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Batman: No Man's Land #6
Batman: No Man's Land, Vol. 3
After suffering a cataclysmic earthquake, the U.S. government has deemed Gotham City uninhabitable and ordered all citizens to leave. It is now months later and those that have refused to vacate "No Man's Land" live amidst a citywide turf war in which the strongest prey on the weak.Batman and his allies continue their fight to save Gotham during its darkest hour. Taking on a new costume and persona as Batgirl, the Huntress joins forces with Barbara Gordon, the former Batgirl, while Nightwing, the former Robin, tries to help the city's remaining citizens in any way he can. But as Batman begins to realize that he is fighting a fight he can't win, he collapses into a state of despair from which he may never recover.
This volume collects the issues:
Batman #569-571
Detective Comics #736-738
Azrael: Agent of the Bat #58
Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #122-124
Batman: Shadow of the Bat #89-92
Robin #68-72
Batman: No Man's Land Secret Files #1
This volume collects the issues:
Batman #569-571
Detective Comics #736-738
Azrael: Agent of the Bat #58
Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #122-124
Batman: Shadow of the Bat #89-92
Robin #68-72
Batman: No Man's Land Secret Files #1
480 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2012
26 people are currently reading
407 people want to read
About the author
Chuck Dixon
3,426 books1,031 followersCharles "Chuck" Dixon is an American comic book writer, perhaps best-known for long runs on Batman titles in the 1990s.
His earliest comics work was writing Evangeline first for Comico Comics in 1984 (then later for First Comics, who published the on-going series), on which he worked with his then-wife, the artist Judith Hunt. His big break came one year later, when editor Larry Hama hired him to write back-up stories for Marvel Comics' The Savage Sword of Conan.
In 1986, he began working for Eclipse Comics, writing Airboy with artist Tim Truman. Continuing to write for both Marvel and (mainly) Eclipse on these titles, as well as launching Strike! with artist Tom Lyle in August 1987 and Valkyrie with artist Paul Gulacy in October 1987, he began work on Carl Potts' Alien Legion series for Marvel's Epic Comics imprint, under editor Archie Goodwin. He also produced a three-issue adaptation of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Hobbit for Eclipse with artist David Wenzel between 1989 and 1990, and began writing Marc Spector: Moon Knight in June 1989.
His Punisher OGN Kingdom Gone (August, 1990) led to him working on the monthly The Punisher War Journal (and later, more monthly and occasional Punisher titles), and also brought him to the attention of DC Comics editor Denny O'Neil, who asked him to produce a Robin mini-series. The mini proved popular enough to spawn two sequels - The Joker's Wild (1991) and Cry of the Huntress (1992) - which led to both an ongoing monthly series (which Dixon wrote for 100 issues before leaving to work with CrossGen Comics), and to Dixon working on Detective Comics from #644-738 through the major Batman stories KnightFall & KnightsEnd (for which he helped create the key character of Bane), DC One Million , Contagion , Legacy , Cataclysm and No Man's Land . Much of his run was illustrated by Graham Nolan.
He was DC's most prolific Batman-writer in the mid-1990s (rivalled perhaps in history by Bill Finger and Dennis O'Neil) - in addition to writing Detective Comics he pioneered the individual series for Robin , Nightwing (which he wrote for 70 issues, and returned to briefly with 2005's #101) and Batgirl , as well as creating the team and book Birds of Prey .
While writing multiple Punisher and Batman comics (and October 1994's Punisher/Batman crossover), he also found time to launch Team 7 for Jim Lee's WildStorm/Image and Prophet for Rob Liefeld's Extreme Studios. He also wrote many issues of Catwoman and Green Arrow , regularly having about seven titles out each and every month between the years 1993 and 1998.
In March, 2002, Dixon turned his attention to CrossGen's output, salthough he co-wrote with Scott Beatty the origin of Barbara Gordon's Batgirl in 2003's Batgirl: Year One. For CrossGen he took over some of the comics of the out-going Mark Waid, taking over Sigil from #21, and Crux with #13. He launched Way of the Rat in June 2002, Brath (March '03), The Silken Ghost (June '03) and the pirate comic El Cazador (Oct '03), as well as editing Robert Rodi's non-Sigilverse The Crossovers. He also wrote the Ruse spin-off Archard's Agents one-shots in January and November '03 and April '04, the last released shortly before CrossGen's complete collapse forced the cancellation of all of its comics, before which Dixon wrote a single issue of Sojourn (May '04). Dixon's Way of the Rat #24, Brath #14 and El Cazador #6 were among the last comics released from the then-bankrupt publisher.
On June 10, 2008, Dixon announced on his forum that he was no longer "employed by DC Comics in any capacity."
His earliest comics work was writing Evangeline first for Comico Comics in 1984 (then later for First Comics, who published the on-going series), on which he worked with his then-wife, the artist Judith Hunt. His big break came one year later, when editor Larry Hama hired him to write back-up stories for Marvel Comics' The Savage Sword of Conan.
In 1986, he began working for Eclipse Comics, writing Airboy with artist Tim Truman. Continuing to write for both Marvel and (mainly) Eclipse on these titles, as well as launching Strike! with artist Tom Lyle in August 1987 and Valkyrie with artist Paul Gulacy in October 1987, he began work on Carl Potts' Alien Legion series for Marvel's Epic Comics imprint, under editor Archie Goodwin. He also produced a three-issue adaptation of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Hobbit for Eclipse with artist David Wenzel between 1989 and 1990, and began writing Marc Spector: Moon Knight in June 1989.
