| Batman: No Man's Land |
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''No Man’s Land'' is a year-long storyline that ran through all monthly Batman comic book titles in 1999. The main storyline ran through '''' with other spin-offs serving as tie-ins. The storyline is divided into several Arcs . A part of the story would continue from one Batman title and then to the next Batman title that would come the following week, much the same format used in the Superman comics for that time. Unlike the Superman comics where a creative team is maintained for one monthly title, the same creative team is maintained for the duration of the story arc. The entire storyline is collected as into the mainstream DC Universe. A novelization of the storyline was also written by Greg Rucka and released as hardcover in January 2000. PLOT SUMMARY Gotham City suffered the results of a Magnitude 7.6 earthquake in the earlier Cataclysm storyline. With hopes for rehabilitating Gotham bleak, it is declared a '' No Man's Land '' by the US government. Laws are passed making it illegal to enter or leave the city after a particular date, and all known entrances and exits to the city are destroyed. The quarantine is enforced by the U.S. Army. While the JLA does not assist in the quarantine for ethical reasons, they are so occupied with keeping outside forces from conquering the city (and thus making things even worse) that the situation inside the city is left to Batman and his allies. Inside the city, the now freed inmates of Arkham Asylum battle for control of the city, as do various gangs and the remains of Gotham's Police Force as well as some heroes like Oracle and Huntress , who adopts a 'Batgirl' persona to fill the void Batman left while Bruce Wayne fights for the revoking of No Man's Land in Washington to no avail. With the persuasion of his beloved, Talia, Batman returns to Gotham where his former partner, Jim Gordon , believes Batman to have abandoned Gotham to the Arkham escapees. The criminals rain carnage and destruction upon the remaining citizens of Gotham. Watching over all of this, Batman tries to keep order in a city that has descended into Anarchy . Much of the storyline is narrated by Oracle, as she uses her resources to become a low-tech version of herself. Using paper to document events and the passage of time, operatives and emergency phones to gather intel, and maps coloured by pencils to keep track of who controls which portions of the city. Her maps are frequently shown in the comics to help the reader follow the progression of territorial disputes. Oracle remains one of the only people in the city with the ability to contact the outside world. Like Oracle, all of the characters get serious testing of their mettle. Commissoner Gordon becomes more of a general leading an army than a police officer, and holds a grudge against Batman for abandoning the city directly following the cataclysm. It isn't until nearly the end of the storyline before they talk again, and Batman goes so far as to show Gordon that he is Bruce Wayne, in a gesture to regain his trust; but he doesn't want to know who is under the mask, and tells him to put it back on. All of the people left in the city have to assume survivalist modes of life, making alliances with past enemies and allowing certain supervillains to continue operating simply because there wasn't the resources to take them down. Eventually, thanks in no small part to the machinations of Superman nemesis Lex Luthor , Gotham City is rebuilt and rejoins the United States once more, with things returning more or less to normal. LASTING EFFECTS ''No Man's Land'' introduced the character of Cassandra Cain , who would become the third Batgirl . An ongoing quasi-romantic relationship between Two-Face and Renee Montoya started as a result to this crossover. It also saw the death of Sarah Essen , the wife of Gordon, who is brutally murdered by The Joker in the arc's finale; an event that precipitated Gordon's retirement from the force. The crisis also gave Lex Luthor enough of a foothold in public opinion to win the candidacy of the President Of The United States in 2000. THE NOVEL There is a novel written about the No Man's Land time period that is mostly based around The Joker and the other usual suspects and the Gotham City Police Department with a new Batgirl, but there is some focus on Batman himself. Greg Rucka is the author of this novel. |
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