Batman: Shadow War

Batman (2016)

by Joshua Williamson, Howard Porter

Avec l'assassinat présumé de Ra's Al Ghul par Deathstroke, c'est une véritable guerre que le mercenaire semble avoir déclenché. Talia, héritière du Démon, est bien décidée à venger son père et envoie aux trousses du meurtrier sa Ligue des Ombres pour l'éliminer. De leurs côtés, Batman et Damian Wayne, Robin et petit-fils du Démon, doivent s'associer pour amener Deathstroke devant la justice avant que Talia ne le tue. Et si l'assassinat de Ra's Al Ghul n'était pas ce qu'il semblait... ?


This hardcover collects all the parts of the SHADOW WAR story from Batman #122-123; Robin #13-14; Deathstroke Inc. #8-9; Shadow War: Alpha #1; Shadow War: Omega #1; Shadow War Zone #1.

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

280 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 2022

Reviews

[Subham · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one was so good omg!

So here we have the death of Ra's Al Ghul at first and then we see it may have bene Deathstroke and thus begins an epic saga that ties Williamson's books together in such a fun way, Talia vs Deathstroke, but it may have been someone else, Batman trying to stop this war/conflict and the huge emotional conflict for Damian here and then finally whatever is happening with the person behind it all and the reveal was so worth and I like how it plays with another event they did and the villains reasons is justified here and makes for a great moral conundrum and a great moment for Damian and I just love the Batman-Robin moments that Josh writes here, its just so perfect!

One of those events that really has that epic nature and I like how its a continuation of other stories in the DCU and then leads to an even bigger event in "Dark crisis" so yeah a must read for sure and pays off big time, plus the inclusion of Batman Inc and Secret society was so fun and makes for great banter, the new character "Angel-breaker" has some potential and her history with Ghost-maker and Black canary will make for a fun read in some future volume!

So yeah a fun event and a definite recommend and some great moments for Batman and Robin with a satisfying ending with awesome art throughout!

[Blindzider · Rating 2 out of 5]

The more I read of Williamson's work, the more I think it's written for a specific age group, namely middle school grades and below. While most of his stuff is solid writing, I just don't feel there's any depth to the stories. They are often filled with lots of action, or fun dialogue, but there isn't a lot of creativity involved.

This is no exception: The entire series is predicated on the fact that everyone suspects Deathstroke of something because they saw his costume! Multiple issues of multiple people attacking and killing, all because they jumped to a conclusion. This becomes an excuse to force a variety of teams to fight so there can be big splash pages of battles. Very weak, IMO.

The involvement of al Guhl actually had an interesting premise, but it's barely discussed and you never really get to see where that was headed. It also contains a few nice father/son moments but they are few and quick and aren't enough to give this story any meat to it's bones. And Batman isn't in it a lot either.

One complaint that isn't just with this story, but I wish there was a short, text prologue at the beginning of DC's hardcovers. If you pick this up blind, there are things that might be important to know going in. For example, why are Batman and Robin estranged? Maybe there's too much to detail but it just seems like many of these stories could use a few notes to help get the reader's head in the right place of continuity before starting.

[Mia · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

Loved all Talia and Damian stuff, her killing Slade and Respawn finally dying.

[Dakota Morgan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Fine setup leads to weak payoff in this mini-event. Joshua Williamson is writing the Batman, Robin, and Deathstroke series, so it's only natural he'd craft a crossover. In Shadow War, Ras al'Ghul has decided to turn himself in - but Deathstroke has other ideas! Or is it Deathstroke? This all leads to a war between Deathstroke Inc and Talia's Demon's Hand.

I think my main issue with Shadow War is that there are simply so many nonsensically clothed superheroes/villains running around. Deathstroke has a "secret society" with seemingly hundreds of members, as does Talia. Batman has his whole Batman Inc. crew. Robin made friends in the Lazarus Tournament. This book is absolutely lousy with third-tier, forgettable characters punching each other.

After the first two issues, the mystery collapses into a bland punchfest with often mediocre art (not a fan of Otto Porter's chunky character designs). And then the big reveal (It was Geo-Force (?!) all along - you know, the prince of Markovia? From Event Leviathan? Or rather, the largely unread follow-up, Checkmate? Not the terrible movie starring Gerard Butler!) is a snoozer unless you've been following every single DC storyline for the past few years (hopefully not). We'll see how this all plays out in Dark Crisis, I guess, but I'm ready for the Batman series to stop having all these mini-events. Maybe just write about crime in Gotham?

