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Batman: War Games #0-1
Batman: War Games, Book One
Tensions escalate and war comes to Gotham City when Batman is drawn into a skirmish between rival gangs. As Gotham’s biggest gang battle ignites, Batman must call on all his available allies—Oracle, Batgirl, Nightwing, Orpheus, Onyx and Tarantula—to preserve life and contain the chaos while trying to determine who started this outbreak of violence. Plus, Tim Drake must abandon his role as Robin and Batman gets an unexpected (and unwelcome) replacement in the form of Spoiler.
BATMAN: WAR GAMES BOOK ONE collects for the first time the complete War Games saga that changed the criminal underworld of Gotham City forever!
Collects BATGIRL #53, #55, BATMAN #631, BATMAN: THE 12-CENT ADVENTURE, BATMAN LEGENDS OF THE DARK KNIGHT #182, BATMAN GOTHAM KNIGHTS #56, CATWOMAN #34, DETECTIVE COMICS #790-797, NIGHTWING #96, ROBIN #126-129 and SOLO #10.
BATMAN: WAR GAMES BOOK ONE collects for the first time the complete War Games saga that changed the criminal underworld of Gotham City forever!
Collects BATGIRL #53, #55, BATMAN #631, BATMAN: THE 12-CENT ADVENTURE, BATMAN LEGENDS OF THE DARK KNIGHT #182, BATMAN GOTHAM KNIGHTS #56, CATWOMAN #34, DETECTIVE COMICS #790-797, NIGHTWING #96, ROBIN #126-129 and SOLO #10.
520 pages, Paperback
First published November 25, 2015
23 people are currently reading
264 people want to read
About the author
Andersen Gabrych
70 books14 followersAndersen Gabrych is a Northern California native. He’s written Detective Comics, Batman, Batgirl, Catwoman, and Omega Men for DC Comics, and is the author of the original graphic novel, Fog Town.
As an actor he appeared most notably in the award-winning Edge of Seventeen and at HBO’s Aspen Comedy Festival. He currently lives in L.A. with his cat, Moses, and is the co-creator of Pyrasphere, “Hollywood’s fastest growing new religion,” and the subsequent documentary Bright Day! about this fictitious spiritual movement.
As an actor he appeared most notably in the award-winning Edge of Seventeen and at HBO’s Aspen Comedy Festival. He currently lives in L.A. with his cat, Moses, and is the co-creator of Pyrasphere, “Hollywood’s fastest growing new religion,” and the subsequent documentary Bright Day! about this fictitious spiritual movement.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 53 reviews
September 30, 2023
(B+) 79% | Good
Notes: Accentuates Batman's malleability, like an oft-covered song, differently iterated in voice, mien, tone and appearance.
Notes: Accentuates Batman's malleability, like an oft-covered song, differently iterated in voice, mien, tone and appearance.
May 24, 2021
Last three issues of 2004 for Batman, Detective Comics, Gotham Knights, Legend of the Dark Knight, Catwoman, Nightwing and Batgirl. A momentous foul-up by Spoiler (formerly Robin) results in a chaotic and lethal breakdown of law in Gotham, with Huntress and Black Canary out of town it's left to Batman, Tim Drake, Oracle, Nightwing, Batgirl, Catwoman and Dr Leslie to try and stop the onslaught. A dark, deadly and unforgiving Bat event, well worth a read, from the Bat event hey days of the Noughties! 8 out of 12
March 20, 2021
A nice surprise, a deeper look at Stephanie Brown, and a violent city on the brink of exploding.
I have to say I wasn't expecting to enjoy War Games as much as I did. Andersen Gabrych writes most of these issues, and maybe because I never heard of him before, but I didn't think he'd bring much to the table. Instead he gives us a Batman on the edge at all times dealing with both his successes but also failures while we get a deeper look into the batfamily as well.
While the first half isn't essential to the War Games major story arc it helps build up Batman's mind, Stephanie's character development, and even help give us a bigger picture into Tim, Oracle, and Nightwing. The second half is all the gangs going to war with each other and this includes targeting kids of the mafia families and this makes for some super compelling and hard to watch scenes with multiple characters.
I really enjoyed the deeper, darker, and more realistic sense this book had. Sometimes don't need to deal with big scary villains but more human, shooting, and killing ones do the job of filling in the "evil" role. A 4 out of 5.
I have to say I wasn't expecting to enjoy War Games as much as I did. Andersen Gabrych writes most of these issues, and maybe because I never heard of him before, but I didn't think he'd bring much to the table. Instead he gives us a Batman on the edge at all times dealing with both his successes but also failures while we get a deeper look into the batfamily as well.
While the first half isn't essential to the War Games major story arc it helps build up Batman's mind, Stephanie's character development, and even help give us a bigger picture into Tim, Oracle, and Nightwing. The second half is all the gangs going to war with each other and this includes targeting kids of the mafia families and this makes for some super compelling and hard to watch scenes with multiple characters.
I really enjoyed the deeper, darker, and more realistic sense this book had. Sometimes don't need to deal with big scary villains but more human, shooting, and killing ones do the job of filling in the "evil" role. A 4 out of 5.
April 29, 2025
When I started reading this book I was almost immediately taken out of the story by Batman making a prison rape joke in like the first few pages... The story takes the usual "Batman is upset at one of his associates and lacks the emotional self-awareness to deal with it" approach, but since his feelings about the matter aren't explored even once, it's hard to care about whatever is going on with him. Like I can empathize with Batman's tortured self if I can read his thoughts that he can't communicate to other people, I'm not going to care if he's barely even in the book.
The book is simply not that good. A good chunk of it (and I mean 400 pages out of 500...) is bloated, aimless, basically just story after story with the barest logical connections between them. Things keep happening and there's never any payoff. I get that the point is to lay out all the different elements of the story before they come into play together but the execution is really clumsy. There is no narrative buildup and no emotional release, just things happening one after the other. There is not enough coordination between the titles to make this a cohesive story, and if you were to read the single titles without the whole context you'd just be confused. A summary page once in a while would have been nice.