His Punisher OGN Kingdom Gone (August, 1990) led to him working on the monthly The Punisher War Journal (and later, more monthly and occasional Punisher titles), and also brought him to the attention of DC Comics editor Denny O'Neil, who asked him to produce a Robin mini-series. The mini proved popular enough to spawn two sequels - The Joker's Wild (1991) and Cry of the Huntress (1992) - which led to both an ongoing monthly series (which Dixon wrote for 100 issues before leaving to work with CrossGen Comics), and to Dixon working on Detective Comics from #644-738 through the major Batman stories KnightFall & KnightsEnd (for which he helped create the key character of Bane), DC One Million , Contagion , Legacy , Cataclysm and No Man's Land . Much of his run was illustrated by Graham Nolan.
He was DC's most prolific Batman-writer in the mid-1990s (rivalled perhaps in history by Bill Finger and Dennis O'Neil) - in addition to writing Detective Comics he pioneered the individual series for Robin , Nightwing (which he wrote for 70 issues, and returned to briefly with 2005's #101) and Batgirl , as well as creating the team and book Birds of Prey .
While writing multiple Punisher and Batman comics (and October 1994's Punisher/Batman crossover), he also found time to launch Team 7 for Jim Lee's WildStorm/Image and Prophet for Rob Liefeld's Extreme Studios. He also wrote many issues of Catwoman and Green Arrow , regularly having about seven titles out each and every month between the years 1993 and 1998.
In March, 2002, Dixon turned his attention to CrossGen's output, salthough he co-wrote with Scott Beatty the origin of Barbara Gordon's Batgirl in 2003's Batgirl: Year One. For CrossGen he took over some of the comics of the out-going Mark Waid, taking over Sigil from #21, and Crux with #13. He launched Way of the Rat in June 2002, Brath (March '03), The Silken Ghost (June '03) and the pirate comic El Cazador (Oct '03), as well as editing Robert Rodi's non-Sigilverse The Crossovers. He also wrote the Ruse spin-off Archard's Agents one-shots in January and November '03 and April '04, the last released shortly before CrossGen's complete collapse forced the cancellation of all of its comics, before which Dixon wrote a single issue of Sojourn (May '04). Dixon's Way of the Rat #24, Brath #14 and El Cazador #6 were among the last comics released from the then-bankrupt publisher.
On June 10, 2008, Dixon announced on his forum that he was no longer "employed by DC Comics in any capacity."
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 62 reviews
October 27, 2021
More of the extremest of post-Apocalyptic extremes from the sublime to the ridiculous.
Slave-powered stationary bike electricity? Check. No-holds barred cage fighting for fun and profit? Check. Subterranean homesick cannibals? Check and mate.
"Come see the violence inherent in the (lack of a) system!"
There really is something for everyone in this crazy compendium, just be prepared to not absolutely love everything as so many talented creatives inevitably cause a clash or three along the way.
This Review Dedicated to All Connoisseurs of Gratuitous Boob Windows in Comics
Slave-powered stationary bike electricity? Check. No-holds barred cage fighting for fun and profit? Check. Subterranean homesick cannibals? Check and mate.
"Come see the violence inherent in the (lack of a) system!"
There really is something for everyone in this crazy compendium, just be prepared to not absolutely love everything as so many talented creatives inevitably cause a clash or three along the way.
This Review Dedicated to All Connoisseurs of Gratuitous Boob Windows in Comics
January 28, 2021
The premise completely starts to fall apart in what was the worst volume so far for all the women involved.
While the last 2 at least had a few stories I cared about, this one only had 2 - and that was when I felt like forgiving horribly sexualized art. The ass shots and panel of Lynx in a submissive position on her knees as she's being beaten up were particularly disgusting.
Once again, the criminals and civilians are the heroes. The reformed criminal a camp of children refer to as the "King of Gotham" helps fix generators and bring supplies to civilians. Oswald Cobblepot does one decent thing to help children. A man that appears to have broken off from the Blue Boys is helping protect children in a separate part of Gotham. Lynx appears and helps break up an operation where immigrants are being forced into labor to generate energy. All of this while the heroes aren't doing nearly as much to directly help civilians. I will give them this, we see Cass facilitating some of these civilians and trying to get gasoline to help a hospital generator.
This volume made Bruce using Cass feel kinda gross? In that, in the issues not written by Kelley Puckett, people talk about her like she's not there and just use her for tasks. They don't seem to care about how she feels and Bruce doesn't seem to care about her safety at all. Add to that Dixon writing that Tim finds her creepy and no one treating her like a person, it wasn't great to read. The "lesson" Cass learns in Janet Harvey's issue is the same one that's been beaten into everyone's heads over the past 500 issues - heroes can't lose themselves and become one of the criminals.
Hama's issues were rather enjoyable - writing wise. I enjoyed Lynx helping the Asian immigrants and this was definitely an improvement over Dixon's stories where Asian people were all criminals and/or sexually desired by Tim Drake. I liked Lynx inspiring a young girl to rebel. The ending was upsetting and this was the only story I've read in this entire arc that evoked an emotion from me. That's sad. We get Lynx's backstory which, aside from Lynx not being a sex worker, bears quite a bit of resemblance to Selina's. Bruce's response is basically "Sad story? Big whoop. Not everyone with a sad story commits crime." As if he didn't take Jason Todd in after he'd tried to steal his tires.
Dixon's issues are what you'd expect: horrible representation of people of color (in that the only ones present are criminals and speak in stereotypical ways). I enjoyed seeing Steph again and that's all the compliments I have for his stories.
Steve Barnes wrote a story which uncomfortably referenced Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad. Very much not appreciated, to be honest.
