best read of the year!

Taking place over the course of a whole year, with a huge cast of characters and multiple subplots, No Man's Land is the perfect Batman story to be turned into a novel. Greg Rucka manages to take over fifty separate comics, by many different writers and artists, and not only effectively translate them into prose, but also into one consistent, cohesive narrative. He seems to do a good job introducing the various characters for readers who aren't familiar with all the members of the Batman Family, but I'm probably not the best judge, since I read the comics regularly.

Make no mistake: this is a Batman novel for folks who enjoy the character. The whole No Man's Land premise is pretty extreme, but no more so than the idea of a guy dressed as a flying rodent fighting a clown. But who goes looking to stories about costumed superheroes for naturalistic documents of society?

In a lot of ways, this is the ultimate Batman story: How does a man who decides to work outside the law function when the system of law breaks down? As a fictional examination of how society would behave if all the traditional infrastructures disappeared, featuring familiar characters from popular culture, this book works just fine. Call it science fiction, call it a metaphor, call it a fantasy or a comic book without pictures. It's still a lot of fun.

Being a longtime reader of the Batman line of comics, and a fan of the crime books by Greg Rucka, I was very excited to see the two combined in Batman: No Man's Land.

Mr. Rucka has taken his straight ahead style of writing and brought us an in depth look at Batman, his friends, associates and enemies during the darkest hour of Gotham City.

Having been devastated by an earthquake, the city is in shambles. Instead of rebuilding, the govt. decides to evacuate the citezens and isolate the city by cutting off access and turning it into a "No Man's Land". Those who stay will be forced to fend for themselves.

The novel looks at how the different players left in Gotham react to these changes, with some surprising results. With no law and little order, the line seperating good from bad is blurred, and in some cases erased. If you are already a fan of Batman, this book gives you insight into his workings and dealings with others in the cast that you don't normally get from the comics. The various reactions and emotions he provokes are in turns surprising and funny. If you only "know" of Batman and not a fan of the comics, there is enough of a background so you won't feel lost.

Indeed, Mr. Rucka's style turns this from a novel based on the comic books, to a genuine action-thriller. Even though I knew the outcome, his writing of the twists at the end made me (and will make you) want to go back and search for the clues that were missed.

This book is a great opportunity to get inside the heads of some of the most complex and dangerous characters ever created. Once there though, you may never want to leave.

If you were looking for a story that can redesign the Batman, stop looking. He must adapt to a new city, and to do that he has to forget all the rules and create new ones. Now he has to be more violent if he wants to rule the night. I find it the best I ever read about Batman. Everything is different. After this book you can't look at him the same way.

I was very pleased with Mr. Rucka's adaptation of the No Man's Land Saga. He pulled together a lot of story elements and created a wonderful narrative. I particularly enjoyed the "excerpts" from Barbara Gordon's journal. You don't have to be a fan of comics to enjoy this novel, but if you like Batman, you'll truly appreciate Mr. Rucka's contribution to the mythos.

Great Plot! Here is Batman looking at the downfall of humanity. A large earthquake has hittin' Gotham city and has left it screaming for help. When Batman is needed the most he is nowhere to be found. Then a mysterious bat character has appered to help this deformed Gotham. Calling herself "Batgirl". When the news comes to the Orcale (the real Batgirl, Barbara, untill Joker shot her in the spin and left her paralized), she is full of hate for this mysterious character. The Gothamites that have been left behind form gangs to survive. Including some of the famous villians; Penguin, Two-Face, Joker, Poisin Ivy and more. Then there are just the gangs like; Street Demonz, LoBoyz and many other low-lifes struggling for life. But with all these scum there has to be a "good" gang, right? Well that's where the reliable Gotham Police force, now Gotham's Blue Boys. All this will add up when you read No Man's Land Volume 1.

The book Batman: No Mans Land is by Greg Rucka caught my attention when I saw it sitting out on the shelf in the library. I have always been a Batman fan since I was a little kid, and I thought it might be fun to read an actual book about him. The books main characters are the narrator Oracle, and Batman, Robin, Nightwing, Batgirl, and have course all of the normal villains from Batmans past. The main theme of this book is basically good versus evil, and then also to see who will win.

This book takes place in Gotham city, where there have just been two massive earthquakes that sent the city into disrepair and ruins. Now the federal government not wanting to take the time or effort to rebuild the city has declared the city a No Mans Land. Now Batman has to step in and take the place of the police, and try to restore order to the city.

