Batman: Road to No Man's Land Vol. 2 (Batman: No Man's Land)

In volume two of road to No man's land, Batman, in his Bruce Wayne identity goes to Washington DC to plead Congress for relief help. Other forces are working to get Gotham declared a no man's land and they succeed. Batman however, seeks to reverse that. Arkham's inmates are also released on the beleaguered city or what is left of it.

Came in good condition exactly as listed

I'll be blunt, I don't think DC knew they were going to transition into No Man's Land up to the end of Aftershock or somewhere around that point. Road to No Man's Land is where the action picks up drastically and with not much buildup. The main antagonist, Nick Scratch, appears for the first time in the very first issue of the story arc. There was both no mention of him or of heated debates in the Senate before. It's all very sudden and, while certainly welcome, feels rushed.Anyway, Nick Scratch is a genius. And a rock star. And has an army of genetically modified henchmen to do his bidding. And has such a charismatic persona that he can convince anybody that Gotham should be abandoned. He won't stop at anything unless he gets his way, murder or otherwise. Azrael is pitted against him and loses miserably. So miserably, in fact, that Batman says it's over for him. Later on he changes his mind and we find out that that was a clumsy way of introducing Azrael's new costume. I don't know what happened to him in the forty issues since the time I've read his series but suffice it to say he was very unconvincing in most of the battle encounters in this book. This is the same guy that whipped Bane's ass? Really?Apart from these problems, the rest is good. Bruce Wayne goes to Washington to deliver impassioned speech, some entertaining hired C-class villains try to wreak havoc in Gotham all while the political drama unfolds. There's a great arc by Alan Grant describing how Dr. Arkham has to set the freaks in the asylum free and they all cheerfully march to the city except the Riddler who is possibly the only villain who is sensible enough to leave Gotham. Overall, there is a lot of Chuck Dixon here and that always means great action with some humor thrown in - which is rare in Bat-series.I'm still wondering where is the League? It's like the rest of the DC universe does not exist which feels weird. The only outsider we get is, surprisingly, Kyle Rainer, who has to survive Gotham without his Lantern ring in a short but good story. I definitely recommend this book, it has both great stories and important metaplot storylines.

No Man's Land Vol 2 continues the ongoing story of Gotham's struggles to restore order after the devastating earthquake in Cataclysm. In this volume, the government votes to abandon Gotham City as a disaster zone and evacuate the population instead of paying to rebuild. It is a bit of a far fetched idea, but it works for the most part and places the final piece in the build up to No Man's Land. The only downfall of the volume is the choice in villain: Nick Scratch. Scratch is a pure 90's villain. He's a hip, metal-head rocker who is also, apparently, one of the smartest men alive and happens to be America's sweetheart. Scratch is the man who pushes public opinion against Gotham all because he plans to set up a criminal empire there. While Bruce Wayne travels to Washington to fight for his city's future, it is Scratch who undermines his efforts. However, Scratch is a frankly over the top baddie and one who it is impossible to take seriously. He's a punk rocker who happens to be beloved by Washington insiders? Furthermore, the guy whose name is a literal nickname for Satan has an army of devil-faced henchmen and no one bats an eye? It is just pure 90's in the worst way and ages the story a bit too much. I would have preferred someone like Lex Luthor to helm the abandon Gotham movement instead of this awful villain. Still, the overall story is still great as we see Bruce fighting another type of battle he can't win: politics.

This volume collects the final issues of the build-up to No Man's Land; if you read the No Man's Land trades a few years back and wondered how exactly Gotham City became cut off from the USA, here's your answer. As a story, it's a mixed bag. There's a lot to like, such as the issue where Bruce Wayne makes a speech to Congress, punctuated by several splash pages of key moments in Batman history, all illustrated by Jim Aparo; there's also a great, horror-themed 3-part story about the inmates of Arkham Asylum. However, the main villain of these stories is Nick Scratch, a Satanic-themed rock star who's part David Bowie, part Ozzy Osborne, and is able to influence public opinion against Gotham City. That would've even been too ridiculous for the 1966 Batman show; as a character, Scratch doesn't make much sense and plain doesn't work. Overall, this is a good, and perhaps essential, but with a truly terrible villain.

These "Road to No Man's Land" books have been a stellar collection. NML was a great storyline, and having the stories that led up to the mega event on my shelf has been a pleasure to read and display.

It’s really amazing how Gotham was cut off from the United States and survived a full year with little to work with and nearly everything being able to kill you.

Arrived in great condition!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book

Finally DC have collected the remaining chapters of the No Man's Land saga. The book contains the complete Road to No Man's Land story line - Azrael 47-49, Shadow of the Bat 80 - 82, Batman 560 - 562 and Detective Comics 727 - 729. Additional material included is Batman Chronicles 16, Azrael 50 and as a lovely bonus the No Man's Land Secret Files and Origins special. The story is very good and is essentially a build up to the year long saga of No Man's Land. After a devastating earthquake that has destroyed Gotham, the US Government wants to close Gotham down rather than rebuild it. The story follows Batman as he goes in civilian guise to Washington to appeal to save Gotham, while his allies deal with the problems back home and the fallout around the result of the US governments decision. Another aspect of the story follows Jeremiah Arkham as he tries to keep order in his asylum with staff decreasing staff and medicinal supplies. The stories are very good, however whilst not the best Batman stories, this collection has enormous value to fans, as this and volume one finally collect the never-before printed material spanning the gap between Cataclysm and the four volume epic No Man's Land. Hopefully DC will keep up the good work and produce a complete edition of Legacy and all of the missing Knighquest issues. Overall definitely worth a read.