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walter_the_wombat's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
thecommonswings's review
2.0
So all this leads up to no resolution about Nick Scratch, a tasteless bit of fridging at its very worst (what is it about Jim Gordon and fridging?), some incredibly ropey art and a plot that doesn’t so much as stick the landing as career wildly off the tracks into the long grass. There are excellent moments, but they’re muted and spoiled by careless plotting and this almost palpable desire to return to the status quo from some of the creative team. The one thing that can be said about whenever 2000AD decides to trim down Mega City One, those repercussions are always felt because for all their fault the many faces of Tharg realise that half the point of Dredd is that beyond the SF noir goofiness, there’s a reality there inherent in the fact Dredd himself ages and slowly begins to doubt his place in the world. Batman feels like this uncomfortable attempt to emulate some of that - hence why so many 2000AD creators feel at home in the Gotham world - but never too much and never enough to disturb the absurdist edges of the D.C. universe. For all the flaws of Marvel, they do tend to at least plot out these arcs properly even if the status quo is eventually returned to. Batman feels like a world acting in opposition to itself and when it works that’s a fascinating tension, and when it doesn’t it’s an ugly mess. This is sadly more the latter than the former
ladydewinter's review
4.0
I'm always somewhat conflicted regarding No Man's Land. Why?
Well, the situation we're dealing with here - Gotham City being abandoned and declared a No Man's Land after it's been almost completely destroyed by an earthquake - is extremely contrived, and it always takes me a bit to get over that (and yes, even though the chapters in which Superman tries to help do make their point, it's also very hard to believe the JLA and everybody else don't just repair everything right away). But once you get over that, you get some really great stories about the people who stay there (and some not-so-great ones; I'm not that fond of the the Huntress-and-Batman-bits).
Among my favorites are Renee Montoya, her family and Two-Face, plus the story where Clark comes to Gotham, but the centerpiece of No Man's Land is the Batman-Gordon-Gotham relationship, that is both Batman's relationship with Gotham, Gordon's relationship with Gotham and - the most heartbreaking one - Batman's relationship with Gordon, culminating in a scene that never fails to touch me. Sigh.
Another high point is what Bruce does during the final hours of No Man's Land, or rather, the result of his manipulations. I love it when he uses the Brucie persona like that.
So even though there are bits where I'm reading it going "meh" (especially because the art is for the most part bearable at best), there are enough really interesting moments that the fourth star is well-earned.
I do hate the ending for Gordon, though, really, really, really hate it because it makes a point that doesn't need to be made, in my opinion.
Well, the situation we're dealing with here - Gotham City being abandoned and declared a No Man's Land after it's been almost completely destroyed by an earthquake - is extremely contrived, and it always takes me a bit to get over that (and yes, even though the chapters in which Superman tries to help do make their point, it's also very hard to believe the JLA and everybody else don't just repair everything right away). But once you get over that, you get some really great stories about the people who stay there (and some not-so-great ones; I'm not that fond of the the Huntress-and-Batman-bits).
Among my favorites are Renee Montoya, her family and Two-Face, plus the story where Clark comes to Gotham, but the centerpiece of No Man's Land is the Batman-Gordon-Gotham relationship, that is both Batman's relationship with Gotham, Gordon's relationship with Gotham and - the most heartbreaking one - Batman's relationship with Gordon, culminating in a scene that never fails to touch me. Sigh.
Another high point is what Bruce does during the final hours of No Man's Land, or rather, the result of his manipulations. I love it when he uses the Brucie persona like that.
So even though there are bits where I'm reading it going "meh" (especially because the art is for the most part bearable at best), there are enough really interesting moments that the fourth star is well-earned.
I do hate the ending for Gordon, though, really, really, really hate it because it makes a point that doesn't need to be made, in my opinion.
booknooknoggin's review
3.0
A few times I was torn between rating this 4 stars and 3. I ended up rating it 3 stars, because there were just more blah, boring parts than there were of any substance. There were some really thrilling parts near the mid end, but it wasn't enough to push my rating to 4. Being the finale of this story I felt that it should have been great through the whole volume.
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