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Three schools in the north Phoenix suburb of Cave Creek were on lockdown for about 45 minutes Wednesday morning after a student at Desert Arroyo Middle School reported seeing a person dressed as Batman run across campus, jump a fence and disappear into the desert, Scottsdale police Sgt. Mark Clark said.

The student described the person as 6 feet 3 inches tall and possibly male.

“We’re assuming it was male, although they did have a mask on,” Clark said.

I told Bruce not to ingest peyote, shrooms, AND acid at the same time, but man, he can just be so insistent sometimes.

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For the past three months, fellow ?War Correspondent? Britt Schramm and I have been covering the entire Batman: War Games crossover here at 4 Color Review. At the conclusion of the series, we sat down and discussed what?s good, what?s bad, and possibly what?s next for the Batman Family. A warning for the spoiler sensitive who may not have read all of the War Games books yet, major plot points are discussed below.

Eric: I?m still processing I just don’t know how I feel about it yet. It could be positive, it could be negative. War Games, as a whole, I would give a 2 out of 5 rating, but there were individual issues that were better than that.

Britt: I’m leaning more towards negative in some aspects. The story really did nothing more than make Batman seem more like a head case than ever before. Whatever mythos that was there previously has vanished. I need to start reading the Neal Adams HCs to recover. In total, I’d give it a 1.5 out of 5. I liked the Ten Cent Adventure and a couple of other titles that actually did something while also moving the story along. The others just seemed like filler.

Eric: You?re right. This event was overly long. If it had been done over the course of a month and plotted more tightly, I think I would have enjoyed it more. In the end, yes some big things happened - Orpheus died (although how many times has he appeared since his mini up until they built him up again in the Detective backup prior to War Games) Spoiler died, Black Mask become Boss of Gotham, Batman’s relationship with the cops went south, but did it really require 3 months and 25 comics to accomplish? I’m not so sure.

Britt: Exactly. Sure, stuff happens in this crossover but was it really necessary to drag out the death of Tim’s girlfriend almost four issues? Was the inclusion of Catwoman necessary at all? Her three stories really brought nothing to the table.

Eric: I can understand what they were attempting to do, but some of the books that were included ended up being mere “POV” - story that had already been told in another book being retold from the point of view of a different character. Darla Aquista is one of those characters who was seemingly created for no other purpose than to be cannon fodder. We never really got to know her. And to be honest with you, I’m sort of surprised after using four issues to chronicle her death it didn’t have more immediate impact. I’m sure Tim will reflect on both Darla and Stephanie’s deaths in the future, but it seems like Darla was gone and forgotten in the blink of an eye.

Britt: Darla reminds me of the young unnamed Ensign who would come down with Kirk, Spock and Bones and always seems to get killed at the first instance of a fight. She was doomed to be killed off as soon as she was introduced as a gangster’s daughter.

Eric: And we didn?t even have a red uniform to warn us! I was really hoping for more Catwoman involvement. She definitely got short shrift as far as the crossover goes. Yes, she got to win a decisive victory over Zeiss after being beaten by him so badly last time, but that’s a rivalry tied into the regular continuity of her book that didn’t necessarily have to tie in to War Games.

Britt: Is that previous beating from the current story arc (with Gulacy)? Since I dropped the title, I didn’t know much of the previous history which is a perfect example of why it could’ve been done at another time that had more meaning.

Eric: Yup, Catwoman was nearly killed by Zeiss in her own title a few months ago. Thankfully, she was saved by mysterious Ninjas before he could finish her off. Seriously.

Britt: As far as included books, they could’ve skipped both Catwoman and Legends of the Dark Knight. Catwoman, they could have left out for both my reasons above and because it was never really mixed in tightly with any of Bat titles previously. Legends should have remained what
it was originally intended to be: non-continuity stories.

Eric: I would agree with both of these assessments. I’m not sure that LOTDK has gained much by being pulled into continuity. There are plenty of Bat-titles telling current stories without mixing it in as well.

Let?s Go back to what you were saying about Batman’s continuing “head case” status, I agree. This is disturbing. However, this is something that seems to have been emphasized more and more over the last few years and has been happening for a while prior to War Games.

Britt: Yeah, just not really a good time to be a Batman fan - comics wise, that is.

Eric: Well, I think part of the problem is that after all of the hype around Hush - which I felt was deserved - it’s hard to hit that bar again immediately. Part of the popularity of Hush, in my opinion, can be attributed to the fact that it only ran in one title and didn’t ask readers to pick up a bunch of books to get the whole story. War Games, and I just keep coming back to this, was just too broad. The idea was pretty solid, but the implementation came up somewhat lacking. “Officer Down” was a more satisfying crossover in my opinion.

Britt: “Officer Down” was done better since it was more of a low key, character piece on the inner-working relationships between Gordon and Batman, Gordon and his men/women, the police and Batman. Plus, it set up the very underrated series, Gotham Central. “War Games” is more of a “popcorn” summer movie.

Eric: That?s a pretty good comparison way of looking at the differences between those two crossovers. I don?t think I can come up with anything better than that. So, now, the big question. What are they going to do with things now? Obviously they’ve left a lot of story opportunities available, but it’s where they go from here that will really determine for me whether this is “successful” or not.

