Batman: No Man's Land Vol. 2: New Edition

Batman: No Man's Land #5

by Greg Rucka

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.

Collects BATMAN #567-568, DETECTIVE COMICS #734-735, BATMAN: LEGENDS OF THE DARK KNIGHT #119-121, BATMAN: SHADOW OF THE BAT #87-88, BATMAN CHRONICLES #17, ROBIN #67, NIGHTWING #35-37, CATWOMAN #72-74, AZRAEL: AGENT OF THE BAT #56-57, and YOUNG JUSTICE: NO MAN'S LAND #1.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Batman, Dc Comics, Fiction, Superheroes, Comic Book

506 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 1, 1999

About the author

Greg Rucka, is an American comic book writer and novelist, known for his work on such comics as Action Comics, Batwoman: Detective Comics, and the miniseries Superman: World of New Krypton for DC Comics, and for novels such as his Queen & Country series.

Reviews

[Sean Gibson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Note to self: don't buy Vol. 3 of a series before determining the craptacularity level of Vol. 2, as it may be exceedingly high.

Like the guy in the Simpsons who traded his car for a Krusty Burger ribwich, I have the buyer's remorse.

[James DeSantis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Man the scope of No Man's Land is pretty goddamn impressive even if don't love every story.

The main focus of this story is batman realizing he can NOT do this alone. This isn't as dour as the last volume and it's boosted more by the fact he has to rely on his friends and family to make it through this event. Even better is the fact the connecting stories are far more interesting. Nightwing's story of breaking into blackgate and out, Robin working together with nightwing, Cassandra Cain becoming Batgirl, Bruce reuniting his family. All of this works really well.

On top of that you get a story of Bruce rescuing Poison Ivy and it's actually REALLY well done and makes Clayface a true piece of shit (Which is funny cause I like him alot in Rebirth). Also I won't fail to mention that all this moves a lot quicker and better than previous volume.

My only downsides is Azarul or whatever is still a boring as fuck character. Oh and the Cat Woman stories that close this one out are just okay. Seem a bit too typical for me even though she's badass, the plots themselves are okay.

Overall, a pretty great collection and I'm actually excited to get into the next part. A 4 out of 5.

[Chelsea 🏳️‍🌈 · Rating 2 out of 5]

Less anger inducing than the last volume but some of the same issues: bad art, really really bad art and heroes acting like assh*les.

TW: sexual assault

I think I give more forgiveness to this one because I love Cassandra Cain and this features her introduction. She has a really interesting backstory, I love her relationship with Babs and it was great seeing her intro again. While I don't love the reason Batman gave her the Batgirl costume, I enjoyed Puckett's issues about her.

Batman essentially gives the Batgirl suit to Cass (which by the way... I don't feel he should be the authority on seeing as it was Babs', not his). He gives it to Cass because he hates that Helena won't just follow his orders. Granted, Helena was the second worst person in this entire arc, but Bruce is still being a dick to her the entire time. He holds her to impossible standards while simultaneously telling her she'll never be a good hero. Granted, she hasn't acted like a hero in this entire arc thus far, but Simone's take on her later make me think Helena being the (second) worsssttt is the writing. It's Chuck Dixon and Devin Grayson making her intolerable.

Beatty's issue about the Langstroms features some truly horrific art. Man-Bat's child was really hard to look at and the colors were just awful. Considering the really weird head size on the kids in Young Justice, it was 90s art at it's worst. That issue (Beatty with Dixon) wasn't anything to write home about, either. Love that the girls were left out of it for 99.9% of it. Great.

