Batman: War Games

Last updated
"War Games"
Batmanwargames3.jpg
Cover to Batman: War Games, Act Three trade paperback (October 2005), art by James Jean.
Publisher DC Comics
Publication dateOctober  2004  –January  2005
Genre
Title(s)
Batman #631-634
Batman: The 12 Cent Adventure
Batman: Gotham Knights #56-58
Batgirl #55-57
Catwoman (vol. 2) #34-36
Detective Comics #797-800
Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #182-184
Nightwing #96-98
Robin (vol. 2) #129-131
Main character(s) Batman
Black Mask
Spoiler
Oracle
Batgirl
Nightwing
Robin
Catwoman
Creative team
Writer(s)A. J. Lieberman, Bill Willingham, Andersen Gabrych, Devin Grayson, Dylan Horrocks, Ed Brubaker, Greg Rucka
Penciller(s)Raymond Bachs, Pete Woods, Brad Walker, Mike Lilly, Sean Phillips, Giuseppe Camuncoli, Jon Proctor, Thomas Derenick, Kinsun, Paul Lee, Paul Gulacy
Inker(s)Raul Fernandez, Rodney Ramos, Nathan Massengill, Cam Smith, Drew Geraci, Troy Nixey, Andy Owens, Sean Phillips, Lorenzo Ruggiero, Robert Campanella, Aaron Sowd, Adam DeKraker, Brian Horton
Act One: Outbreak ISBN   978-1401204297
Act Two: Tides ISBN   978-1401204303
Act Three: Endgame ISBN   978-1401204310

"War Games" is a 2004-2005 major storyline comic book story arc published by DC Comics that ran in its Batman family of titles, Detective Comics , Legends of the Dark Knight , Nightwing , Batman: Gotham Knights , Robin , Batgirl , Catwoman , Batman , and Gotham Central . The storyline, which was published from October 2004 until January 2005, was preceded by a prologue that appeared in Batman: The 12 Cent Adventure .

Contents

Synopsis

The plot revolves around a gang war involving all the major criminal groups in Gotham. It starts with one of Batman's most ambitious contingency plans for a possible outbreak of uncontrollable gang violence, Batman developed an elaborate scenario that would unite all of Gotham's underworld under a single crime boss: Matches Malone, who is really an alias of Batman himself. [1]

This plan is discovered by Stephanie Brown, who was serving as Batman's sidekick, Robin, at the time, and who was unaware that Malone and Batman were one and the same, believing that he was simply an employee of Batman. When Brown is fired from the Robin position, she attempts to regain Batman's trust and confidence by implementing the contingency plan without Batman's knowledge or participation. Thus, Matches Malone is not present when Brown, having returned to her former identity of Spoiler, assembles the leaders of all of the gangs into one place. The meeting ends disastrously, with numerous crime bosses and henchmen killed (including Lew Moxon, Hellhound, Silver Monkey and NKVDemon III) and all of the gangs in Gotham going to war with one another.

In the chaos of the citywide gang war, the crime lord Black Mask seizes control of all the gangs by kidnapping Stephanie and torturing her for the information she possesses, and becomes the most powerful crime lord of Gotham City. Stephanie would seemingly die from her torture at Black Mask's hands, a tragedy for which Batman holds himself responsible.

Aftermath

Besides the aforementioned death of Stephanie Brown, many other side effects came about from this event. The biggest of these included Black Mask becoming the single crime boss in Gotham, something that would remain until his death at the hands of Catwoman. Another would be Commissioner Akins effectively making all vigilantes criminals, a move that would stay in place for over a year until the return of Commissioner Gordon to the Gotham City Police Department. The more controversial effect, not seen until the follow-up story War Crimes , was turning Doctor Leslie Thompkins against Batman, when she allows Stephanie Brown to die from her wounds as Batman's "punishment" for including children in his war on crime. Jason Todd, a former Robin, confirmed to be alive on Batman: Under the Hood as a violent vigilante the Red Hood who waged a one-man war against Black Mask and successfully crippling his criminal operation in the city before seeking revenge towards Batman and the Joker. Finally, the citizens of Gotham City no longer consider Batman to be an urban legend (which has been in place since Zero Hour ), as he was caught on camera trying to save the life of a wounded student at the end of Act One. [1] Additionally, Barbara Gordon lost the clock tower that served as her home and headquarters and left Gotham City, eventually moving to Metropolis. She would later re-establish her ties to Batman.