Britt: The fractionalization of the Bat-team is somewhat disturbing.
While Batman doing solo stuff might be good, the way his character is being portrayed makes him just this side of the Punisher, which is very bad. The whole thing about Batman is that he’s the only superhero who tries to emulate a family environment in his costumed life. Removing that piece diminishes his character overall.

Eric: He did show some tenderness to Stephanie in the final issue, while she lay dying. A scene that I actually found kind of touching, but you’re right. He was pretty callous to everyone else throughout War Games and has been for quite some time. Batman is a serious character, I wouldn’t want him any other way, but I know that his team are more to him than soldiers and I wish he’d let that show a little more from time to time. He doesn’t have to a touchy-feely new age dad, but he could be a more caring “father.”

Britt: Maybe I went somewhat overboard with the showing of the love between the Bat-family but if you didn’t have any real back story on Batman and his team, most people would wonder if his control over them would borderline on being abusive. And I’m not saying a swing back to the 50’s Batman but still, there are ways to show caring without being touchy-feely.

Eric: Too true. Why bring all of these other heroes into the fold only to keep them at arm’s length? He’s become the uncaring father of a group of especially loving children. You would think he’d recognize this. Of course, he couldn’t even recognize his own plan as the blueprint for what was going on around him, which I also found to be incredibly out of character.

Britt: Right. What type of devotion does he earn from these kids by being an uncaring hard ass? I’m not saying he should be Dr. Phil but he doesn’t have to be the Great Santini all of the time.

Eric: I don’t know, Britt, Dr. Phil can be kind of a hard ass, too!

Britt: But with that southern drawl, Dr. Phil sounds more like Col. Sanders than Col. Nick Fury. He’s so out of character that it’s off putting. Hopefully, Dave Lapham will bring some of the ?Detective? back to the book.

Eric: You know who I feel sorry for? Tim. Robin is just taking a beating lately. He lost two girlfriends in War Games and his dad in Identity Crisis. That isn’t going to be easy to live with, you know?

Britt: Yeah, what are they trying to do - make him Spider-Man? If they were thinking of doing that, they could’ve spaced it out over a couple of years. All at once is a case of too much, too soon.

Eric: It’s certainly got to have some sort of impact for Tim. That is an awful lot of tragedy in a very short period of time. DC solicits seem to indicate that Robin will be moving to Bludhaven in the near future. Fresh start?

Britt: Yeah, I’ve heard. So is Batgirl, I think? What happens to Nightwing? Does he go back to Gotham with his tail between his legs after the whole Blockbuster? Why not move Robin to another place altogether? Right now, some of these moves are rather suspect.

Eric: And I guess we’ve got no choice at this point but to “wait and see!”

Britt: And time to organize FANATIC:

Fans
Against
Nightwing
As
The killer in
Identity
Crisis

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Batgirl #57
War Games: Act Three Part 6
Writer: Dylan Horrocks
Pencils: Mike Huddleston
Inker: Jesse Delperdang
Publisher: DC Comics
Price: $2.50

This review contains spoilers.

WBGK is covering the whole Gotham upheaval. Their man on the street, Arturo Rodriguez, explains to the whole Gotham viewing audience that the whole gang war has devolved into a violent and destructive free-for-all. Rodriguez goes on to say that he has talked from Gotham?s Finest who told him that they had everything under control until Batman took over which only exacerbated the conflict. The anchorman asks if Rodriguez knows if Batman deliberately tried to make things worse. Rodriguez responds by saying, ?It?s too early to say, Chet. But on thing?s for sure, The Batman?s doing more harm than good.?

In another part of town, Batgirl is putting down some various thugs. After she?s finished, she?s contacted by Oracle who tells the youngest Bat team member that she thinks that Onyx is in trouble and asks her if she can help. Batgirl asks the location of Onyx as she launches her Bat-grapple. Oracle says that she?s in Gibson Square and goes on to say that Onyx is saying that she?s fine but Oracle was not convinced. Batgirl confirms that she received that last message. Oracle then asks her if she has noticed any patterns in the gang activity since initially the thugs were acting very random but now it appears that there?s some sort of direction that is controlling them. Batgirl validates Oracle?s thoughts and continues to her destination.

Meanwhile, Onyx is getting pummeled by Killer Croc?s crew of henchmen as they are trying to get some info from her about his location. During the crude interrogation, Onyx tells the lead thug that she doesn?t know where Croc is, ?but I hope he?s never coming back.? She follows her words by a head butt to the nose of her oppressor which causes him to fall back. Onyx presses on as she starts to thrash this punk until she?s clubbed in the back of the head by another crew member who brings her to her hands and knees.

The now bloodied lead ruffian realizes that she won?t give up the location of Croc but asks her if she knows how to find the Bat which causes the mob to chant ?Where?s the Bat? Kill the Bat! Kill the Bat!? A voice comes from an alley saying ?You want the Bat? Come ?n? get it.? A female Bat silhouette appears from the shadows ready for action. The henchmen realize that their confronter is Batgirl and is confused on whether they should attack her. The lead punk says, ?You ain?t the Bat!? Batgirl responds, ?Oh, yeah? Try me.?

