Part 2. The last three issues of 2004 for Batman, Detective Comics, Gotham Knights, Legend of the Dark Knight, Catwoman, Nightwing and Batgirl tiles. A truly momentous foul-up by Spoiler (formerly Robin II) results in a chaotic and lethal breakdown of law in Gotham, and with Huntress and Black Canary out of town it's left to Batman, Tim Drake, Oracle, Nightwing, Batgirl, Catwoman and Dr Leslie to try and stop the onslaught. The concluding part of this collection of a often brutal and unforgiving...

An excellent story arc. It has the stakes of No Man's Land, but didn't waste as much time with side stories.But this book is odd. There are several issues between the end of War Games and the beginning of War Crimes that are superfluous. Several "sum up" issues for those who haven't just read the previous several hundred pages. No reason to include them. And then there's War Crimes itself, which is great and nice of them to include. But if you don't read Under the Hood in between, you miss some

(B+) 77% | GoodNotes: A consequential, albeit meandering, road to conclusion, beset with plot-holes, swerves and a sharp descent downhill.

This has to be one of the most baffling Batman stories ever in terms of quality. There's things I LOVE here. I would even say has some of the best Batman moments I've read in forever...and then some of the worst. What a weird back and forth I was having here. This collection mostly deals with the War Games. It's brutal, vicious, ugly cycle of death this book carries on that actually works really well for suspense. Batman is getting screwed pretty much every turn he makes. Just when you think he'...

War Games, where a hypothetical stratagem Batman devised against Gotham’s underworld is put into action with disastrous consequences, can be memorable for several reasons. I remember it because of another beloved Batman character to me who played a major role Stephanie Brown, aka the Spoiler and for a short time also the fourth Robin among other designations. (She was however not the first young lady Robin if one includes The Dark Knight Returns which is outside main continuity.) Fair warning th...

Great second half to this great story arc. A truly unexpected twist ending that involves a long time Batman supporting character.

Complexly plotted with loads of storeies filling out the plot.

Well, it’s a decent end to “War Games.” Things get pretty intense and there’s a major, consequential reckoning for Batman and much of his supporting cast. The story gets far too jumbled, though, and I have to suspend disbelief more than usual for some plot points. This crossover starts out well as another “Gotham in crisis” storyline, a la Contagion and No Man’s Land. But it collapses under its own weight in trying to be epic and shocking. I don’t think it sticks the landing. This collection, to...

The ending to War Games has a very weird character decision, which obviously DC walked back after fans complained. It's a good thing. I actually don't like Leslie Thompkins as a character, because while I understand that she's a pacifist, she places a lot of blame on Batman. He deserves a whole lot, but not all of it, because while Leslie does the blaming and the moaning, she doesn't have a solution. For example, she says Bats is fanning the flames of the gang wars, but then he uses non-lethal f...

Excellent story arc, and amazingly wide and intricate plot. This volume was actually heavy to lift. I never thought I would call a superhero graphic novel a 'tome' but there you have it. It was an investment, and I enjoyed every minute of it. I didn't think Black Mask was that crazy, or Spoiler that tough - it surprised me. And Batman's interactions with each player, from Catwoman to Oracle, flowed beautifully. Given that this storyline was a compilation of various authors - as most are - that's...

In War Games, Book Two everyone is suffering. Even poor ex-Commissioner Gordon (retired?) gets roped to try and help Commissioner Akins who pretty much hates Batman atm (hold on Akins, it only gets worse). And I know she had her own title at this time, and she's sorta related to the batfamily comics, but it's still pretty cool to see Catwoman included in this event like a hero. She does what she can. <3And in this case, she tries to keep Stephanie out of trouble & safe (no chance, Selina).(I als...

Not your average Bat book. Very violent, depicts over the top gang violence with questionable plot decisions. Did Oracle really have to blow up the clock tower to get Batman to stop "killing" Black Mask? I mean, the art showed they were punching each other's lights out, kind of normal for Batman to do. He was angry sure, but there wasn't any hint that he was going to cross the line. The epilogue in the second half of the book was what made it ultimately enjoyable. Bats stopped the war but he abs...

I remember collecting this story as a young teenager and vaguely remember enjoying it, now I'm older... Not so much. The first volume was MUCH more enjoyable and quite frankly easier to follow, which made some of the weaker moments passable. Book two however feels second rate at best. Some of the art is just terrible in my opinion, the dialogue in particular chapters is clunky and quite frankly the overall plot just descends into a steaming pile of you know what. I'm giving two stars worth of cr...

3.5 stars. Crazy weird ending of a good book.

Got really repetitive. Stephanie deserved way, way better.

War Games Part Two: It's still bad. It's emblematic of some of the worst Batman writing: the character is pig headed, cruel, and even abusive, but we are told by the narrative that he's smarter than everyone, so they should just deal with it. And the ending goes out of the way to explain that it's not his fault that beloved character Stephanie Brown died, not really, it was because mean old pacifist Leslie Thompkins was overtaken by the "Batman is blameless" virus and decided to deny a girl medi...

TBH I am more of a fan of the epilogue chapters than of the actual crossover, which (like most), spins its wheels and is chock-full of rather pointless action scenes. But when Gabrych wraps things up, there's much smoother storytelling and nice character moments. Except that final nonsensical plot twist that was retconned later lol

Astounding. So fast paced.

Terrific Batman epic.

Conclusión de la épica saga de la guerra entre criminales más cruenta de Gotham, y el ascenso y la caída de Black Mask como el lider indiscutible del crimen.