When the story falls together it's basically just one school shooting event told from different perspectives.
The book is simply not that good. A good chunk of it (and I mean 400 pages out of 500...) is bloated, aimless, basically just story after story with the barest logical connections between them. Things keep happening and there's never any payoff. I get that the point is to lay out all the different elements of the story before they come into play together but the execution is really clumsy. There is no narrative buildup and no emotional release, just things happening one after the other. There is not enough coordination between the titles to make this a cohesive story, and if you were to read the single titles without the whole context you'd just be confused. A summary page once in a while would have been nice.
When the story falls together it's basically just one school shooting event told from different perspectives.
May 3, 2018
I've read most of Act One of War Games before (a long time before) but I enjoyed this edition for the prelude to the body of the story, as there are a lot of threads that tie into this collection. I find this a really enjoyable arc, as all of the big Batman disasters in Gotham tend to be - No Man's Land is another favourite of mine. War Games includes all my favorites, Nightwing, Cassandra Cain as Batgirl and Barbara Gordon as Oracle, Tim Drake even though he's not currently Robin - he's my Robin. I like the implication that runs through this arc, that Batman's mistakes, his attitudes, the way he treats his "family" are what have set this disaster in motion, directly or indirectly. He's the one who set the dominoes toppling. I've never read the second act of War Games so I look forward to that when I can get my hands on it. The writing is tight, the characterisations are good. there's a couple of art styles that crop up here that I don't like much, but on the whole this is a really good read.
July 16, 2021
Steph as Robin =❤️
August 18, 2024
Kinda meh, most of it is about Batman's sidekicks and him mentoring or advising them. It does devolve to the shootouts happening by the end but most of it really was forgettable and unnecessary.
Barring Cassandra Cain and Bruce who both have a compelling manner about them and in how presented the rest really wasn't interested in and most of the book was about them.
Largely forgettable. Hoping for second one to be actually good.
Barring Cassandra Cain and Bruce who both have a compelling manner about them and in how presented the rest really wasn't interested in and most of the book was about them.
Largely forgettable. Hoping for second one to be actually good.
July 17, 2016
There are two different reviews here - one for the story arc War Games (the first part of it, that is), and one for the volume itself.
First the volume. Wow, there are so many unrelated stories leading up to War Games actually starting. I'm pretty sure there is another release of this story arc, in three books, that is comprised of less issues. I probably should have just read that. I know that certain characters, specifically their role in War Games, and in some cases their very lives, play such an important part that the story would be incomplete without some backstory. But there was just too much here. War Games itself doesn't start until page 301! I've read plenty of story arcs that do a perfectly fine job with a one page "the story so far...", and this volume should have had that.
A side note on how I got here, because I actually stumbled upon this by accident. I was reading a few Catwoman (volume 3) books that broke the series into 9 books. Between book 4 and 5 there were about 30 issues missing. So I did a little research and found a different publication that broke the series out into 5 books and book 3 included the missing issues. Expecting that I was missing something, I read that book. That was both a good and a bad decision. Good because there was the completion of a story arc that I would have complete missed. But bad because it also included three issues of War Games. Unfortunately, they were parts 7 of each of the three acts of War Games. So, while I realized there was a good story out there to read, I also spoiled big parts of it by reading part 7 of both acts 2 and 3. Upshot? That Catwoman book shouldn't even exist, or at very least should completely leave out those three issues. They are utterly useless outside of the context of War Games and have nothing to do with Catwoman's character arc. I babble on about this hoping to save someone from reading those three issues.
I digress. This is an excellent story! I am glad, regardless of the method, for having stumbled upon it.
Batman is a real jerk in this story. There, I said it. Man, whenever he realizes he is incapable of doing the impossible, or feels responsible for the horrors of Gotham, he just shuts out everyone that is there to help him. Becomes a real prick. Despite that, I am enjoying the story arc so far.
It's tough to review this without spoilers, especially since I have spoilers that don't appear until book 2. But I can say that this story explores the responsibility that Batman has (and how much he places on himself) for accepting the help of other masked vigilantes, more specifically the younger ones he takes under his wing. Even in the fantasy world of masked vigilantes it seems absurd to not just allow children to join the cause, but to train them, to condone their involvement. This addresses that issue, while happening to foreshadow a past mistake in this area, about to return.
First the volume. Wow, there are so many unrelated stories leading up to War Games actually starting. I'm pretty sure there is another release of this story arc, in three books, that is comprised of less issues. I probably should have just read that. I know that certain characters, specifically their role in War Games, and in some cases their very lives, play such an important part that the story would be incomplete without some backstory. But there was just too much here. War Games itself doesn't start until page 301! I've read plenty of story arcs that do a perfectly fine job with a one page "the story so far...", and this volume should have had that.
A side note on how I got here, because I actually stumbled upon this by accident. I was reading a few Catwoman (volume 3) books that broke the series into 9 books. Between book 4 and 5 there were about 30 issues missing. So I did a little research and found a different publication that broke the series out into 5 books and book 3 included the missing issues. Expecting that I was missing something, I read that book. That was both a good and a bad decision. Good because there was the completion of a story arc that I would have complete missed. But bad because it also included three issues of War Games. Unfortunately, they were parts 7 of each of the three acts of War Games. So, while I realized there was a good story out there to read, I also spoiled big parts of it by reading part 7 of both acts 2 and 3. Upshot? That Catwoman book shouldn't even exist, or at very least should completely leave out those three issues. They are utterly useless outside of the context of War Games and have nothing to do with Catwoman's character arc. I babble on about this hoping to save someone from reading those three issues.
I digress. This is an excellent story! I am glad, regardless of the method, for having stumbled upon it.
Batman is a real jerk in this story. There, I said it. Man, whenever he realizes he is incapable of doing the impossible, or feels responsible for the horrors of Gotham, he just shuts out everyone that is there to help him. Becomes a real prick. Despite that, I am enjoying the story arc so far.