The gang run head first into battle and are met with a flurry of Batarangs which hit their intended targets. Batgirl is putting the boots to anyone in her way while a couple of thugs observe that she kind of looks like the Bat and fights like him as well. One gangster says that he?s never seen a chick move like that. While being held down, Onyx laughs at them and says, ?Don?t get out much, do you, boys?? The lead hoodlum tells her to shut up while he reaches in his back to get his Glock. He then yells at Batgirl, ?Hey Bat-chick!? He then points his gun at Onyx?s head and bellows, ?Back off, freak ? Or I blow her head off!? Batgirl eases up when she notices that Onyx is ready for this hood.

Onyx then flips and knocks out one of her captives while taking another one down with a well-placed boot to the groin. This move makes the lead henchman to freak out and howl, ?You?re dead, Freak! Dead!? As he fires his gun, a Batarang snags his shirt sleeve of his hand that holds the gun. As the stunned gangster looks at Onyx, she asks him, ?Ever seen a chick do that, tough guy?? Then, she drops him with a right cross to his jaw.

Batgirl runs up to Onyx who has collapsed from a combination of her wounds and exhaustion and asks her if she?s okay which Onyx responds rather huffily that she?s fine. Batgirl tries to tell her that she needs to get her wounds treated. Onyx fervently disagrees and then tells Batgirl that she?s noticed that something has changed. She doesn?t know who but ?someone?s taking control of the situation and it ain?t us.?

Across town, the cops are in a fire fight with some of the gangsters. As the casualties start to mount, a lieutenant radios the Gotham HQ and tells them that at least three different groups have converged on Seguin Street. While the fight is still going on, three gang members from different gangs (Ghost Dragons, Escabedo and Odessa) are conversing about what fraction they belong to. All three of them confirm that they?re supposed to rendezvous across the street from Gotham Central. As they discuss the reasons for the meeting, a bearded gangster yells at them to stop talking and fire back that the cops or it will mean their deaths.

Just then, the cops notice that there?s another wave of criminals coming from the side. The police then realize that they are more than outnumbered and the order is given to retreat to Claude Street. The three goons see that they?ve got the cops on the run and should go finish the fight. The bearded gangster disagrees with their suggestion and tells the rest of the mob to move out to the rendezvous place. As the throng of villainy disperses, the Odessa gangster wonders aloud who?s in charge of gang. The Ghost Dragon thug responds, ?That remains to be seen…?

In another part of town, Black Mask is walking around and reveling in the destruction and death and sings, ?I?m on my way? From misery to happiness again…? He then stumbles upon WBGK?s man on the street, Arturo Rodriguez, in the middle of a report back to the station. Rodriguez is telling the audience that it appears that a large number of armed men are converging on Old Gotham with an indication that an attack is planned on Gotham?s main police HQ.

Before Rodriguez can utter another word, Black Mask interrupts the broadcast and tells them to continue filming as he?s giving them the scoop of their lives. The stunned reporter asks the violent criminal, ?What are you?? Black Mask responds by saying, ?My name is Black Mask. As for the what? Well, that?s simple? I am the new undisputed absolute crime lord of Gotham City. I am everything this city deserves and more. I am the darkness that fills the heart of every living soul in this sordid little town including the blackest most twisted soul of all?? Black Mask grabs Batgirl?s batarang that she used on to subdue Killer Croc?s head henchman and coldly states, ?I think you know who I?m talking about.?

Meanwhile, Barbara is trying to figure out where all of the criminals are moving to and what is controlling them. After becoming frustrated, she rubs her eyes and sighs, ?My brain is like jelly? So tired?? Nevertheless, she trudges on and says, ?Okay, okay. Let?s assume they?re heading for Gotham Central. But why? Surely they know the G.C.P.D. wouldn?t??

Before she can finish her though, the TV that was on in the background interrupts her as Black Mask is still waxing maniacal by saying, ? For years, all of Gotham has been terrorized by that sick, psychopathic Halloween reject, with his ridiculous bat tights and cape? In the name of his self-proclaimed ?War On Crime? this lunatic has beaten, tortured and crippled countless individuals?? Barbara is freaked out by the fact that this sadist is being covered on live TV and wonders, ?What the hell??

Black Mask continues, ?I mean ? excuse me? So it?s not a crime when a masked vigilante brutally assaults a ?suspected? burglar or drug addict? Let?s not kid ourselves, people. The Batman?s no different from Scarface, or the Joker, or even yours truly. The man is a menace. A dangerous criminal. Worst of all ? he seems to think this city belongs to him. Well, I?m here to tell you, Batman ? Gotham is no longer yours. From tonight and forever more? this city is mine. I have summoned the entire criminal population of Gotham ? followed, no doubt, by those fine boys in blue ? here to witness the end of an era and the rise of a new power in Gotham City.?

As the camera pans away from Black Mask, he continues his fanatical tirade, ?My beloved thieves, killers, cops, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, I give you?? Barbara shrieks, ?Oh my God? as Black Mask says, ?The Bat Cave!? and shows his revelation to the viewers of WBGK and points to the Gotham Clock Tower.

