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THE ROAD THROUGH NO MAN'S LAND
(by Tim "TWO-FACE" Leighton)

Yes, I know this isn't really an animated topic, but I thought, hey, it's Batman's 60th anniversary, and this is the big event that celebrates it, so I should have a section dedicated to this year-long crossover. Besides, so far it's been excellent in every issue. We have this section split up into two parts - the first saying what has already happened, the second previewing what's to come. Enjoy!

UP UNTIL NOW...
  JANUARY - APRIL: For synopses of what happened in the first four months of NO MAN'S LAND, go
see Issues #26 and #27 of "Batman: The Animated Newsletter".  Follow this link:
http://www.toonzone.net/wbc/newsletters/btan

  MAY, JUNE: For synopses of what how things really heated up in the fifth and sixth months of NO MAN'S LAND, see of "Batman: The Animated Newsletter".  Follow this link:
http://www.toonzone.net/wbc/newsletters/btan

  JULY: For synopses of the many things that happened in the month that all of the other major players in Gotham broke back into the city, see of "Batman: The Animated Newsletter". 
Follow this link: http://www.toonzone.net/wbc/newsletters/btan

  AUGUST: For synopses of the many things that happened in the final full month of summer, see of Batman: The Animated Newsletter". Follow this link:
http://www.toonzone.net/wbc/newsletters/btan

  SEPTEMBER: For synopses of the issues dealing with the set-up of the final crunch of No Man's Land, see of Batman: The Animated Newsletter". Follow this link:
http://www.toonzone.net/wbc/newsletters/btan

OCTOBER: Batman foils a scheme where some hoods promise citizens an escape from Gotham; meanwhile, Catwoman battles Maxie Zeus in New York City for the discs that are "vital to saving Gotham City".  Azrael aids Catwoman in breaking back into Gotham, Superman pays Batman another visit, and things heat up *WINK WINK* between Nightwing and Oracle.
   Then, in NO MAN'S LAND #0, we learn that Batman abandonned Gotham for Monaco the day the bridges were blown, and Talia was the one that forced him to go back. We also learn the details as to why the Huntress became Batgirl.
   Then in NO MAN'S LAND SECRET FILES we see various congress reports, newspaper clippings, character bios (including Penguin, Harley, Ivy, Dr. Thompkins, and newcomers "Mute" Batgirl, Cain, and Echo).  We also see a tale of a dying man during the day the bridges were blown, where he encounters the Penguin, Poison Ivy, Two-Face, and the Huntress.
   Two-Face then breaks into Commissioner Gordon's home, beats Sarah Essen to a pulp, and kidnaps Gordon; he brings him into his sector to hold a trial, claiming that Gordon is responsible for war crimes. Montoya's family is also reveals to still be alive, but imprisoned; apparently Two-Face has a crush on Rene. Meanwhile, the Penguin's pipeline to the outside is intercepted by Batman and Robin.
  
That's 62 issues of NML so far. For a complete list, e-mail us.

WHAT'S TO COME...
-October: Two-Face concludes his trial with Gordon and Montoya in "Jurisprudence" - DC #739.
-November: Batman confronts Gordon. The "Outside Interest" is revealed. Bane assembles all the remaining villains - Joker, Penguin, and Harley - for a final blow-out. The Joker, realizing that Batman has totally neglected him since NML began, tries to get his attention in the worst way possible.
-December: NML concludes with the three-part "Endgame" story, and then a final reflection in the final issue of SHADOW OF THE BAT (#94). The hope of a new Gotham comes into view - which is when the event we've been waiting for finally hits. The Joker returns in a big way to "destroy hope"...by kidnapping and killing children. And this all happens during the Christmas season. Batman, Robin, Nightwing, Azrael, Oracle, Batgirl, and Huntress all have major roles. The outside interest makes his/her move.
-ONE OF THE MAJOR HEROES WILL DIE BEFORE "NO MAN'S LAND" ENDS. (This is in Detective Comics #741). TWO OTHER "NAMED" CHARACTERS WILL ALSO BE KILLED.
-See below for more.

AS FOR THE OTHER HEROES:
-Batman MIGHT reveal his identity to Gordon in November.
-Robin goes up against Killer Croc in Robin #71 and 72.
-Azrael faces off against the Joker AGAIN in AZRAEL #60 and 61 - both guest-starring Batgirl.
-The Huntress hangs out with Petit for the remainder of NML.
-Commissioner Gordon's trial, held by Two-Face, concludes in DC #739. Batman later confronts and reconciles with him in "Falling Back", LOTDK #125.
-Tim Drake's father breaks into NML to retrieve his son from the ghastly warzone - in December.

