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A review by ladydewinter
Batman: No Man's Land by Greg Rucka
4.0
Judging from a glance at other reviews of this book, my reaction was similar to that of a lot of other people: I did't think I'd like this book as much as I did.
To be honest, I had many doubts regarding the novelization of a comic book. I've been reading Batman comics for over a year now (and what I lack in terms of time I surely made up in volume), and I admit I doubted that could translate into the novel format. If it hadn't been for the recommendation of a friend, I wouldn't have picked it up, but I'm very glad I did.
Greg Rucka does a great job of telling the most important stories that happened in the comic books. Like in the comics, there are several points of view, some more effective than others. Oracle's POV, for example, was immediately convincing, as was the GCPD's. Two-Face, too, was captured very well. And Cassandra! I had my problems with the Joker, but I admit I have no idea how to do it better - I think because of his utter irrationality, it's hard to write from his perspective - in comics, you can focus on pictures and dialogues to convey this, but in this format it's not easy. Still, it wasn't unconvincing, either; and his actions were very Joker-esque and chilling and horrifying as always.
What surprised me most was Batman. Considering it's a Batman book it does take him a long time to show up (it's the same in the comics, though, and the man does have his reasons), but when he does - now, the thing is I love Batman. As in love love love. And I always get this - well, there are always moments in every Batman story where my heart just *hurts* for him, because of who and how and what he is. It was even worse here, because even though it's still just glimpses into his soul, it was different reading about it in this format. It touched me deeply, and there were some aspects revealed that I hadn't thought about before. So that was great.
So, yes, I can recommend reading this. It should be okay to read even if you don't know much about the comics
and I think it'd be a good enough introduction to the world of Batman for people who don't like comics. (I know such a person.)
To be honest, I had many doubts regarding the novelization of a comic book. I've been reading Batman comics for over a year now (and what I lack in terms of time I surely made up in volume), and I admit I doubted that could translate into the novel format. If it hadn't been for the recommendation of a friend, I wouldn't have picked it up, but I'm very glad I did.
Greg Rucka does a great job of telling the most important stories that happened in the comic books. Like in the comics, there are several points of view, some more effective than others. Oracle's POV, for example, was immediately convincing, as was the GCPD's. Two-Face, too, was captured very well. And Cassandra! I had my problems with the Joker, but I admit I have no idea how to do it better - I think because of his utter irrationality, it's hard to write from his perspective - in comics, you can focus on pictures and dialogues to convey this, but in this format it's not easy. Still, it wasn't unconvincing, either; and his actions were very Joker-esque and chilling and horrifying as always.
What surprised me most was Batman. Considering it's a Batman book it does take him a long time to show up (it's the same in the comics, though, and the man does have his reasons), but when he does - now, the thing is I love Batman. As in love love love. And I always get this - well, there are always moments in every Batman story where my heart just *hurts* for him, because of who and how and what he is. It was even worse here, because even though it's still just glimpses into his soul, it was different reading about it in this format. It touched me deeply, and there were some aspects revealed that I hadn't thought about before. So that was great.
So, yes, I can recommend reading this. It should be okay to read even if you don't know much about the comics
and I think it'd be a good enough introduction to the world of Batman for people who don't like comics. (I know such a person.)