There are some stories with Batman's usual cast of characters:
- I continue to not understand any woman willingly sleeping with the Penguin. No money is worth that.
- Poison Ivy shows up and, as usual, Batman's determined to stop her, but what she's doing is good? She was taking care of Gotham's orphan children (and if I need a better example of how unheroic and unBatsy Batman's been this entire arc, its that all of these kids only had Ivy to turn to and Bruce wasn't trying to adopt all of them). She's taken by Clay Face (unsure which one this was) and he holds her hostage and uses her for food and rapes her. It's explicitly said that he raped her. She settles on making him suffer and Batman tries to stop that. Honestly, I was rooting for her the entire time.
- There's a Harley Quinn issue that almossttt seemed as though Harley was going to make the right choice and break away from the Joker for good. Instead it ends in a weird way where she accepts his bullshit apology and it seems to say "See, women are crazy, lol". I don't like Harley stories like this. I prefer the ones where she actually sticks up for herself. Anyway, I enjoyed Harley's time with Ivy, however short it was.
- Hama's Batman v. Mr. Freeze story was the best Batman story in this book. Mostly because it didn't involve him bossing around any of the other members of the Batfamily.
- There's a Catwoman story I don't think is important enough to really mention. Save for the annoying art that was just impossible contortions to present as much tits and ass as possible and writing that made me cringe internally. I'm not sure who this book was for? Couldn't be women because I like girls and this art turned me off the story completed.

There's a Devin Grayson story that was half way enjoyable for me. I really loved the parts with Leslie. I loved her POV, her relationship with Bruce and Mikey, the reformed gang member. I really liked her dedication to helping everyone that needed medical help, regardless of if they were villains or not. And then there's Huntress who's the absolute worst. She's making everyone's jobs more difficult, she's bonded with a murderous cop I wish would fall into the river. She tries to fight Cass, who's actually helping people. I honestly question why this character was written the worst way possible? She hasn't been on the right side of an issue since her creation (and she won't be until Gail Simone writes her for Birds of Prey).

[Mizuki]

Once again, allow me to pimp my Batman ink drawing here!

(Link: https://www.deviantart.com/darkchildr...)

Finally, I managed to tear myself away from Batman online fanfics long enough to read comics...

Okay, is the new 'Batgirl' actually Selina Kyle? I don't think it's likely but still...

Anyway, I love the artwork, most of them are befittingly dark and gritty which fits the mood of the main story perfectly. In a tale about The Black Mask and his cult, the comic artist, Frank Teran and colorist Gloria Vasquez each deserve an award for drawing this gloomy Dark Knight's tale into an artful perfection!

Beside the badass Batman (who is with 5 o'clock shadow now), we also get tales from the hardcore but overworked Commissioner Gordon and his blue boys as the troop struggles to keep order in a lawless and abandoned town. Last but not least, I'm also smitten with good guy Two Face and his punkish hair.

I will jump to read the next volume!

Review: Red Hood: Outlaw vol. 1 https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Review: Batman: Battle For the Cowl: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Review: Batman: Life After Death: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Review: Batman & Robin: Batman Reborn https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Book Review: Batman: The Long Halloween https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Review: The Greatest Batman Stories Ever Told Vol. 1 (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...)

[Subham · Rating 3 out of 5]

It starts off with a four way war between Two face, Penguin and GCPD and Bats and well one is captured and the other loses the land, then we see the origin of Cass, an adventure of the YJ here in Gotham vs Ferak, one of Ivy's creation and its an alright story. Then we find the real identity of Batgirl and maybe another one takes the mantle and Azrael vs Nick Scratch which was just epic! Batman helps Francine, wife of Man-bat and she also becomes one, to rescue her son from the Penguin. There is a identity crisis of Batman with some Dr and Two-face which was an okayish story. The big story is Nightwing breaking into Blackgate and fighting a guy named Lock-up and other villains to free them from there. Its an okayish story. And then Batman and Ivy vs Clayface which was too good! Also huntress! Catwoman must steal some things for Batman and she does from NYC and its funny and I love the action and then we have her going against Hardcase Inc and Maxie Zeus but even though she steals it, it goes sideways as she took a detour and then we have a story of Batman vs Mr Freeze which was alright and a meh story.

