Batman: Road to No Man's Land, Vol. 2
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- Create Date：2021-09-09 09:54:10
- Update Date：2025-09-06
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- Author：Denny O'Neil
- ISBN：1401260632
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Summary
A devastating earthquake has left Gotham City in ruins， and the government is getting close to completely cutting it off from the rest of civilization。 But there's one man who's vowed to save Gotham from whatever foe it comes up against， and now Bruce Wayne must put aside his life as Batman and put on his suit and tie as he takes his fight for the fate of Gotham to Washington， D。C。
In this， the final act before the beginning of the classic event， No Man's Land， Bruce Wayne， Robin， Nightwing and many others try to save their city from destruction once again—this time at the hands of the US government。
Collects: Batman #560-562， Detective Comics #727-729， Batman: The Shadow of the Bat #80-82， The Batman Chronicles #15， Azrael: Agent of the Bat #47-50， and Batman: No Man's Land Secret Files and Origins #1
In this， the final act before the beginning of the classic event， No Man's Land， Bruce Wayne， Robin， Nightwing and many others try to save their city from destruction once again—this time at the hands of the US government。
Collects: Batman #560-562， Detective Comics #727-729， Batman: The Shadow of the Bat #80-82， The Batman Chronicles #15， Azrael: Agent of the Bat #47-50， and Batman: No Man's Land Secret Files and Origins #1
Reviews
Rob GQ
，
3。75
Ming
，
The overall arc is compelling enough， but is let down by too many chapters （a result of parallel storylines happening across far too many Bat-titles at that point in time） that retread old ground， and dull and lame villains like Scratch （ugh， seriously？）。
Martha
，
This volume was a lot more focused than the last， really building to the conclusion where Gotham is abandoned under political pressure of deficit hawks who didn't want to "waste" government money on helping citizens of an unpopular city。 There's a certain political poignancy in the wake of the total disinterested mismanagement of the Covid response from my own previous government that makes this less ridiculous than it might have seemed the first time around。However， part of what the plot focuse This volume was a lot more focused than the last， really building to the conclusion where Gotham is abandoned under political pressure of deficit hawks who didn't want to "waste" government money on helping citizens of an unpopular city。 There's a certain political poignancy in the wake of the total disinterested mismanagement of the Covid response from my own previous government that makes this less ridiculous than it might have seemed the first time around。However， part of what the plot focuses on is Azrael and Nick Scratch and hoo boy。 I realized as I started re-reading the main No Man's Land arc last year that the first edition I'd read had cut Azrael's entire story， which is part of why I went back to read these lead-in volumes because I had no idea what was going on。 I understand now why this subplot was eliminated; it has not held up well。 I don't mean that it's offensive but rather that it is very typical of 90s comic books with all its edginess and bizarre costume choices and I'M AN ADULT！！！！ tone。 Azrael was of course created in part as a response to that trend in comics - he showed up in the Knightfall arc to replace Batman， only to be rejected from the position， a metacommentary on what DC writers thought of edgy heroes who kill - but he's still a product of it， and his whole aesthetic is vaguely embarrassing。 Nick Scratch is also a silly， very 90s villain， though I won't lie that， again， recent political events in America made his rise to political and spiritual authority seem less ridiculous。 This guy would be very comfortable in a world of QAnon。 Anyway， after this I'm back to re-reading the main No Man's Land story。 。。。more
Matt Maielli
，
all lead up and place-setting， but also the main villain is a nerd turned celebrity rock star named "Nick Scratch" and he sucks lol all lead up and place-setting， but also the main villain is a nerd turned celebrity rock star named "Nick Scratch" and he sucks lol 。。。more
Jordan
，
This volume is definitely more of a set up plot-wise for the coming arc than the previous volume， missing the thematic exploration during this unusual time。 Still plenty of good issues。 Writers playing with Bruce Wayne instead of Batman is an interesting change。 The supporting cast， both heroes and villains， preparing for what is to come feels important but not as moving as the prior devastation depicted。
Spencer
，
Volume 2 has less of an arc， it sets up a tone and paints the picture for things to come in No Man’s Land。 It’s good fun but not quite as enjoyable as Volume 1。
JD Comics
，