It's tough to review this without spoilers, especially since I have spoilers that don't appear until book 2. But I can say that this story explores the responsibility that Batman has (and how much he places on himself) for accepting the help of other masked vigilantes, more specifically the younger ones he takes under his wing. Even in the fantasy world of masked vigilantes it seems absurd to not just allow children to join the cause, but to train them, to condone their involvement. This addresses that issue, while happening to foreshadow a past mistake in this area, about to return.
April 26, 2020
War Games might genuinely be one of the worst things that have ever happened to comics. It's riddled with horrific art, bad writing, bad treatment of beloved characters. The few attempts at brevity, goodness, or even relief are frequently undercut by homophobia, rape jokes, transphobia, and sexism. As a fan of multiple of the storylines which were interrupted to produce this all-time low in comic event storytelling, and a fan of characters who were fridged, character assassinated, or otherwise shoved aside in favor of a narrative where Batman shoves aside his family and is more convinced than ever that he is right and blameless in the events that happen... it was awful.
October 25, 2015
I absolutely hated this graphic novel. It makes a cheap, politically correct move, and when it backfires, attempts to cover its tracks back making established characters do things that they would never do.
November 26, 2024
Just recently having finished The Penguin on HBO, I was in the mood for some Batman. Saw Penguin on the cover so I chose this one. Glad I did. 3.5
December 31, 2015
I haven't read a Batman comic in years and was unfamiliar with this series. But Gabrych's War Games started off spectacularly well and most of the art work was fantastic and the story line was great.
I really loved the dark elements and the worse for wear Batman. I loved the somewhat new backstory in the book and some of the characters that I was not familiar with like Tarantula, Orpheus and Onyx. For the most part all of the artwork syncs up nicely considering all the different inkers/pencilers and that helped elevate the story and keep me interested.
The only books I didn't like were the Girl Robin (ex Spoiler) sections because I didn't like the artwork in those and the writing was hard to read (that's why this is not getting 5 Stars). I also found the character quite annoying and the big reveal at the end made me hate her even more. I also didn't like the fact that the Batgirl costume looked way too much like the Catwoman costume from the Tim Burton movie and the Catwoman costume was ugly.
All in all it was a good read and I can't wait for the next volume.
P.S. That Haberlin cover page was AWESOME.
I really loved the dark elements and the worse for wear Batman. I loved the somewhat new backstory in the book and some of the characters that I was not familiar with like Tarantula, Orpheus and Onyx. For the most part all of the artwork syncs up nicely considering all the different inkers/pencilers and that helped elevate the story and keep me interested.
The only books I didn't like were the Girl Robin (ex Spoiler) sections because I didn't like the artwork in those and the writing was hard to read (that's why this is not getting 5 Stars). I also found the character quite annoying and the big reveal at the end made me hate her even more. I also didn't like the fact that the Batgirl costume looked way too much like the Catwoman costume from the Tim Burton movie and the Catwoman costume was ugly.
All in all it was a good read and I can't wait for the next volume.
P.S. That Haberlin cover page was AWESOME.
September 19, 2020
Read this as part of my Robin read-through (the book contains Robin #126-129 plus assorted other appearances), so I only read the Tim or Stephanie-centric issues and skimmed the rest.
The word "misguided" is too innocent. This is downright despicable. It's hard to distance my feelings from my knowledge of what went on in the background. Essentially, you have dozens of threads which are so meticulously placed that it all feels hollow, and it's all to the end of watching a bunch of kids get murdered. This book is the poster child for "executive meddling" and the bad creative work that can result from it.
Even the prelude stuff with Stephanie as Robin goes by too quickly to leave any sort of impact. She's there, now she's gone, and her motivations are never fully believable. It's a perfunctory arc done just like any other in this book: a shallow attempt at piecing together bad plot points that the writer probably didn't want to deal with in the first place. I also know how it all ends in the next book, and knowing that makes the whole thing far, far more offensive.
There's really no reason to read this bloated, boring, offensive mess.
The word "misguided" is too innocent. This is downright despicable. It's hard to distance my feelings from my knowledge of what went on in the background. Essentially, you have dozens of threads which are so meticulously placed that it all feels hollow, and it's all to the end of watching a bunch of kids get murdered. This book is the poster child for "executive meddling" and the bad creative work that can result from it.
Even the prelude stuff with Stephanie as Robin goes by too quickly to leave any sort of impact. She's there, now she's gone, and her motivations are never fully believable. It's a perfunctory arc done just like any other in this book: a shallow attempt at piecing together bad plot points that the writer probably didn't want to deal with in the first place. I also know how it all ends in the next book, and knowing that makes the whole thing far, far more offensive.
There's really no reason to read this bloated, boring, offensive mess.
August 1, 2021
Here is another Batfamily event in which I don't know what came before and what came after. Ah, well.
Anyway, the book opens up super strong with Scarification, Batman Detective Comics #790, by Andersen Gabrych. Batman seems to be out of control (again), vengefully punishing a drug seller after the death of another G.H.D. overdose victim, when Batgirl confronts him about it.
Batgirl: "Seems more...personal."
Batman: "It's always personal. I thought you, of all of them, understood that."
Cass seems to think that maybe his bad mood can be attributed to Stephanie Brown (just you wait until the end of this volume, Batman) and he's taking it out on the thugs of Gotham?
Turns out it's actually what would have been Jason Todd's 18th Birthday & the issue ends with Bruce & Cass standing together at Jason's grave. Batman says he learned his lesson with Robins who weren't ready for the field, and his dismissal of Spoiler (i.e. Stephanie) was for her own good/protection... So she can have a future, unlike some of them. (Jason? Batman? Cass? The woman who overdosed from G.H.D. at the beginning of the issue? All of them?)