This was overall an okayish type of volume and continues the No mans land story and has Batman face off against different villains and I like how it still focuses on Azrael, Nightwing and Catwoman and building to something big with them and then the big story with Oracle connecting them and those discs. I like multiple writers here but they have the same POV and are in sync and it doesn't feel out of place here though. The art in some issues was dull but still okay considering it was 90s but the main deal is the fun and showing all aspects of Gotham in wake of this devastation and the effects continue to be felt and its awesome! A great sequel and read!

[Brandon · Rating 4 out of 5]

While I enjoyed the second collection, it's kind of hard to top that Scarecrow story from Volume 1. However, what Volume 2 lacks in story, it makes up for in artwork.

With Greg Rucka and Bob Gale sharing the majority of the writing task, the reigns of the artwork are given to several people throughout the novel's brisk 208 pages. In fact, some of the most interesting presentations of The Dark Knight's world are shown here through the pencils of illustrators like Chris Renaud and D'Israeli. Both gave us a very cartoonish vision while still maintaining that sense of darkness the story required.

While I'm excited to continue the series, the artwork really helped this review secure an extra star. I'm probably not going to be so forgiving the next time around if the story doesn't grab me as quickly.

[Wing Kee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cassandra!!!

World: Art is solid for the era and informs the tone of the event. The world building here is also very consistent, there are some things here and there but overall this event feels self contained and well done. The sectors on the map was great and really gives the reader a sense of the scope and the situation in the book. It's very solid. I like No Man's Land world it's different and a great read.

Story: Finally we deal with Scratch and I hate this character so there's that. This is the book that brings Cassandra, it's sudden and comes out of nowhere and does not do a good job introducing her but she's here and she's awesome. It also deals with a lot of Blue Boys and awesome Rucka stories. There's just so much here and it's all different and the scope is just great.

Characters: Bats is good and with the rest of family coming into the picture it's great. A lot of stories a lot of great characters moments just like Cassandra and Babs, and Selina and Bats. It's just choked full of small stories that make up the great character driving story that is No Man's Land.

A great second book.

Onward to the next book!

[Shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

MINI REVIEW: this is the first of several volumes about a Gotham which has been mostly abandoned by the rest of the world. An earthquake hit Gotham and it was so horrific that most people left Gotham yet enough stayed for various reasons, creating a feudalistic setting in which gangs (and rare good groups) control different sections of Gotham. A lot of the Batman villains have stayed and make their appearances, especially The Penguin.

There are some good stories in the second volume, some bland ones and some silly ones (the latter sometimes being good and other times mediocre).



My top three stories were: “The Belly of the Beast” (Nightwing goes into a prison of supervillains and has to get clever); “Fruit of the Earth” (by Greg Rucka: focuses on Poison Ivy protecting her turf yet needing help from Bats); and “The Mission” (by John Ostrander focusing on CatWoman doing a major heist for Batman; some clever outcomes).

“Assembly” (by Greg Rucka: focuses on Gordon not yet forgiving Bats, Huntress' own system and Bats assembling the team) is a runner up.

I gave it a notch down from volume one as some of the tales are hit or miss.

OVERALL GRADE: B.

[Daria · Rating 5 out of 5]

