just finishing reading the novelization of batman: no man's land

**oranthal** · 06-02-2001, 08:39 PM

and i thought it was pretty good/above average. it certainly set the tone pretty well; it described the dark environment by telling that there are gangs and that they control a certain part of gotham. the novel was a pretty easy read and not very complex. characterization was really well. what the joker did at the end was really whacked; i never really realized what a sadistic b@$t@rd he really was. i have a couple of questions though:

1. how come when all of arkham's inmates were on the loose but batman was nowhere as exhausted during nightfall.

2. why did bane just let batman go like that? because batman wouldn't fight back, bane decided it wasn't worth it?

**James Harvey** · 06-03-2001, 04:37 PM

Which novelization did you read? Alan Grant's or Greg Rucka's? The Asylum crew wer eon the loose becuase Dr. Jeremiah Arkham released them, other then let them die of starvation. As for that Bane thing, he let hi go because killing Batman wans't apar tof the plan. If you read the comics, that part makes a bit more sense, i think.

**The Old Maid** · 06-05-2001, 06:25 PM

Originally posted by oranthal

1. how come when all of arkham's inmates were on the loose but batman was nowhere as exhausted during nightfall.

2. why did bane just let batman go like that? because batman wouldn't fight back, bane decided it wasn't worth it? [/B]

Batman usually claims the whole city as his "territory." He was exhausted in "Knightfall" because he tried to catch them all ASAP.

When he did catch them, he at least had some place to put them i.e. the asylum/jail. That option was taken from him in NML. Who'd take care of them?

I think one thing that attracted the writers to the NML theme was that the Arkham Inmates got loose to stay loose. They could set up their own little fiefdoms, an idea that Huntress/Batgirl II and later Batman adopted as well. Each-crook-to-his-corner did mean that Batman didn't have to fight them all at once. They were just as busy fighting each other. It took some pressure off him. His biggest worry became defending his borders. It wasn't until he lost his territory that he began thinking of the whole city as "his" again. You'll notice that Gordon came to this conclusion long before Batman did. He was the real general in the trenches.

As to why Bane let Batman go, he was still on assignment for Lex Luthor at the time. I'm certain once he collected his paycheck he would be back for Bats. After all, he figured that a broken Bat wasn't going anywhere. All the time in the world. Besides, Bane likes to take his time. He enjoys watching people suffer. Can't inflict much suffering when Luthor only scheduled you for five minutes for the day's job.

**joker** · 06-05-2001, 07:18 PM

this is one of the better books ive read, i thouht it was suppurb. rucka did a great job. i liked it so much better because you could see so much into the chacecters than you could in the comics. i recomend this book to every one.