[Derek Moreland · Rating 1 out of 5]

Shadow War Alpha: oh no, Deathstroke killed Ra's Al Ghul!

Deathstroke: But...I DIDN'T kill Ra's Al Ghul!

Five consecutive issues: Fuck you, Deathstroke! You killed Ra's Al Ghul!

Deathstroke: But...I DIDN'T kill Ra's Al Ghul!

Shadow War Zone: pay 6 dollars for a plot point that gets wrapped up in a single line of dialogue in Shadow War Omega!

Shadow War Omega: oh, Geo Force just got Jean Loring'ed.

I genuinely think Joshua Williamson's ascension at DC has led to some of the most catastrophically terrible comics in recent memory.

[Roman Zarichnyi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Кросовер «Війна тіней» від сценариста Джошуа Вільямсона пов’язав між собою три серії коміксів «Бетмен», «Робін» і «Дезстроук» разом із окремими ваншотами.

На початку кросоверу ми бачимо, що Ра'с аль Ґул почувається погано, ями Лазаря прокляті, а Талія і Даміан починають ладнати між собою. Все це призводить до того, що Рас каже Талії, про план, як допомогти їхній родині у довгостроковій перспективі, здавшись органам влади. Але під час його публічної промови Дезстроук точним вистрілом вбиває його. Тепер Талія оце знищити останнього, Робін палає від люті, а Бетмен намагається розібратися з усім.

Для мене кросовер вийшов досить непоганим, особливо тим, що історія була більш локальною. І окрім цих прихованих перепетій, Вільямсон приділив достатньо уваги сімейним стосункам Талії і Робіна, Бетса і Робіна. Останнім навіть після довгого часу вдалося знайти певні точки дотику.

Не всі випуски були хорошими, але загалом читалося добре.

[Lashaan Balasingam · Rating 2 out of 5]

You can find my review on my blog by clicking here.

With writer James Tynion IV’s Batman run completed with the Fear State story arc, DC Comics assigned writer Joshua Williamson as the temporary writer to continue the Dark Knight’s adventures. He began to do so with the introduction of a new villain called Abyss and teasing a new tale featuring Batman’s son and her mother. In the middle of the Batman comic book series, two issues of the canonical run were dedicated to a crossover event centered around Deathstroke, Robin (Damian Wayne), Talia al Ghul, and Batman. Reading both of those issues physically and the rest of the relevant and mandatory issues pertaining to this event digitally, there’s no hiding the hassle behind these comic book events but also the poor overarching narrative inevitably butchered by this publishing business endeavour. This nine-issue crossover event collects all the parts of the Shadow War story from Batman #122-123, Robin #13-14, Deathstroke Inc. #8-9, Shadow War: Alpha #1, Shadow War: Omega #1, and Shadow War Zone #1.

What is Batman: Shadow War about? Batman’s legendary adversary and international criminal mastermind, and also a twisted environmentalist at heart, Ra’s al Ghul, decides to surrender to the Markovian Embassy alongside his daughter Talia al Ghul and give the world surprising and unique access to the Lazarus Pits in the name of science and a better future for their world. During the press conference, Ra’s al Ghul is assassinated by Deathstroke who successfully manages to escape Batman and Robin’s sight afterward. With her father dead, Talia now sets off on a rampant quest for revenge and sends a group of assassins known as the Demon’s Shadow out to hunt down Deathstroke and Deathstroke Inc. Meanwhile, Batman suspects that something doesn’t make sense and reaches out to the mother of his child for clues that could elucidate the lingering mystery around this assassination. What follows is a manhunt and a race against time to find the truth before any more casualties fall to this devious scheme.

Diving into this with low expectations played in favour of writer Joshua Williamson’s largely uncreative and lackluster story. This disappointing crossover, like many others in the past, suffers once more from the usual trappings of choppy story-telling mostly focused on incorporating as many characters from the different inevitably-involved comic book series in hopes of presenting wild, far-fetched, and ridiculous action scenes across splash pages without a care in the world for readers to be emotionally invested in these heroes or villains. The dialogue and reasoning that are squeezed in between all the chaos also stick to the bare minimum to introduce these characters, present a couple of silly lines to establish their core personalities, and quickly put them in a battle where no one wants to take a moment to investigate, listen to facts, and act intelligently. Even Batman seems a bit slow on his feet, desperately trying to play the middle-man, and unconvincingly trying to get everyone to stop the violence through words rather than action.