This book has better stories compared to Road to No Man's Land， Vol。 1。 My favorite is the issue where Bruch Wayne gave an emotional and powerful speech before Congress。 He can be a politician if he wanted。 I also like the story about Gordon， which I don't want to spoil， and the four-part Arkham Asylum story by Allan Grant。 I'm starting to like Azrael as a character although his main villain， Nick Scratch， is ridiculous。 This book has better stories compared to Road to No Man's Land， Vol。 1。 My favorite is the issue where Bruch Wayne gave an emotional and powerful speech before Congress。 He can be a politician if he wanted。 I also like the story about Gordon， which I don't want to spoil， and the four-part Arkham Asylum story by Allan Grant。 I'm starting to like Azrael as a character although his main villain， Nick Scratch， is ridiculous。 。。。more
Max Z
，
After the eight hundred pages of Cataclysm and Aftershock the action finally starts to get going。I'll be blunt， I don't think DC knew they were going to transition into No Man's Land up to the end of Aftershock or somewhere around that point。 Road to No Man's Land is where the action picks up drastically and with not much buildup。 The main antagonist， Nick Scratch， appears for the first time in the very first issue of the story arc。 There was both no mention of him or of heated debates in the Se After the eight hundred pages of Cataclysm and Aftershock the action finally starts to get going。I'll be blunt， I don't think DC knew they were going to transition into No Man's Land up to the end of Aftershock or somewhere around that point。 Road to No Man's Land is where the action picks up drastically and with not much buildup。 The main antagonist， Nick Scratch， appears for the first time in the very first issue of the story arc。 There was both no mention of him or of heated debates in the Senate before。 It's all very sudden and， while certainly welcome， feels rushed。Anyway， Nick Scratch is a genius。 And a rock star。 And has an army of genetically modified henchmen to do his bidding。 And has such a charismatic persona that he can convince anybody that Gotham should be abandoned。 He won't stop at anything unless he gets his way， murder or otherwise。 Azrael is pitted against him and loses miserably。 So miserably， in fact， that Batman says it's over for him。 Later on he changes his mind and we find out that that was a clumsy way of introducing Azrael's new costume。 I don't know what happened to him in the forty issues since the time I've read his series but suffice it to say he was very unconvincing in most of the battle encounters in this book。 This is the same guy that whipped Bane's ass？ Really？Apart from these problems， the rest is good。 Bruce Wayne goes to Washington to deliver impassioned speech， some entertaining hired C-class villains try to wreak havoc in Gotham all while the political drama unfolds。 There's a great arc by Alan Grant describing how Dr。 Arkham has to set the freaks in the asylum free and they all cheerfully march to the city except the Riddler who is possibly the only villain who is sensible enough to leave Gotham。 Overall， there is a lot of Chuck Dixon here and that always means great action with some humor thrown in - which is rare in Bat-series。I'm still wondering where is the League？ It's like the rest of the DC universe does not exist which feels weird。 The only outsider we get is， surprisingly， Kyle Rainer， who has to survive Gotham without his Lantern ring in a short but good story。 I definitely recommend this book， it has both great stories and important metaplot storylines。 。。。more
Nate
，
Nick Scratch… yeah， not a fan of this guy。 As with Cataclysm， DC felt the need to have an overarching villain for “Road to No Man’s Land。” And like Cataclysm， it doesn’t really work。 Maybe if they chose someone else （or， I don’t know， focused on politicians more） this book could’ve been more tolerable。 But the pop star/celebrity supervillain is never a good idea and Scratch is a dumb character。 Also， what’s his motivation？ Why does he want to see Gotham destroyed？ It’s not quite clear。 While I’m Nick Scratch… yeah， not a fan of this guy。 As with Cataclysm， DC felt the need to have an overarching villain for “Road to No Man’s Land。” And like Cataclysm， it doesn’t really work。 Maybe if they chose someone else （or， I don’t know， focused on politicians more） this book could’ve been more tolerable。 But the pop star/celebrity supervillain is never a good idea and Scratch is a dumb character。 Also， what’s his motivation？ Why does he want to see Gotham destroyed？ It’s not quite clear。 While I’m complaining， I have no clue why DC put the Secret Files and Origins issue in the book。 It was published a year after these issues and contains spoilers for No Man’s Land！ Baffling。The good stuff: everything with Bruce。 His speech is fantastic， and there are some powerful moments with him and Alfred here， as well as Dick。 You can feel Bruce’s hopelessness。 Gordon and the GCPD， too， are compelling， and Gordon's decision （and the cops' reaction） is a great moment。The lead up to No Man’s Land is generally good， with a few poor decisions and the usually clunkiness that comes with crossovers。 I anticipate the main event being better。 。。。more