Stephanie's death at the hands of the Black Mask and Dr. Thompkins would also lead to the mystery of her later appearances in the pages of Gotham Underground and Robin as a mysterious female vigilante wearing the Spoiler costume later unmasked to be Stephanie herself. [2] [3] In Robin #174, Stephanie's death has been retconned by writer Chuck Dixon as Dr. Thompkins switched her body with a deceased victim who has a similar body type, as Dr. Thompkins actually did treat her in secret.

Planned death of Stephanie

At the 2011 Auckland Writers and Readers Festival, former Batgirl writer Dylan Horrocks said that the writers were told by editorial that the crossover would be "involve some kind of gang war in Gotham" and involve Stephanie's death. Her debut as Robin was, according to her story, "purely as a trick to play on the readers, that we would fool them into thinking that the big event [War Games] was that Stephanie Brown would become Robin but we knew all along it was a temporary thing, and she was then going to die at the end of this crossover story". Both Horrocks and Nightwing writer Devin Grayson opposed the move during planning, to the extent that Horrocks deliberately kept Batgirl out of several key events in the story. [4]

Reading order

War Drums:

Act One - Outbreak:

Act Two - Tides:

Act Three - Endgame:

Modern releases

Starting in November 2015, DC began to release new editions of the War Games arc, with the first volume composed of the issues from the original release mixed in with the issues that were originally used for the prequel "collected edition", Batman: War Drums, as well as a brief story from the Solo series by Damion Scott about Stephanie Brown as Robin and the issues Robin #121 and Batgirl #53, which were not part of the original release. [5]

The second and final volume which was released in May 2016 contained the rest, which was the issues originally used for the second and third volumes of the original release, combined with the ones from the post-story "collected edition", Batman: War Crimes and Batman #642, which was not part of the original trade paperback release. [6]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Batman</span> Comic book superhero

Batman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in the 27th issue of the comic book Detective Comics on March 30, 1939. In the DC Universe continuity, Batman is the alias of Bruce Wayne, a wealthy American playboy, philanthropist, and industrialist who resides in Gotham City. Batman's origin story features him swearing vengeance against criminals after witnessing the murder of his parents Thomas and Martha as a child, a vendetta tempered with the ideal of justice. He trains himself physically and intellectually, crafts a bat-inspired persona, and monitors the Gotham streets at night. Kane, Finger, and other creators accompanied Batman with supporting characters, including his sidekicks Robin and Batgirl; allies Alfred Pennyworth, James Gordon, and Catwoman; and foes such as the Penguin, the Riddler, Two-Face, and his archenemy, the Joker.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robin (character)</span> Fictional character

Robin is the alias of several superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was originally created by Bob Kane, Bill Finger, and Jerry Robinson, to serve as a junior counterpart and the sidekick to the superhero Batman. As a team, Batman and Robin have commonly been referred to as the Caped Crusaders and the Dynamic Duo. The character's first incarnation, Dick Grayson, debuted in Detective Comics #38. Conceived as a way to attract young readership, Robin garnered overwhelmingly positive critical reception, doubling the sales of the Batman titles. Robin's early adventures included Star Spangled Comics #65–130 (1947–1952), the character's first solo feature. He made regular appearances in Batman-related comic books and other DC Comics publications from 1940 through the early 1980s, until the character set aside the Robin identity and became the independent superhero Nightwing.

Nightwing is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character has appeared in various incarnations; the identity was adopted by Dick Grayson when he left his role as Batman's vigilante partner Robin.

<i>Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight</i> Comic book

Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight, often simply called Legends of the Dark Knight, is the name of several DC comic books featuring Batman. The original series launched in 1989 as the third major monthly Batman title, following the popularity of Tim Burton's 1989 film Batman. Many of the stories follow the tone of Frank Miller's Batman: Year One. The series differed from other Batman titles of the time. The creative team rotated with every story arc and the stories stood alone, unlike the inter-connected nature of other Batman comics. Initially the title ran stories contained to five issues, often with more mature topics and sensibilities than the other Batman titles. After issue #20, the number of issues for each story began to vary and occasionally tied into crossover events.