The story also loosely ties in with countless past stories, including writer Brian Michael Bendis’ Leviathan and Checkmate, making them quintessential to better understand the underlying motives of certain characters or even the big reveal by the end of the crossover event. While the story does contain key moments that are sure to affect future DC stories, it mostly serves as a transition story arc as the DC universe moves forward into Infinite Frontier. As for the artwork, it’s a terribly huge mixed bag where most of the artistic styles, never the same across this story, are more often than not mediocre, overly-crowded, messy, and rough around the edges. Thankfully, the two Batman issues, at least visually, aren’t that bad, but throughout this crossover event, readers are presented with an incredible array of styles and visions, almost like an exposition to give us all a chance to discover new artists within the comic book business. It would be difficult to say that any of them actually left a lasting impression though.

Batman: Shadow War is an unadorned crossover event playing around with a couple of sleuths in their quest for the truth amidst an all-out war between shadow-sworn ninjas and assassins.

[Shaun Stanley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Batman: Shadow War collects DC Comics issues Batman 122-123, Robin 13-14, Deathstroke 8-9, Shadow War: Alpha, Shadow War: War Zone, and Shadow War: Omega written by Joshua Williams, Nadi Shammas, Ed Britain, and Stephanie Phillips with art by Howard Porter, Roger Cruz, Paolo Pantalena, Viktar Bogdanovic, Stephen Segovia, Otto Schmidt, Sweeney Boa, Mike Bowden, Ann Maulina, and Michael Henderson.

Ra’s and Talia Al Ghul have done the unthinkable and have turned themselves in. Ra’s has only has one condition for his surrender - he wishes to address the public on why he is turning himself in. In his speech, Ra’s repents his actions and wants to help improve the world. During the speech, Ra’s is assassinated and Talia is shot by Deathstroke. In Talia’s escape, she sets the entire League of Shadows against Deathstroke and the Secret Society. Only one problem - it appears Slade Wilson has an iron clad alibi and didn’t kill The Demon’s Head.

This book is a globetrotting action story with many long term storylines weaving into an epic crescendo. We finally have Batman and Damian Wayne back together. It has been a long time coming. The final reveal of the enemy is an interesting choice that has close to 40 years of comic history behind it. There were times where I felt I wasn’t getting the full story as I don’t read the Robin, Deathstroke, or Checkmate on-going comic series, but I definitely got the big ideas of what was happening here. It’s really fun seeing Batman Inc back in the picture now being lead by Ghostmaker. That should make for a really fun series. While this book does have its own conclusion, it sets up the next DC crossover Dark Crisis. I’m crisis-ed out in recent years, but I will still give it a read.

[Jess · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked the Damien/His Parents stuff in this one, even though it was obvious it was missing some stuff from being part of other collections and/or again, having read the rest of this series more than a year ago.

[Sid · Rating 3 out of 5]

talia calling bruce "beloved" still slaps tho. i'll never get tired of it. it's their thing, okay. i am unwell. (also, read this as single issues since collected edition is not out yet oops)

[Adam Fisher · Rating 4 out of 5]

This Batman crossover was epic! Lots of fighting and twists.
Summary (w/spoilers):
Ra's Al Ghul has decided to make peace with the world and turn himself in, revealing details about crimes and the secret of the Lazarus Pits. When making his announcement in front of the world, he is assassinated by Deathstroke. Talia vows war against Deathstroke and his team of people in the Secret Society. BUT... it wasn't Deathstroke who killed him, merely a person in a Deathstroke costume. As the League of Shadows has their mission, Batman gets involved, determined to get to the bottom of it. In the aftermath, Talia kills Deathstroke, the culprit is revealed as Geo-Force, the Prince of Markovia who lashed out against Ra's when the League did huge damage to his country in the aftermath of Leviathan, Geo-Force is captured and put in Belle Reve, AND Deathstroke is revived by a Lazarus Pit, only to declare he will kill everyone (with a 'Next Time: Dark Crisis').
I've got some other titles to catch up on before Dark Crisis, but looking forward to it.

Overall, a very fast paced story that is one of the better recent Batman stories.
Recommend.