Elliot Huxtable
，
Brilliantly done set up
Patrick
，
An improvement over R2NML vol。 1， the Scratch stuff is very different （if nothing else）， and if the Azrael story is the start of an arc it looks to be， NML will be much better than I was expecting。
Dr Rashmit Mishra
，
This was a significantly better result than the previous volume 。 However even this hasn't aged well ， and along with the 90s artstyle and cheesy dialogues ， this book also has an additional burden of delivering a lot of monologue。Nick Scratch retains his spot as the useless ， unattractive villain ， with absolutely no allure but his contribution mainly centred on him debating with billionaire Bruce Wayne in favor of declaring Gotham No-man's-land。 This whole volume is about said debate ， and if This was a significantly better result than the previous volume 。 However even this hasn't aged well ， and along with the 90s artstyle and cheesy dialogues ， this book also has an additional burden of delivering a lot of monologue。Nick Scratch retains his spot as the useless ， unattractive villain ， with absolutely no allure but his contribution mainly centred on him debating with billionaire Bruce Wayne in favor of declaring Gotham No-man's-land。 This whole volume is about said debate ， and if you aren't a big fan of long monologues in comics ， this will piss you off 。There are other side stories involving various Batman universe characters ，including Jim Gorden ， and I'd say they are interesting but really not all that appealing 。。。more
Jordan Anderson
，
There’s a lot of good in the second installment of Road to No Man’s Land。 The tension is good。 The set prices are all in place for the 5 part No Man’s Land。 The stakes are the highest they’ve been， and， overall the story is well told。 Of course Alan Grant and Chuck Dixon are no strangers to this epic arc so that was to be expected and Grant’s 4 part “Clayman and the Clown” arc was easily the best of this entire collection。There’s also some bad。 Nick Scratch is a lame villain and even though Azra There’s a lot of good in the second installment of Road to No Man’s Land。 The tension is good。 The set prices are all in place for the 5 part No Man’s Land。 The stakes are the highest they’ve been， and， overall the story is well told。 Of course Alan Grant and Chuck Dixon are no strangers to this epic arc so that was to be expected and Grant’s 4 part “Clayman and the Clown” arc was easily the best of this entire collection。There’s also some bad。 Nick Scratch is a lame villain and even though Azrael is back and Batman has started trusting him again， his storyline is very so-so。 I kept expecting some huge reveal or something major to happen。 Aside from a new suit， there’s nothing really to write home about。 His quest to destroy Scratch isnt all that great either。 The artwork for his character arc also leads something to be desired。 Overall though， as a precursor to what’s to come back in No Man’s Land， Road does its job well as a set up piece and has gotten me excited for the rest of this truly epic spread of stories。 。。。more
Brad
，
Imagine if Poochy was your bad guy。 Not far from the reality here: a super-rich， tattooed rock star-turned-religious-leader-and-political-figure by the name of Nick Scratch is the villain。 That， plus more Azrael--gag--makes for a volume that falls flat。 It could've been good; the political "road to no man's land" could have made for interesting theatre （Bruce Wayne speaking before Congress， the ultimate decision on the fate of Gotham City）， but instead we get henchmen whose faces are genetically Imagine if Poochy was your bad guy。 Not far from the reality here: a super-rich， tattooed rock star-turned-religious-leader-and-political-figure by the name of Nick Scratch is the villain。 That， plus more Azrael--gag--makes for a volume that falls flat。 It could've been good; the political "road to no man's land" could have made for interesting theatre （Bruce Wayne speaking before Congress， the ultimate decision on the fate of Gotham City）， but instead we get henchmen whose faces are genetically transformed to look like devil faces。 Bleh。Also， the last section in this volume with character profiles and a No Man's Land Timeline inexplicably contains spoilers for the rest of the No Man's Land series。 Avoid that。 。。。more
raphaela
，
The worst of times It’s really amazing how Gotham was cut off from the United States and survived a full year with little to work with and nearly everything being able to kill you。
Howell Murray
