NML Crossing, Episode 068 – Batman: Shadow of the Bat #87 (1999)
NML Crossing Episode Sixty-Eight
Batman: Shadow of the Bat #87 (July, 1999)
“Claim Jumping, Part Two”
Writer – Greg Rucka
Pencils – Mike Deodato
Inks – Wayne Faucher
Colors – Roberta Tewes & Wildstorm FX
Letters – Willie Schubert
Edits – Illidge, Gorfinkel, O’Neil
Cover Price: $1.99
It’s past midnight, and by golly all hell’s breaking loose in Bat-Land! Two-Face, The Penguin, and the GCPD claim jump all over the place, while our hero takes a well-deserved (and non-consensual) nap!
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Another good issue, return to form as you say.
1) I also liked Batman losing some turf in order to enhance the conflict of the whole NML story.
2) I agree that Gordon and his change into a war general type of a character is too extreme. I do think it’s part of the overall plot and point, so I don’t think it should be removed completely, but it seems lacking in subtlety and going so extreme as to make Gordon really not likeable (and, if such a thing exists in the realm of superhero comics and retcons, the type of thing that could ruin a character). I think he should overall act this way but still have more moments of being empathetic and understanding, or at least more moments that hint at him starting to feel those things.
3) I haven’t read post-NML in a while, but I do think there is a rift between those who stayed in Gotham during NML and those who returned after. They even had nicknames for each group (or maybe just for those who left, since they were looked down on). I don’t know if it came to much other than just mentioning it during the first few post NML storyarcs, but they did at least do something with it.
4) I also don’t like the Dark Knight Returns. I think it’s heavily overrated in terms of quality (not impact, which is why I think many people say they like it a lot). Year One is so much better, as you also said. I’ll admit, though, that I’m not a big Frank Miller fan. Outside of his Daredevil run, Year One and some other side projects with other artists (like the Martha Washington with Dave Gibbons stuff or the Big Guy and Rusty stuff with Geoff Darrow, I believe), I think his stories are pretty shallow and too reliant on style over substance. I did like Ronin and Sin City growing up, but when I’ve reread them recently, I was disappointed in the stories – his art and storytelling was good there, though, although that seems to have declined in the last decade or so.
Perhaps that brings to mind an interesting question for you and your listeners:
What’s a comic you liked or loved when you were younger that you don’t like now?
You always need to take care of yourself first. Never apologize for putting your mental and physical health ahead of this little show. A fit body and mind are the gateway to happiness, or so I’m told.
It seems like Two-Face has become the top power player in all of Gotham now. He played Penguin and Gordon just so that he could take over Batman’s territory. Penguin turned on his alliance with Batman to ally with Two-Face only for Two-Face to turn on him in the same way. The old nuns from my catholic school days would say Penguin reaped what he had sown. Serves him right.
Batman loosing territory is necessary for his hero’s journey. He needs to be taken down a peg so that he can rise above his loss and achieve his goals. Kind of makes me think of Cody Rhodes loss at Wrestlemania 39 so he could win at Wrestlemania 40.
It feels like this Claim Jumping story is marking the start of the next chapter of No Man’s Land. All of the constants that had been established in the earlier stories, such as Penguin being in a place of power, and Batman being unstoppable in his quest to reclaim all of Gotham, have fallen to the wayside. We have shifted the balance of power from a state of equilibrium and now we need to wait for Batman’s response to this new power dynamic. And if you think about it, Jim Gordon caused all of this.