NML Crossing, Episode 045 – Detective Comics #728 (1999)
NML Crossing, Episode Forty-Five
Detective Comics #728 (January, 1999)
“Fight or Flight!, Part Two: Chaos Squared”
Writer – Chuck Dixon
Pencils – William Rosado
Inks – Sal Buscema
Colors – Gloria Vasquez & Android Images
Letters – John Costanza
Edits – Vincenzo & Peterson
Cover Price: $1.99
It’s the penultimate issue of the pre-No Man’s Land era… and we’re about to lower the bar on what it means to be an effective bad guy, cuz it’s time to meet a few more of Nick Scratch’s own personal goof-troop! Make way for the Dyna-Miteer and Tumult (as in, tumultuous)… and yes, they’re as horrible as they sound. Perhaps moreso!
We do get a bit with Commissioner Gordon… applying for jobs outside Gotham City, which is actually far more interesting and discussion-worthy than it has any right being.
We’re also going to track the Road to No Man’s Land through four issues of Wizard Magazine that ran through this leg of our NML Crossing journey… with the news of a certain character from Batman: The Animated Series finally being added to the mainstream DCU!
NML Crossing on Youtube
The bright spot for me in this issue was the Jim Gordon sub plot. It gives us a look inside the mind of Gotham’s top cop and let’s us understand his motives going forward. His wife, Sara, is a relative newcomer to Gotham so her wanting to leave makes sense, and Jim trying to find a life outside Gotham is him trying to appease her.
The creative teams focused on the wrong things in the Road to No Man’s Land. They should have focused more on how these events were affecting the various supporting characters. The Shadow of the Bat arc did that. Jeremiah Arkham was the focus and what he was going to do with the inmates directly affected the future of Gotham. We get just a bit of that here with Gordon but not near enough. More back and forth between Jim and Sara about their motives to leave or stay would have been appreciated. I would have liked to see more decisions being made by characters like Montoya, Bullock, Babs and even Vesper Fairchild. Why do they choose to stay or choose to go.
Best of luck to you on the move.