Batman: No Man's Land, Vol. 5

This series certainly finished strong.

Not that it was really all that necessary, I did enjoy the flashback in the beginning. An attempt to better fill in some backstory involving with Huntress and Batman's absence was appreciated.

A lot happens in this fifth and final volume but it never feels rushed or convoluted. The pacing is excellent and in all 5 volumes, this is easily the strongest. While I had a small problem with the way Lex Luthor was used, he was sorely needed in an attempt to bring No Man's Land to an end. While his plan was pretty devious, he should know better that you can rarely get something like that by The Batman.

Volume 5 has one hell of a Joker appearance; one of the best I've ever read. Despite the fact that this has show more been repeatedly cemented within the Batman mythos, Joker is clearly Gotham's most dangerous villian. Joker not only wreaks havoc here, he throws Gordon's world upside down once again with a pretty shocking event. It totally makes up for the lack of Joker throughout the five part arc.

There was something I read not too long ago that basically concluded that Batman is not Bruce Wayne's alter ego; it's the other way around. It becomes evident in this collection when Bruce is seen muttering, "I don't want to be here. I need to be there. I hate this". He uses Bruce as a means to an end and only when necessary. If he could live in that costume, he would.

Great, great series. show less

Highly satisfying conclusion to a great arc. The inclusion of Luthor was a genius idea, and while I would have liked to see more of the faceoff between LexCorp and Wayne Enterprises, his attempt to buy Gotham was exactly how you'd expect him to respond to the No Man's Land situation.

It was also nice to explore the immediate aftermath of Cataclysm, finally seeing what Bruce Wayne was up to and why Huntress became Batgirl (and the new mask, which previously just looked cool, actually makes a whole lot of sense).

As far as the Joker plot goes, I actually liked how he ended up being responsible for the transition from No Man's Land back to Gotham City. If it was still No Man's Land, Gordon would have pulled the trigger, but his refusal to do show more so marked the moment when Gotham became a city once more. show less

The conclusion to the pivotal "No Man's Land" series revolves around Lex Luthor's plot to take control of most of Gotham City as he helps restore it, and the Joker's efforts to propel himself back into the limelight. The former is nicely thwarted by the Batman, and the latter results in the death of a semi-major character. A powerful and moving end to one of the milestone stories in the Batman chronicles.

The final volume of the NML story line, this brought together all the disparate parts of the previous four volumes.

A lot of things happened at once, the Lex Luthor story line came to an end, as did Renee Montoya's, and all the current and former Police Officer story lines.

And, of course there was lots of Batman as well as all the rest of their 'Bat Family'. Though there wasn't enough Oracle for my liking, and Catwoman seemed nowhere to be found. But, the art was pretty good and the story amazing. Four stars for sure.