The next story is The Surrogate by Andersen Gabrych, was only OK on the whole but had some pretty strong moments. It's a pretty basic story about bad and selfish people and the innocent people who get used by them. Batman, of course, tries to help but can only do so much against the monstrosity of humans. Maybe that's why I tend to like Batman's mob/detective stories over his supervillain stories... There's always a moral/ethical conundrum and a pretty strong human element with the human baddies.
Anyway, there's one scene where Batman finds six neglected kids sleeping on the floor of a slum. He's looking for a woman and traced her back to that address. A little girl approaches: "Mister Batman?" and hands him a picture that helps him identify where the woman might have gone next. He kneels down to her height. "Thank you. This helps." <3 (╥╯^╰╥)
(I always love tiny interactions between Batman and kids. <3)
A few pages later, Batman & Dr. Thompkins lose the person they were trying to save.
Dr. Leslie Thompkins: "Bruce..."
Batman still performing CPR/chest compressions: "One, two, three..."
LT: "Bruce. There's nothing more."
Batman: "There is always more. You taught me that."
LT: "But sometimes giving in isn't giving up. She's lost too much blood. She's suffered enough. It's time to let her go."
Batman punches the wall.
LT: "Bruce!"
Batman: "This didn't have to happen. None of this."
LT: "No, it didn't But you're not in control of that."
Batman: "People are dead, Leslie."
LT: "And more would be if not for you. Including me. Bruce, Gotham would be dead if not for you. But you are not responsible for everyone in this city. Please... You've got to learn to let go."
LT removes Batman's cowl.
Bruce: "Sometimes it feels like it's all I have."
<3 (╥╯^╰╥)
This is my first Andersen Gabrych book & I'm really impressed with how he gets Batman.
But besides for the regular cast of Batfamily characters, we're introduced to The Tarantula from Bludhaven who is in Gotham chasing a gross death monster called the mugre (cool!), and Orpheus, a new undercover vigilante who is kinda running a gang in Gotham under Batman's direction (cool!), and Onyx, who's ex-League of Assassins and now the undercover bodyguard for Orpheus, also under Batman's direction (cool!).
We also get more Stephanie than I've read before, and I have to say I'm not impressed by her. War Games Vol. 1 includes Robin issues #126, 127, 128, & 129 by Bill Willingham, and while Tim is in these issues, he has officially hung up the tights & is only featured as an ex-Batkid and Stephanie's bf (for a time). (Didn't love the art either by Damion Scott on #126-128.)
It's actually more Stephanie's story: From Spoiler to Robin to fired. (Awk.) She's also featured in the Detective Comics issues with Batman & the Batgirl issues with Cass.
There's a good Detective Comics issue #796 ...and red all over with Zsasz, who I absolutely hate/he creeps me out the most. (The art switching to pale watercolors for Zsasz's view was very cool.)
The writing on Batgirl #53 Sisterhood by Dylan Horrocks was so-so. Didn't love it (especially didn't love the doofy "Waaugh!" from the Penguin), but the story was fine.
Solo #10 by Damion Scott & Randee Carcano was very cartoonish and short. (Cass sets Stephanie/Robin up as a training exercise.)
And while Stephanie is spending her extracurricular hours as Robin (issues #127-128), Tim is spending more time just being a teen with his friend (who wants to be more than friends) Darla Aquista. That's not a good ending, either.
(I did like the hunting Robin/Tim storyline in those issues though.)
And then, we get to War Games.
In War Games Prelude: No Help (Batman: 12-Cent Adventure #1, by Devin Grayson), at first I just thought Spoiler happened upon the meeting. Or discovered it was going down (like she tells Catwoman). It was a little weird that she was the only one observing this huge mob gathering, but I would never have guessed her to be this dumb. Or I dunno, maybe I would have. She acted pretty dumbly this whole book.
War Games Act 1, parts 1-8 are included in this book & it's pretty hectic. All of Gotham is on fire & things are falling to pieces. The Batfamily & GCPD are scrambling to keep the peace, but just can't be everywhere at once, all the time.
Looking forward to Vol. 2! Things, as we leave them, are cray-cray and I don't know how Batman will fix it!
War Games Story so far rating: 4 stars
Whole book rating: 3.5 stars
P.s. Not sure what's going in with Nightwing in War Games... Something bad happened to Blockbuster/Nightwing did something really bad(?) before this crossover, but I'm only up to issue #71 in the Nightwing (1996 series) & this story included Nightwing issue #96. :-/
Anyway, the book opens up super strong with Scarification, Batman Detective Comics #790, by Andersen Gabrych. Batman seems to be out of control (again), vengefully punishing a drug seller after the death of another G.H.D. overdose victim, when Batgirl confronts him about it.
Batgirl: "Seems more...personal."
Batman: "It's always personal. I thought you, of all of them, understood that."
Cass seems to think that maybe his bad mood can be attributed to Stephanie Brown (just you wait until the end of this volume, Batman) and he's taking it out on the thugs of Gotham?
Turns out it's actually what would have been Jason Todd's 18th Birthday & the issue ends with Bruce & Cass standing together at Jason's grave. Batman says he learned his lesson with Robins who weren't ready for the field, and his dismissal of Spoiler (i.e. Stephanie) was for her own good/protection... So she can have a future, unlike some of them. (Jason? Batman? Cass? The woman who overdosed from G.H.D. at the beginning of the issue? All of them?)
The next story is The Surrogate by Andersen Gabrych, was only OK on the whole but had some pretty strong moments. It's a pretty basic story about bad and selfish people and the innocent people who get used by them. Batman, of course, tries to help but can only do so much against the monstrosity of humans. Maybe that's why I tend to like Batman's mob/detective stories over his supervillain stories... There's always a moral/ethical conundrum and a pretty strong human element with the human baddies.
Anyway, there's one scene where Batman finds six neglected kids sleeping on the floor of a slum. He's looking for a woman and traced her back to that address. A little girl approaches: "Mister Batman?" and hands him a picture that helps him identify where the woman might have gone next. He kneels down to her height. "Thank you. This helps." <3 (╥╯^╰╥)
(I always love tiny interactions between Batman and kids. <3)
A few pages later, Batman & Dr. Thompkins lose the person they were trying to save.