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Batman: Gotham Knights #58
War Games: Act Three Part 5
Writer: A.J. Lieberman
Pencils: Al Barrionuevo
Inks: Francis Portella
Publisher: DC Comics
Price: $2.50

This review contains spoilers.

Tarantula and her Ara?as run through the streets of Gotham - the GCPD still in pursuit. One of the gang members, Felix, comes to a halt and says that he wants to stop running - he wants to stand and fight. Tarantula tells him the she can guarantee if they do that “it’ll be the last fight you get into. And you’ll lose.” Just as Felix is telling Tarantula he’s not afraid of the cops, bullets ricochet off the ground near their feet. A group of police in riot gear armed with machine guns have caught up with them. “Well they’re not scared of you either, Tarantula says. Come on!”

At Gotham Central, Commissioner Akins is holding a press conference with the press. Things aren’t going well for Akins, the reporters are giving him quite a grilling: has he been asked to stand down, why are there no arrests, are the police even capable of handling the situation, when are they going to do something? Akins can’t get a word in edgewise as he’s continually deluged with more questions.

After the conference, an enraged Akins tells his men that he wants a win, he wants arrests, he wants to show everyone what the force is capable of. One of the men tells him that they have word that S.W.A.T. has one of the groups cornered - Las Aranas. “I want them. Whatever it takes,” Akins tells him.

At the Ara?a hideout, word comes down to the officers on the scene to take the gang down by whatever means necessary. S.W.A.T. begins to move in, but they find that the perimeter of the building is booby trapped - the hard way. One of the officers trips a tripwire that is attached to a bomb. The officers call in for backup. Tarantula looks out and sees that the officers have tripped the bomb. She smiles and says “Well, as long as they’re out there and were in here, we’ll be…”

“Bam, Bam, Bam, the windows shatter and one of the gang falls. The GCPD aren’t using rubber bullets any longer. They’re firing on the gang using live ammo. Tarantula promises that she’ll get them out, but it’s apparent that even she isn’t quite sure how.

As the streets of Gotham burn, Black Mask walks through enjoying the sights, with new allies Killer Croc and Scarecrow in tow. “Have you ever seen anything so beautiful?” He asks them. Croc asks him what’s next and Mask tells him the rest - all of gotham. He instructs Croc and Scarecrow to gather everyone that they can and get them to the North End of the city. They ask Black Mask what’s in the North End. “Oh just a little hole-in-the-wall place someone told me about. I guarantee you’ll LOVE the decor.

Back outside the building where Las Ara?as are holed up, the police have regrouped and resume their assault. They fire a shoulder-mounted rocket launcher into the building, shattering the floor that the gang are standing on in a split second. Felix falls deep into the bowels of the building, Tarantula unable to catch him in time. Over their bullhorn, the police tell them to put down their weapons and leave the building - “You have five minutes before we take action.”

Tarantula tries to raise Batman on her communicator, but is startled by sniper bullets striking a piece of stone near her head and drops the communicator into the abyss below her. She goes down after it, but at the same moment, the S.W.A.T. team begins their advance on the building. “Batman, where the hell are you?” Tarantula wonders.

Batman is preoccupied with a mission of his own. He’s trying to find out what happened to Spoiler. Simultaneously, he’s wondering how he let everything get so badly out of control - unable to recognize his own plan - a plan that hinged on Orpheus, now deceased.

Tarantula reaches her Bat communicator, but the area it fell in is already swarming with police. “I better get hazard pay for this,” she says quietly to herself. Just as she retrieves the communicator an officer gets the drop on her from behind. Tarantula leaps for the shattered rafters and swings up to the floor above, but not before the officer opens fire and radios that he’s got a “bogey on the second floor.”

Batman reaches Orpheus’ hideout and finds blood and pieces of Spoilers purple costume on the floor. He has Oracle check all the area surveillance cameras and shortly, Oracle sees spoiler on the roof of a nearby building. “She doesn’t look good,” Oracle tells Batman. As Spoiler limps along, broken and bleeding, Batman reaches her just before her legs betray her. Batman holds her to him as she whimpers, “I just wanted to help.”

Tarantula and her gang run for their lives through the lower levels of their building. She tries to radio Batman, but Oracle answers. “Batman’s busy. What’s up?”

“I got a situation here,” Tarantula says.

“How bad.” Oracle asks.

“Very. Where’s Batman?”

At the Thompkins Clinic, Batman asks Leslie to save Stephanie, who is lying on a gurney at the edge of consciousness. “I’ll do what I can,” Leslie says. “Just…save her. Please,” Batman tells her.

At Gotham Central, Akins asks for an update on the Tarantula situation. They tell him that there are already two S.W.A.T. teams on location and a third on the way. One advisor says they need to act now before the gang can regroup. Akins tells them to send them in. “All of them.”

