Product Description: Fans of Batman are lucky to get Greg Rucka--the talented, gritty young author of Keeper and Finder, among others--sharing time with their favorite licensed character in this novelization of DC's complete No Man's Land comic series. (And fans of Rucka--assuming they get around to reading this at all--will still likely hold the opinion that Atticus Kodiak could take Batman in a standup fight any day.) DC shook up Gotham--literally--in its 1999 Batman plot arc: a 7.6 earthquake rocked Gotham City, wreaking enough destruction to bring the broken, crime-ridden, runt kid-brother of Metropolis and New York to its knees. In the story line's most indulgent liberty, those fat cats in Washington decide to write off Gotham, +รก la Escape from New York, blowing up the connecting bridges, mining the surrounding waterways, and signing into law the Federal Declaration of No Man's Land, which makes it a crime to even set foot in the city. The usual suspects from Arkham Asylum, Two-Face and the Penguin, the Riddler and Dr. Freeze, Poison Ivy and Mr. Zsasz, file out to begin running the show, strong-arming and manipulating the block-by-block turf battles that envelop the now-ultraviolent city. A conflicted Batman shows up fashionably late, only to find that these lunatics are the least of his worries: Lex Luthor, Superman's archfoe, has nefarious designs on Gotham too. Could this possibly get any better? Sure, No Man's Land is derivative fiction, but the appeal of Rucka--and, of course, Batman--can make this one worth the read. --Paul Hughes
Great Read!! The story line is captivating and the fact that all of the characters you know and love are brought togther in such new and unique juxtapositions makes this worth recognition.
D'Israeli should stick to what he does best......Rugrat comic strip Seeing Batman being drawn in such a pathetic cartoonish way as shown in the Bread and Circuses part of this series just hurt my eyes. I've seen much much better comic art drawn by an amateur comic artist.
Batman Mosaic is also a pain for my eyes. It might be just me, but I don't like gothic drawing that much, especially when the style is applied to every single characters in the comic. If your comic style is to read comic with the all the characters having bad teeth gothic style, then this part is for you, otherwise you'll feel the same way I do.
The only reason that I didn't give one star for this part of no man's land is because the later half part of this GN is very well drawn. Especially the ones drawn by Phil Winslade and Mike Deodato. The story is pretty good, but I really am dissapointed by DC's choice with the first half part of this GN.
Gotham in ruins This is the second volume of the No Man's Land story, where Gotham lies in ruins, cut off from the outside world, battled over by gangs (including the police), and Batman and his team fight for the good of Gotham. It's a gripping storyline.
It's all about bread and circuses (Note: This is a review for No Man's Land Vol. 2. Amazon groups all five volumes and the novelization as one product.)
In No Man's Land Vol. 2, Batman starts to retake Gotham piece by piece. He establishes a line of information with the Penguin. With the help of Batgirl, False Face and other criminals are put away in Blackgate prison, which is being controlled by Lock-Up. Gordon also claims more territory for the GCPD Blue Boys, but at a terrible price, for which the consequences will be paid in future volumes. There are also stand alone stories chronicling the life and trials in NML of its various citizens.
My biggest disappointment with this volume is the artwork. Many varying styles of artwork are featured here (as opposed to volume one, which featured only two), and two of them are too cartoony for the dark, gritty feel NML is trying to achieve. I won't say it's bad artwork, but it definitely belongs elsewhere, like in the Batman animated titles. Thankfully, the artwork doesn't detract from the story, which is still excellent. A couple of continuity issues could be raised (like how Two-Face suddenly winds up in Renee Montoya's community when he has his territory to control), but it's a minor quibble.
After two volumes, NML is still going strong.
great return A great volume 2. But I must say that in some of the "chapters" I guess you would call them some of the art work is very cartoony-ish, I guess you could say. But then some of the art is very dark and gothic. The way most of us like it. The plot is very interesting and keeps you reading. I am still waiting for volume 3 and am hoping it is as good.
Anything Goes Trivia
Last Kiss
Megaton Man
Trevor