Superman shows up and it's one bright spot in the volume. That issue is Superman trying to help a man grow vegetables during a cold front and a drought. It's pretty okay. Clark is a welcome addition, mostly because this entire arc is depressing and Clark has spirit.
There's a Rucka story where Two Face forces Gordon to go on trial. He beats up Gordon's wife and makes Renee play dress up court with him in exchange for her family's safety. Again, women are having the worst of times in this volume. Two Face blames Gordon for his own bad behavior which is abusive and gross to watch.
Most importantly, Renee says she's been held hostage for 5 months. I feel like I've been reading this arc for 5 months.
Tim's been in Gotham for at least 5 months and his father just realized he was missing. This is where the story entirely falls apart. A big problem with No Man's Land is that (allegedly) no one can get in or out. They established early on why Superman and the Young Justice team couldn't stay when they found their way in and now it feels like anyone can just come and go as they please. Tim's Dad finds out Tim's in Gotham and uses the power of privilege to get his son airlifted out. How much of an asshole do you have to be to finally get off your ass and use your resources to get access to a walled off city full of underprivileged, sick and dying civilians to save your one spoiled ass kid? Not only does Jack Drake look like an asshole, the fact that this becomes politicized is really gross. This is also privilege in a nutshell. Because this shit actually worked.
Does no one else in the entire world care that an entire city is being shut off from the rest of the world and starved to death?
While the last 2 at least had a few stories I cared about, this one only had 2 - and that was when I felt like forgiving horribly sexualized art. The ass shots and panel of Lynx in a submissive position on her knees as she's being beaten up were particularly disgusting.
Once again, the criminals and civilians are the heroes. The reformed criminal a camp of children refer to as the "King of Gotham" helps fix generators and bring supplies to civilians. Oswald Cobblepot does one decent thing to help children. A man that appears to have broken off from the Blue Boys is helping protect children in a separate part of Gotham. Lynx appears and helps break up an operation where immigrants are being forced into labor to generate energy. All of this while the heroes aren't doing nearly as much to directly help civilians. I will give them this, we see Cass facilitating some of these civilians and trying to get gasoline to help a hospital generator.
This volume made Bruce using Cass feel kinda gross? In that, in the issues not written by Kelley Puckett, people talk about her like she's not there and just use her for tasks. They don't seem to care about how she feels and Bruce doesn't seem to care about her safety at all. Add to that Dixon writing that Tim finds her creepy and no one treating her like a person, it wasn't great to read. The "lesson" Cass learns in Janet Harvey's issue is the same one that's been beaten into everyone's heads over the past 500 issues - heroes can't lose themselves and become one of the criminals.
Hama's issues were rather enjoyable - writing wise. I enjoyed Lynx helping the Asian immigrants and this was definitely an improvement over Dixon's stories where Asian people were all criminals and/or sexually desired by Tim Drake. I liked Lynx inspiring a young girl to rebel. The ending was upsetting and this was the only story I've read in this entire arc that evoked an emotion from me. That's sad. We get Lynx's backstory which, aside from Lynx not being a sex worker, bears quite a bit of resemblance to Selina's. Bruce's response is basically "Sad story? Big whoop. Not everyone with a sad story commits crime." As if he didn't take Jason Todd in after he'd tried to steal his tires.
Dixon's issues are what you'd expect: horrible representation of people of color (in that the only ones present are criminals and speak in stereotypical ways). I enjoyed seeing Steph again and that's all the compliments I have for his stories.
Steve Barnes wrote a story which uncomfortably referenced Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad. Very much not appreciated, to be honest.
Superman shows up and it's one bright spot in the volume. That issue is Superman trying to help a man grow vegetables during a cold front and a drought. It's pretty okay. Clark is a welcome addition, mostly because this entire arc is depressing and Clark has spirit.
There's a Rucka story where Two Face forces Gordon to go on trial. He beats up Gordon's wife and makes Renee play dress up court with him in exchange for her family's safety. Again, women are having the worst of times in this volume. Two Face blames Gordon for his own bad behavior which is abusive and gross to watch.
Most importantly, Renee says she's been held hostage for 5 months. I feel like I've been reading this arc for 5 months.
Tim's been in Gotham for at least 5 months and his father just realized he was missing. This is where the story entirely falls apart. A big problem with No Man's Land is that (allegedly) no one can get in or out. They established early on why Superman and the Young Justice team couldn't stay when they found their way in and now it feels like anyone can just come and go as they please. Tim's Dad finds out Tim's in Gotham and uses the power of privilege to get his son airlifted out. How much of an asshole do you have to be to finally get off your ass and use your resources to get access to a walled off city full of underprivileged, sick and dying civilians to save your one spoiled ass kid? Not only does Jack Drake look like an asshole, the fact that this becomes politicized is really gross. This is also privilege in a nutshell. Because this shit actually worked.
Does no one else in the entire world care that an entire city is being shut off from the rest of the world and starved to death?
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 15, 2021
It starts off with a story about this guy named the king and him helping people, then a story with Cass arranging for fuel in this dystopia, Batman vs Bane as he returns and its alright, ROBIN going underground and fighting Ratcatcher and Mr Freeze and meeting some of his friends and whatever Azrael is upto and Batman dealing with Lynx and that chinatown story! There is a crazy story with Joker organizing election and him and harley vs Jason. Then there is this story of a guy named Bock/Hardcase and how he fights in a ring and rescues kids and its boring. Bane returns and fights two face to take control of his land, Batman is involved and some story with some Jason guy and its weird. And Tim vs Killer croc.