Spoiler awakens in her hospital bed to find Batman at her side. “Is Orpheus dead?” She asks. “Don’t worry about it,” Batman tells her. “Tell me. Is he dead?” She asks again. “Yes, he’s dead.” Batman says, grimly. Stephanie tells Batman that she’s failed, she’s ruined everything. Batman tells her that for everything she’s done and everything she’s been through the city owes her - and so does he. The quiet moment is broken as Oracle comes in over Batman’s communicator. “Batman! It’s Oracle. I found Tarantula.” She tells Batman she’s at the old McNulty warehouse and needs help. “How much help?” Batman asks. “A lot,” Oracle replies.

Back at the warehouse, Tarantula and her gang look to the skies above them where half a dozen helicopters and 20 or more officers descend upon them.

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Robin #131
War Games: Act Three Part 4
Writer: Bill Willingham
Pencils: Thomas Derenick
Inks: Robert Campanella
Publisher: DC Comics
Price: $2.25

This review contains spoilers.

After making the tough decision to return to his role as Robin, Tim Drake takes to the streets with a vengeance. ?I?m Robin again! And it feels right!? He thinks to himself as he battles The Ravens, who are trying to commandeer and arms shipment at Gotham?s Port Adams. He banters with his two female foes throwing one-liners along with punches. The Ravens aren?t much of a match for the reinvigorated Robin and as soon as he?s got them on the ground he radios Oracle for his next assignment.

Oracle tells Robin that Mr. Fun is in Cathedral Square and Trickster is in Grant Park. ?Which one do you want??

?They?re close enough together I?ll take both,? Tim says.

As Robin heads out, he thinks to himself about the role Robin plays in the Bat family. ?One of us has to be willing to shine a light on all of these shadows.? Alfred had told him that Stephanie, in her extremely brief tenure as Robin, had a brightening effect on Batman. Robin figures that perhaps he should try and do the same. ?I?m not too proud to learn from Steph ? even if I do resent her trying to take my place,? he thinks, but he?s worried about her and hopes she?s staying out of harms way.

Stephanie is far from out of harm?s way. Across town, Black Mask still has her cornered in a closet. As any good megalomaniacal villain does, he speaks to her of his intentions. ?We were having such fun together before I had to excuse myself?and now to find on returning that in my absence you?ve left me??

He follows the blood trail to the door and walks through. He apologizes for having to interrupt their torture session and asks her forgiveness. Spoiler swings down from above the doorframe delivering a solid kick to Black Mask?s head in the process. ?You?re on sick monster!? She says as the blow lands.

Spoiler may still be in trouble, but Batman is already looking for her. He tells Oracle that he?s on the way back up to The Hill. ?Her trail begins at Orpheus?s office.? He asks Oracle how Tim is doing and she says that he?s ?on fire? but she?s concerned that he?s overdoing it. Batman tells her that he trusts Tim?s judgment and she has more to worry about than wasting time psychoanalyzing Tim.

Oracle radios in to Robin and asks for his location. ?Gotham River,? he says, ?conducting a daring high speed chase. Or I was. The suspect just abandoned the vehicle in the middle of the bridge.?

The suspect is the Trickster and he abandoned the vehicle to go running off into the air on his levitating shoes. Robin manages to get his Batrope around Trickster?s ankles and tells him he made two mistakes: he kept running parallel to the bride even though he could have run over the water where Robin could have reached him, and if he can make shoes that let him run on air, why be a cheap hood when he could sell them and make a fortune?

Back at Black Mask?s hideout, Spoiler is doing a pretty good job of asserting herself against Black Mask. ?If you?d fought this well last time, you wouldn?t be in the shape you?re in now,? he tells her. He wonders why she?s fighting with such renewed vigor and she tells him it?s because it?s the first time she?s ever realized that her life is really on a line. ?This isn?t a game!?

Stephanie gets Black Mask down, but he?s able to pull a gun from the rubble. She quickly knocks it from his hand and turns it on him. He wonders if she actually has what it takes to pull the trigger.

Robin, having taken care of the Trickster radios to Oracle for the current whereabouts of Mr. Fun. He?s still at the Cathedral and apparently in a standoff with the cops. Oracle tells Robin she?d like him to stand down and take a break. He tells her he doesn?t need it, but she tells him it?s an order. Tim disregards the order and takes down Mr. Fun anyway, thought he feels a bit bad about being snotty with Oracle.

Stephanie continues holding Black Mask at gunpoint. ?So, are we going to sit here all night?? He asks her. Black Mask taunts her, telling her to consider all the lives she would save by killing him. She tells him she could do it and maybe should, but that would be against what Batman taught her.

Black Mask takes advantage of this moment of doubt and snatches the gun back. He tells her that she?s stupid for letting him get a second wind and that he had high hopes for her, but now he just wants her out of his sight. He shoots her from behind through her upper shoulder and chest. ?That?s what you should have done to me,? he says. He kicks her out the door and tells her he?s going to let her go, but to tell Batman thank you for sending poorly trained children after him.

Finally taking Oracle?s advice, Tim stops on the roof of his building to talk with his father, Jack, for a while. Jack asks him if he?s done for the night. Tim tells him likely not. Tim asks if Jack is done for the night, but he says he?s not, either. He?s waiting for supplies for Leslie?s Clinic.

