Product Description

As the epic Batman: No Man's Land saga reaches its incredible finale, arch villains Bane and the Joker clash explosively in the quake-devastated ruins of Gotham, each bent on claiming the city as their own. And caught in the middle, Batman himself. Whoever wins this duel to the death, it's the worst kind of news for Gotham. And as if that wasn't enough, enter Superman's most deadly foe, Lex Luthor. One thing's for sure, this ain't no humanitarian visit! The shocks and thrills explode off the page in the most stunning No Man's Land volume of all. Don't dare miss it!

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #650970 in Books
• Published on: 2001-05-25
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 208 pages

About the Author
GREG RUCKA has written extensively for all the Batman titles, and has contributed to Batman: No Man's Land Vols 1-4.

Customer Reviews

... best till last
The best volume in the series gets back to Batman basics, beginning like Batman: Year One. Joker is as bad as ever, desperately seeking the limelight after lying dormant for almost a year.

The heart-thumping Joker plot search is one of the best Batman/Joker moments ever. Get this, even if you, like me, were not too impressed with the earlier volumes, this makes a complete set much more worthwhile.

An Anti-climatic end to what had the Potential to be a Classic Series
This is the concluding part to the No Man's Land series which has spanned six books. It began with Cataclysm and then went from volumes one to this, the fifth volume.
The fourth volume ended with Lex Luthor on the scene, looking to put Gotham back together, and the Joker beginning his moves to bring madness to what was left of the city.
In essence this volume ties up all the loose ends to all the plot lines that have been going on through all the six books. The Joker gets plenty of action and the scenes where he is involved are excellent - full of mayhem, madness and utter psychotic behaviour. The Huntress is dealt with in an equally well thought out way. Batman visits Lex Luthor in some nice set pieces to 'persuade' him to leave Gotham. But the real twist to the tale is a tragedy that strikes at commissioner Gordon.... I won't spoil this plot twist for you, you will have to read this volume yourself.
So what is good about this final volume? Firstly - the Joker is superb. The artwork is also very good throughout. The plot lines are dealt with properly as well. The commissioner Gordon twist is top drawer comic writing is also excellent.
But this graphic novel also has some flaws that are inherent with the series. Personally, there are not many series that stretch over 6 volumes, and it feels too long to me. The idea is excellent, but the writers haven't paced it properly or made the most of the potential storylines in whole year that the series takes place in. Firstly, the Lex Luthor angle fades from the book, when it should have gone out with a bang. It seems incomprehensible that Superman would not have made an appearance to stop Luthor's scheme. And that scheme although clever, is not nearly dark, or menacing enough. The writers could have really shown Luthor as a master tactician, but it kind of drifts off.
Another fault is Bane. Yet again, the character that almost killed Batman is criminally under used. If Bane keeps becoming involved in these types of storylines he will become less of a threat, and ultimately will just be another thug as opposed to a criminal genuis like the Joker or Two Face. There is no real sense of threat by Bane, or any fear of him.
This seems to be the biggest problem with the series. The writers haven't really stretched themselves with the whole idea. Too many bad guys survived the earthquake for a start and that is almost unbelievable. The ones who have survived don't get really clever,well-thought out plot lines. The only criminal who gets a great plot is the Joker - and he only really appears properly in this, the final volume! The Penguin, and Two Face are under used as well. The plot lines are strictly painting by numbers, and the potential was there to really throw some great ideas into the stories in the series - there should have been some rip-roaring action, some clever twists, some dark knight detective action, some more tragedy, some more humour. And this series does not deliver these things.
Don't get me wrong, i don't hate it by any means, but it could have been so much better! The whole story is too long and doesn't really change anything in the Batman universe. This could have been great, and ended up being average at best.
This may seem harsh, and the three stars i have given this volume is more of a reflection of the series than this final part. If you are a real Batman fan this is a series you will want, but trust me, there are better Batman graphic novels out there that should be bought before this series.
I am sorry that this series ended this way and only the last few chapters were stunning - well done to the Joker for lifting the ending up above the average mark. He really is the best enemy Batman has, so why did he not get more page time!