Its an alright story with predictable twists and turns and honestly boring and its like that part of the story where it has gone on too long and man its a struggle to even read it now lol but then again I enjoyed portions like whatever happens with Bane and Joker. I wished they focused more on Batman than Joker and the art is so dull and frankly it takes hours to even complete it lol.
Its an alright story with predictable twists and turns and honestly boring and its like that part of the story where it has gone on too long and man its a struggle to even read it now lol but then again I enjoyed portions like whatever happens with Bane and Joker. I wished they focused more on Batman than Joker and the art is so dull and frankly it takes hours to even complete it lol.
November 6, 2020
Batman No Man's lands is going into the second half and...it feels weird?
All the darker, more mature stories, seem to be thrown out this volume for more bombastic tales. The Robin stories are fun, goofy, and weird. Batman jumping on rooftops while talking to people only to eventually find BANE has returned. Should have known with Dixon writing that he would show up. I don't hate Dixon's writing but every freaking event he has Bane show himself. Then we also just get some one shots of stopping crime and a Batgirl special.
The Batgirl one is real good. And the Robin and Batman stories aren't bad but...just feels very of the mil. I mean they just feel like typical Batman stories instead of being in his home which is torn to shreds by the earthquake and people are trying to still regroup. The tone is just shifted way different from volume 1 and especially 2. I did like the one shot of batman and superman working together alot though.
Overall, this is decent. Some good moments but otherwise just typical crime fighting superhero comic without much of a punch. A 3 out of 5.
All the darker, more mature stories, seem to be thrown out this volume for more bombastic tales. The Robin stories are fun, goofy, and weird. Batman jumping on rooftops while talking to people only to eventually find BANE has returned. Should have known with Dixon writing that he would show up. I don't hate Dixon's writing but every freaking event he has Bane show himself. Then we also just get some one shots of stopping crime and a Batgirl special.
The Batgirl one is real good. And the Robin and Batman stories aren't bad but...just feels very of the mil. I mean they just feel like typical Batman stories instead of being in his home which is torn to shreds by the earthquake and people are trying to still regroup. The tone is just shifted way different from volume 1 and especially 2. I did like the one shot of batman and superman working together alot though.
Overall, this is decent. Some good moments but otherwise just typical crime fighting superhero comic without much of a punch. A 3 out of 5.
November 30, 2017
The simple fact that Harley is in this book is enough to read it.
World: The art is good for the era, as I said before it's consistent. The colors are so 2000s. The world building is good, it's a bit looser than the previous arcs as status quo is the order of the day with everyone dug in. This book focuses more on the small human stories and so the world is a backdrop.
Story: Solid and further builds the world through small intimate stories. I like the smaller stories as they give more context. I also loved Harley in here so yeah it's awesome. This is why I enjoyed No Man's Land cause it was not always about fight fight fight and Superheroes against Villains. It's about the people of Gotham.
Characters: Small intimate stories from Leslie to all the inhabitants of Gotham. Harley is the highlight. Just read this for the characters.
The pieces are in place for the finale.
Onward to the next book!
World: The art is good for the era, as I said before it's consistent. The colors are so 2000s. The world building is good, it's a bit looser than the previous arcs as status quo is the order of the day with everyone dug in. This book focuses more on the small human stories and so the world is a backdrop.
Story: Solid and further builds the world through small intimate stories. I like the smaller stories as they give more context. I also loved Harley in here so yeah it's awesome. This is why I enjoyed No Man's Land cause it was not always about fight fight fight and Superheroes against Villains. It's about the people of Gotham.
Characters: Small intimate stories from Leslie to all the inhabitants of Gotham. Harley is the highlight. Just read this for the characters.
The pieces are in place for the finale.
Onward to the next book!
July 5, 2024
This volume of "No Man's Land" has a lot of fun with the series' "Gotham meets Lord of the Flies" premise. Batman and his crew are beginning to re-assert themselves in their earthquake-ravaged city, and we see some memorable stories and good character work with Mr. Freeze, Ratcatcher and the Penguin.
Bane re-enters the picture, providing a jolt for the plot, and we also get a nice, zany Joker and Harley Quinn story (he orchestrates a fake election to be “mayor” of Gotham while she plays hard to get with a "Rules"-style dating book). Superman makes an appearance too, and it's wholesome and delightful.
Good superhero work here from a varied crew of creators.
Bane re-enters the picture, providing a jolt for the plot, and we also get a nice, zany Joker and Harley Quinn story (he orchestrates a fake election to be “mayor” of Gotham while she plays hard to get with a "Rules"-style dating book). Superman makes an appearance too, and it's wholesome and delightful.
Good superhero work here from a varied crew of creators.
September 16, 2015
Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooookay. I'll keep this short because it's late, I'm tired, and this book isn't worth a long review.
Things I liked: This made me realize how much my love of the Bat Family is informed by everything from basically No Man's Land through War Games (or Infinite Crisis if I'm feeling generous). There's good, pure Batman comics in here, and when it's dealing with the (admittedly completely insane) premise of No Man's Land it was solid Batman comics.
Things I did not like: The lack of Greg Rucka. There are times when the writing fall victim to the pre-00's revolution in comics writing that can make this feel really dated and out of touch with the still-super-modern-feel of the previous volumes. Having writers like Larry Hama really hurt this for me, and the art is, quite frankly, really bad in places. This made me question the veracity of this Batman crossover over other crossovers. This had very little of the joy of No Man's Land premise, and the distinct lack of forward momentum or progress means that this continues the eternal comics toil of perpetually spinning its wheels with nothing accomplished, nothing ventured, and nothing gained.