，
This still holds together pretty well。 At times it seems like it's tending toward repetitious after so much on the same idea， but then the story draws in other characters besides Batman， Robin and Nightwing。 This still holds together pretty well。 At times it seems like it's tending toward repetitious after so much on the same idea， but then the story draws in other characters besides Batman， Robin and Nightwing。 。。。more
Wing Kee
，
Fairly solid but Nick Scratch makes everything worse。 World: The art is solid 2000s。 The world building is a mixed bag。 It does lead us into No Man's Land which is great but the world building pieces to lead us there are not。 The driving forces which is tied to the story make no sense and DC pretty much just wanted it to happen but didn't think too hard。。。plus they gave us Nick Scratch which is one of my most loathed DC creations。 Story: I like the small individual pieces that we get here， the e Fairly solid but Nick Scratch makes everything worse。 World: The art is solid 2000s。 The world building is a mixed bag。 It does lead us into No Man's Land which is great but the world building pieces to lead us there are not。 The driving forces which is tied to the story make no sense and DC pretty much just wanted it to happen but didn't think too hard。。。plus they gave us Nick Scratch which is one of my most loathed DC creations。 Story: I like the small individual pieces that we get here， the emotions and the variety is strong。 Yes its an Aftermath book but there are enough little tiny moments of humanity and variety to savor that it's worth the read。 There's the Arkham stuff， the Jim Gordon stuff， the Bruce Wayne stuff these pieces are good and builds character。 The biggest issue with Road to No Man's Land is the contrived nature of getting Gotham where it needs to be。 Chris Nolan did it better in 'Dark Knight Rises' with Bane blowing the bridges。 Here we get fucking Nicholas Scratch， a dumb stupid character in every facet: design， origin， personality， plan and just personal voice。 This is not even a poor man's Eclipto， he just sucks。 Characters: I like all the small moments here， Jim's decision， Sarah Essen， Bruce in Washington。 What I don't like is Jean Paul Valley。。。zzz。 And Nick Scratch。。。He's just a stupid character。 Solid if not for fucking Nick stupid fucking Scratch。 Onward to the next book！ 。。。more
Leonca
，
A mixed bag。 Nick Scratch was very goofy for me， so I skipped a lot of his stories。 The story set in Arkham stuck out as the most interesting。 The Joker seeks revenge for his embarrassment， and Dr。 Arkham’s struggle with compassion fatigue is haunting when you know the statistics of suicide associated with the medical profession。 I also got a kick out of an inmate cameo based on the legendary Scottish cannibal Sawney Bean。
Cristhian
，
Mes de Batman 11/23
Trevor Dailey
，
Good read。 I look forward to getting to No Man's Land proper， but I do enjoy the journey。 Good read。 I look forward to getting to No Man's Land proper， but I do enjoy the journey。 。。。more
Chaitra
，
Second volume of the Road to No Man's Land is pretty much the same as the first。 Bruce Wayne tries， but fails to convince the United States government that Gotham is worth saving。 Nick Scratch does everything he can to light a big bad fire in Gotham， but kind of fails， in that the lackeys he uses are hopeless。 Arkham Asylum is a mess， again， because no one shows up and Joker gets up to some mischief。 Jeremiah Arkham is forced to make a moral choice - to keep the bad guys inside and let them star Second volume of the Road to No Man's Land is pretty much the same as the first。 Bruce Wayne tries， but fails to convince the United States government that Gotham is worth saving。 Nick Scratch does everything he can to light a big bad fire in Gotham， but kind of fails， in that the lackeys he uses are hopeless。 Arkham Asylum is a mess， again， because no one shows up and Joker gets up to some mischief。 Jeremiah Arkham is forced to make a moral choice - to keep the bad guys inside and let them starve？ Or to put them out into an unsuspecting Gotham？ He times it so that the residents arrive in time for the bridges to be blown， and they wouldn't menace the rest of the US， but honestly that was just bad thinking， because several innocent people still are in Gotham at the stroke of midnight。 But what's Gotham without its crazies？ Mediocre artwork。 The stories aren't too good either。 It's a book for completists， really。 。。。more
Barbara
，