AND AS FOR THE REMAINING VILLAINS...
-Killer Croc appears in ROBIN #71 and 72, in October and November.
-Two-Face cuts his deal with Commissioner Gordon and promptly kidnaps him; he puts him on trial in the two-part "Jurisprudence", this October. Apparently he is the second-last villain to be defeated. (How fitting.)
-Bane re-appears, and the "outside interest" is revealed in SOTB #93, in November.
-Catwoman breaks back into Gotham in CATWOMAN #75, and then seeks refuge in the Penguin's territory in CATWOMAN #76, in November; she then faces Deadman in December.
-The Joker and Harley re-appear in November in the two-part "Shellgame", just as Gotham is beginning to be re-built. This leads directly into the three-part "Endgame" in December, during Gotham's Christmas season, just as NML draws to a close, to once and for all destroy Gotham and all of its citizens.
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FEATURED BAT-SITE FOR THIS ISSUE

It's taken a while to get off the ground but at last The Unofficial Batman Animated Fan Club UK was started in September 1999 with the publication of the club's first fanzine - a fan-made Batman magazine which is to be published and mailed out to members quarterly. The first issue featured some great articles including episode guide, artwork, news, warner bros. store info, reviews, quiz and facts. For more information on how to join this great club then please visit the new website at:

http://www.batmanuk.freeserve.co.uk/club

The club is based in the UK but fans from all around the globe are encouraged to join.

* * * * * * * * * *

BATMAN & SUPERMAN: THE WORLD'S FINEST DISCUSSION CENTER has added it's most amazing section yet to the DC: a complete (and we mean COMPLETE) episode guide! The DC Episode Guide boasts the ONLY complete SUPERMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES and BATMAN BEYOND Episode Guides on the Internet as we speak. It also contains a complete BATMAN Episode Guide, and it includes his movie and SUPERMAN episode appearances. It boasts original air dates and much more! Check it out! Go to the following and click on the EPISODE GUIDE link button.

http://welcome.to/worldsfinest

Look for updates soon!
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ANIMATED BATMAN/SUPERMAN SITES:

* - indicates a shameless plug for a site a certain double-faced editor created with his bare hands - in other words, a cheap advertising technique.

OFFICIAL SITES
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THE NEW BATMAN/SUPERMAN ADVENTURES
http://www.batman-superman.com
BATMAN:THE ANIMATED SERIES
http://www.batmantas.com
BATMAN BEYOND
http://www.batmanbeyond.com
YTV's BATMAN BEYOND Page
http://www.ytv.com/shows/batman_beyond/
SUB-ZERO: THE DEFINTIE GUIDE
http://www.batman-subzero.com
KID'S WB
http://www.kidswb.com
DC COMICS
http://www.dccomics.com
TOON ZONE
http://www.toonzone.net
PSYCOMICS
http://www.psycomics.com
RAVING TOY MANIAC
http://www.toymania.com
VOICE CHASERS
http://www.voicechasers.org

UNOFFICIAL SITES
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*TWO-FACE'S TOWER OF TRANQUILITY AND TERROR
http://www.angelfire.com/tx/TimTwoFace/index.html
BATMAN & SUPERMAN:THE WORLD'S FINEST DISCUSSION CENTER
http://welcome.to/worldsfinest
BRIAN CRUZ' WB CARTOON PAGE
http://www.toonzone.net/brian/index.html
BRIAN'S BATMAN PAGE
http://www.batmanuk.freeserve.co.uk
GOTHAM GAZETTE
http://members.aol.com/gothamajp
BATMAN: THE ANIMATED HOMEPAGE
http://www3.sympatico.ca/quartet/home.htm
RA'S AL GHUL'S THE LAZARUS PIT
http://zap.to/lazaruspit
THE DARK KNIGHT
http://www.darkknight.ca
BATMAN BEYOND: WELCOME TO THE FUTURE
http://www.batmanbeyond.net
TIM WAN'S BATMAN BEYOND
http://come.to/batmanbeyond
DCU ANIMATED
http://welcome.to/the_dcu
HARLEY'S HAVEN OF HEDONISM
http://www.angelfire.com/hi2/harlequinhideaway
THE ANIMATED BAT
http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Academy/7382/index.html
GOTHAM CITY LIMITS
http://www.batman.gexner.net
THE RIDDLER - EDWARD NYGMA'S PUZZLE WEBSITE
http://perso.wanadoo.fr/prospero.milan/nygma
THE BATMAN ACTION FIGURE PAGE
http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Boulevard/7659/
THE BATCOMPUTER
http://members.spree.com/batcomputer
BATMAN: FOREVER KNIGHT
http://batman.techv.net
WORLD'S FINEST
http://members.spree.com/sip/worldsfinest
CHARACTERS ON THE ADVENTURES OF BATMAN & ROBIN
http://www.xse.com/leres/batman.html
ARKHAM ASYLUM
http://animation.acmecity.com/saturday/352
JOKERZ TERRITORY
http://members.xoom.com/Jokerz84/index.htm
THE BATZONE
http://www.batzone.cjb.net/
JLA: THE ANIMATED SERIES
http://animation.acmecity.com/character/375
THE NEW BATMAN ADVENTURES: THE UNOFFICIAL SITE
http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Makeup/5158
ANIMATED TALES
http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Dunes/2294/at
A TRIBUTE TO BATMAN
http://www.angelfire.com/ny2/russkafin/batman.html

