Bob Gale

When Hell goes to war with itself, only the devil is declared the winner

DC comics has brought together two of my favorite things; Batman and post-apocalyptic fiction. I almost feel as if this series has been made for me.

So, here’s the deal. A massive earthquake has rocked Gotham City to its core – combine that with an outbreak of a deadly disease not unlike the Ebola virus and you have a recipe for disaster. Rather than send aid or attempt to rebuild Gotham, the government has sealed it show more off from the rest of the civilized world, proclaiming it no longer part of the United States.

Those that wanted to leave were initially given the choice; however, the gangs, the sick and the released criminals from Arkham Asylum decided to hang around. Also staying put are several dedicated members of the GCPD; an effort to bring order to the once powerful city.

Watching Gordon struggle over how to enforce the law really grabbed me. Not only is he dealing with anarchy on a massive scale, he’s realizing that he has no one to tell him the “right” and the “wrong” way of doing things. Suddenly, he’s in the shoes of the Batman. Gordon knows that he needs to implore drastic measures to restore order to Gotham; he just has to realize his own limits.

I’ve always liked Scarecrow, I just didn’t realize how much until 2005’s Batman Begins. In No Man’s Land, 6 years before the release of Begins, Scarecrow is given a pretty prominent role. Rarely using his fear induced chemicals; Scarecrow attempts to seize control of a sector of Gotham through the manipulation of already frightened people. Gale gives us Scarecrow in his most clever state; making the reader realize that he truly is a pretty strong villain in his own right.

The end of the first volume finishes strong with a pretty cool reveal. I’m glad I have the 2nd volume already on deck! show less

I'm not going to continue with this book, but not because it's not good. I just have other books that are more pressing at the moment--I may come back to this. My son is really interested in it!

This is so cute and clever! I really enjoy reading about Doc's thought processes and the outside events that occur to adjust or skew the path he's on, while he ultimately stays on course with his dream goal. It's clever and funny, sometimes serious. It honestly captures (to me) Doc Brown's true show more voice--it reads like I think he would write it!

And the designs, the photos, the newspaper clippings, etc. It's an amazing scrapbook/manual! (Removed a star simply because I didn't finish it, which is more my bad than anything....) show less

I wasn't expecting much out of this after finishing Cataclysm, but No Man's Land succeeds where its prequel failed by using the destruction wrought by the earthquake to completely subvert reader expectations about the Batman universe. While Gordon is struggling to adapt to existing outside the law (even at one point suggesting that he's trying to become Batman), Batman is adjusting to a world in which he's lost his greatest weapon, his reputation.

Everything we know about Gotham City is no show more longer true, and I'm excited to see what that will mean. show less

As a fan of dystopian stories in general, this one was right up my alley. I enjoyed how there were a ton of familiar characters, all of them acting in ways that were both to be expected and surprising. Gotham has turned into a place where priorities change, and while some people are trying to thrive and retain what they had before, others are just trying to make it from one day to the next. It was interesting to see how these motives shaped and changed these characters. I particularly show more enjoyed the mystery of who the new Batgirl is. Maybe it's obvious for die-hard Batman fans, but I still have no clue who's hiding under there. I'm excited to see where that particular storyline goes, whether they reveal her identity or not. show less