Batman: No Man's Land Vol. 5

Rating:
Summary: Real.
Review: I haven't read any Batman comics (or "graphic novels") in quite a while, but once I picked up this hardcover about my favourite anti-hero, I was constantly amazed by the realism in this book, and the truly human portrayal of all of the characters, even- and maybe especially- the insane ones. Many of the comic book interpretations gloss over just what a menace the two big baddies, the Joker and Two-Face, actually are to Gotham. Here, death follows them whereever they go- not for the sake of shock (though it has that effect), but in illustration of how insane and internally conflicted these characters really are. Gettng inside the heads of the "good" guys was just as revealing. No one escapes unscathed, and I found myself weeping- literally- for the fate of Gotham. As the Oracle says, it's all become grey- there's no black and white anymore. A fitting echo to a grey hero himself- the Dark Knight. One to read.

Rating:
Summary: a non stop page turning
Review: The story begins after an earthquake strikes gotham city. Many of the population die and to repair this will cost millions of dollars. This place was diclare a no man's land. This story is very different to any book or comic written by DC comics. This story starts with the town full of criminals and crazy villans. This story shows the best of the great ditactive trying to put together a town that has no law what so ever. Even if the cops stay to protect the destroy town this was not enogh to put it together. I like this book because it shows the best of the batman. He trys to put his life together and at the same time the protect the town he always give his life to. All this happens thanks for the great mind of greg rucka that makes this story go alife.

Rating:
Summary: Batman in No Man's Land
Review: For those who don't know, the No Man's Land titles are the adventures of Batman and his sidekicks in a Gotham City so devastated by an earthquake that it has been declared a federal disaster area. Among other things, this storyline introduced the new Batgirl and Harley Quinn into comic book continuity. This particular volume has Batman newly returned to the city and fighting several of his deadliest foes, including the Penguin, Black Mask, and Two Face. One of the most interesting stories is one in which Detective Montoya of the GCPD (now reduced to the level of a street gang) takes a day off and visits her family, only to find Two Face helping rebuild the community. In a story defying probability, his coin keeps landing good side up, causing Two Face to be ruled by the good side of his personality. There's some other good stuff in here as well, but there's definitely better Batman material available.

Rating:
Summary: Batman at his Best
Review: What exactly does it take to be a hero? Batman proves to you that it is not just bashing head and beating the bad guys. With Gotham City devastated by an earthquake and cut off from the United States, Batman must keep order in a city without and order. Many gangs occupy Gothom vying for supremacy. Even the G.C.P.D. has to fight block by block to keep it's territory. Batman also finds that he has a new ally to assist him in Gotham a new Batgirl. Great reading for one and all.

Rating:
Summary: A breathtaking book.
Review: I admit, I am a Batman fan. That's why I bought the book. But, once I got into it, I realized that this was so much more than just Batman. This is civilization, or rather lack of. I would read for about 50 pages, then come back to the world and just then remember to breathe. "Wow," is a good word to describe it. The characters are wonderfully depicted. The landscape, the situations, the crumbling of society..you just become immersed in all of it.

Rating:
Summary: Good price for the package
Review: When I first heard about the No Man's Land storyline in the Batman comics, I was intrigued. I knew that I wouldn't be able to buy every issue to get the full story, but I did get some. I was glad that they decided to do a complete novel of the storyline. I had never read anything by Greg Rucka before, but I can now say that I think he is one of the best new comic book writers to come out of last year. And he writes novels too! I enjoyed this book and story quite a bit. It focused nicely on the human characters as well as Gotham City itself (a most important character in the comics). I was disappointed that one particular part was left out, but I understand why... I'll be keeping an eye out for other Greg Rucka books, as well as his comic work.

Rating:
Summary: Rucka does well with his interpretation of No Man's Land.
Review: After finishing Rucka's adaptation of the No Man's Land storyline, I have to say that I'm impressed. Rucka does a magnificent job of molding all the different elements of the No Man's Land storyline into one cohesive whole, giving his reader the entire jist of the story itself. A Marvel fan by nature, I welcomed this DC based novel with open arms, due to Rucka's masterful plotting of the story. The author does a masterful job of bringing to light Gotham City's plight, providing a dark and dismal look into the city as a whole which better moves the feeling of the story along. To Rucka, thanks for giving us the readers a great interpretation of that Dark Knight we've all grown to love.

Rating:
Summary: A solid interpretation of a solid comic story
Review: Greg Rucka fantastically handles the entire "No Man's Land" story line from DC Comics in this adaptation. Eliminating only a few side events from the comic story, Rucka weaves a spectacular tale that interprets the Batman's rogues gallery and supporting cast in a human and sometimes horrifying manner especailly when dealing with the Joker and Two Face Characters. The story slowly builds to a pulse pounding ending that makes the last one hundred pages of the novel go buy so quickly that you may find yourself reaching for a glass of water and a towel to wipe off your head when your finished reading.

Rating:
Summary: Very impressed!
Review: I don't know much about comic cooks, specially D.C's comic. I am more of a Marvels' fan. I must say that by far this has been the best book I have read in that past year. No Man's Land was so vivid, so very dark that makes the Gotham I have heard of so perfect. All the characters were so complex so dark, so hopeful, so full of life that it felt one could drive to Gotham on any day and meet them. I must say that the way I put the faces to the characters was by the cartoon that has been showing for the past years. All I can say is this is a Great Book

Rating:
Summary: Avoid this unless your a big batman fan.
Review: Rucka has trouble adapting the epic No Man's Land down to novel length. If he'd written a colosal book in the style of David Wingrove's Chung Kuo with numerous story threads it might have worked better. Instead he focuses almost solely on Batman and the story is reduced substantially. Why does Rucka emphasize Batman's realization that he can't save Gotham alone when the fellow heros that he calls upon for help seem to do almost nothing. Also Rucka actually adds a number of new ideas which are less interesting than the ideas he had to eliminate from the comics to shorten the book. Rucka had a difficult task here: condensing a comic crossover that was made up of almost 100 comic books down to a single volume, so I don't fault him for not living up to the challenge, but this book is for die hard Batman fans only. And if you've already read the comics I wouldn't waste time on this book.