Basically I'm just really pushing for Vol 4 to be good at this point, because all the stuff that I remember from my previous No Man's Land experiences are all covered in volumes that aren't this one. And sure, I guess you need to place the saggy issues in the collection for completion purposes, but that still made this a total chore. This should have taken me two days. It ended up taking me a week. Comics should be fun, not a thing I have to drag myself through.
Things I liked: This made me realize how much my love of the Bat Family is informed by everything from basically No Man's Land through War Games (or Infinite Crisis if I'm feeling generous). There's good, pure Batman comics in here, and when it's dealing with the (admittedly completely insane) premise of No Man's Land it was solid Batman comics.
Things I did not like: The lack of Greg Rucka. There are times when the writing fall victim to the pre-00's revolution in comics writing that can make this feel really dated and out of touch with the still-super-modern-feel of the previous volumes. Having writers like Larry Hama really hurt this for me, and the art is, quite frankly, really bad in places. This made me question the veracity of this Batman crossover over other crossovers. This had very little of the joy of No Man's Land premise, and the distinct lack of forward momentum or progress means that this continues the eternal comics toil of perpetually spinning its wheels with nothing accomplished, nothing ventured, and nothing gained.
Basically I'm just really pushing for Vol 4 to be good at this point, because all the stuff that I remember from my previous No Man's Land experiences are all covered in volumes that aren't this one. And sure, I guess you need to place the saggy issues in the collection for completion purposes, but that still made this a total chore. This should have taken me two days. It ended up taking me a week. Comics should be fun, not a thing I have to drag myself through.
August 13, 2017
I mostly liked this arc, No Man's Land, wherein Gotham City is abandoned and left out to fade by the United States government. But it did drag a whole lot more than it should have. Five days after I've finished this book (when I'm writing the review), it's running together in my mind. I can't remember which individual comics make appearances in this book - Is Harley Quinn's dating stuff in this book? (which was good) And Robin's weird continuity? (which was decidedly not). But what I do remember about volume 3 is no Greg Rucka. And boy that actually makes a difference.
I also remember Azrael. Now I hate Azrael from the Knightfall arc. He doesn't particularly redeem himself in the Road to No Man's Land, when he messes up a simple assignment rather drastically. But everything about Azrael in this volume, I like. He teams up with the new Batgirl, and provides the chatter to her silence. His work with Leslie Thompkins is meaningful too (or so I thought, anyway). So. Azrael was my favorite. I've always liked Nightwing, so it's nice to see some of his stuff. Commissioner Gordon has the worst arc in these stories, and I think Volume 3 is the silliest he's been. Bane makes an appearance, and if I hadn't read Vol 4 by the time I read this review, I'd have been excited.
Eh, it's mostly filler. Like I mentioned earlier, it's actually a really great arc, but drags like nobody's business. Vol. 3 is the main culprit. When I like the lesser characters' stories more than Bats, there's problems.
I also remember Azrael. Now I hate Azrael from the Knightfall arc. He doesn't particularly redeem himself in the Road to No Man's Land, when he messes up a simple assignment rather drastically. But everything about Azrael in this volume, I like. He teams up with the new Batgirl, and provides the chatter to her silence. His work with Leslie Thompkins is meaningful too (or so I thought, anyway). So. Azrael was my favorite. I've always liked Nightwing, so it's nice to see some of his stuff. Commissioner Gordon has the worst arc in these stories, and I think Volume 3 is the silliest he's been. Bane makes an appearance, and if I hadn't read Vol 4 by the time I read this review, I'd have been excited.
Eh, it's mostly filler. Like I mentioned earlier, it's actually a really great arc, but drags like nobody's business. Vol. 3 is the main culprit. When I like the lesser characters' stories more than Bats, there's problems.
February 12, 2013
The ability to sustain such an unwieldy storyline over the distance is straining here in the third volume. The whole thing feels like it's coming apart.
The stories are more fragmented, the characters are doing sillier and sillier things (really, Gordon? I mean: really???). A somewhat lengthy digression with Poison Ivy (Fruit of the Earth) was just blah, and another one-shot with Mr. Freeze was painfully nonsensical.
On the more positive side, Batman has finally gotten over his do-it-alone thing and called the Bat-Family together, though I don’t know whether this will make things more interesting or more silly. Hopefully the concluding volume will help bring this whole arc back to the strength and power from which it began.
This is definitely the weakest of the bunch; the bad stands out far above the good ~ and maybe that's how it should be: dark before the dawn and whatnot. Eh.
The stories are more fragmented, the characters are doing sillier and sillier things (really, Gordon? I mean: really???). A somewhat lengthy digression with Poison Ivy (Fruit of the Earth) was just blah, and another one-shot with Mr. Freeze was painfully nonsensical.
On the more positive side, Batman has finally gotten over his do-it-alone thing and called the Bat-Family together, though I don’t know whether this will make things more interesting or more silly. Hopefully the concluding volume will help bring this whole arc back to the strength and power from which it began.
This is definitely the weakest of the bunch; the bad stands out far above the good ~ and maybe that's how it should be: dark before the dawn and whatnot. Eh.
March 28, 2025
Es la parte que más me gustó, muchos humanismo y pese a que ya no sabía cuánto tiempo había pasado, ni qué historia iba antes... Al final me gustó.
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más bien leí otros números, o los más interesantes. Ya se empieza a sentir un poco larga la historia, y repetitiva pero a la vez tiene una buena continuidad.
ALgunas historias son buenas, otras entretenidas; pero otras es la misma idea del "detective" con weyes peleando territorio con armas. Me gustó lo de el espíritu de Arkham.
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más bien leí otros números, o los más interesantes. Ya se empieza a sentir un poco larga la historia, y repetitiva pero a la vez tiene una buena continuidad.