Jack tells Tim that he worries about him and the danger he gets into, but that he?s proud of him. Time tells him he knows. Suddenly the phone rings. ?That?s my call, I?ve got to go,? Jack says. Tim says he needs to go too. As the father and son head their separate ways, Tim says ?Dad, I??

?Me too, son. Me too,? Jack replies.

After an appreciable slowdown through most of Act Two, Act Three of War Games seems to be quickening the pace again. In my opinion, this is one of the stronger issues of all of act Two and Three not only because it drives the storyline forward, but because it?s equally character driven. Both Robin and Spoiler go through a certain level of character transformation in this issue, with Robin thinking perhaps he should lighten up, while Spoiler realizes that her chosen profession is indeed deadly. Hopefully, neither one of them will go too far overboard in either direction.

I also really enjoyed the art in this issue. I?ve not read many books penciled in a standard ?Superhero? style by Thomas Derenick (I had seen his more realistic ?Smallville? stuff), but I could see a variety of influences in his artwork: a bit of Norm Breyfogle, some Jerry Ordway, even a little Ed Benes in his Barbara Gordon/Oracle, but it never looks derivative. Besides, that?s some mighty good company. As inked by Robert Campanella, who I consider to be one of the best inkers in the business, it?s a good looking book to my eye.

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Nightwing #98
War Games: Act Three Part 3
Writer: Devin Grayson
Art: Sean Phillips
Publisher: DC Comics
Price: $2.25

This review contains spoilers.

Nightwing #98 picks up directly after Batman?s declaration of war in LOTDK #184. Batman sends his troops out into the field: Batgirl after Croc and Suicide King, Robin on a North-South sweep of the city, Onyx back to the Hill, the absent Catwoman is already handling the East End (and unbeknownst to Batman beginning the hunt for Spoiler) and Nightwing is to take everything West of the park.

Batgirl approaches Batman and begins to tell him that she believes Spoiler accidentally initiated the War Game plan, but he stops her until Robin is out of earshot. Once Robin is at a safe distance, Batman tells Batgirl that he knows that Spoiler is responsible. Batgirl looks at Batman and asks, ?Shouldn?t we–??

?I?ll find her.? Batman says.

Nightwing runs into the rainy night. His thoughts make poor company for him. He?s worried about his involvement in Blockbuster?s murder. He?s worried about what Batman will think. ?Batman must not know yet. If he did how could he continue to send me out in his name?? He wonders. Just when he?s telling himself he needs to keep his focus, he sees something that snaps him right into the moment. Firefly is torching his way into a nearby building. Judging by the ?Escabedo? sign out front, I?m assuming an establishment belonging to Gotham?s Escabedo crime family.

Nightwing follows Firefly in and finds him rummaging through the office. ?Got killed before they paid you, huh?? Nightwing asks. ?Yeah, I?ve had bad luck with employer survival rates lately,? Firefly replies. Nightwing tells Firefly that he?s come to make him pay for what he did to Haly?s Circus (the Circus Dick Grayson grew up in and later owned until Blockbuster ordered it destroyed ? by Firefly). When Firefly asks why, Nightwing answers ?I LIKE the circus.?

Firefly turns his flamethrower on Nightwing, but he jumps under the heavy wooden desk before the blast reaches him. As Firefly taunts him, Nightwing shoves up with a burst of strength throwing the desk off of him and toward Firefly. Firefly dodges and asks Nightwing if he?s trying to kill him. ?Capes in Gotham don?t kill no one?waitaminute?you?re that Bludhaven guy. You?re the one who killed Blockbuster,? Firefly says cowering back.

Nightwing hurls Firefly out the front door of the club, but Firefly recovers quickly and brings his flamethrower to bear on Nightwing. The two tussle in the street for some time before the GCPD finally arrives. Just as the police arrive on the scene Oracle is seeing the dispatch message that officers are to kill anyone in a mask on sight. ?Way to go, Bruce?now you?ve really got them mad,? she says to herself.

The GCPD don?t waste any time following up on their orders. They open fire and catch both Firefly and Nightwing in a hail of bullets. Nightwing turns Firefly?s metal wings toward the Police for some temporary shielding, but it doesn?t help him for long as a bullet passes right through the meat of his thigh. ?Heh, they got you,? Firefly laughs.?

?But I?ve got you,? Nightwing says finally dropping Firefly with a final punch. He tells the Police to hold their fire, but they don?t listen. He rips Firefly?s flamethrower from his hands and throws it to the officer?s feet then leaps off into the night with their bullets still streaking behind him. Nightwing radios to Batman and warns him, ?Batman, the cops, they?re shooting on sight. Be careful.? As he continues, he says he?s not sure he?s going to make it to the docks ? that he?s been shot ? by the cops.

Black Mask returns to where he?d had Spoiler chained up and finds that she?s missing, but there?s a fairly obvious trail of blood running across the floor to a closed door, which gives him a fairly good idea of her location. Picking up a rather nasty looking bladed object, Black Mask counts to ten in a flash and says ?Ready or not, Here I come.?

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Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #184
War Games: Act Three Part 2
Writer: Dylan Horrocks
Pencils: Brad Walker
Inks: Troy Nixey
Publisher: DC Comics
Price: $2.50

This review contains spoilers.