“No Man’s Land” Volume 2 continues the struggles of crime-ridden Gotham city to restore law and order after a devastating earthquake。 Washington politicians don’t want to give any federal aid to the doomed city， seeing as how bad their crime is， and this leads Bruce Wayne to give a speech before a Congressional subcommittee。 This particular story is great， and includes several pages of Batman’s history as illustrated by Jim Aparo。 There's an excellent story about Arkham Asylum and the sad-faced “No Man’s Land” Volume 2 continues the struggles of crime-ridden Gotham city to restore law and order after a devastating earthquake。 Washington politicians don’t want to give any federal aid to the doomed city， seeing as how bad their crime is， and this leads Bruce Wayne to give a speech before a Congressional subcommittee。 This particular story is great， and includes several pages of Batman’s history as illustrated by Jim Aparo。 There's an excellent story about Arkham Asylum and the sad-faced psychiatrist who's the last link in the chain between the people of Gotham and a Joker-led mob of supervillains who've recently had their medications changed。Wayne is undermined in his efforts to help Gotham by Nick Scratch， who is a pure 1990s villaim。 A metalhead rocker who， inexplicably， becomes America’s sweetheart。 Imagine Ozzy Osbourne being the voice of reason for rural America and you’ll see how jarring this becomes during the course of the story。 Scratch plans on establishing a criminal empire in Gotham because…that’s apparently how things work there （see also the Penguin， Joker， et al）。 。。。more
Drucilla
，
Though I liked the individual stories in the previous volume， I think I like volume 2 a little more。 There's an overarching villain who's trying to kill Gotham once and for all。 I found it to be a very cool story。 Though I liked the individual stories in the previous volume， I think I like volume 2 a little more。 There's an overarching villain who's trying to kill Gotham once and for all。 I found it to be a very cool story。 。。。more
Martijn Van
，
After te not so good contagion， cataclysm and road to no man's land vol。 1 paperback things start to pay off in road to no man's land vol。 2。 A lot of stuff is coming together and icant wait to read how it all will play out in No Man's Land。 After te not so good contagion， cataclysm and road to no man's land vol。 1 paperback things start to pay off in road to no man's land vol。 2。 A lot of stuff is coming together and icant wait to read how it all will play out in No Man's Land。 。。。more
Chris Fluit
，
This is a hard book to grade。 The central stories are very good but the Azrael stories that bookend the volume are quite weak。
John Yelverton
，
With every book you read， there is an element in which the suspension of disbelief is necessary。 This was one of those books which makes that impossible， as we're forced to believe that the United States would actually write off one of its cities and force relocate the entire population sans the lunatics from Arkham Asylum， conveniently for plot purposes。 With every book you read， there is an element in which the suspension of disbelief is necessary。 This was one of those books which makes that impossible， as we're forced to believe that the United States would actually write off one of its cities and force relocate the entire population sans the lunatics from Arkham Asylum， conveniently for plot purposes。 。。。more
Harrow
，
No Man's Land is my favourite Batman story。 Read Cataclysm first before this， then move onto No Man's Land。 No Man's Land is my favourite Batman story。 Read Cataclysm first before this， then move onto No Man's Land。 。。。more
Derek Royal
，
Same as the other arcs that have been leading up to No Man's Land: some issues okay， some subpar。 Same as the other arcs that have been leading up to No Man's Land: some issues okay， some subpar。 。。。more
Gayle Francis
，
I sat down at eleven last night intending to just read the first couple of issues of this arc， and I went to bed at one in the morning， having completely lost track of everything but the story as I powered through all 12 issues in one go。 I can't think of a better recommendation than that， but it's worth noting how well this story wove together。 Individual threads played over each other， with no single piece of the story overpowering another。 What kept me reading wasn't so much the individual is I sat down at eleven last night intending to just read the first couple of issues of this arc， and I went to bed at one in the morning， having completely lost track of everything but the story as I powered through all 12 issues in one go。 I can't think of a better recommendation than that， but it's worth noting how well this story wove together。 Individual threads played over each other， with no single piece of the story overpowering another。 What kept me reading wasn't so much the individual issues or people but the feeling that this story was going to be huge if I just turned one more page。If there is one detriment in this lead up to No Man's Land， it's that the the new villain brought in for the arc reeks pretty hard of late 90s everything， but it's an arc from the late 90s， and not all of it was going to age well （see also， Azrael's new costume。 Wow。） 。。。more
Boots
，