HOLY SHIT. YES. CORRECT. This is how No Man's Land is SUPPOSED to be used.
Nameless girl that is Cain's daughter. The connection she has with Batman. Her classes with Oracle. She's so badass, I love her. The passage from Huntress to her, the resentment Huntress feels because she never gets accepted by Bruce, a resentment that we've seen so many times from Dick. The reason she never gets accepted into the gang is this resentment that eats her up from the inside.
Gordon keeps slowly spiralling and losing his allies because of it. Making a deal with Harvey because he doesn't trust Batman anymore is hilarious and tragic. I would have loved to see a heart-wrentching issue tackling that but they went for mystery, which is honestly just as valid. He also punches Bruce. He's just not having a great time. I know he's hurt but also like, maybe you need the vigilante's help to get back your city when you needed the vigilante to keep your city in check back in the day. Also they've finally made a hateable character that's actually /supposed/ to be hateable. Random police guy #4.
The Young Justice issue is absolutely hilarious. Three teenage boys, none of them with any braincells. They are running and they are laughing and they are poking fun at each-other. I have a newfound love for Superboy. They're so dumb your honour. They sneak into Gotham, immediately get caught by Bruce, run away defeated. It was so silly. They called Bruce Tim's dad and it made me sob. 10/10.
Nightwing and Robin are back!!! They're brothers! Thank god.
The TV guy issue was amazing. The fact that this random guy is broadcasting the state of the city and spreading the light of gotham to the world whilst thinking that nobody's watching him? Amazing. However it does introduce the plotpoint of /random woman working for a guy needs to do stuff/ so I don't know how I feel about that.
The Poison Ivy issue might be the best out of all of them. I might be biased but it doesn't matter. Adopting kids and giving them a paradise to live in? Recylcing plastic? Giving Bruce enough moral dilemas to last him a lifetime? Truly the superior character.
Finally we have catgirl who has apparently been running for mayor while out of town. Good for her. Good for her. And now she's back and she's as annoyed at Batman as ever, which will never stop being entertaining to watch. For someone whose main thing is being a cat she does love playing cat and mouse with Bruce (on the mouse's side). She finds some dynamite proof little guy that likes crossdressing and goes on an adventure. Last we see her she almost dies. Truly an amazing time. She always elevates whichever story she ends up being in. Love her for that.

[Liz.Loki · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars.

This comic was so much better than the first volume!! I enjoyed it more because FINALLY Batman's team is back FINALLY HE ASKED FOR HELP I WAS TIRED OF HIS BROODING ASS TRYING AND FAILING TO DO EVERYTHING BY HIMSELF

Also CASS GOT INTRODUCED MY BELOVED so yes I had much more fun!

[Sam Quixote · Rating 3 out of 5]

The second book is mostly about what happens in “No Man’s Land” told from the perspectives of the various characters. Azrael has a couple of adventures saving innocents from the gangs; Batman fights numerous foes working for the Penguin; Jim Gordon starts to lose it while fighting to maintain a strong police presence in this nightmarish world; and there are stories involving Montoya and Alfred.

The stories weren’t bad but they weren’t stand-out either. It’s mostly about ordinary people struggling to find food and shelter in abandoned Gotham, being preyed upon by one villain and their gang (every major Batman villain has a cadre of supporters), and then being saved either by Batman, Batgirl, or Azrael.

The artwork is fairly middling as well with no one artist really defining the series with their art. D’Israeli draws the three parter featuring Batman and the Penguin and he makes them all look very cartoony, almost manga-like, which was off-putting.

While the first book started the series off strongly, this second book does little more than show that things still suck in Gotham, with no clear plot forward besides Batman tiresomely fighting the gangs one by one. Not a bad effort but not that great either, here’s hoping Book 3 picks up a bit and gives the series some urgency by giving it a strong plot.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

Batman looks angry and like the last volume, #2 starts off strong with all the warring gangs and infighting among Gordon and his cops. Two-Face is rising to power and we are also introduced to Cassandra Cain, although it seemed kind of odd that she wasn’t mentioned at all in the previous volume. Looking past that it’s still pretty interesting stuff and seeing Two-Face’s plan unfold is even more riveting. The only thing I could’ve done without in his grand scheme was the use of a villainess named Echo who felt (and looked) like a blatant knock-off of Marvel’s Black Widow.

[Joakim Ax · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exceptional character developments for our Bat-family: Huntress, Batgirl, Oracle even Azrael!
With so many titles crossing over for the complete story of the happenings in no mans land you never grow tired of the story cause every issue brings you a different angle from a different character in perfect sync.