ALgunas historias son buenas, otras entretenidas; pero otras es la misma idea del "detective" con weyes peleando territorio con armas. Me gustó lo de el espíritu de Arkham.
May 3, 2015
No Man's Land is great - you just have to slog your way through volume 3. This one felt like filler. Maybe this era was an attempt at some character-driven "human" stories, but it just fell flat. Even the Joker stuff was boring. It's a sign when the Azrael issue is one of the better stories.
January 31, 2015
This has been my favorite volume of No Man's Land yet.. the concept is so good and it really came together in this volume. Lots of Batman villains make their appearance in it, plus Superman stops in for a visit. The Joker & Harley stories were great. All in all, great volume!
March 5, 2020
The worst of the bunch so far.
The individual issues in this one were published from September, 1999 and until January, 2000. That's another four months of real time and who knows how much of Gotham time, it's never mentioned anywhere. Any semblance of structure and direction is abandoned at this point. Gone is the Gotham map and Oracle is somewhere in the background, not documenting much of what's happening. Not that there is much to document in the meta-plot of the event since the majority of the stories is just filler material which is getting old. A bunch of fill-in writers and artists dominate the second half of the book with passable stories that don't get anywhere.
There are only three issues that are important here, they're called Homecoming and Goin' Downtown parts one and two. The first one describes how Bane comes into town and the other two are about his mission - he destroys Gotham's Hall of Records hinting that this is what his employer wants. The first one is written by Larry Hama and pencilled by Mike Deodato, Jr and has its moments of awesome. Though the latter are written by Chuck Dixon, I'm not a fan of Mat Broome's art.
We finally get a full story about the Joker. Up to this point he was lurking in the background making cameos here and there. But now he's trying to win the bonkers election and get into the good graces of his girlfriend Harley. And we get some fun Robin stories from Chuck Dixon as well.
The final story that deserves a mention is called The Message and is about a guy hearing a voice of the city in his head that commands him to bring a message to a certain place in the Gotham cemetery. It is set at a point in time just before the bridges are destroyed so its inclusion here is a dubious thing. For this one they've used one of the artists from the Sandman series, Michael Zulli. Alisa Kwitney as the writer does a good job of emulating Neil Gaiman.
At this point I'm fairly certain that half of the total content for this event should be moved into a separate "companion" series like they usually do with DC universe events. A single "main" narrative would work much better than this sad heap of detritus.
The individual issues in this one were published from September, 1999 and until January, 2000. That's another four months of real time and who knows how much of Gotham time, it's never mentioned anywhere. Any semblance of structure and direction is abandoned at this point. Gone is the Gotham map and Oracle is somewhere in the background, not documenting much of what's happening. Not that there is much to document in the meta-plot of the event since the majority of the stories is just filler material which is getting old. A bunch of fill-in writers and artists dominate the second half of the book with passable stories that don't get anywhere.
There are only three issues that are important here, they're called Homecoming and Goin' Downtown parts one and two. The first one describes how Bane comes into town and the other two are about his mission - he destroys Gotham's Hall of Records hinting that this is what his employer wants. The first one is written by Larry Hama and pencilled by Mike Deodato, Jr and has its moments of awesome. Though the latter are written by Chuck Dixon, I'm not a fan of Mat Broome's art.
We finally get a full story about the Joker. Up to this point he was lurking in the background making cameos here and there. But now he's trying to win the bonkers election and get into the good graces of his girlfriend Harley. And we get some fun Robin stories from Chuck Dixon as well.
The final story that deserves a mention is called The Message and is about a guy hearing a voice of the city in his head that commands him to bring a message to a certain place in the Gotham cemetery. It is set at a point in time just before the bridges are destroyed so its inclusion here is a dubious thing. For this one they've used one of the artists from the Sandman series, Michael Zulli. Alisa Kwitney as the writer does a good job of emulating Neil Gaiman.
At this point I'm fairly certain that half of the total content for this event should be moved into a separate "companion" series like they usually do with DC universe events. A single "main" narrative would work much better than this sad heap of detritus.
Read
January 24, 2020I’m still enjoying No Man’s Land, but this volume suffers from limited story progression and Bat family involvement. We get lots of stories focusing on villains, like Bane, Joker, and Harley Quinn (in one of her first comics appearances); the ones that feature Batman and co. are generic superhero fights more often than not, with average writing and art. Greg Rucka’s absence from this volume is felt, in other words, as he delivered the best issues in volumes one and two. Even the usually reliable Chuck Dixon isn’t at his best here.
There are bright spots, of course. The two-part Mackenzie Bock story is well done. If we’re not going to get Bat family stories, this is the type of No Man’s Land arc I like, about everyday citizens getting along in the mess of their quarantined city. There’s humanity, drama, plus a great showcase for Penguin, one of the undisputed stars of No Man’s Land. Devin Grayson’s Superman issue also stands out. Superman learned from his previous visit to Gotham that his presence didn’t exactly help the situation. As Clark Kent, though? Well, maybe he can do some good, like helping an orchard keeper with his fruit and deescalating a fight. There’s also a great exchange between Batman and Clark about the latter’s choice of dress. (Side note: you should check out Superman Adventures, where Grayson wrote another good Superman story)
There are bright spots, of course. The two-part Mackenzie Bock story is well done. If we’re not going to get Bat family stories, this is the type of No Man’s Land arc I like, about everyday citizens getting along in the mess of their quarantined city. There’s humanity, drama, plus a great showcase for Penguin, one of the undisputed stars of No Man’s Land. Devin Grayson’s Superman issue also stands out. Superman learned from his previous visit to Gotham that his presence didn’t exactly help the situation. As Clark Kent, though? Well, maybe he can do some good, like helping an orchard keeper with his fruit and deescalating a fight. There’s also a great exchange between Batman and Clark about the latter’s choice of dress. (Side note: you should check out Superman Adventures, where Grayson wrote another good Superman story)
June 15, 2020
I'm struggling to figure out how exactly I feel about this volume. On the one hand, it is... not good. The vast majority of stories in this volume do nothing to advance the storyline of "No Man's Land," and accomplish almost nothing new on their own. It's the same old stuff as volumes one and two: Gotham is a disaster zone now, people have to barter to survive, there are constant turf wars, etc. In the first couple of volumes this all felt new and refreshing, but now it is very much wearing out its very repetitive welcome.
