Batman: War Games, Act One - Outbreak [Paperback]

Ed Brubaker (Author), Andersen Gabrych (Author), Devin Grayson (Author), Dylan Horrocks (Author), Bill Willingham (Author), Paul Gulacy (Illustrator), Brad Walker (Illustrator), Giuseppe Camuncoli (Illustrator), Al Barrionuevo (Illustrator), Francis Portela (Illustrator)

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 10 Up–This frantically plotted installment in the series supposedly introduces monumental changes in the Batman saga. For someone who isn't a regular reader of the comics, though, it is more likely to set the stage for a series migraine. The basic premise is that one of Batman's gang of antiheroes has unleashed a Dark Knight's own war game scenario on Gotham City. The result is utter chaos, with rival gangs fighting for control and the police hopelessly outgunned. In the ensuing jumble of fistfights, arson, and shoot-outs, a mysterious assassin is methodically hunting down, torturing, and killing both mob bosses and members of Batman's team. This is a huge story line, stretching across several issues of the comics that reflect different visual and written interpretations of the various heroes and villains. While it is interesting to see the different interpretations, the change in drawing and coloring styles can be confusing. The characterizations, too, could be a problem for casual Batman fans, as familiar figures such as Batman, Robin, and Batgirl are very different from their recently successful graphic-novel counterparts. Although the overarching story is complex, the graphic compositions and plot points are often sophomoric in their attempts to show flesh without sex and violence with no seeming repercussions. Appealing to a specific demographic, this is like an R-rated movie edited to receive a PG-13 rating. There are many other great stand-alone Batman graphic novels that are more self-contained and have clearer, better story devices.–Steev Baker, Kewaskum Public Library, WI
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Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: DC Comics (March 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1401204295
• ISBN-13: 978-1401204297
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 0.5 x 10.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #86,395 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars It's summer and time for a cross-over that no one wants..., February 18, 2005

By 

R. SHARIFF "rayhans1282" (Jamaica, NY USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Batman: War Games, Act One - Outbreak (Paperback)

This book collects the first act of an unecessarily lengthy crossover. This volume collects the following:
BATMAN: THE 12-CENT ADVENTURE
DETECTIVE COMICS #797
BATMAN #631
BATMAN: LEGENDS OF THE DARK KNIGHT #182
NIGHTWING #96
BATMAN: GOTHAM KNIGHTS #56
ROBIN #129
BATGIRL #55
CATWOMAN #34

The basic premise in this story is that ex-Robin and now an outcast, Spoiler aka Stephanie Brown witnesses a covergence of the entire mob families of Gotham City. She eavesdrop on this meeting despite Batman's specific instructions. A gun fire erupts and all hell breaks loose as the mob families vow revenge on each other and fight to be the top boss while the innocents are caught in the brushfire. Now, it is up to Batman, Nightwing, Robin, Batgirl, Catwoman, Huntress, Spolier and the rest of the Bat-family to put the mob fires out before Gotham is engulfed.

The premise being set, I'll get to the good parts about this volume first. You won't see it in this act but if you are patient enough (and rich enough) to follow this to the last act, you will see the death of character from the abovementioned bat-family. I am not a foaming and complaining fanboy but this character should never have been written into the Bat-family. That's the ultimate payoff from War Games.

Now, the bad part of this volume. I personally am not a fan of crossovers...you have a lot of different writers and artists focusing on their part of the story and the result is that the entire story as a whole suffers. It basically becomes one giant mess, ie. Superman: Our Worlds at War. Now, I am not saying that the writers of this volume is not talented...some of these writers are veterans, i.e. Ed Brubaker. Mr. Brubaker writes one of the best monthly on the market, Gotham Central but his work suffers here as a whole due to the constant jumping around from one author to another. Other writers in this volume are Andersen Gabrych, Devin Grayson, Dylan Horrocks, A.J. Lieberman, and Bill Willingham. Most of these guys are relative new-comers save for Devin Grayson.

All in all, this book goes the way of most summer cross-overs, fast and forgotten. At the end the only change is the death of a Bat-family character and Batman's relationship with the GCPD changes. But you can be rest assured that the next writer to pick up the mess from this will write as if none of this ever happened. Recommended if you have the patience and money.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Hey, now., July 16, 2005

By 

Marlene R. Powell (Cincinnati) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Batman: War Games, Act One - Outbreak (Paperback)

I actually enjoyed this book. Perhaps it was because I wasn't in it for Batman alone; I was in it in order to be introduced to these characters, whom I probably wouldn't have gotten exposure to otherwise.
Hey, I'm new to all this DC stuff (my father always collected Marvel, so I'd always stuck with them -- perhaps that's why I don't seem to have the same "oh my god, he's working with other people!" problem that the other reviewers seem to have).

The plot IS actually compelling, at least for this first book. I've not read the second one yet. Yet.

The "official" reviewer has some issues.
1) In highly stressful situations, people can (and do) get a little scoldy. ALL the characters are stressed beyond breaking point. People ARE allowed to be grumpy when they've been going on for a day and a half with no sleep, but still fighting the entire time. Right?
2) Freeze did not concoct the meeting. I don't think the main reviewer finished half of the book, if he/she came to that conclusion. I don't want to give away WHO did, because that revelation is an ironic twist that needs to be left in the dark. Let's just say that I hope it's THAT particular member of the bat-family that gets to go to the great beyond when all is said and done. That character has the ability to annoy me MOST highly. Grumph.

The one complaint that I have is the ending.
The bat family carries a girl out of the high school (which has been attacked by all the mobs, BECAUSE of that girl -- the daughter of one of the other mob bosses). She's barely clinging to life.
And... Batman is fingered for killing her?
And everyone believes it?
Even if there were lots of mob members inside shooting up the joint, and only ONE person got shot BECAUSE the bat-people were there to get everyone out?
Dang, SOMEONE could tell the police/media that she was shot long before the bat people entered the scene, that she was the one the mobs were after. It was plain and clear.

But THIS incident is the one that villifies batman?
Talk about unfair.

That bit didn't sit right with me.
The rest, though, was pure beauty, if you want to look at more than one character at once, working together.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars War Games...game on, October 19, 2006

By 

Chowii (Irvine, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Batman: War Games, Act One - Outbreak (Paperback)

What happens when you get all the criminal bosses together for a meeting with their crew, yup, you get a free for all shootout in which most of the heads of the criminal underworld are killed, thus leaving a power vacuum. Chaos ensues as the underlings scramble to take power during this vacuum. Who can stop this, Batman! At least he will try along with his Bat crew, you know, Nighting, Oracle, Catwoman, Tim Drake (he is retired from being Robin) etc. This 1st arc deals with the criminals trying to wrest control and establishing themselves, which includes the assassination of rival family members. This targeting of family members eventually spills into Tim Drakes high school and its up to Batman and the Bat crew to rescue Tim. Since there are so many different artist and writers in the book, the stories jump around a bit. But overall, this compilation is a decent read.