Dr. Leslie Thompkins: "Bruce..."
Batman still performing CPR/chest compressions: "One, two, three..."
LT: "Bruce. There's nothing more."
Batman: "There is always more. You taught me that."
LT: "But sometimes giving in isn't giving up. She's lost too much blood. She's suffered enough. It's time to let her go."
Batman punches the wall.
LT: "Bruce!"
Batman: "This didn't have to happen. None of this."
LT: "No, it didn't But you're not in control of that."
Batman: "People are dead, Leslie."
LT: "And more would be if not for you. Including me. Bruce, Gotham would be dead if not for you. But you are not responsible for everyone in this city. Please... You've got to learn to let go."
LT removes Batman's cowl.
Bruce: "Sometimes it feels like it's all I have."
<3 (╥╯^╰╥)
This is my first Andersen Gabrych book & I'm really impressed with how he gets Batman.
But besides for the regular cast of Batfamily characters, we're introduced to The Tarantula from Bludhaven who is in Gotham chasing a gross death monster called the mugre (cool!), and Orpheus, a new undercover vigilante who is kinda running a gang in Gotham under Batman's direction (cool!), and Onyx, who's ex-League of Assassins and now the undercover bodyguard for Orpheus, also under Batman's direction (cool!).
We also get more Stephanie than I've read before, and I have to say I'm not impressed by her. War Games Vol. 1 includes Robin issues #126, 127, 128, & 129 by Bill Willingham, and while Tim is in these issues, he has officially hung up the tights & is only featured as an ex-Batkid and Stephanie's bf (for a time). (Didn't love the art either by Damion Scott on #126-128.)
It's actually more Stephanie's story: From Spoiler to Robin to fired. (Awk.) She's also featured in the Detective Comics issues with Batman & the Batgirl issues with Cass.
There's a good Detective Comics issue #796 ...and red all over with Zsasz, who I absolutely hate/he creeps me out the most. (The art switching to pale watercolors for Zsasz's view was very cool.)
The writing on Batgirl #53 Sisterhood by Dylan Horrocks was so-so. Didn't love it (especially didn't love the doofy "Waaugh!" from the Penguin), but the story was fine.
Solo #10 by Damion Scott & Randee Carcano was very cartoonish and short. (Cass sets Stephanie/Robin up as a training exercise.)
And while Stephanie is spending her extracurricular hours as Robin (issues #127-128), Tim is spending more time just being a teen with his friend (who wants to be more than friends) Darla Aquista. That's not a good ending, either.
(I did like the hunting Robin/Tim storyline in those issues though.)
And then, we get to War Games.
In War Games Prelude: No Help (Batman: 12-Cent Adventure #1, by Devin Grayson), at first I just thought Spoiler happened upon the meeting. Or discovered it was going down (like she tells Catwoman). It was a little weird that she was the only one observing this huge mob gathering, but I would never have guessed her to be this dumb. Or I dunno, maybe I would have. She acted pretty dumbly this whole book.
War Games Act 1, parts 1-8 are included in this book & it's pretty hectic. All of Gotham is on fire & things are falling to pieces. The Batfamily & GCPD are scrambling to keep the peace, but just can't be everywhere at once, all the time.
Looking forward to Vol. 2! Things, as we leave them, are cray-cray and I don't know how Batman will fix it!
War Games Story so far rating: 4 stars
Whole book rating: 3.5 stars
P.s. Not sure what's going in with Nightwing in War Games... Something bad happened to Blockbuster/Nightwing did something really bad(?) before this crossover, but I'm only up to issue #71 in the Nightwing (1996 series) & this story included Nightwing issue #96. :-/
August 20, 2017
This book took a looooooooong time to get me invested, but when it did, I couldn't put it down.
Batman rocks. Even the newer characters (to me), like Orpheus, were really entertaining, thus far.
Can't wait for volume two, soon!
Batman rocks. Even the newer characters (to me), like Orpheus, were really entertaining, thus far.
Can't wait for volume two, soon!
January 22, 2019
Why is Batman written laughably out of character, especially during the parts where he’s training Stephanie?
December 24, 2023
This was mostly dreadful, and I cannot think of a good reason for anybody to read this in 2023. It adds nothing to the Batman arc, and adds nothing to the Bat Family. The plot is boring and hack, the pacing is tedious, and much of the art is bad.
I'm realizing that I want to like Batman a lot more than I actually like Batman. What frustrates me is that there's so much potential with the character and the extended Bat Family, and when a good author is writing, that potential can be realized. Mostly, though, because basically anything with "Bat" on the cover will sell, the mainline Bat books are just dreadful.
Steph Brown is one of my favourite members of the Bat Family, and War Games starts as "her" arc. After years (of publication) of Batman rejecting her, Batman decides to take her on as Robin, after Tim Drake was forced to quit. Batman says that now that he can directly train her, it's different. No discussion is given to "why couldn't you directly train her for the last year?" because explaining basic plot points is very hard, I guess. Quickly after Steph becomes Robin, she gets fired for disobeying an order, she steals Bruce's plans to unite all the gangs under Matches Malone to deal with organized crime in the city, launches the plan, but Matches Malone doesn't show up, so there's a massive gang war.
The issues of the gang war drag on for no reason other than "we need to sell comic books." There are no meaningful plot developments. There are no character pieces, nothing. Worse, much of it I've read before. All of downtown is on fire and the cops have lost control! Yeah. We did this in No Mans Land. I've read this. It's the most unoriginal, boring, and derivative crap in mainstream Bat Books for a very long time.