[Khurram · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. A decent story good artwork (though as there are different artists for different issues, I do like some more than others). The story is a crossover of Batman, Robin (Damian), and Deathstroke Inc.

I do like the growing relationship between Batmsn and Robin (Damian). I have started to, if not like but respect Damian a bit more. This book is blood feud. The spark has been ignited to start a war between Deathstroke and Al Ghuls with Batman and Robin cought in between.

The main complaint I have about this book, (this come from me being a Batman fan more that a fan of the other characters), is Batman to be more of a spectator and a couple of steps behind the others. Also dispite bring over 8 parts the story did seem a bit rushed for me. It is big story and it does start a new era of the different titles.

The book finishes with a varient cover gallery, including exclusive covers. Then an epilogue for to be continued in each of the series.

[Roman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Так, я прочитав кроссовер "Shadow War". Зав'язка полягає у тому, що Рас Аль Гул вирішив заради своєї родини здатися ФБР та поділитися із світом таємницями ями Лазаря, однак коли він почав це робити його вбиває Дезстроук, а точніше хтось в його старому костюмі.


І от на мою думку головна проблема цього кроссоверу в тому, що він вирішив не бути чимось масштабним і не влаштовувати глобальні розборки (вони тут зведені до мінімуму і є досить локальними) між Тінню Демона та корпораціями Дезстроука та Бетмена (останні взагалі в ролі няньок для лиходіїв виступають) а зосередитися на декількох персонажах (Бетсі, Робіні, Респавні, Талії та Слейді).

З хорошого можу сказати те, що оскільки весь кроссовер писав Вільямсон то читається він досить швидко і не напряжно. Також порадувало те, що Вільямсон не забив на ворлдбілдинг і органічно підв'язався під Бендіса, а також Слейда до появи в Dark Crisis.

А от що мене розчарувало так це особистість фейк Дезстроука, нехай і до його мотивації жодних претензій, та доля Респавна. В залишку скажу, що сам кроссовер читнути можна, оскілки тут немає чогось такого від чого можна було б згоріти (привіт War for Earth-3), але могло бути набагато краще.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

Despite a few good moments, this devolved into continuous fights over a misunderstanding. It doesn't help that I doubt there will be any lasting impact with the deaths, and don't like what was done with Geoforce. To each their own, but I was hoping for more than battle scenes.

There were hints at emotional depth with Deathstroke failing Respawn like his other kids, Geoforce mentioning Terra as a source of anger and Robin's moments with his family, but those were surface level before returning to the fighting.

This seems to be a sequel to the Leviathan Checkmate thing I don't know much about, and a prequel to Dark Crisis. I thought I was generally caught up on major events but DC's just throwing in one after another, making it difficult to enjoy a story fully without a ton of additional required reading.

[Chris Lemmerman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ra's Al Ghul is dead, murdered by...Deathstroke? Now Slade Wilson finds himself pursued by the League Of Assassins as well as Batman & Robin. With only his son Respawn at his side, Slade sets out to clear his name, and take down the person who dared to try and frame him!

Considering Joshua Williamson only wrote like seven issues of Batman in total, you'd think it was surprising that he managed to seed and execute a sweeping crossover as well. But when you consider that he also wrote all of the Robin and Deathstroke Inc series that tie-in to Shadow War, you can tell that this is the story he's been aiming towards for a while.

The fact that Williamson wrote every issue in this collection (excluding the War Zone one-shot) makes everything extremely cohesive. The story meanders a little considering its length, and the ultimate reveal of who the actual killer is came a little out of left field considering said character hasn't really been seen much lately, but it's a rollercoaster of fun regardless and it even has a few poignant little moments between Batman and Robin, and even Batman and Talia near the end that were surprisingly effective.

On the art side, Viktor Bogdanovic handles the Alpha, while Howard Porter and Stephen Segovia tag-team the Omega. Porter also draws both Batman issues, while the Robin and Deathstroke Inc. issues are taken by their usual series artists Roger Cruz and Paolo Pantalena respectively.

Shadow War's not the deepest or most emotionally powerful crossover, but it's fun, it's full of ninjas, and has a lot of ass kicking involved with spectacular artwork throughout. Can't really go too far wrong with all that.

[Judah Radd · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s definitely a soap opera, but I still liked it a lot. It satisfied my desire for a structurally formulaic superhero showdown with action, melodrama and a culminating climax to tie things off.

