There's One Batman Story That Changed Everything (& It's Not the One You Think)

Batman is one of DC’s most popular characters, having battled crime in Gotham since 1939. Naturally, in those eight decades the Dark Knight has changed quite a bit, with his origin being refined into its solid state and Batman growing from being a pulp detective in a funny costume to a true caped hero. He’s starred in more comics than just about any other comic character. However, with his popularity, Batman really doesn’t face major changes all that often. No matter the timeframe, Batman will be a shadow that sweeps through Gotham and stops criminals. Comic books have a notoriously strict status quo, with every character eventually returning to their “standard.” Stories will still have impact and force change, but it is very, very rare that such change will be long lasting or affect core aspects of the character. This is especially rare for popular heroes like Batman. After all, why change what isn’t broken?

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There is one Batman story, however, that forever altered the course of his comics. It wasn’t just an event, but a massive status quo change that shook every element of what Batman did down to his very core. While everything eventually returned to normalcy, its impact is still felt to this day in nearly every Batman comic. The story, of course, is the giant storyline called “No Man’s Land.”

What Is No Man’s Land?

“No Man’s Land” is a Batman storyline that lasted for the entire year of 1999, beginning in January and ending by heralding Batman into the new millennium, and ran across every Batman and Batman-related character’s comic. The prelude to the story showcases a 7.6 magnitude earthquake striking Gotham out of nowhere, destroying its infrastructure and bridges and leaving the city in ruin. In response, given all the chaos that spawned from Gotham over the years, the United States’ government declared the city a no man’s land and made it illegal to enter or exit the city. Bruce Wayne flew to Congress to attempt to convince them to support the city, but no dice. And after years of fighting and failing to make any headway in uplifting his city, this was enough to make Bruce lose his faith in a better tomorrow. He quit being Batman altogether, abandoning Gotham to its fate.

The main story details how Gotham descended into chaos without any government or hero to watch over it. Villains divided up the city into sections, while Jim Gordon and his police force attempted to maintain order in their own plot of land. Gotham City descended into anarchy and gang leadership, everyone picking sides on whose gang they sought protection from as each gang battled for territory and resources. And of course, Batman’s eventual return to his city and establishing his own gang, the Bat Family, composed of all of his allies, old and new. Block by block, Batman rebuilt his legend and they took back their city from the criminals who ruled it like petty despots. In the end, Bruce Wayne stopped Lex Luthor from purchasing Gotham City, and was able to reestablish Gotham as a part of the United States, truly saving his city in a way he once doubted he ever could.

How No Man’s Land Changed Everything

Beyond the fact that “No Man’s Land” presented the largest major shift to Batman’s status quo in his entire existence so far, the story also forever changed how Batman operated as Gotham’s protector. It introduced a concept that still impacts Batman to this day; the Bat Family. Before this story, the only true superheroes a part of Batman’s team were Robin and Oracle. Nightwing would join Batman when needed, but he and Bruce had only just very recently patched their rocky relationship, and did not work together often. The absolute bleak nature of what “No Man’s Land” did to Gotham forced Batman to evolve past protecting the city alone.

“No Man’s Land” saw Batman consolidating his team with not just the aforementioned heroes, but also others he previously did not work with. He brought Huntress into his graces for the first time, and gave Azrael a chance to redeem himself after his horrific actions as the stand-in Batman during the “Knightfall” storyline. Alongside that, this storyline saw the introduction of the second Batgirl, Cassandra Cain. Cassandra would go on to be a core member of the Bat Family, even eventually being adopted as Batman’s daughter.

How The Bat Family Changed Batman

For the first time ever, Batman allowed himself to truly work with others and grow his operation from a few trusted partners to an entire squad of extended heroes. This didn’t just change how Gotham was protected, but how Batman works as a character. He went from being this dark avenger that handled everything alone to trusting others and becoming a true mentor to not just his one successor in Robin, but a whole new generation. It opened the door for Batman to bring others into the fold, and let him gain experience as a father figure. This isn’t to say it made Batman into a true team player, as he still tries to handle most things himself, often to his detriment, but it showed him how a team could help him and Gotham as a whole.

Nowadays, the Bat Family is perhaps the largest extended hero family in all of comics. Some people even say that the Bat Family is too big for its britches. Either way, now whenever Batman faces a threat he can’t face on his own, there is a whole troupe of heroes dedicated to what he stands for. Batman isn’t solitary anymore, and won’t lose faith in his city again. The main reason for that is Batman will never be alone anymore, which brings his character to a beautiful full circle.

Batman is someone who fights because his family was violently taken away, and he felt more alone than he can ever express. Now, he has taken over a dozen people who have felt that pain and taught them how to harness it to make the world a better place. He is the head of the most successful and terrifying found family ever to grace DC, and it all started in “No Man’s Land.”

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