Why two stars? Well, if you could give a volume zero stars, this would be worth zero stars, with a +1 star bonus for Brubaker content. However, you have to start at 1 star, so this is 1 star with a +1 star bonus for Brubaker content. The only good piece in this volume is the single Catwoman issue, because Brubaker. Basically Catwoman tracks down Steph as Spoiler, and rescues her from a bad situation, and Spoiler has a meltdown, and explains everything to Catwoman. Because Brubaker is good, we get internal Catwoman dialogue of "how can Batman have a Robin he trusts so little he won't tell Robin he's Matches Malone. This is all 100% Bruce's fault." Because Brubaker is a good author who also understands that Bruce is a maniac, there's like 12 pages worth reading in a 300 page volume
Don't read it. It's dreadful.
I'm realizing that I want to like Batman a lot more than I actually like Batman. What frustrates me is that there's so much potential with the character and the extended Bat Family, and when a good author is writing, that potential can be realized. Mostly, though, because basically anything with "Bat" on the cover will sell, the mainline Bat books are just dreadful.
Steph Brown is one of my favourite members of the Bat Family, and War Games starts as "her" arc. After years (of publication) of Batman rejecting her, Batman decides to take her on as Robin, after Tim Drake was forced to quit. Batman says that now that he can directly train her, it's different. No discussion is given to "why couldn't you directly train her for the last year?" because explaining basic plot points is very hard, I guess. Quickly after Steph becomes Robin, she gets fired for disobeying an order, she steals Bruce's plans to unite all the gangs under Matches Malone to deal with organized crime in the city, launches the plan, but Matches Malone doesn't show up, so there's a massive gang war.
The issues of the gang war drag on for no reason other than "we need to sell comic books." There are no meaningful plot developments. There are no character pieces, nothing. Worse, much of it I've read before. All of downtown is on fire and the cops have lost control! Yeah. We did this in No Mans Land. I've read this. It's the most unoriginal, boring, and derivative crap in mainstream Bat Books for a very long time.
Why two stars? Well, if you could give a volume zero stars, this would be worth zero stars, with a +1 star bonus for Brubaker content. However, you have to start at 1 star, so this is 1 star with a +1 star bonus for Brubaker content. The only good piece in this volume is the single Catwoman issue, because Brubaker. Basically Catwoman tracks down Steph as Spoiler, and rescues her from a bad situation, and Spoiler has a meltdown, and explains everything to Catwoman. Because Brubaker is good, we get internal Catwoman dialogue of "how can Batman have a Robin he trusts so little he won't tell Robin he's Matches Malone. This is all 100% Bruce's fault." Because Brubaker is a good author who also understands that Bruce is a maniac, there's like 12 pages worth reading in a 300 page volume
Don't read it. It's dreadful.
June 2, 2023
I really love this story, because of how well it makes you wonder what will happen next. The different characters' reactions to the gang war really just popped. Stephanie Brown becomes Robin after previous Robin steps down. New faces show up in Gotham, as Batman must ally himself with Orpheus, who is the leader of a gang on the behalf of Batman, Onyx, Orpheus' bodyguard, and Tarantula, an anti-hero who allies with Batman to help fight crime but is banished from Gotham by Batman, only to return despite his direct order to not return. These characters were really interesting. Orpheus is changing the Gang's perspective of violence to hopefully make Gotham more safe. Onyx and Orpheus' dynamic was honestly such a blast to read. Both these characters struggle with the crime underworld, but they are able to maintain themselves enough to carry out Batman's orders. Tarantula, on the other hand, is a Mexican-American vigilante (Anti-hero), who originally goes to Gotham to avenge the deaths of immigrants that were killed on a Boat. Batman tells her to leave Gotham, only for her to return, with Nightwing, not too far after. Nightwing wants to distance himself from Tarantula because the two's relationship is deteriorating after she killed a criminal, but Tarantula actually gets control of a gang called "Latino Unified" and rebrands it as Las Aranas. Honestly speaking, Tarantula is a very interesting character in War Games, but she is far too underutilized. I think a better solution would be for Tarantula to like having the power over Las Aranas and attempt to turn the whole gang into vigilantes/antiheroes who could help fight crime in Bludhaven, causing a threat to Nightwing and an ally but also a burden to Batman. Batman could then use Tarantula against Black Mask. This would add a bit more depth to Tarantula's motives and make her a more interesting character.
Stephanie Brown as Robin is mostly a fun part of the book, but it can get dark during some of it. I wont give Spoilers (You get it? Because Stephanie Brown's alias is Spoiler) for the rest of the book, but it's definitely a read
Stephanie Brown as Robin is mostly a fun part of the book, but it can get dark during some of it. I wont give Spoilers (You get it? Because Stephanie Brown's alias is Spoiler) for the rest of the book, but it's definitely a read
August 16, 2017
Gotham goes up in flames again, and Batman hasn't a clue what the hell happened. (Hint: ). It goes like this. Someone invites every gang boss to a meeting that they think is a one on one, but it's actually a public meetup. Everyone is nervous and are carrying explosives, and one wrong move results in 21 dead bodies (I think, it's a high number). Once the gangs have lost their bosses, everyone wants supremacy, and everyone wants someone else's territory. And they start fighting and killing each other in a stunning display of violence.
Tim Drake is off sulking, the background to which I missed, but honestly don't care enough to find out. Nightwing has his own shit to deal with, what with the killing of Blockbuster to which he was party to, and his lovely new kind of fiance, Tarantula. Commissioner Gordon is still out and Commissioner Akins is not very fond of the Bats. What Batman has is a couple of second stringers - Orpheus and his bodyguard Onyx, who are gangsters but are Batman's people.
Why I like this volume as much as I do? Because I really loved Stephanie Brown as Robin. I think most people find her annoying and her arc stupid, but I enjoyed it. I think she rocked that Robin suit like none before, the art vibrant, and what happened to her is an honest mistake on her part because of the really crappy way Bats trained her. He's a colossal dick in this story line, a bigger one than he's ever been before, and he was never a model of compassion to begin with. I actually like that also because that's part of his appeal.