This leads right into Dark Crisis. I’m trade waiting on that, so it’ll be a while. I’m also trade waiting for the Zdarsky run. I simply can’t be expected to be issue-current with Batman. I am really looking forward to these next volumes though.

Anyway, cool read. Fun story.

[Ross · Rating 3 out of 5]

The DCU has been through a LOT with shadow organizations. Leviathan reared its ugly head only to be cut down. The Demon's Shadow (Ra's Al Ghul's ninjas) are still lurking about. The Secret Society has been gathering power recently with Deathstroke at the helm.

What happens if one of the players decides that they've been doing it all wrong. The time in the shadows should be over and they can change the world if they try anew. Would the others let it happen?
----
This feels like it was a idea that got too big for one of Joshua Williamson's series, so they spread it across a bunch of them. We get constant reminders in different titles, of the events in other books. It's also a prelude to the latest DC Crisis so there's a LOT of info to pack into this series. If you liked any of Joshua WIlliamson's other DC titles, this crossover will do you just fine.

Bonus: Respawn vs Robin ...part 3313531? They always get interrupted
Bonus Bonus: Isn't Clown Killer supposed to come up with a new uniform? Even GhostMaker hates his gear and "bat bat"

[Sebastian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bardzo dobra historia!

[Chad · Rating 4 out of 5]

A surprisingly good crossover of Batman, Robin, and Deathstroke Inc plus some special issues. It helps that Joshua Williamson was writing all three books at the time. Ra's al Ghul has decided to do things differently. He and Talia are turning themselves in when he is murdered apparently by Deathstroke. What follows is a bunch of fights with tons of ninjas and this new but uninteresting character, Angel Breaker. It's Talia vs. Deathstroke for most of the book with Batman and Robin stuck in the middle. The whole thing ends as a lead in to Dark Crisis.

The art can be a bit dated at times with Paolo Pantalena and Roger Cruz doing two of the books but overall it was all pretty good with one artist per issue or story.

[FortressOfBookitude · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story is mostly build-up and stalling, and the important bits are discussed in a minimal amount of panels. However, I still enjoyed reading it and felt entertained.

[Wil Carpenter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Joshua Williamson pens this crossover storyline covering issues of Batman, Deathstroke Inc and Robin, as well as a handful of one-shots. The story starts off engaging but sadly descends into the realms of mediocrity by the final act, with one of the big reveals proving to be a deeply unsatisfying misfire. The artwork throughout is inconsistent but does manage to elevate events for the most part. This is definitely not Williamson’s finest hour and it isn’t quite the capper to his brief Batman run that many fans would have liked.

[Robby · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good fun if you can get past occasionally messy artwork and heavy continuity references.

[Billy Jepma · Rating 2 out of 5]

A strong start with good art and rising stakes almost convinced me this would be a fun mini-event, but it fizzled out quickly around the middle, sadly. Maybe I would've liked it more if I had been reading (or cared to read) the Robin and Deathstroke Inc. series' that this exists alongside, but even then, my interest in those characters is already pretty slim. Williamson has some half-decent ideas around Robin being torn between the League of Shadows and his Gotham family; they just don't go anywhere. Loose emotional stakes, plot twists, and even some loose art (the multitude of artists trading off here don't help the story feel more cohesive) make this a forgettable distraction. I didn't outright dislike it, but I was bored by the end. Aw well.

[James DeSantis · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun little mix up with Deathstroke, Robin, and Batman trying to stop each other. Joshua Williamson been doing solid work on Robin and Deathstroke, so seeing them go head to head, even if Deathstroke is dealing with other stuff like learning he has a clone son from the previous series, makes for an exciting go and hunting crossover. While not great, and a lot of what happens feels like a set up for Dark Crisis, it's still entertaining for what it was.

[Yoshiro · Rating 3 out of 5]

POPKulturowy Kociołek:
Wydarzenia zaprezentowane w tym komiksie ukazują śmierć Ra’s Al-Ghula z ręki Deathstroke’a. Czynu tego nie może wybaczyć jego córka Talia Al-Ghul, która poprzysięga krwawą zemstę. Wysyła ona Ligę Cieni, aby ta dopadła Slade’a Wilsona i każdego, kto jest z nim w jakiś sposób powiązany. Rozpoczyna się więc ostra akcja, podczas której mogą ucierpieć niewinni. Jedyna nadzieja w Batmanie i Robinie, którzy starają się za wszelką cenę powstrzymać postępujące szaleństwo. Muszą oni odnaleźć Deathstroke’a i doprowadzić go przed wymiar sprawiedliwości. Nie będzie to jednak łatwe, bo pewnym siłą zależy, aby świat pogrążył się w chaosie.

