Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #182
War Games: Act One Part 2
Writer: A.J. Lieberman
Pencils: Brad Walker
Inks: Troy Nixey
Publisher: DC Comics
Price: $2.50

This review contains spoilers.

Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #182 picks up immediately from the events of Detective Comics #797, which I appreciate as if you?re going to do a ?Big Crossover? you might as well keep the continuity tight. It?s always frustrating when you pick up two concurrent issues of a crossover event and are left feeling like you?ve somehow missed something in between. That?s not the case here.

Batman and his agents are all engaged in the field. The big problem is that there aren?t enough of them. Gotham is being ripped apart. When Batman calls Oracle to find where he?s needed the most, she tells him, ?Take your pick. Wherever you want to go, we?ve got trouble.? The virtual map of the city behind her is lit up like a Christmas tree with radio calls for help coming in from throughout the city as well.

It?s Batgirl, Catwoman, Oracle, and Batman against the entire Gotham underworld. The odds aren?t looking very good and Batman realizes he?s going to need help sooner rather than later.

Batgirl is hot on the trail of Alexandra Kosov. She?s in pursuit on a Batcycle as Kosov speeds through town in her SUV. Kosov proves to be quite the driver as she eludes Batgirl by driving off a bridge(!) onto the cross-street below, then leads her into a trap ? a waiting phalanx of gangsters with machine guns. Batgirl leaps from her bike as the gangsters open fire and seeks refuge behind a brick wall.

As Batgirl is trying to avoid the hail of bullets, Oracle calls in and tells her she?s needed. Batgirl uses a smoke bomb for some cover, but by the time the smoke clears, she is alone. The gang has gotten away. Oracle tells her the Burnley Town Massive has a S.W.A.T. team pinned down on the West side. Batgirl says she?ll go, ?But let HIM know.?

On The Hill, one of Orpheus? lieutenants is telling the gang that they need to go out and make a grab for whatever territory they can. Orpheus himself arrives for the tail-end of the conversation and he?s got different ideas. He wants to ensure that the Hill stays safe as the first priority. And it looks like that will be harder than it sounds, as an explosion rocks a nearby building and a raging mob sweeps toward Orpheus and his assembled crew. Orpheus yells to his colleagues to clear out as he and Onyx defend their position.

Orpheus hears a voice calling ?Orpheus, help me!? from inside the burning building. He rushes in and ducks through the flames, across gaping holes in the floor yelling ?where are you??

?Right here,? says Batman (who seems to have taken a page from the Green Goblin playbook). ?Sorry, I didn?t know how else to get you up here.? Batman tells Orpheus that he needs him to meet with the Yakuza and convince them to let him take over. Orpheus isn?t especially convinced that the Japanese mafia will be willing to listen to him, but Batman tells him he want Orpheus in control, because that means he?s in control. If Orpheus can convince the Yakuza, Batman wants him to move on to the remnants of some of the other gangs, Junior Galante?s men, the Lucky Hand, the Unifieds. It would appear that like it or not, Orpheus is going to make a territory grab after all ? for Batman.

The Yakuza appear to be receptive to Orpheus at first when he explains that he?s offering them protection. They ask for some time to think about it and tell him to meet them at the old theater in one hour. But when Orpheus arrives at the theater, the welcome isn?t warm, the Yakuza have a ?counter offer? that apparently involves Orpheus being shot many times. The Yakuza don?t manage to get Orpheus, but they do wound Onyx who tells Orpheus to leave her as he cannot allow them to escape. He complies, but tells her to get to the Clinic.

As bad as things are getting in Gotham?s streets, these War Games extend beyond the shore as well. Out at sea, a Navy cruiser receives a faint radio distress signal. The mayday is too broken up to understand, but it?s clear another vessel is in trouble. The watch commander tells the mate to wake the Captain. They won?t make it in time. The cargo ship is being overtaken by a group of skin divers who commandeer the vessel. The pirate skin-divers radio in to an unseen base to say that they?ve taken control of the ship and that they?re plotting a new course. When we next see the ship, it?s being unloaded dockside. Its contents are being delivered to their new owner?The Penguin. ?War is business?and business is very good,? Penguin says.

The big question, of course, is whether the Penguin is behind the gang war, or simply taking advantage of it. I?m inclined to think it?s the latter. Opportunism has been one of the Penguin?s hallmarks in more recent years and I don?t think that the creative teams at DC are going to tip their hand this early on as to the real mastermind behind the chaos. I?m guessing we?ll have to wait a bit longer before the real master plan is revealed. However, the reason behind the title ?War Games? becomes clearer as the crossover continues. The War is for the streets of Gotham, with Batman and his team vs. what?s left of the Gotham gangs and whoever the mastermind behind the fracture is. With limited personnel at his disposal, can Batman secure the city before it falls solidly back into criminal hands ? either the hands of the former gangs or united under one new crime lord?

I can?t wait to see Catwoman come into play more in this story since she has experience taking and maintaining control of a neighborhood ? much more experience than either Batman or Orpheus have ? so you?d think she?d be a natural fit. I?m sure she?ll play her part since the story crosses over into her title, and she has been seen briefly in pretty much every issue, but I?d like to see her more deeply involved from a strategic standpoint. It?s nice that Orpheus is given something to do (how many times has he appeared since his mini in 2001?) in this storyline and he?s a good fit since he is known and trusted in a community that?s somewhat jittery when Batman is around.

Nightwing is next to join the fray, but will even his considerable skills be enough to tip the balance of Power in Batman?s favor?

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