Tim Drake is off sulking, the background to which I missed, but honestly don't care enough to find out. Nightwing has his own shit to deal with, what with the killing of Blockbuster to which he was party to, and his lovely new kind of fiance, Tarantula. Commissioner Gordon is still out and Commissioner Akins is not very fond of the Bats. What Batman has is a couple of second stringers - Orpheus and his bodyguard Onyx, who are gangsters but are Batman's people.
Why I like this volume as much as I do? Because I really loved Stephanie Brown as Robin. I think most people find her annoying and her arc stupid, but I enjoyed it. I think she rocked that Robin suit like none before, the art vibrant, and what happened to her is an honest mistake on her part because of the really crappy way Bats trained her. He's a colossal dick in this story line, a bigger one than he's ever been before, and he was never a model of compassion to begin with. I actually like that also because that's part of his appeal.
May 10, 2018
The calm before the storm, Batman finds himself caught in a war that he might have possibly started. I haven't dabbled much in 90s Batman, though this was written in the early 2000s. The pacing starts off slow in the beginning working to introduce the key players of War Games but ramps up. Just a warning, if you're from rebirth or N52, this Batman will feel mis-characterized to you.
War Games is the climax to a lot of storylines that had been going in various Bat-books for the past few years. It wasn't so much a singular, self contained event like Court of Owls, it was very involved with every aspect of the Bat-universe at the time, even the lesser-known, non-iconic ones. You have to know who people like Orpheus and Onyx are. Even Stephanie Brown was a fairly obscure character at this point, and she was the focal point of the story. They had to raise her status to Robin first just so people knew who she WAS.
That said, it's a great story, but it can be difficult. Every character is at just about the lowest point in their lives at the beginning, and it shows. It's a story about the members of the Bat-family at their breaking points and making mistakes. When it was written, it was meant to be a huge status-quo shakeup, so those mistakes have real, lasting consequences. Or, they would have, if DC didn't back away from it and handwave them all away after Infinite Crisis.
It's one of the only stories I've read where Batman just indisputably, completely LOSES, and if nothing else, it's interesting for that. It's also a pretty exciting, suspenseful read as well.
War Games is the climax to a lot of storylines that had been going in various Bat-books for the past few years. It wasn't so much a singular, self contained event like Court of Owls, it was very involved with every aspect of the Bat-universe at the time, even the lesser-known, non-iconic ones. You have to know who people like Orpheus and Onyx are. Even Stephanie Brown was a fairly obscure character at this point, and she was the focal point of the story. They had to raise her status to Robin first just so people knew who she WAS.
That said, it's a great story, but it can be difficult. Every character is at just about the lowest point in their lives at the beginning, and it shows. It's a story about the members of the Bat-family at their breaking points and making mistakes. When it was written, it was meant to be a huge status-quo shakeup, so those mistakes have real, lasting consequences. Or, they would have, if DC didn't back away from it and handwave them all away after Infinite Crisis.
It's one of the only stories I've read where Batman just indisputably, completely LOSES, and if nothing else, it's interesting for that. It's also a pretty exciting, suspenseful read as well.
Read
February 21, 2020The actual War Games crossover doesn’t begin until the second half of the book. Some of what happens before directly connects with War Games, namely Stephanie Brown’s brief tenure as Robin. Stephanie is rather delightful in the role, and I wish she would’ve stayed Robin longer. The rest of the first half is decent but forgettable detective stuff, mostly from Gabrych’s Detective Comics run. Along with the Stephanie issues, the Leslie Tompkins story is most memorable. I think some of these prelude issues could have been left out, though.
As for War Games itself, it’s a very solid read. So far it’s one of the more cohesive Batman crossovers, with each issue smoothly transitioning to the next despite shifting writers and artists. A gang war in Gotham has been done before (see Long Halloween and New Gotham for examples), but this one does feel more urgent and extreme, what with the brutal and shocking inciting incident. I like the idea of Gotham gangs fizzling out as the costumed crazies come on the scene during Batman’s second year, but a bunch of them swooped in after No Man’s Land and here we see the boiling point of their rivalries. It’s exciting stuff and poses a real challenge to Batman.
This is also a fine showcase for the Bat Family. It’s quite a large group now, with side players Orpheus, Onyx, and even Tarantula taking part. I love how the Family grows from the 90’s to the mid-2000’s. I’ve been doing a (more or less) chronological read of Batman comics, and this period is easily one of my favorites because of the Bat Family.
As for War Games itself, it’s a very solid read. So far it’s one of the more cohesive Batman crossovers, with each issue smoothly transitioning to the next despite shifting writers and artists. A gang war in Gotham has been done before (see Long Halloween and New Gotham for examples), but this one does feel more urgent and extreme, what with the brutal and shocking inciting incident. I like the idea of Gotham gangs fizzling out as the costumed crazies come on the scene during Batman’s second year, but a bunch of them swooped in after No Man’s Land and here we see the boiling point of their rivalries. It’s exciting stuff and poses a real challenge to Batman.
This is also a fine showcase for the Bat Family. It’s quite a large group now, with side players Orpheus, Onyx, and even Tarantula taking part. I love how the Family grows from the 90’s to the mid-2000’s. I’ve been doing a (more or less) chronological read of Batman comics, and this period is easily one of my favorites because of the Bat Family.
June 28, 2023
[1.4]
Let’s start off with the small - the positives.
I liked that it was, sort of, down to earth, in comparison to a lot of Batman stories. Lower level crime and a somewhat human Batman. The art throughout was decent.
It has a lot of similarities with No Man’s Land. Like that one, this starts off fairly promising and then quickly go off the rails to never return again.
Like in No Man’s Land, we see a lot of Batman’s little helpers. Large sections are exclusively about them and the book as a whole seems to be mostly aimed toward teenage girls.
A typical scene is Batman talking to one helper over coms. Switch scene to a second helper fighting some people and saying a few words to themselves, then switch scene to a third helper fighting some other dudes. Switch back to Batman asking the first helper if there are more helpers who could help out, because we don’t have enough of them helping to handle the dire situation.