Silną stroną wielu dzieł superbohaterskich zawsze była akcja i nie inaczej jest w przypadku recenzowanego tytułu. Album Batman: Wojna cieni, wypełniony jest wartką treścią, która potrafi zaangażować czytelnika. Scenarzysta działa tu bardzo efektownie i efektywnie, utrzymując odpowiednie tempo akcji z momentami pełnymi adrenaliny i chwilami przestoju poświęconymi rozwinięciu niektórych wątków. Joshua Williamson udanie ukazuje tu również złożone relacje między Brucem i Damianem czy Deathstroke a Unspawnem, dodając do tego nieco politycznego i emocjonalnego wymiaru.

Brzmi to wszystko bardzo interesująco i takie też jest, przynajmniej w pierwszej połowie komiksu. Z kolejnymi przeczytanymi stronami/rozdziałami jakość scenariusza bowiem spada. Włączając do fabuły nowe postacie, autor wyraźnie traci większy pomysł na prowadzenie historii. Wyrywa się on z początkowego dobrego rytmu i skupia się na mało interesujących wydarzeniach czy informacjach. Na dodatek do scenariusza wkrada się pośpiech i niektóre wątki zaczynają być ukazywane mocno skrótowo.

Jednoczesną zaletą i wadą komiksu są również wspomniane relacje pomiędzy bohaterami. Sprawiają one, że Batman: Wojna cieni, nie jest komiksem dla wszystkich. Teoretycznie po album może sięgnąć każdy, szczególnie pragnąc chwili intensywnej komiksowej akcji. W praktyce zaś zaprezentowana tu historia jest jednak bardzo mocno powiązana z oddzielnymi seriami (Batman, Robin, Deathstroke). Nowicjusz w uniwersum DC nie zrozumie więc znaczenia niektórych wątków czy powiązań pomiędzy bohaterami....

https://popkulturowykociolek.pl/batma...

[Akshay · Rating 2 out of 5]

Utterly erratic and all over the place, the artwork has moments of great action and nice design, but everything is all over the place. Frenetic but fun, it's not the greatest but it's a positive for this mini-event.
The other positive is Damien Wayne/Robin who continues to be an interesting character and though I haven't been reading his solo book, it sounds more interesting when I saw the issues that crossed over in this event than the main Bat-family books, most of which I've dropped.

As for the story itself, yeah, no.
The concept is fine, Ra's Al-Ghul wants to do right finally as he faces his mortality and decides to turn himself in and change his ways - interesting.
Then he gets shot in broad daylight by Deathstroke while the place is swarming with govt agents, police as well as the whole Bat-family and presumably Ra's' people. Okay, shocking but cool.
There follows Talia going full-tilt into revenge mode. Wham! Pow! fighting and explode-y things all over the place, lots of insinuation and hunting of Slade Wilson and lots of angst and hand-wringing about morality and assassins and murder and vengeance and blah blah in the middle of it all.
Batman's actually trying to Batman a bit and approaching it as a mystery which is another small bright spot in an otherwise supremely boring story which (I will not Spoil) frankly was severely undercut by certain things that popped up on-screen and made me in the first two issues itself take a guess on the end-game and the murderer of Ra's - because it's not Deathstroke as he keeps repeating himself. And the reveal was... underwhelming, felt a bit forced in the choice of story and how it was handled plus even in a superhero story, all said, it sounded less than likely to have played out as it did.

So yeah, if you've enjoyed Williamsons writing and the books that this ties into, you'll probably enjoy it.
If like me, you've struggled with much of DC's content for the past few years, chances are this will be less than fun and make your eyes roll too.
Entertaining and a quick, breezy read, but not interesting or challenging. Do with that review what you will.

[RubiGiráldez RubiGiráldez · Rating 3 out of 5]

No hay duda de que un planteamiento como el de mostrar una guerra abierta entre el clan Al Ghul y Deathstroke con Robin y Batman en medio, es bastante interesante de entrada. Además, el autor Joshua Williamson ha ido cimentando un contexto bastante interesante desde la serie de Robin y ese Torneo en Isla Lázaro que acababa descubriendo a un Ra´s Al Ghul en una nueva evolución personal y un curioso rechazo a las fosas de Lázaro. De ahí partimos para un atentado aparentemente realizado por Deathstroke que inicia toda una guerra al estar Slade liderando la Sociedad Secreta de villanos y reencontrarse con un nuevo vástago de la disfuncional familia Wilson.

