Wondering where the "No Man's Land" story ranks in your favorite Batman events. Looks like it was a very long crossover, wondering what you all think about it.
Wondering where the "No Man's Land" story ranks in your favorite Batman events. Looks like it was a very long crossover, wondering what you all think about it.
It's definitely my favourite of the crossovers and a fantastic achievement in long form storytelling in US comics.
It has a little of everything and gave some much needed time to non-costumed supporting characters.
I very much liked that it was a bit of a walk though all aspects of the Batman mythos, showing how and why each part/character is important to the whole.
"Has Sariel summoned you here, Azrael? Have you come to witness the miracle of your brethren arriving on Earth?"
"I WILL MIX THE ASHES OF YOUR BONES WITH SALT AND USE THEM TO ENSURE THE EARTH THE TEMPLARS TILLED NEVER BEARS FRUIT AGAIN!"
"*sigh* I hoped it was for the miracle."
Dan Watters' Azrael was incredible, a constant delight and perhaps too good for this world (but not the Forth). For the love of St. Dumas, DC, give us more!!!
The first couple arcs were great (especially the Bob Gale/Alex Maleev one), it dipped for a bit, but then when Greg Rucka took over the general direction the rest of it was great.
Keep in mind that you have about as much chance of changing my mind as I do of changing yours.
Pretty high for me I'd say. It's not as tight and focused as some other events, but that's part of its charm too, it's a long event that goes all over the place. Many different cooks in the kitchen from Road to NML thru the end of NML.
Things I love: Batman, Superman, AEW, old films, Lovecraft
Grant Morrison: “Adults...struggle desperately with fiction, demanding constantly that it conform to the rules of everyday life. Adults foolishly demand to know how Superman can possibly fly, or how Batman can possibly run a multibillion-dollar business empire during the day and fight crime at night, when the answer is obvious even to the smallest child: because it's not real.”
I think restorative nostalgia is the number one issue with comic book fans.
A fine distinction between two types of Nostalgia:
Reflective Nostalgia allows us to savor our memories but accepts that they are in the past
Restorative Nostalgia pushes back against the here and now, keeping us stuck trying to relive our glory days.
No Man s Land and Knightfall. No other crossover comes close. I really should reread them sooner than later. The pain of not buying their recent Omnibuses when they came out. Dark Knight Rises (2011) does NML no justice and I hope Matt Reeves will (or better plans to do it someday)
I loved it and I’m missing those times where every title was connected and everything worked fine.
Dixon era is my favourite and No man’s land is one of his greatest hits.
Finally read it! Got the trades of Road to NML and the 4 trade volumes of NML.
Thought it was awesome, agreed it was an amazing achievement in a connected story over several months. I found my favorite issues were the Robin and Nightwing chapters.
I did however find the ending a bit sudden and anticlimactic. Batman discovers what Luthor was up to, tells him to "leave his town" and then fade to black, roll credits.
My first exposure to No Man's Land was in a novelization, which I really, really liked as a kid. I'm not quite as fond of the comics the novel was based on, but I still enjoy more than 99% of Batman events from the last 25 years.
Interesting premise and build-up, but not really something I care to revisit.
This was an interesting period where I had stopped collecting all Batman books after Knightfall/Knightquest/Knight send, the books were going through the motions and while I dig Kelley Jones' art on limited series and such not so much when he's doing the monthly Batman.
Therefore I never read NML or it's spin-offs and such but reading the critiques of it on Wizard magazine assured me I wasn't missing much, just too many writers and artists not keeping a consistent tone to grab my attention.
I loved it! My favorite DC character, Cassandra Cain, was introduced in it, and the Bat family felt more together than it ever had been before, and since, in my opinion. It felt like Batman, and all the characters really, actually grew. Batman stopped being so brooding and untrusting of everyone by the end.