[OmniBen · Rating 3 out of 5]

(Zero spoiler review for the omnibus, with the score for this volume) 3/5
When a Batman event... scratch that. When what is possibly the greatest Batman/Gotham event on paper manages to fumble the ball over and over, taking what was an absolute sure fire hit into a middling, rollercoaster of quality, then you know that the comics event rulebook needs to be torn up, burnt and scattered to the wind.
As I said, this was a great idea. An outstanding one in fact. But because 'comics have to comic' with pointless, pathetic tie ins, and a seemingly in-exhaustive laundry list of writers and artists all get a turn writing or drawing this event, as if Batman (who should be the pinnacle of DC quality) is now the town bike and anyone can have a ride, regardless of quality or merit. They took an easy slam dunk, tripped over their own ineffectiveness and avarice, and stumbled awkwardly into an increasingly apathetic crowd. How could you screw this up? Oh yeah... comics event. My bad.
Now in fairness, there is some good stuff here, and because its Batman, the average is always made a little bit better, and at the same time, the disappointment hurts a little bit more at the same time. The few decent writers turn in some decent writing. The few decent artists turn in some decent art, apart from Jim Balent on the Catwoman tie in, who singlehandedly is bringing sexy back to comics. Or at least he was two decades ago. God help us all now.
I will never understand who was calling the shots here, who kept putting overly stylised, cartoonish artists on a Batman book, about the dystopian destruction of Gotham. Cause nothing says the darkest days of Gotham like kiddy-ish cartoons and bright colours. Fuck off with that garbage! The revolving door of writers didn't help matters either, with the lacking a consistent narrative feel and direction. Instead, you feel like you're being pulled in a dozen directions at once, and most of them are inane and unnecessary, and not executed very well. What we got, was pretty average, and what we didn't get, could have been awesome. This should have been the story of one or two very talented, very committed writers. Instead, it was the equivalent of letting a five year old bake a cake when given the ingredients but allowed to determine their own quantities. This should have been brilliant, and if you skip about half of it, it's pretty good. But pretty good isn't good enough, and again, that's if you know which half of it to avoid. Though it is usually pretty obvious a few pages in. I gave up halfway through and began skipping the issues that made my brain hurt and my eyes sad.
So is it still worth reading? I mean, yeah... kind of, I guess? It's not offensively bad for the most part, and the opening third is pretty damn good. Just bring a big pair of gum boots, cause you'll definitely be wading through some shit to get to solid ground. 3/5


OmniBen.

[Vinicius · Rating 5 out of 5]

Essa grande Saga Terra de Ninguém está ficando cada vez mais incrível. Nesse encadernado vemos o Batman tentando fazer as pazes com Jim; Jim fazendo pactos duvidosos com meliantes; Cassandra (EMBAÇADA DEMAIS) entrando para a Batfamily.

A melhor parte: Batfamily voltando para Gotham e retomando os territórios!! Isso foi incrível.

Parte ruim: a relação do Batman com a Caçadora. Ela foi muito importante nas duas edições de Terra de Ninguém até agora e o Batman é muito escroto com ela, ela merece mais reconhecimento. Odeio quando retratam o Batman desmerecendo a Helena sendo que ela só quer a aprovação do Bruce. :(

[Tony · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't enjoy this story. Too dark and hopeless. Plus it was a series of short tales, set in Gotham 'No mans land'. Finally the first half of drawings were terrible. I hated the very bad drawing style.
It got better with the story of 'Sarge' and then the final two chapters the big gangs clashing, the art was a lot better. Still don't fancy book 3?

