Batman

The DC Universe has undergone its changes over the years but the darker, more radical changes have been largely confined to one-off, alternate universe tales, or were featured in the publisher's Vertigo line. Not so for the Batman: No Man's Land story line, in which the entire city of Gotham is effectively destroyed by an earthquake, then completely sealed off and abandoned by the United States Government.

Broken down into gang-run neighbourhoods--some independent, others run by Two Face, the Penguin and Scarface, plus the Blue Boys (formerly the Gotham City Police Dept., still run by Jim Gordon)--the city is fractionalised but settling down into a new paradigm. The barter system is back, with a fresh apple worth its weight in diamonds; the populace is reduced to being either hunters or gatherers. Oracle is the only one with a clear picture of the city, the Huntress is working desperately to keep things safe in her neighbourhood and a mysterious, female Bat is doing her part ... but the Batman himself hasn't been seen in months.

While not as dark or personal as Frank Miller's classic Dark Knight Returns, writers Bob Gale and Devin A. Grayson take advantage of the freedoms afforded them with so wide open a premise: there's insight into the characters of the Scarecrow and Huntress; there's an intriguing look at the squad of police officers who made the decision to stick around; and Bats himself, after some 60-odd years, is actually placed in a new situation. Alex Maleev and Dale Eaglesham's art supports the two story arcs beautifully. Maleev's art owes a debt to Travis Charest, but his panelling is restrained, imposing considerable order on a story of city in chaos, while Eaglesham's post-Image use of splash pages works well with a more emotional, impressionistic tale. --Randy Silver

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