<i>The Batman Adventures</i> DC Comics comic book series

The Batman Adventures is a DC Comics comic book series featuring Batman. It is different from other Batman titles because it is set in the continuity of Batman: The Animated Series, as opposed to the regular DC Universe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cassandra Cain</span> American comics superhero

Cassandra Cain is a superheroine appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, commonly in association with the superhero Batman. Created by Kelley Puckett and Damion Scott, Cassandra Cain first appeared in Batman #567. The character is one of several who have assumed the role of Batgirl. Over the years, she has also assumed the code names of Black Bat and Orphan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hugo Strange</span> Fictional comic book supervillain

Hugo Strange is a supervillain appearing in comic books published by DC Comics, commonly as an adversary of the superhero Batman. The character is one of Batman's first recurring villains and is also one of the first Batman villains to discover the hero's secret identity. The character first appeared in Detective Comics #36.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stephanie Brown (character)</span> DC Comics character

Stephanie Brown is a superheroine appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, most commonly associated with Batman. The character first appeared in Detective Comics #647 and was created by Chuck Dixon and Tom Lyle.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Batman: No Man's Land</span> American comic book crossover storyline

"Batman: No Man's Land" is an American comic book crossover storyline that ran for almost all of 1999 through the Batman comic book titles published by DC Comics. The story architecture for "No Man's Land" and the outline of all the Batman continuity titles for 1999 were written by cartoonist Jordan B. Gorfinkel.

<i>Bruce Wayne: Fugitive</i>

"Bruce Wayne: Fugitive" is a storyline that ran through the Batman comic books in 2002. The story directly follows the "Bruce Wayne: Murderer?" story.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cavalier (character)</span> Comics character

Cavalier is a fictional supervillain in American comic books published by DC Comics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Batman: War Crimes</span>

"War Crimes" is a comic book crossover storyline published by DC Comics. The event ran during the month of August 2005 in the Batman and Detective Comics series, and is the sequel to another Batman crossover, War Games. While originally released by itself in trade paperback format, the later trade paperback release in 2016 would have this event as part of Batman: War Games Vol. 2.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Batman: The 12 Cent Adventure</span>

Batman: The 12¢ Adventure is a one-shot comic written by Devin Grayson and illustrated by Ramon Bachs with a cover date of October 2004. It is a prelude to the Batman: War Games storyline that ran in 2004 and 2005.

Originally created in 1967, the fictional comic book character Barbara Gordon has been adapted into various other forms of media. The character has appeared in both live action and animated television series and films, as well as in video games in her alter-egos as both Batgirl and Oracle.

<i>Gotham Underground</i>

Gotham Underground is a nine-issue limited series from DC Comics, written by Frank Tieri, with art by Jim Califiore.

<i>Batman: Night of the Owls</i>

"Batman: Night of the Owls" is a comic book crossover storyline published by DC Comics in mid-2012, and featuring the Batman family of characters. Primarily written by Scott Snyder, the arc is the first major crossover storyline of The New 52.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Batman: Death of the Family</span>

"Batman: Death of the Family" is a 23-issue comic book story arc first published by DC Comics in 2012 featuring the fictional superhero Batman and his family of supporting characters. The arc spans several titles featuring characters of the Batman family including: Batman, Batgirl, Batman and Robin, Catwoman, Detective Comics, Nightwing, Red Hood and the Outlaws, Suicide Squad, and Teen Titans. The story involves the return of Batman's archenemy, the Joker, and his plan to destroy all of the people Batman has come to rely on over the years: the multiple Robins, Batgirl, Catwoman, Alfred Pennyworth, and Commissioner James Gordon. The title is a reference to the classic Batman story arc "A Death in the Family" (1988), in which the Joker murders Jason Todd.

"The Joker War" is a comic book crossover storyline published by DC Comics in late 2020, featuring Batman and his family. Primarily written by James Tynion IV, the arc is his first major arc on Batman in DC Rebirth. The main story was from Batman #95–100, while 16 other issues were tie-ins.

References

  1. 1 2 Wallace, Dan (2008), "Batman", in Dougall, Alastair (ed.), The DC Comics Encyclopedia, London: Dorling Kindersley, pp. 40–44, ISBN   978-0-7566-4119-1
  2. ↑ Robin #172
  3. ↑ Gotham Underground #6
  4. ↑ Footage and transcript of the Auckland Writers And Readers Fest panel at Bleeding Cool: "Spoiler Was Gonna Die" – Inside The DC Writer Meeting That Killed Stephanie Brown". Archived link.
  5. ↑ Gabrych, Andersen (2015). Batman War Games Book One. ISBN   978-1401258139.
  6. ↑ Brubaker, E.; Horrocks, Dylan (2016). Batman War Games Book 2. ISBN   978-1401260705.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.