[Grace · Rating 3 out of 5]

i lob cc

[Nate]

Cassandra Cain makes her debut in these issues. I’ve liked her in other stories, and her introduction in No Man’s Land is tragic and emotional. She sort of comes out of nowhere to be honest, and I can imagine readers at the time being confused and/or frustrated by her initial appearance. With hindsight, it’s a good introduction, even if it’s apparent that editorial didn’t know quite where they were going with her. The moment when Batman gives (a yet unnamed) Cassandra the Batgirl costume is one of the best scenes of No Man’s Land so far. Her relationship with Oracle is touching, too.

The biggest plot point in this volume is Batman gathering everyone to investigate and overtake other gang territories. He’s taking the offensive now. This gives way to several stories of Bat family members confronting villains. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed the Poison Ivy story, considering I’ve never been a fan of her. Leave it to Rucka to give Poison Ivy pathos and an interesting role in No Man’s Land. Speaking of villains, this version of Penguin is so great. I love how he evolves across the 90’s, becoming the suave gentleman of crime who is distinctly not insane. Every time Penguin comes on page I get excited. Same goes for Two-Face, whose characterization here is similarly strong (I like seeing the early stages of Two-Face’s relationship with Montoya).

I wasn’t big on the Nightwing/Blackgate story. It’s fun, but I can’t quite get excited when you have Lock-Up and KGBeast as major adversaries. There’s some odds and ends here as well, namely the conclusion (?) of Nick Scratch’s storyline featuring Azrael. Good enough. The Young Justice issue is decent, but the tone shift from Gotham gang war to happy-go-lucky teens is jarring. John Ostrander’s Catwoman heist story is actually pretty good, with exciting action and a few zingers (the Frederic Wertham line!). I think Catwoman works best on the sidelines like this.

On balance, this volume is slightly less cohesive and more action-heavy than the first. It still has its moments and delivers character drama when needed. Plus the scale of No Man’s Land grows larger; the maps give a nice sense of scope in that regard.

[Peter Derk · Rating 2 out of 5]

Oh, Catwoman!

Apparently at this point the world thought Selina Kyle was dead and that she was pushed off a roof by Catwoman. I don't know how that move was pulled off, but it seems that she got by just fine. It's not like she's Peter Parker trying to get a science degree. She's an International Jewel Thief. As opposed to a Tri-State Area Jewel Thief. So her human alter ego probably doesn't really matter too much.

At one point in this particular caper, she assembles a crew of three crazy dudes, and as they prepare for the big job they check into a fancy hotel where Catwoman promptly retires to the bathtub in order to study some files.

I DO find that nothing helps me unwind from being a Jewel Thief with 3 strange men in the next room who may try to kill me, nothing helps me unwind from that better than a nice bubble bath while reading files.

I have to ask because I just want to make sure I'm not way outside the norm here. What is the average person's ratio of bubble baths to non-bubble? Because I don't think I've ever taken a bubble bath since I've been old enough to purchase bubble bath. Is Mr. Bubble still a guy? Is that a preferred brand?

Because in TV and comics it seems like every bath is a bubble bath.

I DO darken the water with dye so as not to be disgusted by my repulsive nude body. But that's just me.

[Chaitra · Rating 3 out of 5]

As much as I generally like this arc, it spans four humongous volumes and several crossover issues, and I can't remember what happens here except for Nightwing in Blackgate. He's supposed to take over Blackgate, but things go wrong, and he ends up improvising. He's out of commission for most of No Man's Land after this, but this is cool. I think this is also the volume with the worst issue included in No Man's Land - Robin and his lunatic Teen Titan friends having a jaunt in Gotham, getting attacked by Poison Ivy's plant things and having to be rescued by an outraged Bats.

Barring Nightwing, it's mostly so-so, but Cass Cain turns up and becomes Batgirl. She's awesome as Batgirl even though she just came out of the left field with little introduction.