On the other, I still like the insanity of this event, and there's just enough originality in this volume to give me hope about volume 4. There's a subtly building story about Bane returning to Gotham for mysterious reasons, to accomplish mysterious tasks, that feels the most important and impactful of anything in here. And there's a very well-written (if outdated) storyline about Harley Quinn's relationship with Joker, that I believe is one of the first Harley stories in the Batman comics cannon following her creation in the Animated Series.
So, there are points of interest for sure, but overall I'm really looking forward to this event either pushing itself forward or wrapping up. Three large volumes of mostly the same kind of stuff is too much, and knowing there's an entire fourth on the way isn't reassuring. But, I know they also have to wrap it up next volume (and Greg Rucka is much more involved), so I'm at least excited to see how it ends.
On the other, I still like the insanity of this event, and there's just enough originality in this volume to give me hope about volume 4. There's a subtly building story about Bane returning to Gotham for mysterious reasons, to accomplish mysterious tasks, that feels the most important and impactful of anything in here. And there's a very well-written (if outdated) storyline about Harley Quinn's relationship with Joker, that I believe is one of the first Harley stories in the Batman comics cannon following her creation in the Animated Series.
So, there are points of interest for sure, but overall I'm really looking forward to this event either pushing itself forward or wrapping up. Three large volumes of mostly the same kind of stuff is too much, and knowing there's an entire fourth on the way isn't reassuring. But, I know they also have to wrap it up next volume (and Greg Rucka is much more involved), so I'm at least excited to see how it ends.
March 21, 2019
A mostly forgettable volume of lesser characters , the best issues are the last two, Robin #71 and #72... There also is another notable story about limited resources in the city that is worthy of keeping, the second issue in the book, Batman #569 ("I Cover the Waterfront").
The volume also includes to should-have-been-better stories----and downright awful stories--.
It also ends with another batch of Character Profiles, which I chose not to review in case they contained spoilers like those in Road to No Man's Land, Vol. 2.
The volume also includes to should-have-been-better stories----and downright awful stories--.
It also ends with another batch of Character Profiles, which I chose not to review in case they contained spoilers like those in Road to No Man's Land, Vol. 2.
November 16, 2022
By this point in No Man's Land, things are fairly established, between the various criminals, gangs, police and Bat family having settled into their territories in the ravaged Gotham wasteland. Many of the titles returned, to a degree, to being like they were pre-NML in the sense that they're individual stories featuring particular characters that now take place within NML. Some of the lesser used villains show up, such as Ratcatcher, Mr. Freeze and Killer Croc, while the bigger names, Joker, Harley Quinn, Two-Face and Penguin, make their appearances known. The biggest villain who seems to be playing a major part in a continuing subplot is Bane who has made his way into Gotham and is already blowing things up as part of some master plan. Batman himself is less prominently featured throughout the book - he is front and center early, then just kind of shows up in many of the later titles, while Robin, Huntress and even Bock get their cracks at being the central figure. For the most part the artwork was better than in some of the previous entries, and the more self-contained stories were enjoyable.
December 5, 2022
Once again, some filler material, and repetitive at times, but mostly fun and engaging, as it keeps forwarding the saga, instead of staying stuck in the same motions. There are alot of ridiculous ideas in this, even for a comic book, that kind of left me rolling my eyes.
Best issues are, again, by Rucka and Greyson, who are mostly absent during this volume. Larry Hama and Chuck Dixon write most of these issues, and both are very hit and miss in this volume.
A decent read, but at this point, I'm really looking forward to see it end. It's longer than it should be, and kind of wears out its welcome, especially how illogical and outlandishly dumb some of these issues are.
Only one volume left, and I intend to power through it to finally finish this overlong event.
If I ever do a reread, I'll be skipping alot of this filler, and sticking with the Bob Gale, Devon Grayson, Greg Rucka, Chuck Dixon and Larry Hamma penned issues. Those are all you need to not miss the important stuff from NML.
Best issues are, again, by Rucka and Greyson, who are mostly absent during this volume. Larry Hama and Chuck Dixon write most of these issues, and both are very hit and miss in this volume.
A decent read, but at this point, I'm really looking forward to see it end. It's longer than it should be, and kind of wears out its welcome, especially how illogical and outlandishly dumb some of these issues are.
Only one volume left, and I intend to power through it to finally finish this overlong event.
If I ever do a reread, I'll be skipping alot of this filler, and sticking with the Bob Gale, Devon Grayson, Greg Rucka, Chuck Dixon and Larry Hamma penned issues. Those are all you need to not miss the important stuff from NML.
January 17, 2023
It's fine. It's not great, it's not terrible, it's fine. This volume does very little to advance the main narrative of No Man's Land, as it's mostly tie-ins and related Bat Family titles. It really does feel like DC decided that there will be a certain number of issues in the No Man's Land story, and they'll just fill them out as they see fit, so a lot of this volume feels like filler.