When Batman returns to No Mans Land he finds that he cant move in Gotham the way that he used to, he have to teach himself how to move on the busted and cobbled streets. Batman faces a major problem when he is led astray by a group of misfits. While watching them clubbed over the head and knocked unconscious. When he wakes and returns to his sector of Gotham, the part that he controls, he finds that it has all been taken over by Two face and his gang. This turns out to be a major problem, because Batman starts questioning himself and how well he can still do the job. Alfred, Bruce Waynes butler helps Batman overcome this problem by reminding him of how much has changed since he was last here, and how much he has actually helped the city. Batman then returns to his base, and tells Oracle to call in help. Finally overcoming his I can do this all by myself attitude. They call in Robin and Nightwing. This actually turns out to be a huge turning point in the battle for the city.

This book was a great book; the way that it was portrayed helped the storyline so much. It followed the theme of all Batman stories, but was written by a different author. I would think that it would be a huge con to have the book not be by the original author, but it may have actually turned out to be a good thing as far as the storyline was concerned, because the author, Greg Rucka had many interesting additions. This was one of the best books that I have read in a long time, it held my attention throughout the whole book, and I would recommend this book to anyone.

I think that the main theme of the book is basically good will triumph over evil. It followed the Batman series perfectly. Greg Rucka did a great job with this storyline, especially since he isnt the original creator of the Batman series. The way Greg Rucka portrayed Batman and his relationship with commissioner Gordon was great.

In Batman: No Man's Land Vol.I, Gotham, recently rocked to its foundations and utterly devastated by the apocolytic-size earthquake that hit it, has been cut off and barricaded from the U.S. Bruce Wayne, the Batman, tried to intercede on Gotham's behalf, but the U.S. Government denied his proposal. Now all the citizens of Gotham have been ordered by the U.S. Government and Military to evacuate the city. All that now remains in the broken and shut off city are the poor, the destitute, the valiant, the venal, the insane, and of course, The Batman.
Crimelords, insaniacs, and vicious gangs have now taken over Gotham, plunging the city into a dark age feudal-system. The crimelords, and the gangs that enforce their power, demand tribute from the poor, and all the remaining innocent residents of Gotham City. If the tribute isn't paid, the citizens are brutally killed.
The ravaged city is now begging for a messiah, a savior that will save them from this hellish darkness that has descended upon them. And Commisioner Gordon and the GPD, along with the help of his superintelligent computer-hacker daughter, Barbara Gordon, also known as The Oracle, are determined to answer that call. Gordon and the GPD must take barbaric and war-like measures to take back their city from the vicious and evil crimelords that have taken it over.
Batman, watching from a disclosed distance, is preparing to return to his city to save it from the evil that has now dominated it, but not yet, he has decided he will return when the time is ripe. But in Gotham there is a new vigilante taking his place, a new Batgirl, whose identity no one knows. She is determined to become the city's messiah, if all else fails.
In this first volume of the Batman:NML Saga, we see four vicious criminals of evil fame make their reapperance after the great earthquake, the wealthy crimelord and vicious opportunist, The Penguin, the schizophrenic God of Fear, The Scarecrow, the puppetmaster with a spit-personality that posseses an evil gangster dummy, The Ventriloquist and Scarface, and a cameo appearance from the psychotic clown prince of crime, The Joker.
As I said in the title, this is a brilliant, epic continuation series to the events that happened in Batman:Cataclysm. If you're a Batman fan and you've read Batman:Cataclysm, but haven't read No Man's Land Vol.I
yet, I strongly urge you to buy and read the first volume of this epic, monumental series in the Batman mythos. However, if you haven't even read Batman:Cataclysm yet, I strongly suggest you should read that before you start on Batman: No Man's Land, in order to better understand the plot and storyline.

Forget about the film versions of Batman, (except maybe the first one), forget about Adam West's Batman, THIS IS BATMAN! I was familiar with the plot of No Man's Land prior to reading the book and was pleasantly surprised and very impressed by Greg Rucka's novelization. As another reviewer mentioned, Rucka really gets you inside of the character's heads. The supporting cast of characters all contribute greatly to the plot and there are enough twists and turns to keep die hard Batman fans turning the pages. This story is the culmination of 10 years of Batman comics history - from Batman: Year One, through The Killing Joke, through the Knightfall saga. You won't be disappointed!