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story now thickens - reviews are hard without giving the game away either for those who have not read cataclysm or no mans land one - just to say that the various factions heroes and villains are all playing out their agendas - where there are no longer rules or standards who says what is right or not - and maybe those who make the rules are not as upstanding as they should be. This is one of the underlying themes to these books - when all rules are abandoned who says which you can stick to and who enforces them - an interesting series

[Ming · Rating 2 out of 5]

Again my preferred issues are the Rucka ones, which TBH aren't even that great. Most of this book just feels like the writers are spinning the wheels because Editorial decided the event had to last for x months, momentum be damned. The Azrael chapters were just awful because, honestly, no one cares about him – he has the villain with the greatest power set, but who is too dumb to be any threat at all. (But okay, I guess this WAS the 90s after all, when foil covers were more important)

[Maria Kramer · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this volume, heroes make deals with villains to protect the populace. Villains put their own agendas on hold to protect their neighborhoods. I like how the No Man's Land scenario blurs and tests those moral lines. Bonus - Cassandra Cain! Anti-bonus - Jim Balent's Catwoman. The story is fun, bt the art...eurgh...

Similar titles:
DMZ
BPRD Hell on Earth

[John Yelverton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gotham city has been destroyed by an earthquake and the villains are doing their very level best to finish the job. It's a well done book for any fans of graphic novels.

[47Time · Rating 4 out of 5]

If the first volume was mediocre throughout, this volume is outright crap in the beginning. Stories and, especially, artwork both suck ass hard. Thankfully, there are gems in here. Even better, they're standalone, though this also means they contribute little to the overall story and are skippable. They feature supporting characters who display very human traits. The second half of the volume is the important bit, the one that progresses the story in this violent urban wasteland.

Batman needs to let people know he is back. He crashes one of Penguin's soirees with this gem: 'There's a new game in town.' Well, golly! I didn't know the 50's were back. Batman beats up Penguin's best men in a crapola of a story fit for printing on toilet paper.

Black Mask has a bunch of followers that have been carving big chunks out of Gotham recently. Long story short, he is defeated. Maybe he dies? I don't know. The artwork was a constant obstacle for the story. Then again, the choppy dialogue didn't help either.

The first gem in this volume is a flashback to Thomas Wayne and how means justify ends. Or at least that's how I saw that one-shot. Back in the present Batman is forced to decide who will take care of a baby two women were fighting over. After initially taking the baby from them, he convinces both women to care for the child. A second gem features Renee Montoya and Two-Face. She gains some positive influence over him, so he starts doing good for a change, helping people escape the rubble from the earthquake. His calm demeanor is thrown out the window in the very next story.

Due to all sorts of rumors going around about the gangs in the city, Gordon decides to attack Penguin's territory. Penguin and Two-Face are working together to expand their influence and draw Batman into a trap. With Batman captured by a hot Russian spy (are there any other kind?) with a chip implanted in her brain, Two-Face and Penguin attack nighbouring territories to expand their control. Two-Face occupies Batman's turf, while Gordon occupies half of the Penguin's territory. It looks bad for Batman.

[Ben Truong · Rating 4 out of 5]

Batman: No Man's Land is a massive story arc that ran through the various Batman family comic book series that was published by DC Comics. The storyline centers on Gotham City after a massive earthquake, which resulted in the United States government officially evacuating Gotham, then abandoning, and isolating those who chose to remain in the city – A No Man's Land.

Batman: No Man's Land, Vol. 2 collects: Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #117–119, Batman: Shadow of the Bat #85–87, Batman #565, Detective Comics #732–733, and Batman: Chronicles #16.

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. Meanwhile, Batman begins to realize that he is fighting a fight he cannot win – he collapses into a state of despair from which he may never recover.

Ian Edginton, Greg Rucka, Scott Beatty, Dennis O'Neil, Lisa Klink and Bob Gale were credited as the main writers of the trade paperback. The continuing narrative seems to go spiraling down as disaster after disaster has fallen unto Gotham City. The pencilers for the trade paperback were done by D'Israeli, Frank Teran, Jason Pearson, Damion Scott, Chris Renaud, Guy Davis, Phil Winslade and Mike Deodato, Jr. For the most part, their penciling styles mesh rather well with just minor disturbance in the artistic flow.