Batman?s trouble flare still hangs in the air as he takes on hundreds of gangsters single handed. Wave after wave of street punks, Mafioso, and metavillains alike come crashing down around him. He fights furiously through trying not to think about anything but the business at hand, yet when he sees a glimpse of Orpheus standing on the stage ?I remember why I?m here,? he thinks. ?And the night grows darker still.?

Summoned by Batman?s signal, the reinforcements begin arriving; first Batgirl and Nightwing, then Robin, then finally Onyx. Robin initially has trouble locating Batman in the crowd. ?Just look for the heart of the storm. He?ll be there,? Oracle tells him. As the rest of Team Batman joins into the melee, Orpheus continues to whip the crowd into frenzy, screaming ?Kill the bat-freaks! Kill them all!? into his microphone.

Robin reaches Batman and says ?Hey, I thought Orpheus was on our side??

?That?s not Orpheus,? Batman tells him.

?It?s not? Then who is he??

?That?s what I?m going to find out.?

Tarantula is trying to get her Ara?a gang away from the deadly confrontation occurring back at the arena, but things aren?t going to much better for her as she tries to escape through the park. She and her crew come across a Police barricade. One Ara?a asks Tarantula if they should go back, but Tarantula says the only way out is through the cops.

The Ara?as rush the Police line not to fight, but to flee. They have to throw a few punches to get past some of the officers, but make it through just before a new wave of Police in riot gear arrives. But the Police aren?t going to give up that easily ? they start pursuit and radio for backup. ?…their leader is wearing a costume and a mask.? The Police command radios back and tells them to do whatever it takes to stop them ? dead or alive. ?Those Bat guys are just another gang,? one of the Detectives says.

Commissioner Akins, standing nearby, says ?We could have had them?in one fell swoop we could have shut the gang war down and thrown every crook in Gotham in the can.? But now there are hundreds of gangsters on the loose ?All thanks to Batman.? Akins tells his men he doesn?t know what Batman is playing, but he?s not on their side.

Back at the stadium, Croc is back for another bite of the bat, but this time Robin?s there to intervene. He draws Croc?s attention while Batman finally gets to make a break for the stage.

Orpheus fires at Batman, but Batman doesn?t waver. He runs straight toward the Orpheus and makes contact with a mean right cross that sends helmet, makeup, and circuitry flying. Finally, Batman?s enemy is revealed before him. ?Black Mask!? A surprised Batman says.

?Don?t tell me ? you thought I was dead, such a surprise, blah, blah, blah,? Black Mask sneers. ?It takes more than a tall building to finish off a legend.? Batman starts to tell Mask that he?s finished, but suddenly he?s struck from behind ? by the Scarecrow. Mask asks Scarecrow why he would help him and scarecrow replies that Black Mask has made all of the deadliest killers in Gotham cower in fear, ?it was delicious.?

Black Mask takes advantage of the moment and hurls a smoke bomb, leaving Batman momentarily blinded. By the time the smoke clears, Black Mask is nowhere to be found. The floor of the arena is littered with the bodies of unconscious or injured gangsters, but there are a handful of stragglers with some fight in them. One shatters a bat (the baseball kind, naturally) over Batman?s head, but he?s too focused to be deterred (and cowl armor helps). ?Get lost,? he says, kicking his assailant to the ground.

Soon, only Batman, Robin, Nightwing, Onyx, and Batgirl remain standing. They converge just as Gotham?s skies open up and begin soaking them with rain. Batman tells his assembled allies that the war was a mistake. It was a strategy that was never meant to be put in play.

?I kept playing the game. I knew the pieces. I knew the board. All I had to do was make the right moves?or so I though.? But this isn?t a game any longer; he tells them it must end now. ?No more games. This is WAR!?

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Detective Comics #799
War Games: Act Three Part 1
Writer: Anderson Gabrych
Pencils: Pete Woods
Inker: Cam Smith
Publisher: DC Comics
Price: $2.95

This review contains spoilers.

At the Thompkins Clinic, a bedraggled aide takes advantage of a rare slow moment, and the restored power, to catch up on the television news. Arturo Rodriguez is reporting from the news desk. His report offers a little promise - the streets are quiet and almost empty - but there is trepidation, also. Rodriguez wonders if this is just the calm before a larger storm, or whether the “so-called heroes” have been victorious. Near the report’s conclusion, the weary form of Leslie Thompkins fills the doorway. “If this has all been the prelude…how many more are about to die?” Leslie wonders aloud.

Leslie’s question may be rhetorical, but if the scene across town is any indication the answer likely isn’t what she would have hoped for. As Batman watches high above the floor of a Gotham stadium, Gotham?s entire underworld gathers below. Now that Batman is aware that he’s playing his own War Game, he knows what the solution is. To bring all of these criminals together under one leader, a leader of his choosing
- Orpheus.

Batman checks in with his soldiers on the perimeter. Nightwing and Robin are keeping watch at separate Police blockades. The more secretive Batgirl stands by on a nearby rooftop. Batman, who’s cut in
To the whole Police radio system, delivers a message to the officers of Gotham telling them that the stadium is near capacity and his operative will soon be taking the stage. “Wait for my signal then move in,” he tells them.

