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A review by oddmara
Batman: No Man's Land, Vol. 1 by Bob Gale
2.0
No Man's Land kind of fell flat for me after 100 pages. The introduction story-line, with Scarecrow and Huntress was absolutely amazing. Scarecrow is the scariest Batman villain in my humble opinion, and this story showcases just that. The setting of the church, the way he is protected even when he's a known mass murderer, the way he manipulates the entire situation for his own entertainment. He is fascinating and compelling and I will never get tired of reading about him. Even without all of his weapons and without his fear gas, he manages to be terrifying and he manages to destroy people's mental in a way no other super-villain can. I also just loved reading about Huntress. She really tried her best and was desperate to help people in any way they can.
In itself, the rest of this volume isn't bad but it's drowned out by so many filler stories to the point where you forget what storyline we're even following. While I understand that No-Man's land is more of a setting than a story, there are no smaller stories to fit within the setting, just one-off issues to show us how miserable everyone is. Some of them are great. The Montoya/Harvey Dent one for instance is an amazing read, great narrative tension going on. It's abandoned. There's a Joker issue that is also there, and it's also a great read. There's a moment where Bruce goes to see Dr. Thompkins and we have this amazing vulnerable moment. However all of these moments are evened out by stories that are just there for the hell of it. Three memorable issues out of 500 pages is not a lot. Even the Gordon story-line with the Blue Boys starts off as strong then dwindles and gets lost in the rubble, going from an interesting look at Gordon's moral compass and the police force pushing through and reclaiming Gotham to Gordon and Sarah fighting every once in a while when the writers remember they exist. It's just a bit disappointing.
The only saving grace is (and again, burrowed in so much useless content) Barbara and Batgirl. Wanting to figure out Batgirl's identity is what keeps me alive. Barbara trying to remain connected throughout the story is such a great story-line, the small subplot of her seeing batgirl in action and feeling betrayed is great, just all of Barbara in this entire volume keeps the story afloat. She even made me like Jean-Paul. Girlqueen.
In itself, the rest of this volume isn't bad but it's drowned out by so many filler stories to the point where you forget what storyline we're even following. While I understand that No-Man's land is more of a setting than a story, there are no smaller stories to fit within the setting, just one-off issues to show us how miserable everyone is. Some of them are great. The Montoya/Harvey Dent one for instance is an amazing read, great narrative tension going on. It's abandoned. There's a Joker issue that is also there, and it's also a great read. There's a moment where Bruce goes to see Dr. Thompkins and we have this amazing vulnerable moment. However all of these moments are evened out by stories that are just there for the hell of it. Three memorable issues out of 500 pages is not a lot. Even the Gordon story-line with the Blue Boys starts off as strong then dwindles and gets lost in the rubble, going from an interesting look at Gordon's moral compass and the police force pushing through and reclaiming Gotham to Gordon and Sarah fighting every once in a while when the writers remember they exist. It's just a bit disappointing.
The only saving grace is (and again, burrowed in so much useless content) Barbara and Batgirl. Wanting to figure out Batgirl's identity is what keeps me alive. Barbara trying to remain connected throughout the story is such a great story-line, the small subplot of her seeing batgirl in action and feeling betrayed is great, just all of Barbara in this entire volume keeps the story afloat. She even made me like Jean-Paul. Girlqueen.