Larry Hama's titles are some of the worst Batman writing I've ever experienced, and they should be skipped when reading this volume. The rest of the writing ranges from "mediocre" to "fairly good." There are some interesting developments for Robin, Steph, and Batgirl, but on the whole, nothing stood out to me in this volume as exceptional. Harley Quinn, who makes one of her first comic appearances in this volume, is the stand-out, but even the Harley story is just okay.
Larry Hama's titles are some of the worst Batman writing I've ever experienced, and they should be skipped when reading this volume. The rest of the writing ranges from "mediocre" to "fairly good." There are some interesting developments for Robin, Steph, and Batgirl, but on the whole, nothing stood out to me in this volume as exceptional. Harley Quinn, who makes one of her first comic appearances in this volume, is the stand-out, but even the Harley story is just okay.
April 20, 2019
The stories in vol. 3 aren’t necessarily as tight or as focused as some in the previous 2 collections, and Batman is actually absent for more than 25% of them, but as far as I’m concerned, this 3rd volume of No Man’s Land is the best.
The artwork is fantastic and the stories, usually spread out over only 2 issues, are some of the most compelling and action oriented in the entirety of the Batman universe. Both Barnes’s “Underground Tubman” arc and the return of Bane are a ton of fun to read. Plus, thankfully, there’s only one story involving the annoying as hell Azrael.
With a perfect cliffhanger and the promise of a great conclusion, I can’t wait to see just how the entire No Man’s Land is wrapped up in next collection.
The artwork is fantastic and the stories, usually spread out over only 2 issues, are some of the most compelling and action oriented in the entirety of the Batman universe. Both Barnes’s “Underground Tubman” arc and the return of Bane are a ton of fun to read. Plus, thankfully, there’s only one story involving the annoying as hell Azrael.
With a perfect cliffhanger and the promise of a great conclusion, I can’t wait to see just how the entire No Man’s Land is wrapped up in next collection.
December 7, 2020
This volume continues what is great about the series by investing time into stories about character's outside of the Bat family. Harley Quinn, Detective Hardback and a man communicating with the spirit of Gotham itself have standout stories while Bane and Penguin have some interesting takes. Robin, Azrael and the others also have solid entries. Its a volume like this that makes you appreciate the depth that Batman has on his roster. Batman really does have the best supporting cast, not just in DC and not just in comics, but perhaps in fiction itself.
December 26, 2025
Tim Drake re-read: Part 12/?
Should I even keep counting? I've been reading so much extra stuff around it that I feel like it might be meaningless.
Oh well, while this is a part of a larger even, this book specifically has a lot of Tim, collecting issues 68-72, so its gets the tag.
Overall, this book isn't as good as the previous one in this event, but still a very solid read. Love having a lot of Tim in here (thank god he's out of those sewers, though) and the Superman issue was a lot of fun. The Lynx story is definitely the worst of the bunch, it's real bad.
3.5 stars.
Should I even keep counting? I've been reading so much extra stuff around it that I feel like it might be meaningless.
Oh well, while this is a part of a larger even, this book specifically has a lot of Tim, collecting issues 68-72, so its gets the tag.
Overall, this book isn't as good as the previous one in this event, but still a very solid read. Love having a lot of Tim in here (thank god he's out of those sewers, though) and the Superman issue was a lot of fun. The Lynx story is definitely the worst of the bunch, it's real bad.
3.5 stars.
March 13, 2020
I mean... it’s fine. There’s some really cool things going on here but goddam it there’s so many different writers that there’s no flow to them and it all seems pretty pointless after a while. This could’ve been wrapped up sooner, and there’s a couple of important issues but they’re so few and far between that I can’t remember what happened. It’s kind of annoying but this isn’t as bad as the last one.
August 6, 2020
This is a belated review as I've finished the entire No Man's Land already. Since I finished this a long time ago, I went through my copy again to refresh my memory and what I realized is that this entire volume is full of filler issues. This is something that you can skip because it does very little to progress the story.
October 22, 2017
A tired storyline at this point but with some very good high points such as Harley and Batgirl Read full review here
July 15, 2020
After volume 2 this is pretty much more of the same and it’s starting to wear thin. Some of the artwork and stories are great but overall it’s got rather repetitive, I’m hoping the next volume and end to this story arc is worth it!
June 30, 2021
As others have noted, this is easily the weakest of the NML volumes. There are still some worthwhile stories in here but, overall, it lacks a real sense of progression, hopefully Volume 4 will wrap things up in a more satisfying way.
January 25, 2023
Chaos and mayhem continue into this third volume of the No Man's Land story. This crossover type comic book event may lack cohesion sometimes, but it does not suffer from a lack of variety. There's a lot of stuff going on.
February 15, 2023
This story keeps being (mostly) great! The Joker and Harley Quinn stole the show here, but most of the stories were pretty good in this collection! The Bat-Family being more engaged with the overarching plot helps diversify things, but less Batgirl this time around was a shame. Azrael stories weren’t that great, but the Robin ones were fun, as was the Superman issue.
Overall fairly enjoyable, but it is dragging on a bit at this time, and there’s definitely some stories that are just somewhat altered repeats of previous ones.
Overall fairly enjoyable, but it is dragging on a bit at this time, and there’s definitely some stories that are just somewhat altered repeats of previous ones.
April 14, 2023
You put together a story this big you are bound to hit some lulls and clunkers along the way. That’s what I was thinking while making my way through volume 3. I enjoyed some of the stories that are part of this year long mega story. But there are some that really didn’t need to be told.
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