Contagion/Cataclysm/No Man's Land

[matthewaos]

OK, I see the TPBs in the comic shop I'm working and I want to read them. I heard that it's a nice story. Any opinions?

[Mr. Palmer]

For what it's worth, I really liked it. I'd give it a rec.

[tony2074]

no mans land in particular is a very very good read.

[matthewaos]

OK, can you tell me a few things what's about? No major spoilers please.

[Brack360]

No Man's Land is excellent and is my favorite of all the Batman crossover storylines, several of which I don't think were handled very well. Contagion and Cataclysm are decent reads but are not essential to understanding NML.

In Contagion, Batman and family deal with a deadly plague that has consumed Gotham City. Cataclysm rehashes much of that same plot, except that it is now an earthquake that has destroyed most of Gotham. NML takes place three months after the federal government has decided to close off Gotham as a result of the earthquake. Batman now must fight to maintain order in the ruined city, save the lives of the poor people who were forced to remain behind, and battle many of his enemies, who have gotten loose and taken over different sections of Gotham. NML is also the story that introduced Harley Quinn and the new Batgirl. The Huntress also plays a major role. It is made up of several mini story arcs that are each one to three parts and have the same creative team (rather than the same creative team staying on the same title). Greg Rucka was the primary writer.

[carabas]

Contagion is quit good. It's sequel, Legacy, is of similar quality.
Cataclysm is okay, but not much more tan that.It suffers from having one of the worst Bat-vilains ever conceived.

No-Man's Land is just excellent.

Contagion/Legacy is basically Batman versus the Ebola virus.
Cataclysm is about an earthquake hitting Gotham.
No Man's Land is the direct sequel to Cataclysm, but the only thing you need to know from that is that there was an earthquake in Gotham.
In No Man's Land the government decides that after an earthquake, a pair of ebola outbreaks, that Gotham is not worth saving, and is left to its own devices.
Civilisation rapidly is reduced to a tribal/feudal level, with various gangs controlling their own turf, with the police (aka the Blue Boys) being just one more gang fighting for territory.

[Captain Jim]

Don't have much new to add. Just to be clear, Contagion has nothing to do with the other two. Cataclysm is good, but not outstanding. It was followed by two other arcs: Aftershock and Road to NML, neither of which has been collected. NML came next and is excellent, as others have mentioned. And you really don't have to read any of the preceeding storylines to follow and appreciate NML.

[dancj]

Personally I thought Contagion was pretty rubbish. It read like the plot was governed more by th order in which the various characters' books came out than by the needs of the plot, and just suffers seriously from all of the chopping around.

Cataclysm wasn't much better, but was helped by the fact that it barely had a plot.

No Man's Land is great though. It's made up of distinct arcs each of which has a stable creative team so it doesn't suffer the same way. If I were you I'd skip straight to NML. All you need to know going in is there was an earthquake

[YoungG03]

as you amy know ts goes in order of events but i aint like contagion too much. the other two stories are gold.

[matthewaos]

OK, seems like I'm gonna check NML. Only problem I see it's that it is big, but if it's interesting, as it sounds to be, I don't have a problem.

[Captain Jim]

And the trades don't even collect it all! Don't get me wrong; 95% of the Batman stories are there, but there were also stories that appeared in Nightwing, Robin, Catwoman and Azrael, none of which are collected. If you get the trades and like them (which I can't imagine anyone not liking them), you may want to track down some of the single issues in these books as well.

[carabas]

I don't know about that. When I reread it, I generally skip the auxiliary titles because whatever plot-relevant information in those books tends to be repeated in the main Bat-books.

[Cicero]

I seem to remember some of my favorite issues being in the ancillary titles. Was Nightwing's trip to Blackgate collected?

[matthewaos]

OK, if Azrael is in, it's another good thing...

[Captain Jim]

OK, if Azrael is in, it's another good thing...

The Azrael issues that were set in NML were unusually good for that series, I thought. And unlike the other "family" titles (Nightwing, Robin, Catwoman), which only tied in July through December, Azrael tied in the entire year.

[Captain Jim]

I don't know about that. When I reread it, I generally skip the auxiliary titles because whatever plot-relevant information in those books tends to be repeated in the main Bat-books.

It's certainly not necessary to read the "family" titles, but doing so definitely adds to the experience, IMO.

And I recall that Catwoman and Azrael in particular tie-in more tightly than the others and actually flesh out some of the storyline.

[Brack360]

Was Nightwing's trip to Blackgate collected?

Yes, in Nightwing: A Darker Shade of Justice, rather than one of the NML trades. The tie-in issues of Robin, Azrael, and Catwoman have never been collected.

[AlistairCrane]

It's certainly not necessary to read the "family" titles, but doing so definitely adds to the experience, IMO.

And I recall that Catwoman and Azrael in particular tie-in more tightly than the others and actually flesh out some of the storyline.

Catwoman's tie-ins, written by the great John Ostrander, play a crucial role in the final arc of the series. There's a direct scene from the Catwoman book that was re-drawn in one of the Batbooks so you're provided with the information, but if you want to know the hows and the whys, pick up her issues. And there are tons of little clues in her title that hint at the NML "endgame" which I thought was cool.

Plus, the Catwoman tie-ins feature the first appearance of a character from an entirely different line of DC books, which is kind of neat, and also somewhat integral to NML.

[AlistairCrane]

Also, I gotta add, NML is the story that made me like Huntress. Up until then, I wasn't a fan, but this year-long arc made me love her. (FYI: War Games did the same thing for me and Spoiler)