All in all, Batman: No Man's Land, Vol. 2 is a rather strong continuation to what I hope would be an equally wonderful story arc.

[Cae Lynn · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Bat is back, baby! He and Gordon are done lamenting the fall of Gotham and are ready to kick some bad-guy butt! And look out, there's a new Batgirl in town, too! These villains-turned-warlords don't stand a chance!

You'd be forgiven for thinking that with a setup like that, this volume should be loads of fun, right? Wrong.

While the first volume of No Man's Land was broken into two longer narratives, this one has six(!) stories that are an issue or two apiece. As a result, a lot of it feels like filler. The beginning of this arc was interesting because the characters were conflicted, operating in a moral grey zone. But now we're back to business as usual - fight, rinse, repeat. There are no real conversations, just exposition and action statements. Characters are single-minded and the quick set-up/pay-off cycle is unsatisfying.

The art is much more stylized here, too, often to the detriment of coherence. One story is rendered smooth and cartoony, another is a busy mess of lines and distorted faces. Impossible anatomy runs amok in these pages. To be quite frank, a lot of it is flat-out ugly.

Of course, it all ends with a cliffhanger that actually pushes the plot in an exciting direction. I guess I'll keep an eye out for the next volume, but as of right now, I don't think I'll go out of my way to search for it.

[Dr Rashmit Mishra · Rating 4 out of 5]

So this one follows the event following Batman's return and his takedown of Scarface , Bat's now trying to stamp his authority as he continues to conquer more regions of the Gotham . He does that by going head-to-head with Penguin , who is one of the biggest player in No Man's Land . We also get to see Black mask , and Barbara's reaction to seeing a new bat-girl . Meanwhile Azarael continues his mission to take down Scratch

It's another super dark book that excels in a dystopian-esque Gotham . The war over land and commodity is fascinating to read along with awesome Batman Adventure as he continues to prove his worth and instill fear amongst the rotten citizens of No Man's land .

The best part however remains the blue boys story arc , as we not only see Gordon crossing the line but also witness his self struggle against the things he is doing . But it's no man's land and he has made himself believe that these crimes are needed for the greater good

The art work are still not good enough even for the 80s-90s era and the Azarael books are just so dross to read .

Still every entertaining read but not for those who can't handle dark storylines

[Kurt Rackman · Rating 4 out of 5]

There's a LOT of comic book in this volume!

So much going on in this second volume of the bleak but humorous No Man's Land. A new Batgirl heralds the arrival of the Bat Family to aid a beleaguered Batman in the battle for the soul of Gotham. Some good and not quite so good vignettes of the fallen city, but the bleakest of choices for Batman and the citizens of a crushed and divided Gotham give plenty of melancholic moments interspersed with some genuinely funny humour. My favourite ep is probably Nightwing in Blackgate Prison trying to take back control from a deranged Lock-Up.

An examination of the raw power of Batman as a symbol of order and goodness in a city that's teetering on the brink of total collapse, and an analogy of the desperation of those in society abandoned by civic authority and preyed on by corporate self-interest, the bleakness of No Man's Land has lost none of its impact thirty years later...if anything, it's even more relevant now.

[Andrew Robertson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Batman: No Man's Land Volume 2 seems to be more of an amalgamation of scenes than a unified story. There have been some really good stories within the No Man's Land arc and there have been some really poor ones. Similarly, some of the drawings have been really good, some really cartoonish, and some undefined and hazy.
However, the same writers and artists seem to have been consistent (for now) in writing the main No Man's Land story, giving those sections a good unified plot and nice clear drawings. Though, they should have provided more details in the comics they did write.
This series of volumes for No Man's Land should have focused more on the main story. But, if they had, I suspect that the main story would have only filled one or two of these volumes.