Polite Dissent

Warning: Spoilers ahead for those who have not read War Games: Act Three

War Games: Act Three was a little better than Act Two, but still suffered in comparison to the generally good Act One. The first two parts (Detective Comics and Legends of the Dark Knight) act did a good job of building momentum in the disastrous meeting in the park. Just as tension was building, the storyline switched over to Nightwing and most of the excitement was lost. Robin also focused almost exclusively on one character, but it was full of action and it’s good to see Tim back as Robin. I particularly enjoyed the way he took down the Trickster without any trouble at all (the Trickster is easily my least favorite of the new Rogues.) Tension built again in the claustrophobic Batman: Gotham Knights where Tarantula and her gang were trapped in an old building. Once again, at the height of tension, the main story was derailed to visit solo characters (Batgirl and Catwoman) — not bad issues, but they added little to the overall plot. Batman existed mostly to tie up all the dangling loose ends, and by the way, Spoiler died (which was pretty much the way the story dealt with it).

War Games wasn’t a bad storyline, but it wasn’t particularly good. I’d rate it higher than Bruce Wayne: Murderer/Fugitive and Hush, but lower than the Batman Family storyline from two years ago. At several intances, the plot and action became mesmerizing. Unfortunately, every time this happened the solo books slowed the story down quickly and all momentum was lost. In future crossovers, DC should keep the plot in the Batman books. The solo books can supplement the story, but not be mandatory reading.