This is a family event with, supposedly, something for everyone, and nothing substantial for anyone. This is the exact opposite reason to why I want to read Batman. There’s no detective work here. No suspense. No interesting characters. No relationships. No sense of Gotham being an interesting place.
If you liked No Man’s Land, I can’t guarantee that you will hate this one, but for everyone else, I read this so that you never have to.
Let’s start off with the small - the positives.
I liked that it was, sort of, down to earth, in comparison to a lot of Batman stories. Lower level crime and a somewhat human Batman. The art throughout was decent.
It has a lot of similarities with No Man’s Land. Like that one, this starts off fairly promising and then quickly go off the rails to never return again.
Like in No Man’s Land, we see a lot of Batman’s little helpers. Large sections are exclusively about them and the book as a whole seems to be mostly aimed toward teenage girls.
A typical scene is Batman talking to one helper over coms. Switch scene to a second helper fighting some people and saying a few words to themselves, then switch scene to a third helper fighting some other dudes. Switch back to Batman asking the first helper if there are more helpers who could help out, because we don’t have enough of them helping to handle the dire situation.
This is a family event with, supposedly, something for everyone, and nothing substantial for anyone. This is the exact opposite reason to why I want to read Batman. There’s no detective work here. No suspense. No interesting characters. No relationships. No sense of Gotham being an interesting place.
If you liked No Man’s Land, I can’t guarantee that you will hate this one, but for everyone else, I read this so that you never have to.
October 5, 2021
This was the strongest Batman collection I've read recently. I thought the story was very strong and very well put together, the character work was very good, and I actually liked most of the art (even if it was, at times, like the artists had never seen a woman's body before - but I am usually prepared for that in comics). The emotional beats were there, and at no point did I read any part of this having to pretend I knew who one of the characters were - they were all actually introduced in some way, even if it was just someone saying their name! (There have been... so many comics... where a character is running around, and they're a secondary character, and no one ever says their name so I genuinely have no idea who they're supposed to be. This isn't even just my having less comics knowledge - the art changes so much in comics that it's sometimes hard to know what the person looks like!) But yeah, this is my favourite so far; it really feels like the plot is cohesive, which is another thing that can't always be said, and I'm really enjoying it.
July 9, 2017
In Batman: War Games Book 1 New Edition, Gotham finds itself in a literal war zone when the entire underground battles for turf. Our caped crusader finds himself in the centre of this chaos as he fights to keep Gotham safe. Knowing how the Batman universe works, you know that this battle will not come without sacrifices and in War Games there is a HUGE one. With all of the subplots that take place throughout the extensive series, readers are kept on their toes wondering what happens next. While the plot line is certainly reminiscent of the Batman Series, this particular collection feels just a little bit different.
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February 1, 2024
This very large collection of the big Bat crossover, War Games is only half done but there's a lot of the same thing going on. Every street gang in Gotham is at each others' throats and its chaos. I felt like this was a poor man's No Man's Land as its about a real world topic (street violence) but handled by Batman and crew. Its not bad by any means but it doesn't feel special as the gangs are interchangeable and there isn't enough from Batman's rogues gallery. Stephanie's relationship with Bruce is the impetus for this and its handled well (Bruce is awful). There is some very good art throughout with the exception of Damion Scott. Overall, for the size and scope of this I expected more, which might be present in the next volume, but here we are.
December 13, 2017
Una historia épica en donde las bandas criminales de Gotham se enfrentan en una guerra sin precedentes por el control de la ciudad. Batman, Nightwing, Batgirl y Oracle se ven superados en su capacidad de enfrentar esta amenaza y recurren a nuevos aliados y reclutas en esta cruenta guerra. Es notable la participación de Stephanie Brown como la cuarta Robin después del retiro de Tim Drake. Uno de los personajes más destacados en la historia es la doctora Leslie Thompkins, una figura materna para Bruce wayne y una voz pacifista ahogada entre los gritos de la guerra. Una historia esencial en el timeline de Batman.
October 21, 2022
This crossover was published in the mid-2000s, an ignoble period in Batman history that falls between No Man's Land & New Gotham and Grant Morrison's high-profile run. Yet War Games is a gem of an event. While supervillains make appearances throughout, it is primarily a glimpse of how Gotham might suffer if street-level crime reached a sudden apex through all-out conflict between its many gangs. Most noteworthy in this first volume is the role of Stephanie Brown, including her brief stint as Robin.
October 15, 2024
Picked up this graphic novel from the library on a whim. Never heard of this collection before but I must say, I was pleasantly surprised!
It’s got the usual problems of big DC/Marvel cross overs (e.g. inconsistent art, writing, loose connections between stories, some stories are fillers and don’t work, etc).
Overall though, the quality was great with some excellent character work and a simple plausible premise: a city wide gang war.
I really enjoyed the graphic novel and whilst it’s not one for my private collection, I am really looking forward to part 2!
It’s got the usual problems of big DC/Marvel cross overs (e.g. inconsistent art, writing, loose connections between stories, some stories are fillers and don’t work, etc).
Overall though, the quality was great with some excellent character work and a simple plausible premise: a city wide gang war.
I really enjoyed the graphic novel and whilst it’s not one for my private collection, I am really looking forward to part 2!
May 7, 2018
I liked the plot, even if the characterization of the heroes felt off. Everyone is extremely unlikeable and petty. They all treat each other terribly and are extremely reactionary. Its like a procedural but everyone has a huge ego and wears costumes. The stories span across several comics (detective, Catwoman, Batgirl etc.) so of course the art and writing are different per comic, but the whole concept is interesting.
May 23, 2019
Things are heating up and the storyline has some nice crossover. There are a few things that are referenced in this book that happened in titles' issues outside of this book that would benefit from one of those ["When he stopped the villain, Batman #645, -ED!] panels they used to run, but other than that, a variety of characters, art styles, storytelling voices, all come together for a pretty cohesive crossover.
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