As tension builds at the stadie crowd beginning to grow restless and chant for Orpheus, Onyx heads to Orpheus’ safe house to escort him to the stadium. Almost as soon as Onyx is inside, Orpheus takes his place at the podium. He addresses the crowd forcefully. He tells them that they have all suffered losses, but their goals and enemies are the same. Batman thinks to himself that things are going well - Orpheus is offering a message of unity.

Only a few minutes into the address, the tone changes sharply. Orpheus says “if our goals, our needs, and are enemies are the same, ladies and gentlemen then — what the hell do I need YOU people for? Batman’s eyes open wide with disbelief as one word, “NO–” slips from his lips.

Back at Orpheus’ safe house, Onyx is experiencing a worse shock as she finds the body of Orpheus, with a bloody bat crudely scrawled on his chest and the rest of his blood slowly pooling onto the floor. Onyx radios to Batman, who’s already on the move. “Onyx, I need you to wait.”

“No, this can’t wait,” she says.

“Something’s gone …wrong,” Batman says.

You’re damn right something?s gone wrong — Orpheus is dead!” Onyx radios back.

As Batman tries to move to a more strategic position, he spots Dr. Death - master of toxic chemicals and gasses, working on something near the stage. Both Batman and Onyx wonder if Orpheus is dead who is
speaking onstage. “I’m about to find out.” Batman tells Onyx.

The crowd isn?t reacting well to ?Orpheus?? newfound attitude and is beginning to question whether he is threatening them. But before things can degrade further, the dark silhouette of a bat begins descending toward the stage. Regardless of the tone or content of Orpheus’ message, there’s one thing that all of Gotham’s underworld can agree on - the hatred of Batman - so when Orpheus yells “Kill him,” that’s a message everyone can get behind.

Batman dodges the hail of bullets, but Firebug’s flamethrower severs his batline sending him tumbling directly into the crowd. Batman is surrounded by not only dozens and dozens of thugs with gun, but a generous helping of metavillains as well. Batman radios to Tarantula and tells her to get her “gang” - a young group with attitude but little else on their side - out of the way as quickly as possible. She complies just in time - as the whole place is coming apart.

Back in the thick of things, Killer Croc bites down firmly on Batman’s cowl severing his com-link. Batman takes Croc down with an electrical charge, but before Croc hits the ground a brown cloud begins rolling into the stadium. “Dr. Death,” Batman thinks to himself, “Knew he wasn’t here for the sights. He was brought here by the impostor onstage.” Batman zips up to Death’s location and takes down both the villain and his infernal machine, but the resulting explosion gets the attention of both Batman’s agents and the Police on the outside. “What was that? Was that the signal?” an officer asks Nightwing.

Nightwing begins to reply that they’ll know the signal when they see it, but before he can complete his sentence, he becomes aware that something has gone horribly wrong as both giant flames running gangsters sprout from the stadium in giant waves. “We’ve got a change of plan,” Nightwing says. With no other readily available options, the Police begin firing rubber bullets into the approaching crowd. It doesn’t take long for things to get completely out of hand. Wave after wave of criminals, both regular and Meta begin overwhelming the Police.
Commissioner Akins tries to raise Batman via radio, but can’t do so. A metahuman villain rushes toward a nearby officer, nearly ripping his throat out before Akins can fire and bring her down.

Inside the stadium, Batman, fighting a losing battle, sends up a flare.
“Too little too late you pompous piece of –” Akins says.

But as bad as things are for Akins and the GCPD, things are going more poorly for Batman. The “Orpheus” inside the stadium keeps driving the crowd into a frenzy, telling the crowd to take down Batman “He’s just a man! He’s just a man!” the faux Orpheus shouts. Oracle sees that things are going poorly for Batman and realizes that whether he calls for it or not (not knowing he cannot) he needs help - now.

Oracle calls in all hands - Robin, Batgirl, Onyx and Nightwing. Those hands are busy protecting the GCPD at the time, but loyalty to their father figure comes first. But this move leaves the GCPD completely unprotected. The situation degrades quickly with metas and gangsters alike turning the streets back into a war zone - this time with the Police standing alone as the opposing faction. As an enemy with guns, flame powers, lightning powers, advances on the Gotham Police Commissioner Akins retakes control of his men. “Forget the rubber bullets. You see anyone in a mask…you shoot to kill,” he says.

It would appear that even Batman?s most careful planning can go awry. What started as Batman?s strategy to end the war has instead had the opposite effect ? Gotham has been thrown headlong back into conflagration. Even worse, Batman?s relationship with the GCPD may now be irreparably broken. It?s one of the clich?s of the ?big comic event? but it would certainly appear that after War Games things will ?never be the same again.?

Batman?s ?urban legend? cover is completely blown ? the public will certainly know he exists now. It doesn?t look like he?ll be getting too much Police cooperation in the near future, either. In fact, he?ll probably be lucky if they don?t start actively hunting him. We know that Batman will eventually be able to bring this War Game to an end, but what the ramifications of his solution will be remains to be seen.

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