NEWSGROUPS
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news:alt.comics.batman
news:alt.animation.batman
news:alt.comics.superman
news:rec.arts.sf.superman
news:alt.tv.cartoon-network
news:rec.arts.animation
news:alt.animation.warner-bros
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QUESTIONS, SUBMISSIONS, AND FAN-MAIL

If you have any questions, problems, links do not work, or anything else then please e-mail this address with your problems and we'll try to fix them as soon as possible. Also if you'd like to send any fan-mail then please send it to this address:

juno@direct.ca

As for submissions, feel free to submit an article or opinion on anything pertaining to BTAS. Keep in mind that as the editors, we have the right to edit your submissions if we deem it necessary. Such instances would include problems with length, grammar, and language.  If we do feel we must edit something, however, we will do our utmost to ensure that the opinion and the basic message of the submission does not change, as that is the most important part of any artcile, and everyone is entitled to it. And if you do submit something, please don't just submit a basic review of an episode or a comic or something (because we have people writing for those purposes already) - write about an issue you'd like to discuss.
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BATMAN: THE ANIMATED ARCHIVES

The very kind people at TOONZONE were nice enough to give us our own little section of their huge and diverse website. The archives contain past newsletters and is semi-regularly updated with the latest one. To check it out go here:

TOONZONE's BATMAN: THE ANIMATED NEWSLETTER ARCHIVES
http://www.toonzone.net/wbc/newsletters/btan
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LIKE WHAT YA SEE?  WANNA SUBSCRIBE?  HERE'S HOW!!!

For those of you who are seeing this at the WBC HOMEPAGE BTAN ARCHIVES section, and want to
subscribe just follow these simple instructions:

To subscribe email juno@direct.ca and put SUBSCRIBE in the subject line.

For more information the newsletter just email juno@direct.ca Thank you for your time, and thanks for reading! Tell your friends!

-Tim TWO-FACE Leighton and Dick Grayson, editors
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TO ALL GOOD THINGS...
...there must be an end. We would like to thank the endless amount of contributors for contributing their editorials, columns, news, jokes, reviews and other articles. We hope you've all enjoyed it as much as we've enjoyed making it! See ya next time!

CREDITS FOR BATMAN: THE ANIMATED NEWSLETTER

EDITOR: Tim "TWO-FACE" Leighton
EDITOR AT COLLEGE: "Dick Grayson"
AIR DATE SCHEDULES: Brian Cruz & RiddlerWB (our friend at the official BTAS/STAS site)
BTAS REVIEWS: Zanna
EDITORIAL #1: The Ghost of Laura Hysert
EDITORIAL #2: Kelly Tindall
COMIC REVIEWS: Aaron Maurer
TOY REVIEW: Kevin Smith
MONTHLY REPORT FROM THE UK: Brian Davis
"BTAN ARCHIVES" MODERATOR: Eileen Delgadillo
TRIVIA: Tim "TWO-FACE" Leighton
ROAD THROUGH NO MAN'S LAND: Tim "TWO-FACE" Leighton
TWO-FACE'S TRADING POST: Tim "TWO-FACE" Leighton
PROMOTIONS AND JUST GETTIN' THE WORD AROUND: Dick Grayson, Eileen Delgadillo, Brian Cruz, Brian Davis
THOSE WHO FILL IN FOR OTHERS WHEN THEY FOUL UP:-P Tim "TWO-FACE" Leighton
DELIVERY: Tim "TWO-FACE" Leighton
E-MAIL RECEPTION HANDLING: Tim "TWO-FACE" Leighton
BATMAN CREATED BY: Bob Kane & Bill Finger (who else?)

Batman and all related indica are trademarks of DC Comics, Copyright c 1999.
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AND A SPECIAL THANKS TO GREG RUCKA FOR PARTICIPATING IN OUR INTERVIEW!
AND HAPPY HALLOWEEN, EVERYONE!