Es cierto que Shadow War funciona como vehículo de evasión. Incluso tiene sus ciertas dosis de emoción y peligro ante la amenaza constante de las fuerzas de Talia y la implicación de Batman y cia. para tratar de proteger y escudar a Deathstroke y sus aliados al intuir un verdadero sospechoso ante el detonante de la historia que, si bien tiene cierto sentido (más allá de recientes eventos ligados a todo el embrollo argumental de Leviathan). Queda como una sorpresa final MUY postergada. Y es que la narración disgregada en varias cabeceras creo que ha dispersado bastante el foco y el control creativo de Williamson. También hay que destacar que como se apunta al final como cliffhanger, todo esto de Shadow War parece un apurado pretexto para adelantar la Dark Crisis y la implicación de Deathstroke en esta nueva amenaza Multiversal que sí que enfatiza por mucho más su potencial como personaje villanesco por encima de la media, con esas nutridas fuerzas del Mal.

[Norman Cook · Rating 4 out of 5]

We interrupt the ongoing Batman storyline to present this crossover event, an event that is apparently a sequel to the Leviathan and Checkmate crossover events (they are referenced several times) and a direct lead-in to Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths. Deathstroke is framed for the murder of Ra's al Ghul and it is up to Batman, Robin, Deathstroke, Batman Inc., and Deathstroke Inc. to solve the mystery. Along the way Damian Wayne discovers he has a half-brother, the cloned offspring of Talia al Ghul and Slade Wilson. Also, Batman and Robin have a father-son bonding moment. Characters die, some are revived and some will surely show back up in retconned versions, but for now it is an intense emotional ride for the remaining characters. The biggest disappointment is that the ultimate villain is a B- (or even C-)lister, but it sort of makes sense in context. Crossover events like this are often nothing more than springboards for the next crossover event, and although this is no exception, having Joshua Williamson pen all of these issues brings a cohesiveness to the story that is often missing in these kinds of things. The artwork is by a variety of artists, but for the most part it is consistent and all of it is top notch.
Collects Batman #122-123; Robin #13-14; Deathstroke Inc. #8-9; Shadow War: Alpha #1; Shadow War: Omega #1; Shadow War Zone #1.

[Ozan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this Batman event becaue it had Deathstoke in it. The book containes Deathstroke Inc. Issues 8-9 which weren't included in Deathstroke Inc. Collected Edition Books.

A Deathstroke imposter assassinated Ra's Al Ghul and this started a War between Talia Al Ghul's League of Shadows and Deathstroke Inc. I wonder how many more times they will kill Ra's Al Ghul ? lol

Talia beated and killed Deathstroke in a fight by stopping Deathstroke's sword with her bear hand and stabbing him... WTF ? lol I had enough of DC Comics' hard push and glorification of Talia. I will avoid anything with Talia Al Ghul from now on. If i see her in any Batman comics ever again, my reaction will only be ''that stupid ----- again'' and how come Deathstroke died with just one stabbing, he has a healing factor for crying out loud ?

No one reads this crap for Talia, idiot DC.

This book also ended as ''it will continue in Dark Crisis'' just like Deathstroke Inc. vol. 1... I am not really into big events and i much prefer whatever i read to be self contained.

[Hugo Emanuel · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent crossover between the Batman, Robin and Deathstroke Inc issues, that while recounting important events in main continuity, does so in a fairly mediocre manner. It's enjoyable, but lacks real depth or originality - its a very surface level told story, especially if one considers the nature of the events taking place during it. All the stuff I've read from Williamson so far felt servicebly put together (altought I have not read Dark Crisis yet).

Altough the writing is cohesive, as all issues are written by Joshua Williamson, the artwork ranges from good to decent, so visually its a bit of a mixed bag, altough it never really becomes an eysore even at its worse.

Seems every Bat event out of DC these days has the word "War" in it - The Joker War, Shadow War, the upcoming Gotham War... That's alot of wars.

I'm surprised DC did not name Fear State as "Fear War", all things considered. Guess they missed a trick with that...

A 3/5, or 6/10.